Constantly in the field as a general contractor and owner of a growing business, Raymond relies on the Houzz Pro mobile app for lead follow-up, estimates and to keep projects moving forward. With Houzz Pro, Raymond has all the features and functionality he needs in a single solution, which saves him money, cuts the time it takes him to create and send an estimate in half, and helps him bring in more ideal clients and projects.
The Challenge
With a goal of doubling the number of projects his company is taking on this year, Raymond knew he needed a way to manage all the back-office aspects of his business more efficiently on the go. He didn’t want to spend money on multiple tools or deal with the inefficiency and inconvenience of managing multiple logins and toggling between different apps
Raymond also knew that he needed a way to help his business stand out. He had tried pay per lead programs and believed they weren’t helping to build customer trust. He wanted a solution for marketing his business that would allow him to attract customers that liked his customer-centric approach and work ethic, so he wouldn’t have to compete on price.
“I didn’t want to have separate software for CRM, invoicing, estimating, project management.”
The Solution
For Raymond, Houzz Pro delivers on two key fronts: helping him get more done in less time, even when he’s out in the field, and building customer trust.
Efficient Lead & Project Management
Raymond relies on Houzz Pro for his CRM and project management. “Houzz Pro is a really efficient software that lets me manage everything from my phone. Instead of having excel spreadsheets, I have everything in Houzz Pro. For leads, I can select different stages which helps remind me when I need to reach out, and if a lead is from Houzz, all the information is already in there. I can go from the meeting phase, then move it to estimate and know that I need to follow up with them in a few days.”
Houzz Pro is excellent for project management. When I win the job, I convert customers to projects without having to copy and paste over information into a separate software, which means I can use my time to generate more revenue for my business. From there I can track everything, all the information is uniform. It’s also great for keeping track of materials I need to buy, job site to-dos, take-offs and hours I’ve spent.”
Estimating Twice as Fast
“The reason I like the Houzz Pro estimate feature is that I can seamlessly send out an estimate without having to use a separate software, and it lets me generate really professional looking estimates twice as fast, which helps me convert leads to projects. I don’t have to re-enter customer information, I don’t have to open up any other software, it’s all there. And the best thing is that it saves everything for me, so if I start and stop, I can easily go back to it.”
“The biggest thing about being a construction contractor is that you are never in the office. Houzz Pro is amazing because it’s a cloud-based software where I can basically have my office in my pocket. If I’m on the job site I can be eating lunch and sending estimates out, and that really helps me be efficient. It also allows me to easily keep track of my customers and projects on the go.”
Creating Competitive Advantage
Raymond believes the professionalism Houzz Pro helps him convey gives him a competitive advantage. “I can send out estimates and invoices with my logo on there, my contact information, my license information, and that makes me stand out versus everyone else who is using a simple word document.”
Houzz Pro lets me click a button and generate an invoice from the estimate, and that’s great because it helps me get paid faster. Houzz Pro makes it easier for my customers to pay me, versus me having to send them an invoice and then follow-up saying ‘hey, can you pay me?’
My customers love how we do electronic invoicing and payment options. My customers don’t have to ask if I accept credit cards or checks or ACH because Houzz Pro offers everything directly to them, and they can do it at their own leisure, so they don’t have to hand me a check. That helps build trust because I’m not pressuring them, and with today’s busy world, that does help.
“In order to succeed in this business, the customer has to trust you.”
Delivering Standout Customer Service
“We use Houzz for our communication because our customers love to email and text, and it’s great for us because it organizes everything in a nice methodical way. So instead of trying to dig through notes, we just go on Houzz Pro and find all the emails we’ve sent to customers, and our responses. I know when I’ve sent them a message, and it helps make sure I follow up any questions or concerns. That’s great because when you get busy it’s easy to forget, so that ability to make sure you follow up really helps build customer satisfaction and trust.
“The Houzz Pro notes feature allows me to take a lot of notes quickly. So if my customer says ‘I like this tile’ or ‘I like this backsplash idea’ I can write it down and not lose it, whereas with pen and paper I could easily misplace it or have it get lost in the shuffle.
“I also love the timeline feature because it gives my customers easy access to know where we are in the project at any given time, and that builds trust. It saves me time because customers can access it on their own time. Daily logs are great for communicating with customers on where we’re at with a remote project. If the customer isn’t on the job site, they can easily see at the end of the day what we’ve completed.”
Avoiding the Lowest Cost Bid
Raymond uses Houzz Pro for all of his marketing and lead generation because it helps him stand out from the crowd. “Houzz Pro lets me showcase my company and what we’ve done. Instead of trying to compete against other contractors based on price, we can compete on the results we have. The customer chooses us because they like me, they like what we do. Houzz gives us that introduction, something we otherwise would never have had using any other marketing platform.”
The Outcome
For Raymond, Houzz Pro has been a simple way to drive his top and bottom line.
“I like the ability to have everything in one platform. So instead of having one software for CRM, one for project management, one for invoicing and estimating, I can have it all in one simple software, with only one cost. Houzz also allowed me to expand into my preferred and ideal type of customers and projects.”
“With Houzz Pro we are able to follow a set process, which helps me be more efficient with my time. It allows me to run with a small crew and scale more efficiently.”
“The software is intuitive, it’s not a large learning curve. I always recommend to other contractors that Houzz Pro is the way to go.”
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