Be kind and inviting to the new guys they said lol.
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I use Markate now. Formerly HouseCall Pro user. Markate is great.
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Markate user here too. I’ve never used any other so can’t really say why it’s better than others. Well, I guess I used Joist but that was when it was free and then $10 so that doesn’t really count. I’ve always enjoyed Markate and have no reason to ever switch. It definitely makes life a lot easier.
@marinegrunt Do you ever utilize that postcard function they offer? That alone is making me want to switch. I could see sticking a yard sign in then hitting the street with those and being very effective.
There is a lot to like but my favorite feature is the notifications sent to the customer. For instance yesterday I did an insurance company building, because they’re closed Saturdays. I was able to easily send a notification to the owner that the work had begun, send one when the work was completed, and generate the invoice and send it before I left the property. Then on my way back to the shop my mobile alerted me that he had viewed the invoice. So, good customer communication without ever calling or texting.
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Thanks 
Hey Brian, what do you most like about it?
You’re obviously doing something right!
I haven’t used the postcard feature but I think @BigJake has. Too be honest I need to spend some time and figure out everything it can do. I know there are a lot of features I have access to but not using. I plan on really learning the ins and outs this winter.
I definitely agree with what @Steve said @garry.cooper. A couple pushes on the phone and you keep them updated. You can also automate emails such as receipts, asking for a review, follow up for review, etc. I like how I can get an estimate thrown together and emailed in less than two minutes. I still have a lot to learn though. I think I’ll look into the online booking for next season.
Yup, been using the post card automation for a year and a half now. It sends as soon as an invoice is paid, but doesn’t actually hit their mailbox until about a week later. I also have request for review set up to go out after they view the invoice. If request for review doesn’t elicit a review, then the postcard usually does the trick. I’ve gotten several reviews right at about 6-7 days after they paid, which is when the post card hit. So far it’s gotten me about 40 reviews on Google and almost 50 on Nextdoor.
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So on markate, what’s the purpose of a work order? Is it meant for employees?
I’ve learned on Markate that it works best if you set up everything as a work order and work off of it. I have no idea why they decided to set their system off of that, but it’s how it works. Somebody calls or emails and books a job, I put them in as a customer and create a work order (input the job details). Schedule the work order and assign it to myself so it gets added to the calendar. This then sends a notification of the appointment to the customer. I click complete when I finish the job, which creates the invoice. I can then send it to the customer or mark it as paid if they provided payment on site. It works…I’d prefer to just set it from one invoice to start, but I’ve learned that’s not how to get the most out of their system.
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Okay I understand. Wish you could bypass the whole employee thing if you are a one man show. Now, has anyone used nicejob? And if so, linked it to markate? Or do you use the ask for a review add on. And if you do then does the negative review thing where If you get a review less than let’s say 5 stars, you can choose not to have it posted to your pages? And does that work for google Reviews ?
I like the work orders because it creates a list of waiting jobs that I can look at each week and then schedule as my time allows.
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That’s called ‘Review Gating’ and can get all your reviews removed very quickly if Google or any of the other platforms find out about it.
I don’t believe many (if any) of the crm’s or review capture apps offer that feature anymore.
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Markate still has that as an add on
Then they need to get with the times. They’re putting all of their customers’ reviews at risk.
I agree. Most review software removed that feature a while back.
