A David Creation

Update to this post (2/6/2012)

Ratepoint is no longer in business. Feel free to read over the article anyways, but no need to hunt for Ratepoint. They got bought out by a competitor and totally changed their services. 

In recent years, another benefit of the technological revolution has been online customer reviews.  Whether they are buying a tractor, a trundle bed, or a toothbrush, people will check out customer reviews on any number of websites.   Today, the majority of homeowners will research your company by searching for reviews by your previous customers before calling to set up an appointment.

This trend was started several years ago by Amazon.com, as well as local restaurants in various locations.  Soon, it spread to sites like Yelp, Google, Angie´s list, Wal-Mart.com, and the BBB online reports.  When a customer has an experience, good or bad, they can go to any number of sites to describe their satisfaction or anger about a product or service.  Now some of the major search engines are beginning to give first place rankings to the companies with the most reviews.

Obviously, this means you want reviews—good ones, and lots of them!  The problem is that your satisfied customers are contentedly quiet, and the ones that make online noise are usually those who are dissatisfied or have a chip on their shoulder.  Also, many of the clients of the companies I work with are busy, wealthy homeowners who have never heard of Google Reviews or Yelp.  They might read some reviews on these sites before hiring a contractor, but afterwards they don´t remember the sites they used.

So what can we do to get our satisfied customers to leave excellent reports about us? Generic emails asking them to write a review won´t work.  A service company has to get a little more creative and personal.  As you conclude a job, talk to the customer by phone or in person and ask them to write a review for you: “Can you do me a favor…” or “Can you help me out with something?”  Briefly explain how it helps you to keep down advertising costs and assists other homeowners in finding you online.  Give them a quick overview of how long it takes and what they need to do.  If they seem willing, then send them an email with detailed instructions, preferably with screenshots.

Besides making it personal, you need to make it easy.  Many customers won’t write a review because they have to register for an account or follow complicated instructions.  To make it easy, I´ve started using a program called Ratepoint.  This is an independent online review program that makes everything a piece of cake, and doesn´t require customers to create an account.  A company can install certain widgets or graphics on their site that will encourage visitors to read recent ratings and testimonials.  It´s like having your own Amazon.com review system right on your site.  Because it is 3rd party, it also has many Search Engine benefits.  For example, Google can discover the reviews and post them on Google Places.  Ratepoint has also made it even easier for customers to share their thoughts on other major review sites: after writing a review (again, without needing an account), customers are invited to share their thoughts further on other major websites.

Another key benefit to Ratepoint is that it can handle your email marketing and any surveys you want to conduct.  It can replace your current email system completely.  I’ve used it for a few clients and I do like it.  However, my favorite email program continues to be MailChimp.  It is just really slick and easy to use.

So remember, personally invite your satisfied clients to write reviews, and tell them how.  Make it easy for them.  Give Ratepoint a try:  Here is a sample of how it looks on a website: Brennan’s Custom Painting

A few weeks ago, Pipeline Deals released a new featured called “Goals” which is just outstanding. It is one of the few CRM programs that has this feature. Goal setting for a salesman is key to his or her success. It is also crucial for a sales manager or the business owner so he too can keep track of his estimators and sales team. By using the new “Goals” tab, an owner can set weekly, monthly or annual sales goals along with prospecting goals. I like the prospecting goal idea too. You can create a goal for your sales person to get 10 new business contacts a week or write 20 thank you notes per month or knock on 5 doors a day! Then you can keep track of his or her progress. How cool is that?

About Pipeline Deals

I’ve been using Pipeline Deals for a number of months now. I like some of the bigger companies, Salesforce and Zoho but found Pipeline to be simple, easy to use and affordable. Another reason I selected Pipeline is the two-way sync with Google Calendar and Contacts, which I use all the time. Their support team is also incredible. Pipeline CRM is a scaled down Customer Relationship Management program built for small to medium size businesses.

Future Request

What I’d love to see in future updates are the following:

• A native App for Smartphones. I really don’t like using the Mobile Web App. It is very buggy.
• Make Contacts easier to look up on every page of Pipeline. Right now, I have to do a couple clicks. I’d like to be able to do a quick find of clients
• Quick view of documents. I upload my notes and documents to Dropbox and have begun keeping a copy in each customer’s “folder.” However, when I click to view a document, it wants me to download it. I don’t want to do that. I’d rather just see a snapshot of the document to review notes: similar to Google Docs or Mac’s Preview
• Integrate with Google Voice, not just Skype
• More integration with forwarding emails automatically
• Better Integration with Google Contacts (Right now each new email I get creates a new contact)
• Update the Calendar functions and Task to make it more user-friendly like (Google Calendar) Right now too many clicks and typing. The task need to have reminders too (Mobile version)

The HP Slate will be released to consumers the first week of November, and I’m anxious to see how this new tool can help service companies be more productive and sell more work. The released price for the HP Slate starts at $799. Expect to spend a minimum of $900 with shipping and a few extras and possibly as much as $1200 after you install MS Office.

The HP Slate is nothing like the Apple iPad. I purchased an iPad shortly after it was released thinking that it would be the next small business Tablet. It was not! Although I loved the iPad, I sold it, because it was just a big toy, and I have enough gadgets. The iPad operated off of Apps (Applications) not standard desktop software. The HP Slate, on the other hand, will operate similar to a standard desktop computer. In my opinion, that alone will blow the Apple iPad away by making it a priceless tool for a service company. My only concern about the new HP Slate is this: It is a PC running Windows! I’m really concerned that after 6 months, your once fast HP Tablet will be booting up and running at the speed of a turtle who ate a bottle of sleeping pills. I hope I’m wrong on this one!

So, give the HP Slate a try and let me know what you think. So far, it sounds like a good investment.

A Quick Background on my Tablet PC experience

Tablet computers have been out for close to 10 years, but have had 2 major problems: 1) They are very expensive and 2) Not very reliable. Despite these drawbacks, Tablet PCs have made service companies a lot of money by saving them time! I purchased my first Tablet PC in 2004 to help streamline my estimating process while working for my father’s painting business. Pre-Tablet days, I’d do a takeoff with pen and paper, drive back to the office, type in my numbers into Excel, print out the estimate and mail it or hand-deliver it to the prospect. Phew, just typing that sentence makes me tired! Anyways, when I got my Toshiba Tablet, I was able to do my takeoff, show a consumer the price and even get them to sign the proposal right on the screen, saving me 1 possibly 2 hours per estimate. A few years later, I upgraded to the smallest Tablet at the time, a Motion Computing 800. To this day, I still like that device. It was about the same size of the new HP Slate but very heavy and unreliable. My machine cost almost $3000 and broke on 2-3 occasions.

Accepting credit cards using your iPhone, Blackberry or Android phones have been available for a number of years using specific apps. However, not to 2010 did a nifty program and product become available to small businesses: Square. Square is a tiny device that plugs into your phone’s auxiliary port and enables a user to swipe a consumer’s credit card, have them sign their signature and even sends an emailed receipt. The neat thing about Square is there are no monthly fees. So if you are not doing a lot of credit card swipes, Square is definitely worth considering. The software and Square device are completely free. You only pay a $.15 transaction fee plus around 2.7% to your friends at VISA, MasterCard, and so on.

One draw back is the transaction percentage. I use Authorize.net for my credit card transactions and my local bank: PNC. I pay around 2.3% for my fees and have a monthly fee of around $40. I’ve shopped around a bit but am comfortable at this rate for now. By using Square, I’d pay a little more, but again…you don’t want to have to wait for your money too long. If you have something that takes credit cards, chances are you’ll get paid on the spot. So, if you are a small business and need to get paid, use the Square.  This can be a great tool for estimators who need to get a deposit right away to secure a contract. Learn more about Square (started by the guy who created Twitter)

I’ve been keeping an eye on some full scale CRM programs in the cloud and a number of simple and less complicated CRMs for small business for many months now and have some exciting news to report. Pipeline Deals, a simple and easy to use CRM for small business, finally made a big change to their cloud-based CRM. They integrated a two-way sync with Google Contacts and Calendar. They are also on the Google Marketplace, making signing in a cinch. A two-way sync makes Pipeline Deals miles ahead of most other online Customer Relationship Management systems. I am surprised that Zoho, Tactile, Highrise, Batchbooks and most other companies have not integrated a two way sync.

So why is this such exciting news for small business? If you are like me, I’ve completed switched from Microsoft products to a Cloud-based business. My business is run using the following: a Mac, an iPhone, Google Apps, Dropbox and 37Signals’ Basecamp. I did not use a CRM, because nothing synced well with my “Office in the Clouds.” I’ve been testing out Pipeline Deals CRM and so far…so good! I can make an appointment with Google Calendar, and it shows up in my Pipeline CRM account. Also, if I create a new contact on my iPhone, that syncs to Google Calendar, which then syncs to Pipeline Deals.

I must add 4 items for my Pipeline wish list to make it an almost perfect program:

1. I’d love to see a Native iPhone and Android App, and not web-based. The current mobile version does work well but has its limits. The scheduling of an appointments do not work well on Pipeline’s mobile version, for example. But now I can just continue to use Google Calendar!
2. Make the flow of creating a new lead to customer easier (currently a bit confusing where to start and enter data).
3. Creating and managing deals (opportunities) are a bit confusing as well. I’d stick to what people are familiar with: Opportunities. I’m still figuring out how to use “deals”
4. Make the Mobile Version’s activities (events) with more details: location, time, reminder, (like Google/Outlook details). It is currently more setup for “Task” that activities

All in all, Pipeline Deals is excellent for tracking your sales on the go! Now that it is one of the first to truly sync with Google Apps, it makes it my favorite! Pipeline will get my business, and I’ll stay with them…especially if they make my wishlist come true.

Get a copy for your estimator/salesperson today. It is only $15 a month!

The Blackberry Smartphones have struggled a bit since Apple and Android created some pretty amazing touchscreen phones. Blackberry entered the touchscreen market  2 years ago when Verizon released the Blackberry Storm. The Storm has never really taken off like Verizon or other Blackberry users were hoping, which is why Verizon turned their attention to the Android “Droid.” Having had a Blackberry for a number of years in the past, I must say, the keyboard was awesome. I think RIM has the keyboard mastered. So, with the arrival of the new Blackberry Torch, RIM created a better touchscreen phone and a pulldown keyboard that Blackberry users are familiar with already. I think this might be a good call. They are not calling it an iPhone killer, which is also a good marketing strategy. Instead, they are catering to what their clients want: an easier to use browser and touchscreen with the ability to use the “old-fashion” keyboard. It will be released to the US. in about 2 weeks.

To learn more about the new phone, watch the WSJ report below. | or visit The Blackberry Torch Page.

Zoho CRM has been working on a Native iPhone App for months if not years. I keep hearing that in two months, we’ll see something. I’m not sure which two months they are talking about, but I hope it is soon. Until this App is a reality, Zoho CRM still has an excellent online product. It is truly a threat against the big box Salesforce. Salesforce, is still the leader and has a nice product. The problem with Salesforce is the price tag for small business owners. It is just not affordable. Zoho CRM is very affordable. A small contracting company can purchase 3-4 users for around $25 a month. Zoho also just added a Chat feature, which will just make it even better!

Tactile CRM, though not as robust as Zoho, Salesforce or ACT! by Sage, is an up and coming online CRM. It does the basics: Sales tracking, Calendar, To-Dos and basic Reporting. They told me this week they are working out the final bugs on their native iPhone app and will be releasing it to Apple I would hope by mid August. If Tactile beats Zoho CRM, I might give them a try. Their price is around $9 a month. I believe you should be able to use Tactile App for everything and cut out Google Apps etc. However, I like Google Apps and Outlook and hope Tactile will still make a two-way sync for those of us who do not want to switch.

Finally, Pipeline Deals already has a nice iPhone browser-base App. They too are working hard to release a native app to Apple. We should see their App be released within the month. Pipeline Deals is a simple CRM. I really like it. The last time I tried it, I did not like their Calendar features. BUT, I received a notification that they have made some dramatic changes to the calendar and task scheduling, which I think will make Pipeline Deals a favorite of mine.

So who will be the first of these three companies to release a Native App for the iPhone? When I know, you’ll know. I’m still waiting for ACT! by Sage to get their “act” together and release a stand alone App for the Blackberry, iPhone and Droid. They have been the small business leader and are NOT staying ahead of the game. They will be losing a lot of clients within the next 6 months if they do not follow suite. I’m calling 2011 the year where Customer Relationship Management programs become bigger, better and cheaper than ever before: all online too and on your phone.

Note: It takes time and money to develop an App. The iPhone is relatively easy to develop an App and the Blackberry is not. Android Apps are also easy…but are not the same as the iPhone. So all these companies are doing one at a time. At this time, iPhone wins!

I’ve been using LogMeIn’s software for a couple years now and have been quite impressed with their iPad and iPhone apps as well! They work great. I only use LogMeIn on my iPhone when I forgot something at my office computer that cannot wait til I return. The reason is because the screen is so small on the iPhone. For example, if I forgot to click “send” on an email and ran out the door. I’d use Logmein from the iPhone to send the email. As for the iPad, that is definitely a wonderful app due to the larger screen size!

The LogMeIn has a free and paid subscription. For contractors, you only need the free version if you are trying to login to 1 computer. If you want to login to multiple computers, I’d suggest the paid version. The App for the iPhone or iPad is $29.99 but is well worth the cost!

I recently was turned iTeleport, which looks like a competitor of LogMeIn. To read a thorough review comparing iTeleport to Logmein, Visit this blog. I have not tested iTeleport, but from reading an article or two, it looks like LogMeIn might be the same or better. Give LogMeIn or iTeleport a try and let me know what you think. iTeleport has also done a better job, in my opinion or marketing to the small business folks. Their short videos take after Dropbox and really help consumers know what iTeleport does well!

I recently received an invite to an interactive, online Stationary program. It is pretty nifty and called Paperless Post. The program is easy to use to send custom stationary online, instead of printing and mailing it. Although I still prefer the Old Fashion approach at times, Paperless Post is a good alternative if you are trying to save on postage. The cost to design and send a custom letter in a virtual envelope starts at about $.06. As best as I can figure out, it would cost closer to $.25 if you wanted your company logo sent and a custom envelope look. So, Paperless Post can get pricey if you don’t look carefully at the bottom line price per piece. No matter what you do, it is cheaper than the US mail.

Play around with the Paperless Post program. The first few letters you send are free of charge. It can add a nice personal touch at the end of a project: something different than an e-Card or letter in the mail.

I’d highly recommend two great online programs: Freshbooks and Quickbooks Online.

Invoicing Made Easy

Freshbooks is the easiest invoicing system in the world. There is nothing that comes close to this program. Stop looking for another option and try Freshbooks. It is incredible. A number of my painting clients want to switch but can’t because they use Quickbooks (which I’ll talk about in a minute). Why do they want to switch so bad? Because it is “Invoicing Made Easy!”

Freshbooks offers the following great features for a small service business: Basic Customer Database, Create & Send Estimates, Invoices, Expenses, Run Simple Accounting Reports: Balance Sheets and P&L, Track Time and Bill Clients and Accept Online Payments. Why is it easy? You don’t have to open an email program or attach anything. Everything is done within Freshbooks.

How Does Freshbooks Work

First, you type in a client’s contact information. Second, you create a new estimate. A contractor can have a template for his/her services along with prices. Once you create the estimate, it gives you a couple of options. You can send as a PDF by email, email it through Freshbooks (recommended) or USPS using Freshbooks to do the sending (envelope, stamped and mailed). Once the client views the estimate, he can either comment on changes he’d like to make or click “Accept Estimate.” Freshbooks then converts it right into an Invoice for you to approve and send your client. The client then has the option to mail a check or click “Pay Online.” If they select to pay by Credit Card, you will receive a confirmation once the transaction goes through and Freshbooks will mark the “invoice” as paid!

I use Freshbooks for my entire accounting system as I don’t have employees. So I use the “expense” tap to keep track of all my expenses, which are imported using my bank and Expensify. I then email my report to my account during tax season. Give Freshbooks a Try! You’ll love it!

Quickbooks Online

Quickbooks is the leader in small business accounting software. A couple of years ago, they created Quickbooks Online (QBO). It was not until the last year that QBO became a viable option for service companies. This is because Intuit made some pretty substantial upgrades to the online program and enticing low monthly cost. One of the best things about Quickbooks Online is that everything is “in the clouds.” You don’t have to purchase QB upgrades each year. Instead you just have one low monthly bill: typically $25-35 a month. This is worth it, because it includes technical support.

QBO is a full accounting system: invoicing, job tracking, budgeting, estimates, automatic bank reconciliation and much much more. I’ve heard from a few accountants that they are not ready to switch to QBO because it is still a smaller version of the PC software “Quickbooks Pro.” So, talk to your accountant and see if it will do what you want. I tried it out for a month or two, and all though it was too big for my company, it was pretty easy to use.

Now, if you are a contractor, what program is right for you? In most cases, I’d suggest Quickbooks Online, but do talk to your Accountant. Some accountants don’t like QB online because it lacks a few key features such as good Payroll and Job Costing. Freshbooks, even though it will do estimates and basic expenses, Quickbooks really has a lot more features. Freshbooks also does not claim to be an accounting program. It specializes in invoicing. It also integrates with a lot of 3rd party online programs, and I hope someday it will integrate with Quickbooks. Right now, Quickbooks Online will do everything Freshbooks can do. The difference is that QBO is not as fun to use as Freshbooks, it does not have a company branded website (Freshbooks does) and Quickbooks only allows for emailing or mailing invoices: in other words, a client can’t accept estimates and invoices through Quickbooks Online. So for now, contractors, use Quickbooks…and if you have another $25-30 extra a month, use Freshbooks! Freshbooks is really geared toward the freelance and very small business owners such as a web designer, marketing guy like me or even an online retailer.

If you have further questions, let me know.