scheduling software program

**HOODPRO** · Jun 9th, 10, 02:12 PM

What kind of programs are you guys using for scheduling. Currently I combine excel for the months and outlook for the calender. Far to much going back and forth, adjusting the customers when they skip a month or something changes. I would really like a monthly calender program that makes updates too. Anyone got a good one?

**Douglas Hicks** · Jun 9th, 10, 11:14 PM

I use Quick Books. I use "memorized reports" to track the month and the county. Remember, counties in Oregon may be 75 miles by 150 miles, and we work in 11 counties. My system is cumbersome and really does not work very well. I have looked at some of the computer driven programs and am dismayed at the cost, $10,000 for the last program I looked at. That was for 2 vehicles, but would keep traack of the inventory on the vans, shop inventory, billing, service reports and 2 handheld Palm things to enter date and then would connect with my desktop by cell phone. And I need 2 more of the Palm things and 2 more licenses!

Plus the learning curve to make it all work.

**Mathew Johnson** · Jun 10th, 10, 05:43 AM

we use Act, it works well for scheduling, sending reminders and it is easy to use. It is also very inexpensive,

MJ

**dodsonish** · Jun 10th, 10, 12:08 PM

You looked at ehoodcleaner.com?

**HOODPRO** · Jun 10th, 10, 04:44 PM

ehoodcleaner charge is $1.00 per day for the rest of my life or unless they go up in price. I was looking for software I could purchase. The big roadbump in hoodcleaning scheduling is a program that can move a schedule when the customer delays or increases their cleanings.
So far the only suggestion is Act. I did use that many years ago and it was unable to adjust for the variables we have.

**dodsonish** · Jun 10th, 10, 05:21 PM

All the softwares I've seen guys share are in the thousands of dollars, and with software it gets outdated, so you'll prolly get about 4-6 years before needing a new program, or an expensive update. The guys at ehoodcleaner are good people, and offer a system designed specifically for hood cleaning companies. I don't use them, but have been considering it. We currenlty use Act for contact management, but not scheduling. Scheduling is done manually, because of old habits and I just don't need a better system at the present time...other projects to work on.

**Randoggle** · Jun 11th, 10, 03:21 AM

Why not become more familiar with excel.

**Beth n Rod** · Jun 11th, 10, 05:33 AM

There is a new vendor in the Look What's New area with a solution too. I have not seen it nor tried it, but it might be worth checking out.

We use applications you can get in the stores.

Beth

**pressure washing LA** · Jun 11th, 10, 01:35 PM

Outlook calender.

**HOODPRO** · Jun 17th, 10, 07:47 AM

sO..... We all set up scheduling but none of us has a good program . Sounds like a business opportunity for a software company.

**Maggie** · Jul 1st, 10, 08:05 PM

We used ACT! 6.0 Don't know much about the current versions of ACT! other than they made the program bigger and more complicated than I wanted.

I created a custom screen that showed how many hoods the customer had, what type, and how often each hood was cleaned. My cleaning schedule was in red, Steve's bids were in blue, and the reminder schedule was in grey. Reminder schedule told me when to mail out reminder post cards that a hood cleaning was coming up in two weeks.

We set up ACT! with a list of prospects from a purchased mailing list. Prospects who responded to the post cards became Inquirys and when Steve signed them to a contract, they became Customers. After about 18 months we stopped having to mail out marketing post cards because word of mouth was getting us enough business.

It would be worth the money to hire an ACT! consultant to set up a custom screen for you. You could probably figure it out yourself, but do you really have time for that? The software has a certified consultant program and I have no idea what they would charge.

**madeinus** · Jul 2nd, 10, 10:08 AM

Microsoft Access is a cool program that you can do a lot with

**Joe Bajner** · Aug 7th, 11, 07:39 PM

Guys,

I have used this program for over 5 years. I have no complaints. Upload job photos, map routes using google, remote file access form anywhere, etc. They even offer a payment plan. The newest Pro Version is only $247.00 or 4 payments of $62.00. Download a free trial and check it out. It's a Lawn Maintenance Program but all the letters, files and lists can easily be changed once you play around. I will never use another program. This program never missed a beat back when we were cleaning 200+ hood systems a week!

Lawn Care Business and Service Software

Damn, now I'm a software pimp....LOL!

**NJhoodguy** · Aug 8th, 11, 01:10 AM

Wait, what company did you use to work for that you were cleaning over 200 accounts a week. Thats over 28 a jobs a day!!! Where do I send my resume??

For hood cleaning programs its pretty simple and cheap. Look online for a computer programmer. Any programmer will know Mircrosoft Access. The general public has no clue how to work Access (myself included) most people obv use excel and word. Programmers though, all know mircrosoft access. They will custom make you a program with anything you need. I had a programmer make me years back and since then I needed some tweaking (making my own invoice number if need be, pushing back dates for jobs not booking, separate folders for cash jobs, etc) that he would charge me to do, but in the end cheaper than anything I am seeing here. Also with access you can kind of have excel in it so you can run accounting stuff and creates invoice as well. I know Microsoft Access is like a foreign language but for programmers they all know it and is extremely good in making custom programs for business. Plus most of you probably have it already on your computer but never used it. Go online and look up any programmer and they will do it for you.

**Joe Bajner** · Aug 8th, 11, 07:25 AM

We used to clean that many accounts until we downsized....for ourselves.

The program I mentioned works great for us but it all depends on what YOU want. It does everything and even exports to quickbooks and a few other accounting programs.

With 30 years in this industry, I would say I speak from experience. Unlike a few on this forum, I have documentation to backup my 30 years experience! I didn't just come up with a number I liked and went with it.

My avatar picture is from 1984 when it was normal to blow powder up the duct! Back then I used a notebook and index cards.