I'm getting a price from our development team on the software build.
The goal is to save every window cleaner that uses the software AT least an hour a week and, over the course of 24 months, to be able to easily refine their rounds so that they can increase their profit margins by at least 20%.
It seems that what you want is route optimisation, auto-debt chasing, and auto-bank reconciliation.
Here are all the options: Please let me know if there any ideas here that you love (or hate!).
ROUTE OPTIMISER
AUTO-DEBT CHASING: All Debt chasing texts and emails to be sent out automatically. Automatically send continual debt reminders to customers, send them hard copy documents (stored as templates) after a period of time and not let them apear on the round again if they still owed you money and so on.
BANK RECONCILIATION: Is anyone else finding reconciling a nightmare as their bank payments are often not the names they signed up with?
PROFIT MARGIN ON EACH JOB: Shows how much profit you make on each job, based on timings for each job and how much it costs you to run your vans per hour.
AUTOMATIC PRICE RISE: You can send price rise emails and texts from the software, and the software automatically updates the prices at the same time.
IF USING A CARD READER THEN THIS IS LINKED TO THE BOOKS. NO MANUAL INPUT OF PAYMENT. The payment card reader is be linked directly to the books, so you are not manually inputting payment from card customers.
CARD SCANNING BY PHONE: No card reader, the mobile ‘phone scans the customers payment card.
JOB NOTES: It is visible on the job notes, and the job notes are divided into the following sections: Instructions from customer. Access Clear: Yes / No. Size of House, and wether it has a conservatory / extension.
PRICING MENU: The software puts a pricing menu onto your website OR it provides you with a web address with a pricing page on it. When you are at work / at the weekends you can leave a message on your voicemail / set up an auto-responder on your email directing customers to this pricing menu. This will save you from a) Having to go out and do quotes, b) having to pick up the phone when you are out cleaning windows
AUTO CUSTOMER DATA INPUT: Customers can input their details directly into your rounds (as long they as they are on-profile for you). There would be a booking button so that customers can book you as their window cleaner from your website OR from a web page that we supply you. You ask the customers these questions (plus any other questions you want to ask).
Do you want a one off or regular?
Does your home have clear, open air access to the back via a garden gate?
Does your home have a conservatory?
Does your home have an extension with more than 3 windows?
Type of home?
How many bedrooms
Name / address / postcode
Mobile number
Do you want us to send you a text notification the evening before so that you know we are on our way.
The benefits of the book now button is that:
a) You can leave details of the ‘book now’ page on your voicemail so that customers can sign up for window cleaning when you are working, and you don’t have to answer the ‘phone to take enquiries when you are work.
b) It will ensure that any customers you sign up will be ‘on profile’ for you and your business.
c) Customers that are ‘on profile’ get booked directly onto the rounds or onto a ‘new work’ worksheet so you don’t have to manually input the customers data.
The mobile app has the option to book ‘on profile’ customers directly onto the rounds so you can take bookings when you are out working.
AUTO-SYNCING: Sends out an email to customers who you've done the first clean Not In Round Order. In other words, if you do the work on a six weekly basis, and you've done the first clean two weeks after the van is usually in that area, then that means that your customer is going to wait 4 weeks plus six weeks = 10 weeks for their second clean. So the auto-sync function sends out an email to the customer after six weeks explaining that it will be another 4 weeks until the van is in their area, and the reason for this because we work by postcode area, and their home needs to 'synchronise' with the rest of the round.
REPORTING DASHBOARD: Business information dashboard, so you can see the following metrics on your busineses performance:
Average Job Value
Complaints
Complaints: With complaints it a) logs them and dates them automatically in the customers record so that the complaint details are the first thing that the team member sees when he/she arrives at the property. b) It flags up customers who have records of making more than 2 complaints so that you can take action.
Delivery (how many days early / late you are in delivering the service, with a searchable history on this)
Productivity: How much you / your team are billing per hour on different jobs eg. Fascia / window cleaning / first cleans / gutter cleaning etc
No Shows: Log of when you’ve notified a customer that you are going to do the work, but the van does not turn up
Customer retention rates. How many customers are leaving.
Access Issues: Logs customers that are not giving access, and it flags up these jobs so the window cleaner can take action.
AUTOMATIC TRANSFER TO GO CARDLESS. You can send an email from the software, without having to go through Mail Chimp, to all customers that have not signed up to Go Cardless. The system can automatically offer a £5 credit to all customers that sign up to Go Cardless. Can also send an email to all non-Go Cardless customers on submission of the worksheet, asking them to sign up for direct debit, and automatically crediting their account if they sign up to direct debit.
AUTOMATIC WELCOME EMAIL on sign up, explaining how the service works and stating any terms and conditions.
AUTOMATIC FIRST CLEAN FOLLOW UP. After a first clean, it automatically sends a first clean follow up to check that the window customer is happy with the standard of the work, states that the window cleaner welcomes any feedback, either good or bad, and encourages them to leave a google review.
AUTOMATIC UPSELL. An email to all customers who have not signed up to annual gutter cleans / fascia cleans etc, asking them to sign up to annual gutter / fascia cleans and doing this in the system automatically. Only goes out to customers with clear, open air access to the back via a garden gate.
DELIVERY MONITOR: How many days late / early you are over time. Based on this information, you can start to 'let go' of less profitable customers as soon as it becomes clear that your round is growing to such a size that it is possible to refine out customers who are not working for you in terms of being profitable.
ROUND REFINER: Flags up customers who repeatedly “Not Today”, or who repeatedly deny access. It flags these jobs, so that these are the first jobs that you 'let go of', when you have enough work.
AUTO ‘ON OUR WAY’: On completion of the previous job, it sends a text to the customer confirming that we are on our way. Has a manual over-ride in case the window cleaner wants a break before getting to the next job. Has an opt out so that customers can opt out of this text.
