Keeping Up With The Calls

[JimLewis]

Hey guys, I got a question for those who do a lot of advertising. What kinds of things do you do to make sure you don't let a customer down?

What I mean is; every spring and summer the same thing happens. I start getting worried around Janurary because things are so dead so I plan tons of advertising. Then when spring finally hits and I am getting swamped with calls I invariably end up taking a call, taking down the information, and then not showing up to give the bid. Now this doesn't happen very often, but it does happen. And I feel really bad about doing this.

My goal has always been to give an estimate to 100% of the people who wanted one from me (assuming it was a job I could do and was interested in.) I really feel bad when I let someone slide through like that. But I just get so busy it's hard to keep up. I am as organized I could possibly be. But I wondered what others did to make sure they gave bids to everyone.

[osc]

We did a yellow pages ad in 2000 and had to drop it for the year 2001. Too many calls. My wife had the auto response thing of "we're booked up for three months".

[JimLewis]

Well, I have never been booked up for that long (I wish I had). Usually we are only booked for a week or two during the busy season. And I honestly would like to make sure and give every bid and get all the business we can take. It just seems that I have trouble keeping up with calls, estimates, overseeing jobs, buying new equipment, etc. Then, before I know it, I let one slip by.

Jim

[beck]

I was once told that if you get every bid you make you are not charging enough.

If I have a lot of work that needs to be done I generally raise the price. The law of supply and demand.

I try to find out if there is a possiblility for more work up front. If there is then I won't raise the price too much. Hoping to get that job and any future jobs.

Also find out their time frame do they want it done for a party next weekend or whenever you get around to it. That will help in the initial conversation, by finding out if it fits in your time schedule.

Being organized helps out a lot. I usually make "to do lists" my spring list is starring me in the face. (too bad it is still a couple of months off)

[Richard Martin]

JimLewis wrote:

<b><i>It just seems that I have trouble keeping up with calls, estimates, overseeing jobs, buying new equipment, etc</b></i>

If you are getting this busy it is time to hire someone to help you. You could hire a salesman, an office person or a field manager. You need to become an effective manager and delegate some responsibility to hired help. Check into some online courses in management. You will not regret it.

[JimLewis]

Argh! You guys don't get it. I was looking for a few organizational tips. Maybe "Well, I always get up at 7:30 and give all of the estimates for the day and then go on to other business" or something like that.

Beck, I don't expect to land every bid I give. That wasn't the issue. The issue was trying to organize things in such a way where I GAVE every bid. Whether I got the job or not was not what I was addressing.

Richard, I don't really have the business to warrant adding a salesman, office person, etc. Although my wife is coming home full time in March and she will help with office work. But we are only really super busy like this for a 3 months or so, then it's completely managable. And it's not like I miss very many bids anyway. Even if I hired someone and got it to where I was able to make 100% of the bids, that would only be maybe 5% more than I had done in the past, which doesn't justify hiring help.

Anyway, like I said, I am just looking for organizational techniques to help me oranize things so that I don't ever miss a bid. I am mostly interested in hearing from guys who have a pretty good sized operation going, who advertise a lot, and have come up with a way to make sure they give every bid they want to within 48 hours or so of receiving the call.

[Runner]

Well, I have a friend that has a rather successful tree and yard service (no maintenance) and though he doesn't actually work with the guys, he has one day out of the week, Wednesday, that he does his estimates. This wouldn't work in our business though, because people want their stuff done NOW!

[HOMER]

That sounds like the most sane thing to do, I have trouble as well at times. Take one morning a week and do estimates, and tell them when they call that you reserve every Wednesday morning for estimates and thats when you'll be there. I think it's more of a discipline thing, at least it is for me. If I could practice some of what I preach I would be better off!

[double e]

You probably already do, but have a note pad handy.
1st page: I have things to do: jobs you already got the go on.
2nd page: Jobs to bid on- when people call- put name/address/and what to do
3rd page: Jobs pending- jobs you already bid on, just waiting to hear back from

When people call tell them you busy and will bid as soon possible. But mostly dosn't work, because people are impatient.

On jobs I don't want- I always refer other companies. It makes them feel appreciatated and they will in turn refer you.- could be the job you've been looking for.

[Ssouth]

jimlewis, personally, I've always been a notepad person but have found I have to many pads floating around at one time and never have all of the info I need with me at all times. For Christmas I recieved a palm pilot and have been playing with it ever since. I truly believe this device will put an end to all of my organizational needs. I, myself have been guilty of not returning calls again ( I WILL NEVER DO THIS AGAIN, it makes your business look very bad) This past summer I recieved several lucrative jobs where other company's would say they would be there but never showed up. Either be honest and tell them you are busy or SHOW UP. I recieve all of my business through word of mouth and would hate to lose all of my business through word of mouth. If you have to put a string around your finger LOL. Just some food for thought.

[Toddppm]

I wish we were that busy right now!
I have one notepad that i write every call on and always have with me along with proposals , price sheets, etc.
In the same place on every call i write date they called and rest of info. address etc., then when i ret'd call or when i told them i'll be there.
For regular maint. type work i try to get there asap to give an estimate. For everything else we stayed about 3-4 weeks out on new work up until Dec. so first thing i ask is when they want it done, if they can't wait or pay more to be bumped up,sorry. Then i tell them our minimum. These 2 steps weed out a lot of people, i got tired of going to look at $50 jobs chatting for a half hour.
I missed a couple appointments too and felt pretty bad having to call them and reschedule(if they still wanted to)
But then again i had way more people not be there when they said they would?
I always try to do estimates during the week , early,noon,late, in between jobs, but i still ended up doing a lot of all day saturdays.Only estimate i did on a sunday all year was a guy i missed an appt. with and felt bad, don't you know didn't get the job! Anyways ,prequalify them on the phone first , weed em out and keep all your notes in one place.
Oh yeah, besides YP's, when my coupon advertising goes out it's all in certain ares, so i'll stall the first few people who call for a couple days until i have enough to knock out maybe 5 0r 6 estimates in that area. I try to return every call i get but if no repsonse after 2-3 times forget it.

[Shelton's Lawn]

I try to return calls at the end of the day between 7-8 at night. I tell them that I am busy and it will be the weekend before they can get a estimate. If its a free estimate I do it on my time and not theirs. If they cant wait they have to get someone else to do the work.

[parkwest]

We use Act 2000 software to track all leads. Crew leaders have new client worksheets, measuring wheels and price charts with them. If the new lead is not on a route or a large project, we schedule on saturdays for residentials, Fridays for commercials.

[65hoss]

Jimlewis,
First of all you don't need advice from people with larger companies. Sounds like its just you and your wife. Your not in the same position to handle things the same way. They delegate the day to day and handle the business side. Its not possible to be small and handle everything that comes through. If you wait until its convenient you will lose some opportunities because usually the 1st to arrive has the best chance for the residential work. To be able to handle a task like this you must be bigger to delegate the work to others and handle the growth portion of the business.

The advice you were against about being a manager was the best advice possible. No quick fixes, you got input from people that have been there before and know what it really takes.

[Richard Martin]

Alrighty then. If you don't want to become a manager or hire someone then hire a consultant to come into your operation and audit the way you do things. They cost a few dollars but they will save you tons of money and time down the road.

I have a friend of mine who is the CFO for a large medical group and every couple of years he comes in and looks at everything. He has made recommendations that have saved me time and money everytime he audits me.

[kutnkru]

We mention as part of our answering message on the phone that we are currently out in the field and all calls will be returned within 24 hours.

This gives us time to make the call backs. We also have a list of contractors we feel are reputable in all our trucks so that we can be a little more particular about who we take on as new clientele.

This way if we are not going to take them on as new clients we have still REFERRED them to somene we feel good about, and they dont feel we've abandoned them.

Good Luck!!

[MJ]

Although I don't have the experience you're looking for, what I found helpful in setting up and refining my system was using the local Small Business Administration or SCORE. While the person you meet with will not have experience in this particular business, he or she will have years of business experience (they are retired executives) and the advise is applicable to managing time and business techniques in general. Lots of good ideas there and, best of all, it's free.

Mick

[jkinchla]

Jim,
You could forward your calls to a cell phone, that way you know when a call has come in and if you miss it you can always call them back at lunch. I keep a clipboard with every person who has called and list the kind of job next to their name. then I check off whether I have called them back or not. So I would have to agree with the others who keep a note pad of clipboard, it is low-tech but works very well.
I find that those customers who I call back the fastest are much more likely to hire me, especially when I call on the cell phone during the day. Also, the clipboard method allows me to ask how they heard of me and track my advertising that way. Good luck.

[1MajorTom]

I think the first thing to do would be to have a message
on your answering machine that says something to
this effect:

Hello, You have reached "Jim Lewis Lawn Care", I am
curently out in the field. Please leave your name
and telephone number and I will return your call
sometime this evening after 7:00 PM.
Thank you for calling.



In March and April we get flooded with calls.
BEFORE we had the message on our machine stating that
calls would be returned in the evening, we were
getting people who were calling 2 and 3 times a
day ANGRY that we hadn't returned their call in
the hour.

When we call, we find out the pertinent information.
We try to save ourselves time by weeding out the
junk calls, the timewasters, and jobs that we
just aren't interested in. We do not try to get
every job when the calls come in. We are at
the point where we can pick and choose.

Now, once you decide that you want to take a look
at their property, try to incoroporate it into
your daily run. Either first thing in the morning
or maybe finish up giving the bid. On calls that
sound promising, try not to wait too long (two days
at the most) to go out and give a bid.


To Recap:

Return calls in the evening.
Don't run yourself ragged trying to get to every call.
Pick out the best and most promising calls, and capitalize
on those ones.
Incorporate your estimates into your daily run.


Jodi

[JimLewis]

Ok. I am going to close this thread. It's just obvious that my question was misunderstood. I am sorry, that is my fault. Almost all of these things I already do and more. I forward all of my calls to my cell phone. I almost never miss a call. I have a great message on my voice mail if I for some reason don't answer. And in that case, I return the call within a few minutes. I have the best and biggest planner that Franklin / Covey makes and I use it very well. I already have someone coming in to help me with office stuff this year (my wife is coming home for good.) I have excellent software, and I do a good job of fielding the calls and finding out exactly how important the job is to me and them.

I am more organized than any of my competitors. I was just looking to see if there are guys out there who get literally swamped with calls but also actually make every single bid they want to. And if so, how did they do it. Anyway, it wasn't that big of a deal anyway. And this thread just continues bring up things that I already encorporate. So rather than waste everyone's time typing me replies, I think it best to close it. '

Thanks for the input. Particularly to Jodi. That recap is good. It made me feel better about missing a few every once in a while. Like you said, you can't run yourself ragged trying to get every call. I already knew that but it's good to have confirmation. It just bothers me when I leave people hanging.