Clean It Up
UK Floor Cleaning Forum => Carpet Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Buster Ingram on October 25, 2009, 12:33:45 am
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Anyone else using this data base software?
I have to say over the years I have run data bases from Dos to micro soft and found them a ballache setting up the macro's to track data for advertising.
So after a short break of 12 months and now starting all over again in a new county, what with demoing the New Phoenix Truckmount and answering calls from cleaners looking to trade up to truckmounted equiment coupled with pushing my wand across carpet. The thought of sitting down and designing yet another data base does not exsite me in the least.
Anyone looking for an easey way of doing things my advice would be have a look at this software its well worth the money.
www.carpetcleaningsoftware.co.uk
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It looks good Dave how much does it cost? - Found price £250 - I think we would need software to include other sorts of cleaning too - does anyone recommend software for that? This is something we need to get but keep putting it off
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Dave as an experienced Carpet Cleaner starting over what would be interesting is what you are doing to build your customer base ?
My son has recentley developed a software programme for us .
The difficulty we have is the disipline to actually enter the data.
Its a bit like the small bussiness putting everything in a shoe box or plastic create for the accountant to sort
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Yes i have it used it from the beginning and enter all my customers on it its a good piece of kit and the back up from Kevin in great
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tried the trial version and very impressed but the daunting task of putting in 1 and a half years of customers and there invoices puts me off doing it. trouble is, the longer i leave it, the more names there will be to add.
shame you can't send yur client list off and then upload cleaners mate with all of the details added. ;D
derek
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What I like about it is it's simple. No fancy features to distract, just bung 'em on and send out the letters. :)
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Derek shame on you one and a half years!
Why not start from tomorrow and work backwards with your data?
If your data is in access you can transfer it straight across and input the inoices later.
That should keep you off the forum for at least a week ;D
Ian,
To fill my data I have customers from newpaper adds, internet and cold calling.
Prity much the same as when I ran the business before only difference is I don't
take the crap I did before.
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If your data is in access you can transfer it straight across and input the inoices later.
That should keep you off the forum for at least a week
i wish
try an A5 diary :o
its the misses job, she's the secratary, trouble is, once she dons the secratary outfit, nothing gets done. ;) ;D
derek
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Derek an A5 Diary, your having a laugh how in the name of God are you going to mailshot your clients to tell them you've made your first million!
Jesus lad you will have to get cracking on kev's soft ware.
Now! would be a good idea.
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Took me awhile to do nearly 12 months.
it ruined my eye sight
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I like millions of others have just had an email from Lisa Wagner.
Its about Carpet Cleaners doing the Wrong Jobs to save money
In an ideal World you should contract out these jobs ie data entry and concentrate on Marketing and cleaning the occasional carpet while you are doing the jobs that bring in the big bucks. Leave to others work that is less than your hourly rate.##
Thats The Theory
Putting into Practice Well
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i tried this software last year but there was something about it i didn't like, can't remember what it was, tried to download it again yesterday to give it another try and i needed an extension key to install the software again, e-mailed asking for the said key and kevin has sent it to me today, top man, this time i will give it a decent run-out and see if i like the new version,
colin
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question
if i hand over my diary to a secretary and tell her to make me a database of all my clients from day 1. what should she do it in so i can transfer it straight to cleaners mate.
all i need do then is all the invoices
hmmmmmmmmmmm
maybe i should just hand over the laptop and cleaners mate as well. let her do the lot and bang it up to date.
derek
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Dose any one use this software on there mobile phone?
Len
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Go for plan B Derek ( Hand the laptop over)
Not yet Len but looking to run it on a PDA
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I also use this software.
Good bit of kit.
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Fantastic software.
Derek
I had an old database based on Access. But Access is just a fancy form of Excel.
Kevin put me in touch with one of the developers of the software. Sent him my database and for a small fee he converted it into CleanersMate. That covered my first four and a half years trading. I've kept upto date with inputting data this year and have back-tracked about 18 months. I've only got another 3+ years of diary entried to now input. :o
Roger
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just got an email off the kevster, all sorted now, well! i know what to do.
derek
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Does this mean you'll be on your pewter and not the net Derek :-[
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i know what to do as in, i know what instructions to give the secratary thats gonna do it ;D
derek
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Would this be mush mush get on with it ::)
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Derek shame on you one and a half years!
Why not start from tomorrow and work backwards with your data?
If your data is in access you can transfer it straight across and input the inoices later.
That should keep you off the forum for at least a week ;D
Ian,
To fill my data I have customers from newpaper adds, internet and cold calling.
Prity much the same as when I ran the business before only difference is I don't
take the crap I did before.
Dave are you cold calling in person oor on phone . Companies or homes. Glad to see you are doing it .
Do not want to hijack thread but tod a couple of people about software yesterday so this will get it back up top and they can find link.
If this does not make sense my screen is jumping and I cannot see a word I am typing . Does anyone else have this problem
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Jumping screens Ian - what you on?
I am on my 3rd day of testing the software.
Very easy to input the info.
I can already see that to use just to send mail shots will make life an awful lot easier as I was hand writing envelopes - no computerised database.
Finding my way around the functions but so far looks positive.
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Hi
Im on my 1st day trial and so far so good looks ideal and easy to use.
Does anyone know if you can save the complete(not the trial) version to disc or memory stick to back up?
Thanks
Vicki
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Excellent thanks for that Mark.
I take it you have purchased the software and use it then? How do you find it?
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Vicki
You can back up the data you have inputted to a memory stick or another section of hard drive, but I dont think you will be able to back up (or make a copy) of the program - much like other programes.
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Thats excellent, just what i was hoping to hear ;D
Thanks again Mark
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i usually make a charge for the work done, say £60 and then when i enter that into my current package it takes account of the VAT, in other words i don't have to work out the VAT, that doesn't seem to be an option with this software, or am i missing something??
colin
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i must be doing something wrong then, i have the vat reg box checked but wherever i input the £60 it doesn't work out the vat. i'll give kevin a call perhaps,
colin
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bought copy the other day its really good and value for money
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Well done Richard it’s better to scratch your ass than your head ;)
What I mean is at least with this package you have got a reference to look at where your works coming from and a good marketing arm to mail shot with.
Fair play to Kevin for putting some thought into this software. 8)
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displaying 71 clients with invoices, phewwwwwwwwww!!!!!!!!!!!!!
not even got to this year yet.
its all go intit
derek
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A good way to motivate yourself to add a backlog of records is to do a batch and then do a mini mailshot just with that batch rather than wait till everything is on there and do one massive one.
Between 50/100 would be the minimum though otherwise you risk getting nowt which is even more demotivating. :(
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i must be doing something wrong then, i have the vat reg box checked but wherever i input the £60 it doesn't work out the vat. i'll give kevin a call perhaps,
colin
Have you also remembered to put the VAT rate in as well?
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Roger I think Derek is looking more at WAT ( wear and tare)with the mamoth task he has rather than VAT
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dave i will call you 2morrow but will i be able to put my window cleaning customers into this as well
hope your well
dave
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Yes Dave you can it’s a simple data base that can be tailored to suit your business.
It has to be if I can use it
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cheers dave ill call u 2mo
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dave how do i get the trial version to try again as kev gave me 1 at the ccdo but i didnt try it properly and it has expired
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Just to remind you to register with
I think its The Data Protection Agency
I would have to check my fileling system for correct name , but saw document the other day when looking for somthing else
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Information Commission ;)
http://www.ico.gov.uk/
Read the laws on storing data about people and work out what you need to do about it.
Being a registered "Data Controller" costs you £35 a year from memory.
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displaying 115 clients. and 3 days into my evaluation. :( so boring i could watch a whole episode of noels house party without vommitting blood. ;D
derek
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average job ticket is £90.86, woooohooooooooooooo
derek
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Derek, it is time consuming getting it all in at first, my wife took days and days doing ours,but once its in its great.
Today she did a mail merge with all Decembers customers for the last 3 years and sent them out a Christmas nudge letter . 150 letters and it took her minutes to merge them and print them off. Also with the new software it also does your envelope addresses. So the hardest part was putting them into the envelope and putting a stamp on them( and the dearest :( 39 pence a stamp)
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39p????????? your avin a giraffe aren't ya. is it really that dear now for a stamp. be cheaper go round and hand deliver em
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30p for a 2nd class stamp for me it's too much and I am looking at different ways of attracting database customers.
Shaun
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Shaun anything over 5p is a lot for you :'(
Those of you who have tried the software earlier and could'nt quite decide whether to go with it or not and now want to have another look.
If you e-mail Kevin on (admin@clean-pro.co.uk) he will send you another activation code so you can have another go.
And for those of you who like Sheffield Shaun find the postage to much, the great part about Cleaners Mate is there is a field for e-maill address so mailshots can just be a matter of pressing a button and your offers are delivered to your customers at a blink of an eye whether the postmen are on strike or not. ;)
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My only bug bear is that the version of .NET on my PC isn't compatible with Cleaners Mate.
This means I have to download a different version of .NET and install it on my PC.
I had a VERY bad experience screwing around with .NET when I tried installing something else that required a different version, so unfortunately that's a big concrete wall in the way for me :(
I can't risk screwing up my PC again.
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My only bug bear is that the version of .NET on my PC isn't compatible with Cleaners Mate.
This means I have to download a different version of .NET and install it on my PC.
I had a VERY bad experience screwing around with .NET when I tried installing something else that required a different version, so unfortunately that's a big concrete wall in the way for me :(
I can't risk screwing up my PC again.
Kevin will send you a disk if you pefer
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well its taken me a week of doin a few hours each night and have trans all my paper onto cl mate. only beeb in bus a year so only had few hundred clients to input.
All on paper in folders so was bit mundane. found the easiest way to create the client list from my contacts folder (paper) then create an invoice with the same date as client was cleaned with a 0 value and then go through all my invoice books adding the values . Now its all done its really worth it .
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Make sure you go to settings and back it up, you will be gutted if you got a bug and lost it all :P
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Dave P , thats good common sence but its amazing how many people forget.
Why is Buster Ingram now a guest?
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Paul
I saw Dave today and he told me he has deleted himself from CIU.
Steve
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Whats happened now!
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He's got the hump with a couple of things that have been posted on here - not for me to say what, best give him a buzz.
Steve
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Unless things have changed you don't need data protection licence if it's purely for sales and marketing purposes to customers.
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Was unaware that anything had upset him, perhaps I should read all of the posts.
Shaun
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All I said was "How's the SEO going?" :-X
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displaying 221 clients and only 5 months of diary to go. woohoooo
derek