House Call Pro info

[rolandal]

Yea, the desk top version, it's old and I really only use it as a custy database to print labels for mailing.

Even though I'm very computer/internet/website savy, I really need to think about making this part of biz easier on the wife and I.

Yeah, you want to make the switch to the cloud where you don't have to worry about crashes, data-loss, and everything operating not in real-time.

If you're only using it for mailings, you can get rid of it easy, we can import your customer database for you at no cost...

Just call us at: 858-345-9675

 

[rolandal]

To give you heads up.. Intuit is going to be phasing out the desktop version soon and will be strictly cloud based. It all comes down to integration, having one piece of software sync up to others so you don't have to double entry. House Call Pro looks to be a good one, I haven't used them yet but I do like the marketing aspect of their software.

Yeah you're exactly right.... similar to what Adobe did with Photoshop and it's entire Creative Suite...

 

[rolandal]

So if you have 4 techs and an office person it's ($23 each) per month?

It's $20 per login(user)/month, depending on how your company works it could be $80/month... sometimes an office person and the business owner share logins so it's different case for each company.

Click here to book a free demo

 

[knoxclean]

If I have to pay for all my techs plus an office person or two its no longer a deal for me it will end up being more than SM so I guess thats the deal breaker for me. If your a 1 or 2 person outfit than it may save you money, so as they say on the tv show sharks ...I'm out.

 

[Mikey P]

why wouldn't your techs all share the same log in David?

 

[rolandal]

If I have to pay for all my techs plus an office person or two its no longer a deal for me it will end up being more than SM so I guess thats the deal breaker for me. If your a 1 or 2 person outfit than it may save you money, so as they say on the tv show sharks ...I'm out.

If you're looking for a deal, please don't use our software.

Our web portal and mobile app are lightyears ahead and more modern that SM.

If you'd like to do 1.99% CC processing then use us. If you'd like to do $0.65 postcard automatic remarketing and blasts use us. If you'd like to track your techs on the field via GPS use us. If you'd like to automatically build your customer database and get analytics on lead sources and tags, use us...

If you'd like to use outdated software use SM.

 

[Shane Deubell]

Never thought bashing competitor's was effective marketing.

 

[rolandal]

Never thought bashing competitor's was effective marketing.

Simply stating the truth - David is the one who brought up price comparison vs SM.

 

[Russ T.]

How does HouseCall Pro compare with Jobber?

I don't mean to complicate things even more but Jobber looks pretty clean and slick too. I'm way to busy to try out a bunch of different programs at the same time BUT I'm really considering trying something else.

My wife will have to be won over. She's on the desktop (Mac) all day. I'll have to be won over by the mobile experience in the field.

She LOVES SM from the Mac at home. I'm Frustrated at the mobile experience in the field...

 

[renegade_cowboy]

How does HouseCall Pro compare with Jobber?

I don't mean to complicate things even more but Jobber looks pretty clean and slick too. I'm way to busy to try out a bunch of different programs at the same time BUT I'm really considering trying something else.

My wife will have to be won over. She's on the desktop (Mac) all day. I'll have to be won over by the mobile experience in the field.

She LOVES SM from the Mac at home. I'm Frustrated at the mobile experience in the field...

Great for field techs and easy desktop scheduling.. not a perfect program but one of the top programs out there.

 

[Russ T.]

Great for field techs and easy desktop scheduling.. not a perfect program but one of the top programs out there.

Which one are you talking about, Jobber or HC Pro...both?

I'm going to try one or both but kind of dreading the extra work involved.

 

[renegade_cowboy]

Which one are you talking about, Jobber or HC Pro...both?

I'm going to try one or both but kind of dreading the extra work involved.

Jobber.. what features are you looking for in a program?

 

[Russ T.]

Jobber.. what features are you looking for in a program?

-Easy scheduling from Mac at home office
-Easy data entry from the field using mobile device.
-Ability to easily snap a pic from my phone while cleaning and create a note to be saved in the account for us to reference later.
-Integrated payment options would be cool.
-Pro fast, easy, and sharp paperless invoicing
-Simple, easy, clean interface
-Customer retention features
-Reports for bookkeeping
-Maybe something tied into it to fish for my customers to leave a review for us


Both HP Pro and Jobber look very inticing. Really wondering if anyone has experience with both?

 

[clean image]

@ Justin Stockwell

Did you say you use SM and then HC pro for postcards?

So you bought just 1 license , transferred your customer list and do manuel post cards?

Are you double customer entry going forward?

I did the demo, many cool features, some draw backs as well

One cool think is uploading your own postcard design....

Another is see every customer represented by a pin on google maps.

Is there a program out there that does that?

 

[knoxclean]

Mike I'm not sure if it works like SM with the log in but I would assume if everyone logged in with the same user ID they would have access to all of the program and details. SM lets you limit the access for each employee.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Is there a program out there that does that?

http://www.add3.com/insights/how-to-create-customize-and-embed-a-google-map/

 

[Shane Deubell]

Yes carl, now its google mymaps. ^^^^^
You can upload all your leads,prospects and customers on a map.

and create layers, so if you wanted to see where all your facebook or website leads were coming from you just load them up and create a layer.
If a pattern emerges might be a good idea to market more to that area.

Pretty cool tool.

 

[JS41035]

@ Justin Stockwell

Did you say you use SM and then HC pro for postcards?

So you bought just 1 license , transferred your customer list and do manuel post cards?

Are you double customer entry going forward?

I did the demo, many cool features, some draw backs as well

One cool think is uploading your own postcard design....

Another is see every customer represented by a pin on google maps.

Is there a program out there that does that?

I use SM. And have since October. I was curious about HC so I signed up. No contract ,no data import fee etc. Honestly I can't give it a review yet. I can say that the Mobile app is great. Overall HC does have less features than SM. That might be why the user experience seems smoother. I have no intention of keeping both. Both companies have fantastic customer support. The integrated credit card billing in HC is cool. (Email a bill and customer can just click to pay). When I get a chance to actually enter real data in both Ill make a decision.

 

[Ruben Mier]

How does HouseCall Pro compare with Jobber?

I don't mean to complicate things even more but Jobber looks pretty clean and slick too. I'm way to busy to try out a bunch of different programs at the same time BUT I'm really considering trying something else.

My wife will have to be won over. She's on the desktop (Mac) all day. I'll have to be won over by the mobile experience in the field.

She LOVES SM from the Mac at home. I'm Frustrated at the mobile experience in the field...

Hey Russ. HouseCall Pro was DESIGNED for enhanced mobile experience in the field. I would love to show you how it looks/works. We have a great track record for building features based on live professional feedback from businesses like yours. So far we have developed many features in a very very short span of time. If you would like a free one-on-one demo, just let me know.

 

[Ruben Mier]

I use SM. And have since October. I was curious about HC so I signed up. No contract ,no data import fee etc. Honestly I can't give it a review yet. I can say that the Mobile app is great. Overall HC does have less features than SM. That might be why the user experience seems smoother. I have no intention of keeping both. Both companies have fantastic customer support. The integrated credit card billing in HC is cool. (Email a bill and customer can just click to pay). When I get a chance to actually enter real data in both Ill make a decision.

Have you submitted your client database? We can process it for you and upload it to your account for free so you can get some jobs scheduled and see how awesome our system is.

 

[WillS]

Went through a demo with someone named Andrew at HCpro.. It is a pretty cool scheduling app. Here are 2 things that I'm not fond of with it so far though:

- You have to use their Credit Card Processing system called Balanced. It is at a rate of 1.99 which is not bad compared to Intuit, etc. but if you don't use their CC processing, you can't mark invoices as paid with a credit card.

- When clicking the "On my Way" button which is designed for technicians to show they are heading to a job, it sends a text message confirmation or email to the customer. You can chose not to click this button which is fine, but when completing a job or finishing payment on a job, it will send a confirmation text or email to the customer. Problem with the confirmation text is: it includes a link (basically advertising) for the customer to go download the HC mobile app. The guy I spoke to at HC said you can only stop this text from going to the customer if you are using the desktop version and can not stop a text from going to the customer on mobile/ipad.

I'm not a fan of having to advertise to our customers about going and downloading an app. They need to find a way to allow us to customize a text message that does not include a link to go download their app, or a way to disable sending any text to the customer at all. Especially when your paying for their service. I could see having to advertise to download their app, if this was a free scheduling software.

 

[WillS]

BTW: the reports feature is great. Shows how much each technician has completed in business$ per month, etc. You can also track how much $ was brought in from jobs based on how the customer booked. (Referral, facebook, etc.) One click to run reports basically. Also: no setup fee / no contract / works with Quickbooks is a big ++

 

[Ruben Mier]

Went through a demo with someone named Andrew at HCpro.. It is a pretty cool scheduling app. Here are 2 things that I'm not fond of with it so far though:

- You have to use their Credit Card Processing system called Balanced. It is at a rate of 1.99 which is not bad compared to Intuit, etc. but if you don't use their CC processing, you can't mark invoices as paid with a credit card.

- When clicking the "On my Way" button which is designed for technicians to show they are heading to a job, it sends a text message confirmation or email to the customer. You can chose not to click this button which is fine, but when completing a job or finishing payment on a job, it will send a confirmation text or email to the customer. Problem with the confirmation text is: it includes a link (basically advertising) for the customer to go download the HC mobile app. The guy I spoke to at HC said you can only stop this text from going to the customer if you are using the desktop version and can not stop a text from going to the customer on mobile/ipad.

I'm not a fan of having to advertise to our customers about going and downloading an app. They need to find a way to allow us to customize a text message that does not include a link to go download their app, or a way to disable sending any text to the customer at all. Especially when your paying for their service. I could see having to advertise to download their app, if this was a free scheduling software.

Thanks for your input Will. We are currently working on a text customization feature that allows you to tailor your text notifications how you want them. Obviously, everything is a work in progress, but we have shown time and time again how quickly we have assimilated feedback and rolled out feature set after feature set based on good feedback. Please be patient with us as we perfect our product to benefit your business. The whole point of the consumer booking app is to make it easier for your customers to book you at the push of a button. The app is free for your customers to download so we really see no problem with it. It's not like you are inconveniencing your customer. On the contrary, you will now be bookable through an app, which customers LOVE.

 

[WillS]

The text comes from a 858 area code, if a customer attempts to call that number due to an issue or to rebook in the future I could see that being a problem. Is there a way to just turn of those text message notifications all together?

 

[Ruben Mier]

The text comes from a 858 area code, if a customer attempts to call that number due to an issue or to rebook in the future I could see that being a problem. Is there a way to just turn of those text message notifications all together?

Yes. There is a checkbox under each step of the job process that allows you to toggle the texts on/off. We have seen first hand though how much homeowners love being in the loop at each step of the job process.

 

[WillS]

Only on desktop or is this available on mobile / tablet? The homeowner is usually there at the end of the cleaning in 98% of the cases. They don't really need a text telling them the job is completed. I don't want the technicians to have to tell each one of them, just ignore that, you already know it's done. Especially when receipts are issued right there at the home.

 

[Ruben Mier]

Only on desktop or is this available on mobile / tablet? The homeowner is usually there at the end of the cleaning in 98% of the cases. They don't really need a text telling them the job is completed. I don't want the technicians to have to tell each one of them, just ignore that, you already know it's done. Especially when receipts are issued right there at the home.

As mentioned by Andrew, you can opt in/out of texts for en route notifications. For closing out the job, this needs to be done through the web platform, but we are working on creating that same checkbox on mobile as we speak. It is on our short term road map.

 

[Shane Deubell]

Make sure you understand how this app works before you go jumping in the pool.

This is a marketplace app, your customers are downloading the HC marketplace and not just your company app.
So if you ever leave them, the client keeps the app and in the carpet cleaner category all your competitors appear then.
And they make money by charging them % finders fee.

 

[rjwood]

There is some very good feedback in this thread. I signed up with HC but haven't begun using it yet because I'm still a bit skeptical. Thanks for critiquing, everyone.

 

[Russ T.]

Jobber?