Managing Leads with Team Members
Hello Pros, two questions for all of you.
1) Do you share your account with someone else in order to get help while communicating with leads?
2) If you do, how are you tracking contact touch points (called, left vm, sent estimate, schedule estimate, send invoice, whatever it may be)
Really curious to know how you are handling it because for my business partner and I, its very messy and often results in fall through.
Comments
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@Lemargriffinfilms @ShaquealThomas @busyb @Mage @Plumbernick417 @PomeranzLaw @BITBLeah @Stat Do any of you have any thoughts on this?
@Carlos_Velasquez Keep your eyes peeled here in the Community, because we will be announcing a central hub that showcases all of our partnerships and integrations and I think some of those would help solve this problem! In the meantime you can learn more about our partnerships with Jobber and Workiz which may help!
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@Carlos_Velasquez I had similar problems when I first started on thumbtack I own a painting company so my issue was answering the lead if on the road or at site worried I would answer late and lose the lead or not sending invoices over timely.
- I setup a template for morning afternoon and evening so that way I have a rapid responses ready all day rather than writing every first response out each lead I answer the lead as soon as possible in my industry I know I need a Estimate before any services begin so this helps because once I send a the first message hopefully we start working on a estimate time and day.
- By the time I do the Estimate I know I have time to send the invoice once I seen the job.
- this is a few ways I adjusted to but I know this system works for me I never used jobber or workwiz but as Read the articles above seems like a huge relief that can help out a lot of pros working on bookkeeping scheduling and organization.
try template in case you are leaning towards having someone assist with your account you know what is sent and said without looking over.
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Thank you I do use templates extensively… but for example if you make a call to a customer and have a conversation, where would you notate the details of the conversation to make sure you dont forget miss anything?
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@Carlos_Velasquez You welcome I see exactly what you mean to make sure if anything is said to be done is documented correct?
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Yeah and Im coming from using Networx and on their app they have a way to add comments (and even more jobs) statuses and Im wondering if the lack of internal comments functionality is a valid problem that a lot of PROs have.
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@Carlos_Velasquez I see your point of view let’s see if some more pros and community reps can chime in on this @DustiO maybe able to assist.
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Great! Thank you. Im my main in point is asserting how are Pros working around this (or if it even matters that much) to me seems essential to have this especially if you have other people contacting pros (but even if you are solo, I bet youd still like to have some notes to serve as a reminder).
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I am all in for us pros to building for the better.
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@Carlos_Velasquez I am a Platinum Pro and was given access to Thumbtack's autoreply feature sometime last year. I pay extra for it but it is totally worth it in my opinion. I don't have to worry about stopping work to respond to leads. And as soon as I can I always follow up with a direct text or call. The autoreply and my text both have my contact form link so the customer can fill it out and from there it gets synced to my project management program. I use Honeybook but there are lots of other programs that will help you track your lead through whatever pipeline you have. I don't love Honeybook but I think all of the programs have their advantages and disadvantages. I actually am at a point where I need a lot more features but I'm not willing to invest the money in developing my own internal system just yet. Not sure if any of this helps but let me know if you have any other questions. I am always happy to jump on a call if need be. 😊
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Yeah this helps! I have auto reply too and yes I think is worth it (does it fail at time for you, because it does for me)
So you are using a third party to capture the lead and then nurture it from there. Sounds a little bit more advanced that what Im doing (excel) but it may be worth the shot
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Hi @Carlos_Velasquez! Sounds like you already have the Front Desk. Well I will admit that I was trying to have a teaching assistant do my follow-ups, but they didn't have as much time as I wanted. I also use Calendly and some other registration forms. There is no perfect solution, but I do think the registration form helps. One thing that I need customers to know in my line of business (so far the main one is music teaching) is that there can be a waiting list. I also have this bot with LiveChat on my website. But just like on any chat app (Thumbtack included!), people tend to want to talk to a human in 2 minutes or less. I was thinking about using the Signpost receptionist service, but for a small business like mine (it's only me), the overhead is a little too much, so I just stick with Thumbtack's Front Desk, though I think it would be cool if we had some sort of...Front Desk chat? So if the customer asks the same question (for mine it's always "how much"–not sure why because the auto-reply includes the page with the tuition!), the live chat rep can go over it. Or "how do a request an appointment" is another common one, despite my auto-reply including not one, but two different Calendly links based on the commitment level/budget of the customer. Just some thoughts!
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Since its only you, how are you handling situations when you need to have context around customers.
For example, you spoke on the phone to a mother of 3 kids (9yr, 7r, 3yr old) and each want to learn a different instrument.
How would you retain all of this info in writing so you can reference next time you you follow up
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Hi Carlos! I prefer using the Duet Partner registration form as it allows a single family to list multiple students. I also use Calendly, but I prefer the Duet Partner page if possible. I also use Google Contacts and Google Workspace to tag leads, waitlisters, active students, former students, teachers, and more.
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I am loving seeing all of the tips being shared here, thank you to everyone who has contributed! Hopefully it has helped?!
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Yes tremendously! Ill share a few things Im working soon as well and would love everyones feedback!
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Hello!
Would anyone on this thread be willing to help me do a usability test with a propose prototype of the Thumbtack pro app, to see if the solution I've thought about really solves the issue with the notes.
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@Carlos_Velasquez ... I am not sure what type of help you need and the time commitment but if you want to reach out to me directly please email me at info@itsjuststuff.co .
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Thank you @busyb it should not take longer than 6 minutes (including prep time) I can email you. Thank you very much for your help.
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@Carlos_Velasquez sure thing–just send it to me, and I will have a look when I get the chance. 😎 I'm doing training and teaching back-to-back this week 😱, but I am always here for my fellow ThumbTack Community members! 😍
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Mage! Wonderful! Thank you very much. Here are the instructions:.
To get the most out of this study, it would be better if you can:
- Complete the test from a desktop computer
- Record your screen using a screen recorder chrome extension like Loom (preferred but not required)
- Read the prompts out loud and share your thoughts as you walk through the prototype
Usability Test
Duration: 5 minutes
Link: Prototype
Prompts:
- Upon entering the prototype, which customer indicates that the job is done and paid for?
- How would you see the conversation between you and a customer?
- If you wanted to see internal comments for the specific customer, how would you access that screen?
- What is the date of the most recent internal comment?
- How would you add a new internal comment that you can share with teammates?
Once you are done, please share your thoughts with either the recorded link or written here.
Let me know if you have any questions! And thanks again for your help.
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you still need a test done ?@Carlos_Velasquez i see a few pros stepped in already I am here if needed.
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Hey @ShaquealThomas yes if you can! The instructions are on this post but let me know if you want me to send them to your email instead.
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@Carlos_Velasquez got it no problem you welcome
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Hi @Carlos_Velasquez! Please review the video that I just made for you. If that's OK, I set the privacy to the video as unlisted so that only those who have the link can see it, and I did not know your email address anyway! 😆 And I made sure that no one can comment on the file unless of course they post the comments here in our community! 😎 I hope that's OK, and I hope my candid feedback works. Sorry I had a long day–was in training and teaching back-to-back and am still working! 😆
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@Mage this is perfect! Thank you for taking the time this really helps me and I appreciate all your feedback!
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@Carlos_Velasquez I may need help with the screen recorder loom any other options for prep setup I will try again later tonight. @Mage that was a great video breakdown
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@ShaquealThomas Hey I've made a quick video using Loom on how to download and use Loom. Pretty Loomception huh? XD
Part 1: https://www.loom.com/share/de761515443347068ec4ded1ad34f788
Part 2: https://www.loom.com/share/0637cb23f766476f9027f07e038e1298
Let me know if this helps!
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@Carlos_Velasquez yes, these videos helped I have an account now trying to connect your link with loom and record it is where I am now I will revisit later tonight and follow up.
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Nice! No rush. Once its installed, all you gotta do is open the prototype link and then from the top right corner of the screen open Loom, hit record, choose the screen where the prototype is in and voila!
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https://www.loom.com/share/9ec8de445ab14ac4aa5308e6706cc3e8 alright let me know if I followed directions and all I had to figure it out @Carlos_Velasquez
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