Just a little curious as to how others bill for fert only customers. Nearly all of my sull service customers are on a monthly account, but I have some customers that are fert only, and I am only there once every 5-6 weeks. Do you leave a bill in the door? That is what I want to do. Do you hand write it in the field, and leve it in the door, then enter the transaction into the computer at the end of the day? THis is OK, but seems like double work. Do you have a laptop in the truck with printer, and do it all in one shot? Do you prepare the invoice at the office before you leave, and drop it in the door? This is what I am leaning twords. I can leave a hand written note on the invoice. The only problem is if you decide to do one that you did not plan on, and don't have the invoice. I guess you will still have to hand write those.
We use door hangers to notify customer of date, time, and service provided. Then follow up by mailing an invoice to that same home or business.
i preprint the invoice with out date of service.orginize them in a folder and go down my route sheet,mark off on the sheet,date the invoice and leave at the door. anthony
I do what Stinger does. But I really gotta change my system. I am seriously thinking about getting CLIP and intergrating that with QuickBooks.
I have, after careful consideration, decided that the most efficent and cost effective method (for me) is a laptop with printer in the truck. I need to leave sonething in the door for my customer, so why not do it all in one shot? I can use Quickbooks to prepare my invoices, put my notes directly on the invoices. I can also use it to track my chemical use, only this record is not printed on the customes invoice, only in my records. This system will eliminate many dollars in postage, and also eliminate doing double paperwork. Now, to find an "older" laptop. Any leads? I really only need a basic machine that will run Win/95.
I would not use the laptop and 12vt printer on a daily basis. If I am fishing for resi. accounts I do all my estimates on Saturday. If the call on monday they wait until Saturday TS. Then you show up with your wheel, your lapputer, printer and digital camera. Measure the site, crunch the numbers, take a pic of the front of the house and back, print out a one page proposal with a little pic of thier home on the front. This act alone will make them act like deer in the headlights. They will think you are the smartest lawn guy that walks the earth!! Hand them a proposal with a pen with your bus name. Make sure you dicuss the 10% discount of yearly pre pay and 5% discount for monthly prepay option with the prospect. Try to get a check b/4 you leave. This gets them used to paying you and people are creatures of habit.
Stone- Why would you not use a 12v printer on a daily basis? I want this for fert only accounts, so that I don't have to hand write a bill, then enter it into my PC at the end of the day? I like anthonys idea, but it leaves me with two hangups. 1 what if you decide to do one extra that you didn't prepare an invoice for? 2 You have no record with you (without carrying a file cabnet) of that and when the last treatment was. With the laptop, I can access the last transaction for each customer. Are the 12v printers expensive on a cost per page? Sotne- I do like your idea on the proposals. I would LOVE to see some homeowners reaction to that.
