It’s no secret the last couple weeks have been a lot to take in. And just when you should be gearing up for busy season, spring jobs, and all that warm weather has to offer those in the service industries — a f***ing viral pandemic happens. I mean, c’mon, what the hell?
And while the rest of the world has seemingly stopped spinning — aside from grocery stores and toilet paper manufacturing plants — you’ve still got jobs to complete.
There’s so much uncertainty floating around right now, but rest assured, CompanyCam and tons of other contracting tech services are still here, still running, and are working to make contracting contact-less for as long as public health demands.
You can view all of our COVID-19 resources here.
First, I should probably explain what I mean by ‘contact-less contracting.’
While the work you and your crew does is oftentimes at someone’s home, there are tons of tools in the space that make it easy to run a job, start to finish, without much ‑if any- physical contact with the homeowner.
Estimating tools, CRM software, and documentation tools like CompanyCam all work together to bring as much information to the customer with as little face-to-face interaction as possible.
Our friends over at Big Fish Contracting Co. put out a great statement earlier this week about what they’re doing to mitigate risk both within their company and during customer interactions.
“Our goal is to keep the customers and team members as safe as possible and away from any potential exposure, but this does not limit the level of service we are able to provide. Technology enables us to begin your new project or to keep your existing project moving along with little to no physical interaction. We can deliver the same great service and personalized, in-home style meeting via video chat.”
How CompanyCam Can Help:
Technology is a wonderful thing, especially in times like these.
CompanyCam is uniquely suited to help you and your company navigate this transition to contact-less contracting. With features like Project Timelines, Galleries, and our quick-build Reports you can share any and all important information with the homeowner, folks back at the office, and even any subcontractors you may be working with on the project — all without any face-to-face exposure.
Let’s break it down:
- The Project Feed: You know it, you love it. The main feed in CompanyCam allows you to check in on the status of every single job your crews are working on. Trying to minimize exposure? We’ve got you covered. Check in on the mobile app or the desktop app and answer questions and problem solve as soon as issues arise — all without being on the actual job site.
- Guest Users: Maybe a homeowner isn’t quite comfortable with you coming and taking photos quite yet. No worries, you can give them guest access and give them the ability to document the scope of the job beforehand and provide you with as much information as possible when building a quote or estimate.
- Project Timelines: Want to keep a homeowner up to speed on progress? Sharing a timeline link is the quickest and easiest way to do it. Simply share the timeline link via text or email, and all photos taken at the project will instantly populate as soon as they’re in CompanyCam.
- Galleries: Want to keep the homeowner up to speed, but not share every photo you’ve taken? Galleries are a great choice. Select the photos you want to share, create the gallery, and share it with the homeowner — it’s that easy.
- Reports: A quick, simple report is a great way to share relevant information and additional comments along with the photos of the project. In the desktop app, go to the project you want to pull from, select the photos you want to include, click ‘create report,’ and start filling in any additional comments or notes. When you’re done you can send it out to subs, crews, or homeowners via PDF or URL.
- Integrations: We have a ton of awesome integrations with software like HOVER, Drone Deploy, and more that offer you services to capture the scope of a job at a greater scale than photos and boots on the ground can offer. Check those out here.
Pro Tip: Start offering to take photos in CompanyCam of your disinfecting processes on the job site. This will be a huge relief to homeowners if the job requires you or your crew to enter their home.
Things to do right now:
- Be Adaptable. Take a page out of Big Fish’s book and see what you can do to offer customers the same personalized and exceptional service as always, just minus the handshake. Video calls are a great resource and they allow you to share screens if your work requires you to walk customers through a more detailed plan or visual element. Try out Zoom! We use it at CompanyCam for all of our virtual meetings and it’s super simple to figure out.
- Be Understanding. This is a stressful time right now, especially for families and older folks. Be prepared to walk customers through your process thoroughly and be patient with those who need to push a project back or reconsider. Remember — you never know what someone’s personal situation looks like, so always be kind.
- Be Smart. Finally, while it’s all well and good to develop a plan of attack make sure you’re following the recommendations of your local public health officials. Your workers, customers, and your own health should be of the utmost importance right now. Pay attention to warnings, shut downs, and make sure you’re putting health and wellbeing before profit!
This is a weird time for everyone. Do what you can to keep things operating as normally as possible and make the most out of a tough situation, but ultimately — take care of yourself, take care of others, and be mindful of everything happening around you! Stay safe out there, folks.
We’ll be popping in with more insight on how to tackle this new challenge, so keep an eye out for new blogs. We’ll be sure to share them on our socials and emails as well.
