HCP upping their game....?

[PrimaDonna]

I have a call with Roland today. He wants to talk reports with me. He wants to know what kind of reporting HCP should be offering as well as other features. I have a lot to say about this! Lol

If they are responsive to what users want in terms of reporting and can develop quickly, with their already robust mobile platform it should be interesting to watch what happens with their market share.

 

[FredC]

We knew it wouldn't be long before you switched teams once Jondon became affiliated with housecall ....though this just seems to be a bit of preliminary fence riding......hard to be a "Jondon girl" promoting the competition.

don't be surprised if some links don't work when you post them....I had to get aggressive due to Rueben's spamming

 

[PrimaDonna]

Oh, I'm not jumping ship at this point. Too many things that won't work for our set up at this point. This has nothing to do with Jon Don and my or HCP affiliation with JD.

I really believe that each company has to make the decision as to what tool will work best for them. Whether that is a truck mount, wand, pre-spray or software. There are different needs, and thankfully different options. HCP is a better fit for some, SM for others. SM is still the better fit for us. But things are always changing and improving. Just like we now are hard core Saiger sauce, Devastator wand, Zipper and seal a door users...we are always on the look out for things that work better and make us more efficient. Right now, that software is SM. Maybe that will change in the future....maybe it won't.

I'll always welcome a discussion with any person, company, service seeking information on how to improve their product. I'm honored that Roland would want my input.

 

[D Luke]

Wonder how Joe feels about one of his beta testers consulting with HCP on how they can improve.

Just thinking out loud...

 

[Mikey P]

Fook, now Ill never get my doughnut refund check....lol

 

[hogjowl]

She's just trying to be Saiger. Give her a break.

 

[D Luke]

I have a call with Roland today. He wants to talk reports with me. He wants to know what kind of reporting HCP should be offering as well as other features. I have a lot to say about this! Lol

If they are responsive to what users want in terms of reporting and can develop quickly, with their already robust mobile platform it should be interesting to watch what happens with their market share.

Actually I checked and it looks like you'll violate the SM terms of service during your discussion with HCP. Assuming of course SM comes up, and I have to believe it will.

Fwiw...

 

[jkowalski]

hmmm. How much SM6 did you talk about?

 

[PrimaDonna]

Simmer down now everyone. I'm not giving away trade secrets or propitiatory information. Just a conversation about my personal thoughts on what types of features I like in software. I share feedback with SM as well and would tell them what I think are good features a competitor has that they should incorporate. I communicate frequently with SM. I'm not currently using 6. I've seen the demo and I have access, but I feel there are still many things being smoothed out and tweaked that I don't want to start working in it yet....but that's just me.

It's no different than a person who is loyal to a certain truck mount and having a competing truck mount company ask them to check out their product and ask feedback as to what they like or would like to see different. Just because its your preferred truck mount or tool doesn't mean that it's the right one for someone else.

I see lots of opportunity for growth and innovation in this industry. Whether it be in products/chems, tools, truck mounts or software. Ultimately if someone can develop something that helps elevate the industry, its a good thing for all of us. So being asked to provide feedback, that can help others, is not bad. I'm not on anyone's payroll. I still use SM and really love it. I still talk about SM at JD events and to people I meet in classes. I can't tell someone what they should use because what is best for one person/company isn't for another. I tell people to look at all options and decide what is important to them and what will work best for them. There is no one right fit for anybody...when it comes to anything in this industry.

 

[PrimaDonna]

hmmm. How much SM6 did you talk about?

Not a thing. Didn't even come up. We discussed what types of data or reports that I find helpful to make business decisions.

Joe, I'm sure you can check your access logs and see that I'm not even using SM6 at this point. The last time I really had a look at it was when you and I did our webinar.

As I said above, I'm not using SM6 as I know there are still a lot of things being ironed out. I don't want to be in between two platforms and have the guys dealing with glitches in the field and me on the back end. I am eagerly looking forward to making the transition, but am not in a position to be working in a system that is not fully functioning that will cause us frustration . I see the comments and feedback in the beta group and it's clear there are still issues and frustration among the users that are trying to work in it and have to switch between the two platforms. You and I have talked about this. The long awaited launch and promise of SM6...the moving target of the release...the lack of clear laymen terms communication to users as to whats happening when, what it means to them, the fact that you say it's a constantly developing thing and will never be "complete". I get that, but being complete and improving are different than being functional with out issues (and not pushed back over and over when you announce a "release" date).

I really love SM. And I am very excited about SM6 being fully functional so we can transition to it. And we look forward to a viable mobile app. This is not news to you from me or anyone else. The mobile app thing is on many peoples wish list. I still find the features of SM a better fit for our needs.

I will continue to talk to people about SM and share our success with it and refer people to SM. But, I realize that not everyone operates their business like us. SM may not be the best fit for them. It's up to them to talk to people like me and others to get feedback as to what we like (and don't like) about the system we use so they can make the best decision for them.

 

[hogjowl]

Yeah, simmer down.
When she's stressed she tends to type a LOT!

 

[jkowalski]

Oh I totally, totally get it. :-)

also keep in mind that beta users on sm-6 aren't "frustrated", they're providing feedback. Just like we asked them to. We cleared out 77 trackers last week alone. They're on Pace to do the same again this week. That's why we selected those group of 30 people. Alex and I believe we're on track to be releasing to 300 people and SMUG next week. Time will tell. It's ready when it's ready. :-)

For you specifically, you're going to have to wait till Google Calendar Sync is in. Matt has finished the integration, we just need to get a page for the google signing process.

I like hcp more and more. Over the last 4 or 5 months, they were my fourth largest lead source. Once cleaners play around with the app they understand they need more horsepower and fairly quickly come to us. At least a portion of them anyway.

I'm completely fascinated how they've managed to collect nine million dollars in Investments and have somehow focused themselves on the carpet cleaning industry. I know they've had a handful of HVAC companies but their hyper-focused presence in carpet cleaning just confuses the hell out of me. I have seen seven SaaS attempts in this industry come and go over the last 13 years. None of them are around today. If housecall manages to collapse under its own weight, everybody knows where Papa lives. :-)

 

[Mikey P]

I live here..

 

[Mikey P]

I relayed our conversation..

 

[Louis]

I just did the demo for HCP and it's nice. Many cool features. I do not like the fact that I have to use quick books online and I'm not a fan of postcards. I like the customer notification by text and how easily you can navigate on a phone or a tablet. With no tab key on the IPad SM can sometimes cause me to be moody. I guess if I started with quick books online it would seem normal, but I don't like to be told I cant work on Sunday night because of site maintenance.

 

[Mikey P]

Huh?


Who's server?

 

[Louis]

quick books online.

 

[Mikey P]

QB is closed on Sundays?

 

[Louis]

That's when many places do site maintenance. I like my financial info with me. I have trust issues.
So are you using HCP?

 

[Mikey P]

No, tried for NV but lack of cell coverage was a deal killer