Running a service business, regardless of the actual product or service you provide, entails a lot more than just showing up and fixing the problem. To win the confidence of complete strangers, you need to look like you know what you're doing and always put your best foot forward.
It's About Appearance
Beyond actually showing up, every touch point with your prospect will influence whether you win their business or not. When they call, does someone actually answer the phone or does it go to your cell phone's voicemail? When you show up, is your vehicle clean and organized? When you give them the proposal (or quote or estimate or whatever you want to call it), can they actually read it? Is the call to action to move forward clear?
The Proposal Tools
Whether you call it a quote, proposal or estimate, if the customer asks you to do something, then you should probably give them something in writing that details what you will do and how much it will cost. serviceminder has an excellent toolset for generating, tracking and converting your proposals into revenue.
Interactive Proposal Writer: You just add the items you want, update quantities or prices and everything will total automatically, including any sales tax.
Support for Options: Everybody likes choice. serviceminder makes it easy to separate out groups of line items that the customer can add on.
Track Every Proposal: Know at a glance how many proposals you have open, easily follow up on them. serviceminder will even send out reminders to your prospects to remind them to review the proposal or contact you for questions.
Electronic Signature: You can deliver the proposal by email, track when they review it and they can even electronically sign it and you'll get an email so you know they are ready to move forward.
Track Your Close Rate: Reporting will show you what percentage of your proposals turn into business and even show you on average, how long it takes prospects to decide. Got multiple sales guys? Now you can compare them and see who really is the top dog.
Information is Power
serviceminder helps you deliver professional looking proposals, makes it easy for the prospect to review and then makes it super easy for them to commit with a few mouse clicks or finger taps. The data that we gather then helps you improve your sales process and better predict what next month will look like based on what you did last month.
Just remember though that if you still use your dashboard to organize your business, even the best looking proposal may not get you the deal.