How Quote Templates Changed Our Speed-to-Lead
One of the simplest things we did in Jobber was build out quote templates for the services we sell most often. Before that, every quote took a little more thought than it should have. What service are they asking for? Which line items do I need? What wording should I use? Did I include the same details I included on the last quote? None of those things are difficult, but they create friction. Once we built templates around our normal services, sending a quote became much faster and more consistent. That matters because speed-to-lead matters. If someone requests a quote from you and three other companies, the business that gets back to them quickly with something clear and professional already has an advantage. Templates also helped us standardize what the customer sees. Pricing, scope, expectations, and options aren't being recreated from scratch every time. We can still customize when the job requires it, but the repetitive part is already done. It’s one of those small Jobber features that doesn’t sound exciting, but over hundreds of quotes it adds up to a lot of saved time. Do you have templates built for most of what you sell, or are you still building quotes individually?How Would You Handle a Customer Trying To Blame You For Another Person's Work?
So here's the situation - we had a customer we did a handyman punch list for. She previously had some really bad work done at her house and we were fixing their mistakes. Almost 10 month later - She claims that we installed a cooktop using silicone however my guys take very diligent notes and pictures and I have no record of that installation happening. I double checked with the guys and they didn't do it. Something like that would have taken some time and they would have remembered. Honestly I don't mind losing her as a client because she's wasted a lot of my time having my quote jobs she didn't end up doing but how do you tell someone she's mistaken when she is very sure we did it. I thought about sending her screen shots of our time stamped notes but I can't tell if she lying or not. What would you do?How Do You Roll Back a Major Change?
Have you guys ever made a major organizational change then needed to go back? This last year I tried to help buy back some of my time and created a Project/ Operations manager position so I could focus on sales and marketing. It's been a bumpy road to say the least. I first tried to hire two guys from outside the organization, I really thought I did my due diligence but it didn't work out with either of those guys. One guy I learned after a week (lol) the other took me a month and a half. On our third guy, I promoted from within and it seemed like it was working but here we are almost two full quarters in and we have less capacity because I haven't been successful in finding a replacement for him in the field, and we are making less money on jobs because ... well it's a combination of things but he might not be a fit for the position. I'm thinking I need a more decentralized approach since essentially we are at the same revenue number as last year when we didn't have his big overhead position. So the question is - how do you roll that back? Is it possible to make a change like that without alienating the person I'm demoting? Would it be easier to demote if I'm citing financial and structural changes for the company? What's ya'll take on that.Remodelers - What Kind Of Job Take Off Form Do you use?
We've started doing a lot bigger jobs and I've typically been the one to walk the job with the lead for the job, then they take it from there. No drawings, no real written plans outside of the job scope in jobber and the daily notes and conversations we have. Luckily we have some really good guys but I'd like to make this easier for everyone. For those of you that do 2-4 weeks jobs (so not big enough to always involve official drawings), what strategy are you using to make sure everyone gets the details and follows what your vision for the project is?Strategies for Explaining Your Contract to Your Client
Contracts are a tough subject. First of all, that word in of itself elicits a negative chemical reaction in the brain so don't call it the contract to your customers. It's called an agreement. But just because you have something in the agreement, doesn't mean that you are completely off the hook and they customer reads and understands it. The reason I'm even writing this is every once in a while, a customer approves a time and materials job then our technician shows up and the conditions the customer presented make it impossible to perform the service. In our agreement, we have a "failed job" clause where they get charged $150. Our technician planned their day around the job, we did our best to assess it ahead of time but sometimes the customer doesn't know or hides details. This is clearly stated in our contract. I've tried to "enforce" this a few times but it always leaves a negative taste in their mouth. This also applies to leaving pets out while we are working, change orders and all sorts of things we have written out in a policies and procedures contract. I don't think it's enough to just put it in the contract. Try these things: If the job is big enough, go over all the most important items with them in person. Have a landing page telling them what happens next and who to contact Make a fun video going over some of the items Check This Out Main thing is don't assume they read it because they probably didn't. If you do it in person, use a Plaud unit and send them a summary of the convo after. Don't be that person that tries to just say "well it was in the contract". What is everyone's experience with describing contracts to customers?AI Transcription Hack - use Plaud. Thank Me Later
I've got to share this because it's genuinely changed how I run my day, and I think a lot of you dealing with client walkthroughs, team conversations, and constant mental juggling will get a lot out of it too. It's this little device, about the size of a credit card, that sticks on the back of your phone. It records and transcribes conversations, then hands you back a summary. There are a bunch of templates built in depending on what kind of conversation you're having. I originally picked it up to help with walkthroughs. If you're like me, people talk to you about so much stuff during a single job site visit that it's impossible to keep it all straight in your head. Now I've got it recording, and afterward I get a clean summary instead of trying to remember everything or scribble notes while I'm supposed to be paying attention to the person in front of me. Here's the part that's saved me more than once: when a client says "well, I said this" or "you told me that," I can actually go back to the AI summary and say, "here's what was actually said." No more he-said-she-said. It's all sitting right there. But the thing I'm most excited about is what it's done for GSR meetings — goal setting and review meetings. There was a recent Jobber podcast episode that got into these, and I liked the idea, but I had a mental block about actually doing them. I hate the idea of filling out extra spreadsheets and handing my team more stuff to track. It just becomes one more thing nobody keeps up with. So instead, I just run the meeting, let Plaud record it, and have it spit out a summary. That summary becomes my record. No spreadsheet, no separate tracking system, no extra homework for anyone. I just keep the summaries and refer back to them next time. If you're drowning in notes, or you've been putting off something like GSR meetings because of the extra admin, this might be the nudge you need. Worth checking out.How to start an in house training center for painting?
I am looking for feedback on starting a training center for residential painting. We have a shop but it is kind of small for what I am looking at doing. Is there any creative ways I could go about purchasing, or leasing a building that is specifically for training and education? My goal would be to hire on young men and women who are interested in the painting trade and have a facility to train them in before they every step foot on a job. For example, there would be a class room to learn about products and applications. Then there would be actually rooms built out and small exterior walls build out with different substrates to actually train applications. I would hire some of my current employees to be paid extra to run classes and training. What do you think? Am I dreaming too big or is this something I could accomplish? How could I go about making this happen?
Can AI create accurate inventories from photos or walkthroughs for estimates?
Anyone here using AI to build inventories from photos or on‑site for moving quotes? We’re a moving company looking to automate as much of the quote process as possible. Right now, we’re still doing a lot of manual inventory collection and data entry, and it’s slowing us down and leaving room for mistakes. I’m specifically interested in: AI tools that can take phone photos or short videos (or an on‑site walkthrough) and automatically create an itemized inventory we can use for estimates. Anything that can recognize furniture/boxes from images and turn that into quantities, cube/weight, or at least a structured checklist. Workflows where the customer does a virtual survey themselves and we just review and price it. Bonus points if it can be integrated within jobber If you’re doing this today, which software are you using, how accurate is it, and what does your workflow look like from first contact to approved quote? Any “don’t waste your time on this tool” stories are welcome too.
