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So many of these contractors have zero comms skills or infra because they focus on the work and not basic customer relations. My personal frustration: (0) have

So many of these contractors have zero comms skills or infra because they focus on the work and not basic customer relations. My personal frustration: (0) have someone answer the phone, (1) tell me when are you coming, and (2) be there. I suspect they all have a family member with QB and an answering machine as their whole back office. Someone should set up simple SaaS to do automated appointment slots, schedule updates to customers, and billing. Charge $1 per slot. Sign up all the contractors.

ryanschneider 5y ago
According the the footer in my receipt email the last electrician I used used Housecall Pro (https://www.housecallpro.com/ https://www.housecallpro.com/) as their back office. It worked really well, I got SMS reminders about when they were on the way and even texted them a video explaining what I needed done so got an accurate estimate before anyone showed up. Now that I think about it I have no idea if the dispatcher I texted with was an employee of the electrician or this company, but I guess I don’t care.
amelius 5y ago
> Someone should set up simple SaaS to do automated appointment slots, schedule updates to customers, and billing. Charge $1 per slot. Sign up all the contractors. This is going to end up bad for the contractors. Just look how Uber Eats et al robbed restaurant owners from the profitability of their businesses.
bobwaycott 5y ago
My old business partner started a small company and built software and worked directly with small contractors to do exactly this. They seriously don’t care and don’t see a need for it. The real problem is a lot of these contractors and subcontractors are running micro businesses—with just a person or two involved—and it’s usually independent subs all the way down. But they don’t treat it as a business—it’s just work. It’s how they earn a living. They don’t want to be businesses. The ones who care and think of it like a business are night-and-day different.

ryanschneider 5y ago

According the the footer in my receipt email the last electrician I used used Housecall Pro (https://www.housecallpro.com/ https://www.housecallpro.com/) as their back office. It worked really well, I got SMS reminders about when they were on the way and even texted them a video explaining what I needed done so got an accurate estimate before anyone showed up. Now that I think about it I have no idea if the dispatcher I texted with was an employee of the electrician or this company, but I guess I don’t care.

amelius 5y ago

> Someone should set up simple SaaS to do automated appointment slots, schedule updates to customers, and billing. Charge $1 per slot. Sign up all the contractors. This is going to end up bad for the contractors. Just look how Uber Eats et al robbed restaurant owners from the profitability of their businesses.

bobwaycott 5y ago

My old business partner started a small company and built software and worked directly with small contractors to do exactly this. They seriously don’t care and don’t see a need for it. The real problem is a lot of these contractors and subcontractors are running micro businesses—with just a person or two involved—and it’s usually independent subs all the way down. But they don’t treat it as a business—it’s just work. It’s how they earn a living. They don’t want to be businesses. The ones who care and think of it like a business are night-and-day different.