Are there any surveyors out there using any Customer Relationship Management SaaS software to assist with the quoting process? I have a home built CRM that I built using Sharepoint, as part of the Office365 cloud Suite; however, I am looking for other options. Another surveyor in the area uses HUBSpot which is integrated into his website, and allows for IP address tracking, and does automated workflows for quote follow ups, etc.?ÿ
1. Quote Request thru Website
2. Form responses get ported into Sharepoint List
3. Initial Research conducted by assistant (Deeds, Plats, GIS dynamic links, etc)
4. "Quote" sends a boilerplate Quote email
Eventually, I would like to integrate GIS into the up-front quoting phase, whereby the client, on the website, will automatically pick the parcel (or parcels) they want surveyed, or define an "Area of Interest" - and then bring them through an integrated CRM process.?ÿ
Nothing is going to beat a conversation with a prospective to figure out what the real scope of work is and what their expectations are. Many laymen won't know how to communicate that to a web based template without the human interaction.
I use 17Hats for my small shop. I had searched and searched for a good system, and none are perfect, but 17Hats is as close as I got for the price. It doesn't try to do much, but it still requires a fair bit of hand work.
It does accept quote requests through an embedded form on my website. Those quote requests go straight into my new hopper of New Leads. From there, I clean up or conform the address, give the project a name, look up the parcel, and enter in the county and PIN# number.
From there, I've setup a number of template emails that are auto populated with fields such as the client name, address, county, and PIN number. One let's them know I will call to discuss what they need further, another that just tells them my current turn around time without providing a quote, and so on.
Unless it's a straightforward lot-and-block loan survey, I'll almost always follow up with a phone call before providing a quote. I have templates for my most often requested quotes, all I do is update the fee and the schedule, all the relevant info is populated automatically. Some of my quotes include the option for the client to toggle on and off additional optional services (like line staking or map recording).
Upon accepting the quote, they are taken to whichever of my agreement/contract templates I chose to use for the project, which is also automatically populated with the relevant data. 17Hats has an eSign platform built in.
I can also choose to charge an upfront deposit, which automatically generates an invoice upon their acceptance of the quote and signing of the agreement. Whether I charge something upfront or not, all my invoicing is done through the same platform. They can pay by eCheck (or credit card, for a fee) right on the invoice.
It works well for me, as it for most inquiries I only need a few minutes to respond with a quote and contract. As far as downsides, it's not really a project management tool, I use a separate platform to keep track of the status of all my active projects and deadlines. It also doesn't do anything to track your locative data, there's no map view or anything like that.
Not sure if any of that is what you had in mind, but I'd be happy to send you a sample quote if you wanted to see the client-side experience. I can also send a referral code which I think gets you (and me) a few months free.
