[John F]

Now in the light of day, can I explain what I mean.  I feel mortified about what I said.  But like yourselves there are many complaints about being messed around, whether its money, customers.... we also get messed around.  Set up appointments at a particular time, arrange demonstrations and nobody picks the phone up.  Issue log in codes - then people dont go on the system,  So its equally as frustrating for our business.  I have no problem whatsoever people saying im going to write something for the iphone, but when we give details out to people and they dont look, dont answer the phone etc  can you see how that makes us feel, we do try and help and will bend over backwards for anybody who needs it, but it is a two way street.

I hope that explains it better

i cant see what the problem is. what you describe are normal service industry situations. if you have communication problems and it starts to make you aggressive then you may want to get some advice from someone in a similar industry to help you cope with every day business of dealing with human beings.

[John F]

having read your edit about telesales. forgive me if i would rather not have potential customers called by someone who needs anger management after 7 pm.

[William McCafferty]

Now in the light of day, can I explain what I mean.  I feel mortified about what I said.  But like yourselves there are many complaints about being messed around, whether its money, customers.... we also get messed around.  Set up appointments at a particular time, arrange demonstrations and nobody picks the phone up.  Issue log in codes - then people dont go on the system,  So its equally as frustrating for our business.  I have no problem whatsoever people saying im going to write something for the iphone, but when we give details out to people and they dont look, dont answer the phone etc  can you see how that makes us feel, we do try and help and will bend over backwards for anybody who needs it, but it is a two way street.  Also some of you will know that I have my own business telesales within this inudstry - so I will always have your best interests at heart.

I hope that explains it better

Kate

Have a look at this forum and others, on all of them you will find a feature to search back posts to find a answer to their questions.

In the majority of cases they don't use it, instead they post topics, so we end up with mulitiple topics about the same question all the time.

So when someone asks your question, then all you have to do is post a link back to the original question with offers to help if they have further questions, job done.

On your test site, why not make it open for everyone to access and play with, without the need to register or input pass codes.

You will be surprised how many people do not want to give out their details when they are just "window shopping
" if they want more information they will ask.

Both the George and Aworka programme are simple to use, we are window cleaners and we don't want over complicated.

Both programmes also have a free trial periods, we can then play with them on a daily basis, normally for a month to see if its what we want.

 

[Moderator David@stives]

Hydro

Good post

[William McCafferty]

Hydro

Good post

OMG : praise at last

[Catherine10]

Hi Hydro,

Thank you for that.

We don't ask for details, we just issue passwords, guys can then look round etc.  But if there is something thats not understood, it would be appreciated if somebody would just say I dont understand X can you explain, thats all really.  Plus because there is a live side on the desktop, it sort of needs to be shown - and we can only really do that on the phone.

Thanks good post Hydro.

[Dave Willis]

Still haven't really mentioned the cost yet clearly.

[Catherine10]

Sorry Mark £30 per month for upto 3 users

[SherwoodCleaningSe]

What happens when you pull your phone or tablet out to discover that you have either no data connection or only a 2g data connection. You would then be spending 5 minutes trying to accept a payment from a customer because the cloud based system wouldn't work properly. Anything that is cloud based through a web browser isnt going to work 100% of the time out on the road. You might think that this isn't a big deal but if someone is dealing with 50 customers a day then they want something more reliable.

Instead of using browsers like safari or chrome write apps that can back the data up to the handset and then people won't be affected by data connection issues. I'm personnally waiting to see what the next version of FileMaker has to offer. At the moment there are no cloud based apps that would work well with window cleaning unless you can absolutely guarantee your data connection.

Simon.

[Window Washers]

WOW! I just read this tread with my gob wide open  

Catherine10 the way I see it you need to think hard about how you promote your product.
instead of getting your knickers in a twist when people say "is there anything for the Iphone" you should see it as a serious failing in your advertising department and deal with it. Perhaps you need to employ someone to deal with promotion?

I have been using this forum since 2003 and have read the same questions a thousand times. That's what newbies do. If they cant see what they are looking for THEY ASK!

I was about to look at your product until someone said its £30 a month. I dont see why I should pay that much for something when there is a fantastic alternative for a fraction of the price. I bet most guys feel the same way.

George has been a runaway success for one reason. PRICE! George did not need to advertise, as it was so cheap and did a great job it built its reputation on referrals.

If you are not getting referrals or new enquiries and get frustrated when people ask for a product you provide you are doing something wrong.
IMO  

thats a little insulting to the makers of George, they fit a niche at the cheaper end thats for sure, some people don't But nobody would just buy george on price because if it was rubbish it would not sell, they have a good program thats why it sells the price helps to sell to their market or for people to test it's only about 50 quid, I think it is too cheap tbh for what it does.
it is like windwocleaner pro 3 x the price other use this and swear buy it, that because wcp targeted higher end customers. Price can determin the market your in, the cheaper it is the more problems it brings I find.



there will always be cheap and more expensive cheap products can work out expensive long term.

Lets say george was £50 and you spent 5 hours learning it and putting things on it how much has george now cost you because its not £50 people forget this part.
it's like spending hours online to get £5 of an order does this really save money.

[William McCafferty]

I have problems with getting "online" at times but I just input the data when I can.

I never just rely on being "online" I always take a hard copy of the job sheet with me.

[Nameless Drudge]

I`m really pleased to have read this thread as i can self congratulate myself on buying not 1 but 2 page a day diaries from the pound shop.and discovering that pens from Barclays bank will still write in the cold.

The latter information was given to me by a cheque writing customer who then lent me said pen to write out his receipt(£160.00) and it now resides in my van.

[Window Washers]

I have problems with getting "online" at times but I just input the data when I can.

I never just rely on being "online" I always take a hard copy of the job sheet with me.

I hear you on that one, thats the only problem about cloud computing if you could not access it, I have this very same problem.
I think the concept is great and I am sure it auto backs up as soon as available, I can see some problems straight away but no more than when taking a hard copy.

I would love to turn everything digital and get rid of paper work as it drives me nuts

[♠Winp®oClean♠]

I`m really pleased to have read this thread as i can self congratulate myself on buying not 1 but 2 page a day diaries from the pound shop.and discovering that pens from Barclays bank will still write in the cold.

The latter information was given to me by a cheque writing customer who then lent me said pen to write out his receipt(£160.00) and it now resides in my van.

Ditto!

[Window Washers]

I`m really pleased to have read this thread as i can self congratulate myself on buying not 1 but 2 page a day diaries from the pound shop.and discovering that pens from Barclays bank will still write in the cold.

The latter information was given to me by a cheque writing customer who then lent me said pen to write out his receipt(£160.00) and it now resides in my van.

Ditto!

there is no helping you

[rosskesava]

Having bought George some 8 or 9 years ago, it is in effect a free program at £7.50 a year. It does everything I want and while out and about I use a £10 pda, bought 5 years ago, and it all works fine. No internet connection needed and no expensive mobile although I have one anyway.

Kates program over the same time period would cost £3 000 plus.

For 60 times the price would I use Kate's?

Sorry Kate, I'm not having a go at you and I intend no insult but I think the price is way too expensive.

[Catherine10]

No, none taken whatsoever Ross

I think George is brilliant, and I am sure Aworka will be great too.

Think maybe we are more for multiple users - getting the pricing structure right has always been difficult. We have gone over this quite a bit, could we offer for single users?  We would have to have a lot of single users...... 

[Paul Coleman]

Now in the light of day, can I explain what I mean.  I feel mortified about what I said.  But like yourselves there are many complaints about being messed around, whether its money, customers.... we also get messed around.  Set up appointments at a particular time, arrange demonstrations and nobody picks the phone up.  Issue log in codes - then people dont go on the system,  So its equally as frustrating for our business.  I have no problem whatsoever people saying im going to write something for the iphone, but when we give details out to people and they dont look, dont answer the phone etc  can you see how that makes us feel, we do try and help and will bend over backwards for anybody who needs it, but it is a two way street.  Also some of you will know that I have my own business telesales within this inudstry - so I will always have your best interests at heart.

I hope that explains it better

I think part of the problem is not just about you but about previous let downs on here by others.  If someone ends up with too much control (e.g. by renting software out on a per month basis) that gives that person too much say in my business expenditure and software updates IMO - this being especially so if there isn't a viable data export mechanism which would allow an easier transfer to other software.
Another issue I have (not with you particularly but with the more marketing minded people) is that I feel that the window cleaning business can be made unnecessarily complicated.
Personally I prefer to update my records daily when I get home.  Much easier using a big screen and a keyboard that actually fits my little fat fingers  
I imagine your target is people who have or wish to build a larger company than I.  As a sole trader I manage OK with MS Works - and version 6 at that which was written some years ago.
I can't help feeling that this thread is about you trying to sell software which is masquerading as an apology.  If you want to apologise for something maybe just do it?  Not this "I'm sorry and will you buy my software."  It can come across as a bit shallow.

[Paul Coleman]

Hydro

Good post

OMG : praise at last

You two should down handbags maybe? 

[William McCafferty]

Aworka is good for muiti uses as well