Feb 12
Love0

CRM Strategy: Finding The Right CRM For Your Company

By Tech No Comments

As is the case with any type of advertisement, CRM companies typically spend their time telling you what you need and why you need it. Rather than trying to address the problems you have and find what works for you, they tell you your problems (and then explain how their system can fix it). At Scoperite, we don’t believe to know what is best for you, which is why we invite you to sign-up for a demo and see what we are all about, but we understand that it isn’t for everyone and we won’t push our typical customers needs onto you. In doing our best to continue that trend, we want to talk about finding the right CRM for your company, because there are a lot of them out there that can address almost any problems or needs that you may have. Below we will dive into strategies on finding the best CRM for you company.

Look At What Your Business Needs

Every business is different, even within industries. They all have different cultures, different paces, and different ways of doing things. So CRM systems that say they specialize in X industry are just trying to hoodwink you into thinking they understand what your business needs. The only people who can properly identify what your business needs are you and your employees. Identifying what your business needs doesn’t mean looking for areas where a CRM might help, it means looking at your business as a whole and seeing what needs fixed. It could be the way the phones get answered, the time between follow-up calls, different people working on the same client, or anything! Take a hard look at what you think you need, and then ask your employees, or even ask clients for feedback; take all of that information and use it to see it to see what you need, because in the end it might not be a CRM.

Identify How You Will Use A CRM

Once you know your needs and/or problems, take a look at a few different CRM systems that you think might be good, and identify exactly what features will be helpful to you in regards to the specific needs you have already identified. If most of the features aren’t directly applicable to what you need, move on to another system. Do this for the systems you think might be good; if there are at least 3 or 4 features that you think will directly apply to your needs, make a note of it. Once you have a few different systems narrowed down, sign-up for demos. Take that time to really dig into what the software can do, and if it is worth adding to your company.

Evaluate Other Options

In addition to demo a few different CRMs and seeing if they are what you are looking for, also take the time to look at other available options as well. The Google Business system and Microsoft Office 365 are other great avenues to solving certain problems, and can cheaper and easier to implement as well.

When it really comes down to deciding to add a CRM or not, make sure you are taking the time and effort to research what you need and how it will help you be better, not just jumping in because other companies in your industry have it and you think it might help you too. Your needs are what need to be answered to, and it may not be a CRM that is going to do that.

Jan 28
Love0

KPIs: Identifying and Knowing Their Value

By Tech No Comments

Raise your hand if you know what a KPI is! I’m going to take a wild guess and say that if you never took a business class, you don’t know what I’m talking about, at least not the specific terminology.  A KPI is a key performance indicator, or said more simply, it is a measure of success. KPIs can be used in every facet of a business to determine how well it is doing. From marketing to finances to employee satisfaction, KPIs are in place so that you know how well everything is going. As simple as that sounds, KPIs can get confusing in a hurry, especially if other people are telling you what they are (or should be). The only people who can truly know what the KPIs are for your company are you and your employees because you know the business better than anyone else.

Identifying Your KPIs

No matter the type of business you run, there will always be business to business connections and outside people giving you advice. They can be financial advisers who help you keep the money flowing, accountants who can tell where you to look for explanations of losses, or marketing agencies swaying you in the direction of trends. All of these people mean well, but they can make determining success more difficult for you. They are experts in the broad spectrum; they know finance, or they know marketing, or they know employee management, but they don’t know your company. While they can lead you in the right direction, the accountant’s numbers might not be the most accurate way to measure success because of the time-frame your projects take. The marketing agency might know the best way to get your name out on Google, but does it line up with your goals?

You and your employees know the everyday ins-and-outs of your company, and you know best what marks your success. So take the time to take note of those things. Employee satisfaction may be determined by benefits or fun activities rather than base pay. Sales might not be measured by quarterly numbers. Marketing success may still be in the paper realm, not online. Look at how you currently measure your successes, those are your KPIs. Find ways to measure them more consistently (if need be) and share them with everyone you work with, both inside the company and out.

The Value of Knowing Your KPIs

Why is it important to know what you KPIs are? If you have measures of success that work for you, why re-name them and clarify them? So that you can share them, and do what is best for your company. Earlier we talked about working with businesses outside your company, and how they will have their own KPIs for your business, those companies are why you need to identify your own KPIs. You know what works and what doesn’t for your specific company, so share that with the other businesses you work with so that what they do for you can be more effective. If they are working to meet your standards of success, then you will likely see more of it. It makes everyone more productive when they know what the goals are, what aspects of the business are being looked at most closely, and where improvements can be made. Knowing and identifying your own KPIs gives you full control even when you are working with other businesses; allowing you to create and maintain higher levels of understanding, control, and, of course, success.

Jan 22
Love0

Reviews, Reviews, Reviews!

By Contractors No Comments

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, we want to talk about reviews…again. It’s not that we are trying to be boring and repetitive, it’s just that reviews are really, really important when it comes to keeping your contracting business successful. No matter what kind of contractor you are, you need reviews on your website, your google page, your yelp page, and where ever else your business has a presence. These reviews are good for a variety of things, but the two biggest are that customers can see and read them, and they can influence your online search rankings. Below we are going to dive into why you need to have reviews for both of those reasons.

Influencing Rankings

When people need something, they turn to the internet. Whether it is for advice, entertainment, or information the first thing most people do, is jump onto Google. What does that matter to you? It matters because that is where they are going to find you, or try to find you at least. While there are a lot of different things that contribute to your rankings in online search, reviews are one them so it is valuable to have them. When people are searching for contractors, they are going to get a lot of results because there a lot of contractors. One way to work towards the top of that search is to have reviews (and lots of them) on your google page and on your website. It might not bump you to the number one spot, but if people are looking and see you have a lot of reviews, it’ll make them more likely to click on you even if you are further down the page.

Convincing Customers

Piggy-backing off of influencing rankings, you need reviews to convince your potential customers to pick you. When they get on search, which they will do, they will look at your website, check out your photos and maybe your team, but what is going to make up their mind is your reviews. They want to see what other people have said about you, if your guys were clean, if the job was done correctly, were you attentive to specific needs? Those are the differentiating factors that people look at when they look for a contractor; anyone can do the work for more or less the same price so they are going to be looking for how easy you were to work with and is it worth it to work with you. Having lots of reviews looks good for one, because it shows the volume of your business, but also gives them typically all the information they want because every review will talk about different things.

So to wrap up. Ask for reviews. Then ask again. Ask until every customer you work with fills one out because it is better to have them (even if they aren’t all good).

Jan 17
Love0

Using Small Steps To Make Big Changes

By Health and Wellness No Comments

The New Year gives people an opportunity to make changes. While you can make changes at any point in time, the beginning of the year gives some people the motivation, determination, or whatever else it is that they need to actually get up and change. But that doesn’t actually make changing any easier. Making changes to your life, no matter what kind of change it is, is hard. There really is no other way to put it. But even though it can be hard, that doesn’t mean that it is impossible; you just need to take little steps in the right direction.

No matter the type of change you are making, little steps and small goals are the most effective way to succeed. The best way to set this up is to write it all down, so you remember what you are working towards and how you are doing it. Start by writing your big goal down at the top of the page, and then follow it with 3 or 4 “steps” or mini-goals you can take to reach your goal. For example:

Goal: Be healthier

  1. Gym 3 days/week
  2. Drink tea instead of soda
  3. Eating out 1x/week

These mini-goals will help you to reach your big goal, and will make it easier to get you there. Start with step one and focus just on that for as long as need. Some people like to set dates they want to have each mini-goal completed by to keep themselves moving; so you could say you want to go the gym consistently three days a week and have it be a habit (or be completed two months after you start). The timeline is totally up to you, with the point being that it makes you keep moving forward with your goals.

This set-up can be used for any sort of goals, personal or professional, individual or as a company. It gives every one the opportunity to successfully make changes and improvements and move their lives forward. Use this tried and true template (trust us, we tried it!) to get to work on creating the best you for yourself and for your company in 2019!

Jan 07
Love0

How To Keep Salesmen Busy During The Winter Season

By Contractors No Comments

For a large part of the country, it gets cold, wet, and unpleasant during the winter months of the year. Here in Colorado we feel it for sure; as do the contractors in Wisconsin, Iowa, Washington, and Montana among others; all you lucky people who live in Florida don’t know what we’re talking about, so you might need to skip this one.

During winter, when it is cold constantly and dark at 4:30, work tends to slow down. It is hard to do some things in freezing temps and it takes twice as long to finish projects when you have so little daylight to work with. This trend leaves your salesmen bored, for lack of a better word. There are no projects building, no storms creating new business for them to find, and the holidays make it easy to slack off even more. So what do you do? You aren’t paying them to just sit around and take up space in your office, so you find useful tasks to keep them busy. Below we dive into some of our favorite tasks to keep the salesmen busy when it’s cold out.

Training

There is no such thing as too much training. Even your most seasoned salesmen can always learn something new. Use the down time to do different kinds of training with your guys. Work with manufacturers to get updated installation techniques or to learn about new products or warranties they are offering. You can also use training’s to talk about stress and time management when it is busy at work; work with the team to come up with methods to combat stress that everyone can use when everyone is crazy busy. New sales methods are coming out every day as well, so take this time to make sure all of your salesmen are up-to-date and evolving their methods for the current sales market. No matter what type of training you choose to do, it can’t do any harm. It keeps your salesmen minds on their jobs, and, hopefully, will get them thinking creatively for how to get more business when things start to pick up again.

Planning

Similar to training, down time can be used for planning. Sit down with each of your salesmen and set goals for the next storm season. Or brainstorm as a group the best ways to find new business; see who has good connections and where other connections can be built. Get the salesmen to work together to plan sales tactics for specific areas that you know you want. The down time can be used to prepare for when things get busy and to find the best ways to tackle everything. It allows you, as an owner, to set standards and practices for how you want things to go in the next season.

Prospecting

Just because they can’t necessarily be out in the field selling, doesn’t mean the salesmen can’t still be making sales and bringing future business into the company. Slow season gives them the opportunity to sit down and look at what connections they have to get business, and where they can improve those connections and try to get more. Depending on your specific sphere, there are a number of other businesses that can be great partners for bringing business into to your company. Use the down time to have your salesmen try and connect with people from those businesses; have them call, offer an introduction, see if they would be willing to sit down with your company. Doing this gives your company the opportunity to grow even when things are slow. Plus, this also gives the salesmen a chance to test out new selling techniques that you have taught them during this time as well!

Slow doesn’t have to mean stopped. See what works best for your company, your people, and your goals and find ways to keep everyone busy year round.

Dec 19
Love0

The Benefits Of Being Cloud Based

By Tech No Comments

Gone are the days of documents being printed and filed by hand, and it seems that soon, the days of filling up your computer storage with those same files will be gone as well. More and more companies are moving document storage to the cloud, along with many of their other operations. With programs like Microsoft Office 365 and Google Mail becoming more user friendly and easier to manage, many companies are moving all of their online operations to cloud-based sites.

Moving operations to the cloud can be a big change, and take some time to transfer and adjust when it is done, but in the long run it can make a big difference for companies. When email, documents, and software programs are all on the cloud it allows your company to expand its capabilities and reap the benefits of doing so. Keep reading to check out the biggest benefits of being cloud-based.

Mobility

Any more it is unlikely that someone has to sit in an office all day to get their work done. With smart phones basically turning into small computers and flexible schedules becoming more popular, people can work from anywhere. The cloud is doing its part to make that even more possible. When all of a company’s work is in the cloud it can be accessed from anywhere; so beyond being able to respond to emails and stay connected, people can actually solve problems and finish work while they are working at home, from a coffee shop, or their kid’s baseball game. Mobility means that people can get more done, and be more efficient even when they can’t be in the office, but also get to maintain a work life balance a little easier. When work can be done anywhere, it makes it possible for people to be a part of events and work their day around kid’s activities and other obligations outside of work.

Accessibility

You know that feeling when you’re traveling for work and someone needs something that is done but it’s on your computer in another state? Or you took a few days off, but something big comes up and you don’t have access to jump on and help really quick? The cloud can help fix that. When everything is stored and organized on the cloud, no matter where you are you will have access to your email and all your files so that you can help solve problems or put in work if you have a little extra time. Having access to everything whenever you need it gives you the opportunity to be more efficient with your work and more effective in helping your coworkers and clients whenever they need it.

Organization

No matter your job, you always have stuff. Paperwork, office supplies, files, folders, the list goes on and on of the stuff that sits in your office that you have to spend time trying to keep organized. Again, this is where the cloud comes to save the day. When your whole operation is stored in the cloud, it means all the paperwork and files and folders are too. It takes a lot less time to scan in documents and organize them in folders on the computer than it does when everything is physically in your hand. It also makes it a lot easier to find files when you need them, because you know exactly where they are. Using a cloud-based system can help keep you more organized in a more efficient matter; you don’t have to routinely destroy your office to get it organized again and it is easy to make changes to your filing system when you need to.

Dec 18
Love0

Customer Service: The Make Or Break Differentiator For Contractors

By Contractors No Comments

Let’s face it, most contractors are basically the same. Within the sphere of work you do (roofing, plumbing, HVAC, etc.) you and your competition look a whole lot a alike. You offer similar services, for similar prices, with the same end result for the customer. So how do you make your business stand out over others? We have two words for you: customer service. Customer service is the one way that you can totally distinguish yourself from your competition; it allows you to create a specific identity for your company that no other company can replicate.

Regardless of the type of work you do, almost any other contractor in your field can properly repair or install. They can all make sure it is done to manufacturer specifications and in line with city ordinances, so there is little you can do besides tout your expertise (even though everyone else is also doing that). Next step would be to potentially offer deals or discounts, but similarly to installing, there are only so many different things you can offer; between the legal restrictions and your own costs, you can typically do free inspections or sometimes discounted materials, but unfortunately, the other guys can do that too. So what can you do to make your company different? Make your customer service better. When it comes down to it, people aren’t really going to remember the installation and the actual work that got done. They are going to remember if you were helpful, efficient, and communicative.

Making your customer service better doesn’t need to mean big changes within your company. Often it is the little, helpful things that customers remember and that can help you differentiate from other contractors. It can start at the very beginning before you even have a signed contract. Make the most of your initial contact, answer all their questions and address concerns, and follow-up with them after to make sure nothing else came-up after you left. This shows the potential customers that you care, and are invested in the project from the start.

Communication is another big way to build your customer service reputation. In addition to following-up when you are trying to win business, stay in contact once you have the business. Over-communicating can actually be helpful; keep homeowners updated with how the project is progressing, let them know if there are problems with materials, keep them in the loop when work is happening and what that entails for their daily lives. This goes both ways as well, the more you communicate with them, the more they will feel like they can communicate with you. You want them to be comfortable enough with you and your company to call with any questions or concerns as the project goes on. Taking those calls, and taking the time to address those concerns can be the turning point for you over other contractors.

You can also make them aware of product specifications, warranties, and what to look for in case something happens again. If the product has tell-tale signs that something is about to go wrong, let the homeowner know what those signs are and what to do when it happens to make the process smoother. If there are warranties or rewards available from either your company or manufacturers, make sure the homeowner is aware of them and help them get registered so that they won’t face more costs down the road. Going the extra mile to give them helpful extra information makes you look really good, and makes homeowners trust you more.

Making homeowners feel heard, understood, and secure during a project makes a difference. It makes them more likely to come back you for more work, recommend you to people who need the same work done, and give your company good reviews. All of these things help to set you apart from your competition; if they aren’t taking the time to listen to their customers, than that puts you a step above them and when the race is tight, that can make all the difference.

Dec 13
Love0

Warming Up Cold Leads: Best Practices

By Contractors No Comments

As much as we wish they were, not every job you’ll get will be a home run. You know the kind, where the homeowners sign the contract right away, the insurance company approves your estimate, and the work goes off without a hitch. For every ten jobs, you might get one that goes that nicely, and the rest, well, they require a little more legwork.

One of the most difficult parts of selling for contractors is getting the contract signed. Some homeowners like to take their time making a decision, or are unsure of what work they need done, or they just think they know more than you do. These are the homeowners that are typically deemed as cold leads; they didn’t slam the door, they let you explain what you do, and they may have even had you do an inspection, but then they want to wait to sign a contract. It can be frustrating dealing with these types of homeowners because you want the work and you want to get started. You might even think it would be easier to move on to the next house who is ready to sign the contract and forget about the hesitant people all together. But, taking the time to warm-up these cold leads can pay off big time if you do it right. In this post, we will go into detail about some of the best practices to warm-up cold leads and get contracts signed.

Don’t Push Too Hard Too Fast

One of the easiest ways to scare off cold leads for good is to push too hard too fast. Having to make changes or repairs to a home is big, big deal and some people need more time to process that than others. When you push too much, it can overwhelm the homeowners and make them run to another contractor with more patience, and it can also seem a little sketchy; like you just want to get the work done and get paid. Most of the time you can tell which homeowners are going to be a little harder to convince, so have a sales plan specific to those kinds of customers. Try your normal sales process at half speed if they seem skittish; do your inspection and give them all the information, but don’t bring up a contract or moving forward until the next time you speak. Give them time to process all the information one bit at a time, and let them become comfortable with you before the ball really starts to roll.

Stay In Touch

Another great way to warm-up cold leads is to stay in touch with homeowners while they are in the process of picking a contractor. Even if you are moving slower, as mentioned above, communicate with them; call and see if they have questions after looking over your damage assessment, ask if they have any questions about the insurance process, or if they need help navigating HOA requirements. Try and speak with them at least once per week while they are in the decision-making process. Not only will it keep you in their minds as an option to do the work, it will also help you build rapport and display your full expertise, which will hopefully bolster their confidence in you.

Find Hesitations

Typically, the people who take the longest to process and decide have specific concerns that are holding them back, and these concerns are typically easy to find. All you have to do is ask. Ask them if they have any specific questions or if there is anything they are worried about and, usually, that answer will let you know what they are worried about so you can address it. Finding out why they are hesitant to move forward gives you the opportunity to display your knowledge of the process and the repairs, and make the homeowner more comfortable with you; similar to staying in touch, it allows you to build rapport with them before other contractors can. Addressing their concerns, and pointing out how you can help negate them, can be a big step in getting a contract signed.

Dec 05
Love0

Success Through Simplicity: Why Customizability Matters

By Contractors, Public Adjusters No Comments

At Scoperite, we don’t believe that you need a software with a bunch of features to make your business better. We believe that you need a software that can bend to your needs and that can make your company more effective at what they do.

So many of the software options on the market for contractors and public adjusters right now do their best to showcase the wide variety of things that it can do, from tracking everyone’s calendars to creating graphs showing how many leads you’ve closed, but not every company needs all those features. That is where Scoperite aims to be different. We stand by our motto “Success Through Simplicity” because we don’t have a thousand different features in our system; we don’t think you need them. Instead we have a few different features, that we found to be the most useful for contractors and public adjusters, that are customizable to you and your business.

We believe it is more important for the features to function the way you need them to, rather than having (and paying for) a bunch of features for the sake of having a lot of them. Each company operates differently, with different systems in place so being able to customize the software you use to those systems makes the most sense. For example, Scoperite allows users to create documents like invoices and estimates from a template. That template is created by the owner of the company so that it fits your company’s methods for those documents. The same can be said for the custom email templates that can be created as well; users can create templates of emails they send frequently to save time, effort, and confusion and the templates are available from each claim page.

We could go on, but we won’t. Our point is, there is nothing wrong with simple when it gets the job done. If you want to learn more about our features and their customization, head over to our main page and sign-up for a demo today!

Oct 18
Love0

The Importance of Communication in Autonomous Roles

By Contractors, Public Adjusters No Comments

Contractors and public adjusters do a lot of work on their own. Whether it is scoping houses, supervising projects, or cranking out paperwork, it isn’t uncommon that they do all of it with little to no guidance or input from others. Autonomy is what helps many of these businesses run successfully; when the employees know what needs to be done, and get it done without needing to be told, it makes the whole company more productive and profitable.

However, just because someone can do something without input from others, doesn’t always mean they should. Communication is essential in the workplace, even when it isn’t necessarily needed. In autonomous roles, such as public adjusting or project management, communication can improve both individual and company performance in a lot of ways. Below we talk about some of the most important reasons to keep the lines of communication open at your company.

Keeps Everyone Connected

While it seems like an obvious point, communication keeps everyone connected. That may seem like a “well-duh” kind of statement, but in autonomous roles, people tend to only communicate with the other people that they need to get their projects done instead of communicating with everyone. When people take the time to communicate with all their coworkers, it fosters the culture of the company, which can sometimes get lost when there are lots of singular roles in a business. Even just asking about someone’s day in passing in the parking lot counts as communication that can help build a culture. When employees like the culture they work in and feel comfortable with their coworkers, they are more likely to stay at that job and enjoy doing their work.

Decreases Problems And Confusion

From scheduling crews, to ordering materials, to keeping property owners properly informed there is a mass amount of information and tasks that keep every project moving forward. For the most part, each person is focused on their projects and the tasks that they need to accomplish, which works, it’s how the work gets done. But when everyone is focusing only on their projects, things can get lost. If project managers aren’t communicating crews might get doubled booked, materials might get dropped and there’s no one there to unload it. If salesmen aren’t communicating they may knock too many of the same doors, call the same property managers, and make no progress. But if everyone communicates on at least a base level, it can eliminate a lot of that confusion. Talking with other project managers and planning schedules together can make sure there are always crews available. Coordinating with the other salesmen on the best way to attack a neighborhood can mean you’ll get more jobs, and not bother people by knocking on their door twice. Keeping yourself up-to-date with what is happening with other projects and other employees can solve problems before they start, and keep the company running flawlessly.

Improves Customer Service

Similar to communicating to avoid confusion, communicating with other coworkers can help improve company customer service as whole. If a project manager is on vacation, and the insurance company calls, someone else can help them if they have been talking with their coworkers and keeping tabs on their projects. If more people know what is happening with certain projects, anyone can help when problems arise. The more people that can help with problems, the better your customer service will be, which is likely to lead to referrals and good reviews from happy clients.

Fuels Accountability

Autonomy is awesome because it means making your own schedule and having more control over how you do your work. But it can also be easy to get behind, put things off, and let things slip through the cracks when you are the only one responsible for you. Communicating with coworkers and managers frequently fuels accountability; if you know someone is going to be checking-up, you want to have everything done. Whether it is asking about scheduling, following-up on a question, or passing on paperwork, if someone else is going to be asking you about your projects, you want to be prepared to answer them. Communicating doesn’t mean tracking schedules and taking away autonomy, but is a way to make sure that the people working alone are still doing all the work that they need to do.