[RLittlefield]

*climbs up onto soapbox*

No, he's not paying me, lol. I did tell him after he did this for me that I would point people to him.

I was initially disappointed with the final look of the proposal that got generated from my input into his system. Julien had said he was willing to make some changes to things if I needed them, so I put him to the test.

Wow, did he come through! All 5 items I mentioned were adjusted and upgraded in the next 3 days after I emailed him.

In short, great responsive customer service, and he didn't get defensive when I picked on his baby! Instead he made it better, and thanked me.

I urge you to check out his estimating and quote software. If you want to see an example of an all inclusive, multiple option quote for blasting, washing, weathersealing, log repair, staining with multiple stains, and carpenter bee control on a log cabin, shoot me a PM or an email and I will copy you the quote I go together with it.

I will warn you that because the software is so powerful, you might want to set aside a few days to plan how you input your items and tasks so they give you what you want the right way.

I can also help with that if anyone has questions, although I think Julien is allowed to help if you ask here on the site.

Again, I couldn't be happier with the final result of his software, and look forward to using it a lot in the future.

BTW, if you have all your items already in, you can get a bid up on your Ipad easily and email it right away! Drop down menu's all the way, and they sort themselves out automatically as you input a few letters. Also, you don't have to type the item exactly, just get one or two words in, and it sorts accordingly. Awesome!

*climbs down off soapbox* :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

 

[WisePainter]

vp sales, marketing...doing some selling and marketing.

 

[Scotiadawg]

vp sales, marketing...doing some selling and marketing.

uh oh

 

[RCP]

Great feedback, thanks for sharing that!

 

[Workaholic]

So it costs about 480 a year? How much control do you have? What exactly is the monthly fee covering?

 

[RLittlefield]

vp sales, marketing...doing some selling and marketing.

Ha, Kevin, got me. Only I sell log home restoration services.

My website, bclhr.com.


This is just a problem I just got solved, and I'm excited.

Probably not for you though. I doubt you know anyone that would like to enter information once, and generate an estimate, proposal, work order, and materials list all at once.... Me, I'm the former owner of Bear Creek, and an efficiency nerd, too. I'd rather be with my kids than doing paperwork, but that's not for everyone.

BTW, I really only will be posting about this type of thing, as the sales and marketing is my area of work now.

 

[DeanV]

It still all needs to go to QB, so double entry still needed.

 

[straight_lines]

So this is a $40/month software service? I need a better solution now, and if this software is as good and feature rich as you say I will give it a look.

It still all needs to go to QB, so double entry still needed.

Its in beta right now.
http://support.ontakeoff.com/knowledgebase/articles/33287-how-do-i-configure-quickbooks-integration-

 

[julien]

It still all needs to go to QB, so double entry still needed.

The "Julien" from ontakeoff.com here, to complement the info.

There is a QuickBooks integration in beta. Once Intuit approves it, it will be available for all to use.

It syncs with the desktop or online version all quotes, customers, invoices and payments.

 

[DeanV]

Quickbooks must be the thorn in the side of all developers for stuff like this. It needs to integrate with quickbooks to make sense for most of us, not because we love quickbooks, it just is a necessary evil.

 

[Workaholic]

The "Julien" from ontakeoff.com here, to complement the info.

There is a QuickBooks integration in beta. Once Intuit approves it, it will be available for all to use.

It syncs with the desktop or online version all quotes, customers, invoices and payments.

Julien, can you answer this question for me? Maybe a brief description on what the pros and cons of the service is.

So it costs about 480 a year? How much control do you have? What exactly is the monthly fee covering?

 

[WisePainter]

Ha, Kevin, got me. Only I sell log home restoration services.



Probably not for you though. I doubt you know anyone that would like to enter information once, and generate an estimate, proposal, work order, and materials list all at once.... Me, I'm the former owner of Bear Creek, and an efficiency nerd, too. I'd rather be with my kids than doing paperwork, but that's not for everyone.

sales and marketing isn't for everyone either...

 

[Scotiadawg]

Great feedback, thanks for sharing that!

Yep I thought so too:thumbsup:

 

[julien]

Julien, can you answer this question for me? Maybe a brief description on what the pros and cons of the service is.

Hello,

Well there are no cons :yes:

Our web site details this out, but you can create estimates and quotes easily and fast. You can customize the output in many ways and create a PDF or send it by email for approval.

Once a quote is create, a project is started. Within a project you keep track of all quotes and change orders. You can also do cost tracking and control. There are handy print outs with the list of materials needed for a job as long a a version of the quote without prices (a Work order) you can give your subs.

All materials and items are kept up to date as you change the price. So you always work with your latest prices.

You can create invoices quickly (either for a project, a quote or using the cost tracking items) for a client or a project.

Our goal is to keep this as user friendly and straightforward as possible.

As you said, it is a service, so you can access it anywhere (office, home, truck, beach) from any computer (or any device with a web browser like an ipad). We are constantly updating the software (sometimes twice in a week) so you always get the new and improve stuff free. All support is free and if you need help to get you started, we are a phone call away.

... and the 39$/month charge is when you need more than the free 3 open quotes and invoices.

Thanks,
Julien.

 

[straight_lines]

So since its all cloud based, is an internet connection required at all times? Is there anything client side so can I work offline and sync with the cloud when I reconnect?

 

[julien]

So since its all cloud based, is an internet connection required at all times? Is there anything client side so can I work offline and sync with the cloud when I reconnect?

That would be awesome and we thought about it! It requires a completely different engineering and we are working on something like this.

We just want to get the basics right before. So if you have any comments on how you would like our product to grow, you are welcome to do s. As Rich explained, we try our best to create a solution for you and not some hypothetical contractor.

 

[MonPeintre.ca]

I did talk with Julien when they started the application a year ago. The solution wasn't ready at the time so it didn't go trough. I remember that he was very flexible, and I gave them lots of advice on my needs for this type of application.
But I think the best thing about these guys it's that they speaks french

 

[straight_lines]

Only real problem I have is tethering will cost me a lot more each month, and I feel I am already over charged on mobile internet.

I also don't think I will be buying a tablet until windows 8 is released and there is some good gear out. I hope to see a client side offline application that I can use and sync when I get a connection.

 

[julien]

I did talk with Julien when they started the application a year ago. The solution wasn't ready at the time so it didn't go trough. I remember that he was very flexible, and I gave them lots of advice on my needs for this type of application.
But I think the best thing about these guys it's that they speaks french

It's been a while! Have you found/created your solution finally? I would like to take a peek someday, you know my phone # :thumbup:

 

[julien]

Only real problem I have is tethering will cost me a lot more each month, and I feel I am already over charged on mobile internet.

I also don't think I will be buying a tablet until windows 8 is released and there is some good gear out. I hope to see a client side offline application that I can use and sync when I get a connection.

We do use techniques that allows us to not reload the page each time. So this means it is faster and uses less bandwidth.

I have a 5gb limit on my phone data plan and never come close to 1gb. It depends if you watch a lot of media (music, movies, etc) over the phone, but web pages are usually pretty slim.