www.landscapeirrigation.com Landscape and Irrigation October 2014 39
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Provides up-to-the-minute, real-time reports of outstanding
estimates.
Provides tools for e-mailing prospects confirmations of
appointments, follow-ups, and even post job before-and-after
photos for their records with your invoice.
Plots your pending estimates and pending jobs on maps to
improve the scheduling and ease of site visits.
An exAmpLe of perfect executIon
Many contracting support firms are commissioning app
developers to create custom apps to make the vision above a
reality. The customization simply implants arithmetic tools and
fields where the service experts provide in the app
design a capability for the app to calculate price by
dimension of a job. For example, an installer identifies
the parts and work required for replacement, and
takes a picture with his/her tablet. Each contractor
has preloaded his/her individual pricing, determined
by market and circumstance. The app produces
the estimate for e-mail/mail to the customer, and
populates all the supporting systems for record
keeping and continuous contact with the prospect. A
click of a button gives a contractor a map spotting
all pending estimates and jobs. An ideal execution of
this program is HMI (www.concreteraisingsystems.
com), a concrete lifting and leveling contractor that
commissioned Logical Engine (www.EstimateRocket.
com), a business app software developer, to create a
system to maximize the efficiency of their customers.
A tour of that system, and the potential, can be
viewed at http://www.mudpumps.com/information-
center/estimate-rocket/.
It's ALL About money And growth
Some years ago, I began a consulting assignment
with a small concrete contractor by asking him about
his estimating process. He told me: 1) It would take
six years to train an estimator; and 2) He could not
trust anyone else to do the estimates. I told him I was
leaving because, if that were true, he is destined to be
the same size company forever. That company is now
deploying technology in estimating, has a full-time
estimator doing 20 estimates a day, is four times larger,
and that entrepreneur plays golf on the weekends
instead of running around giving estimates.
If you are happy spending hundreds of dollars per estimate,
and limiting your growth, that is okay, and is one of the great
values of being an entrepreneur — doing it your way. But what
will your competition be doing next week, and what will your
customers think?
Paul J. DelFino is a principal of the consulting firm Opportunity
Inc. For nearly tow decades, he has assisted entrepreneurs in
growing their businesses, responding to economic downturns and
merger and acquisition activity. His publications include, "Skewed
Entrepreneurial Strategies," available from all online booksellers.
To learn more, visit www.opportunity-inc.com.
Screen
ShotS
provided
by
eStimate
rocket
and
hmi
