[Clive McDonald]

I went basic plus 12mths memory. I need the file from you now.

[Clive McDonald]

hi Ian,
it's on my pc and activated with a full code although it says i only have 45days.

I would like to play with it while i'm in egypt and set the expenses up. i think i might be able to set up a suggested expense table that is grouped in the same (similar way) as the online hmrc form for filing returns.This could be usefull for other users, or could form the basis for others to make further improvements to before being suggested as a basic template to set the expenses.

so i'm wating for the file.What else do you have to do on a sunday morning?

[ianhannaford]

hi Ian,
it's on my pc and activated with a full code although it says i only have 45days.

I would like to play with it while i'm in egypt and set the expenses up. i think i might be able to set up a suggested expense table that is grouped in the same (similar way) as the online hmrc form for filing returns.This could be usefull for other users, or could form the basis for others to make further improvements to before being suggested as a basic template to set the expenses.

so i'm wating for the file.What else do you have to do on a sunday morning?

Hi slumpbuster,

I am not at my PC at the moment so are unable to validate your license and also sort out your data. I will do this for you this evening and send you an email once its all complete.

Thanks

Ian

[Clive McDonald]

Cheers

[Clive McDonald]

I'm pc useless, but i want to be at the front and very much part of this knowledge economy. I think this more than anything defines the changes that have taken place within window cleaning.It's not just changes in technology (wfp), changes in legislation(H&S), changes in marketing, payment methods, the growth in upvc cleaning of frames gutters and cons, the rise in internal cleans because the custy feels more relaxed about the perception of the type of person doing the job, the trend towards longer frequencies.......

Yes, this is what the knowledge economy means for us, and you either use it and ride the tsunami all the way up the beach or you try to swim against it and end up flailing and going under.

[Moderator David@stives]

Clive

Nothing much has changed, we have always done frames and insides.

As for the public perception I have never suffered from that.

[Clive McDonald]

Funnily enough i was thinking about your fed pitch/ release. If you haven't grasped what the knowledge based economy means already (and i'm sure you have in your way as per training accreditation etc) then this is it.

Things have changed a very great deal, even three years ago most people didn't have broadband, were very wary about making a payment over the internet if they had, and you very probably spent much more of your time collecting and doing basic admin.

You've got a website- that's changed- people sometimes go there as the first place they look- thats changed.

etc etc


Anyway, if you can do a press release when you join safecontracter, then when i upgrade my IT facilities to the very best and latest available, and can make a wider point about the knowledge based economy and what it means to us, then i think it's almost a public duty on my part. etc

[Clive McDonald]

jokimg and pomposity aside the other day when you and some of the bigger firms were posting about losing work and starting to re target domestic, there is a huge, and i mean huge demand for internal. The reason this is not widely known is they only approach people they trust. When i get my employee i shall do more of this.

the other reason for these posts is to gee ian up with my file.

[Clive McDonald]

What a great bloke ian is. He's just sent me my converted file.I'm off to egypt for two weeks so this will give me something to play with.

Thanks ian.

[ianhannaford]

What a great bloke ian is. He's just sent me my converted file.I'm off to egypt for two weeks so this will give me something to play with.

Thanks ian.

No problem, please let me know how you get on with the software and enjoy your break.

Ian

[Trevor Knight]

Transferring Data from george to WCP was very easy and Ian will help you through any issues you may have during this process.

Why am I using WCP above any of the others. Well my main reasons are this:

CEO - Very good, extremely thorough but costly £1,500 + yearly service fees - Very similar to WCP but with a few added features that in all honesty were nice to have but not essential daily requirements and hardly used by me.

George - Excellent product for a single or 2 man operation, but in my opinion and experience, I out grew the programme. I had no way to track information with notes as the notes you input were then transferred onto the worklists. Good if is simple info like, gate locked, or cheque in garage but when your calling people to chase debts etc you need to input history. This history doesnt need to be on your worksheets otherwise your worksheet when printed out would be 50 pages long, but it does need to be on your system. I had no way of tracking who has done what job, important when chasing a debt that is 30 days or older. I also had no way of tracking mailshot success, new campaign success, cancellations (reasons why) etc.... I also had no way of "at a glance" work outstanding, I had to scroll through each and every round to see who was in the red, ok if you only have a few rounds but I have over 25 areas...........

So, as I said, I personally felt I had outgrown George.

Window Cleaner Pro - again this is just my opinion.

Ability to hold much more information on customers, not just job references but debt related.
A "To Do List" linking in with your customer, logging calls, letters, chasing debts etc...
Flagging for "Calling ahead and the reason"
Tagging - The ability to track what is happening in your business, sales campaigns, new business, cancellations etc.....
Calendar View "an at a glance view of whats coming up in the next month.
Schedule View "An at a glance view of any work that is outstanding on ANY round"
Detailed reports - Especially tagging Reports. - Why are customers cancelling, exactly how MANY new customers did your last campaign generate, Is your payment methods successful?
Excellent back up and support from Ian and always willing to embrace any ideas/suggestions that may enhance the system further.

These are all areas that when growing a business are essential information and areas that WCP gives you over and above other operating systems.

Like anything, you only invest if you see the benefits, but just one thing to consider............As long as you are making a profit each year then the purchase of an operating software system can be deducted from your tax liability, so in many ways......IT'S FREE!!

All the above is ONLY my opinion for what it's worth?

regards, Trevor

[ftp]

Free? only free of tax surely? Seems to be a lot of misconceptions of things being free. Some on here think they are getting a free van if they buy through a lease 

[Trevor Knight]

Free in terms of if you have a tax bill to pay then you are legally able to claim tax relief based on a business purchase. So instead of paying the Tax man x amount of pounds you can offset some of this against business expenses of which a software programme specifically and solely for the purpose of your business is one?

If your unsure, please ask your accountant as they will verify that this is a legal expense for your business.

[p1w1]

does wcp or is there plans for showing overdue debts eg you tell it your round is monthly, 6 weekly or whatever then if you are late it will highlight this does it do the same for the debts eg when you have done the clean the customer then has x amount of days (to whatever you set it at) to pay if payment has not been recieved within time limit it is then highlighted like it would do a overdue job..this would would be great for me you would be able to look at the debts and see straight away who is overdue and needs chasing up.

paul

[Steve Lowe]

Something a lot of potential buyers of these kind of softwares should ask is does it have a yearly fee. If it does not then how long are the updates and support going to last ? Its a bit like asking us to clean a customers windows once for a fee and then afterwards clean monthly free of charge.

[ianhannaford]

does wcp or is there plans for showing overdue debts eg you tell it your round is monthly, 6 weekly or whatever then if you are late it will highlight this does it do the same for the debts eg when you have done the clean the customer then has x amount of days (to whatever you set it at) to pay if payment has not been recieved within time limit it is then highlighted like it would do a overdue job..this would would be great for me you would be able to look at the debts and see straight away who is overdue and needs chasing up.

paul

It doesn't at present, and I'm not sure if there are any plans to add it. I'm sure Ian will answer at some point!

I think this would be a good feature too, along with being able to print "Polite Reminder" invoices for those that need one.

There are plans to add this kind of feature. It comes up the heading of 'Payments and Penelties' which is a section all be itself. You will be able to set penalties for late payments and also print/send reminders for those with outstanding payments. At the moment I am working on a Wall Planner style view of work, better management of multiple jobs at a single location and SMS integration. Once they are done then I will look into the next set of work including pre-raising invoices.

Thanks

Ian

[john tomkins]

Something a lot of potential buyers of these kind of softwares should ask is does it have a yearly fee. If it does not then how long are the updates and support going to last ? Its a bit like asking us to clean a customers windows once for a fee and then afterwards clean monthly free of charge.

Just because you've paid a yearly fee doesn't mean support/updates will go on indefinately.

I bought George 2 years ago for £50, I never expected it to last forever, if support ceased tomorrow I'd have had a good run for my money, incidently, the program doesn't just stop working just because the support stops.

[ianhannaford]

Something a lot of potential buyers of these kind of softwares should ask is does it have a yearly fee. If it does not then how long are the updates and support going to last ? Its a bit like asking us to clean a customers windows once for a fee and then afterwards clean monthly free of charge.

Hi Steve,

This is why we have created the Gold support package for those companies that require that additional level of support. We will also be making some enterprise features available which may have a small cost assocaiated with them. Hopefully this will help the software to grow and maintain for a long time to come.

Thanks

Ian

[boshravie]

Hi Ian

Well I have a little idea for you, and would like to shire it with you and every one on here.
I have an I phone and would be great if I can use your soft ware on my I phone, in fact Apple has started to encourage anyone in the world that if you have  an idea you can download it to their App store and for a small fee to them you can make £££££££££ in your pocket, because you will be able to sell your software in 60 country and growing.
With that sum of money (this time next year you can be a milliner mate)

Now that’s an Idea. 

Regards,
Bosh