What if we were to provide four easy solutions that will transform your contract painting business from small time to big enterprise? For those small businessmen ready to take the next step in organizing their business strategy, Thoughtful Systems provides an all-in-one business software solution that centralizes operations while helping contract painters avoid common small business mistakes.
Contract painters are a resilient class of businessmen, familiar with the changes in technology and the tools of their trade. But foibles made by contract painters include mismanagement of subcontractors, the misappropriation of trucks, equipment and supplies, and the lack of a centralized scheduling procedure. Thoughtful Systems can help.
It’s not entirely the painter’s fault that they feel threatened by a changing economy and changing technology. The vinyl revolution threatens painters while some “big box stores” declare the end of the paint brush. But painting contractors stay calm and carry on. The industrial sprayer revolution was going to allow do-it-yourselfers to paint houses effortlessly and without burden, but the Wagner Spray Gun didn’t quite live up to the advertisements both in the quality of the finished product as well as the burdens involved with operating them. And let us not forget the unending stream of immigrant workers willing to contract paint jobs for a fraction of a living wage. Again, painting contractors remain calm and carry on.
These contract painters continue to thrive and grow in their businesses because they are willing to make changes and adapt to new technologies, adding services for their customers in response to trends and improved applications, but also changing the way they’re used to doing business.
Here are five easy solutions that will transform your contract painting business:
- Centralize bookings and scheduling using a scheduling manager
A desktop or cloud business software solution allows painting contractors and their customers to quickly and easily schedule jobs. Thoughtful Systems allows customers to request times and dates for a job. Then, the painting contractor can accept the date and assign themselves or other workers to the jobs. The scheduling manager combines scheduling and employee management within software solution.
- Implement a centralized accounting and invoicing system
By using a professional painting contractor, customers expect a certain level of organization and accountability. Timely invoices and a record of jobs performed are just a few of the many expectations customers have for contractors in the digital age. Knowing that customers are going to get multiple estimates from at least three contractors, your quoted number may not matter as much as the way you present your services to that customer. Efficient invoicing – whether via email or paper printed mailed statements – is something Thoughtful Systems specializes in.
- Improve Customer Service with a Client Relationship Management (CRM) solution
Good results come from knowing and tracking your customers. Using Thoughtful Systems solutions allows the painting contractor to create a profile for each potential or existing customer, then add notes and particulars him. The management software also helps to manage customer complaints, send out correspondence (either to an individual or a segmented list of customers), and remind customers of upcoming appointments or outstanding invoices that need to be paid.
- Use a job estimation solution for quoting new jobs
Those customers who don’t have a reliable contract painter are likely to ask the same questions of each candidate they interview. How long have you been a contract painter? Do you have the required business license for contract painting? Do you have insurance and bonding for contract painting? Are you affiliated with any professional organizations? Do you guarantee your work? Do you have references from satisfied customers who contracted your jobs? Who will be doing the job?
The Thoughtful Systems Job Estimator can cover all these points by default, prepopulating these details around the bottom line number. Customers like to have a consistent and professional looking quote on your customized business template using your logo. And once the quote is approved, a job estimation business software solution will convert it to an active job, allowing you to assign a painter and schedule a date.
