In a nutshell…
- Sales Process
FXD Plumbing provides professional residential, industrial and commercial plumbing services in the Sydney area.
FXD Plumbing
The brief
As the busy owner-operator of a small business, Scott of FXD Plumbing had few systems in place: he simply recorded appointments on his phone and used Xero for invoicing. As a result, he did not have visibility on the status of quotes, jobs and invoices or an effective way of communicating and remaining front-of-mind with his customers.
He called on Squirrel Business Solutions for help.
The solution
- ServiceM8
- Xero
- Zoho CRM
As a first step, Squirrel set up ServiceM8, an app designed to help trades and services business to schedule and manage their projects in the field, all the way from quote to invoicing, obtaining sign-off and processing payment.
Squirrel then imported FXD’s contacts into ServiceM8 and created an invoicing template. This included a live link and handy ‘Pay now’ button for the recipient to click on, enabling them to pay immediately.
ServiceM8 and Xero integration
Squirrel went on to integrate ServiceM8 with Scott’s Xero account. On completion of jobs, ServiceM8 prompts him to create invoices; once approved, they are sent to Xero. Payments received against an invoice in ServiceM8 are also sent to Xero.
ServiceM8 and Zoho integration
The next step was to set up Zoho CRM and integrate it with ServiceM8. Now, when a new customer record is created in ServiceM8, a new contact is automatically created in Zoho CRM.
Set-and-forget email templates
Squirrel then set up a series of ‘set-and-forget’ email templates in the CRM. These are automatically sent to existing customers on the first day of every month, unless they have opted out. Each email covers a different topic, including special offers, and the series is designed to keep FXD Plumbing front-of-mind among its customers and thus generate repeat business.
The benefits
Zoho CRM
- Set-and-forget templates created in Zoho CRM have provided an easy and efficient means of sending monthly email marketing campaigns to customers and remaining front-of-mind.
- First email campaign generated several enquiries that resulted in repeat business.
ServiceM8
- Provided a centralised place in which to save all contacts, photos, notes, quotes, invoices, emails and texts relating to a job, therefore making it possible to view a complete job history.
- Made it easier to provide quotes onsite, including allocating materials and labour costs, using a mobile device, and to track job profitability.
- Made invoicing more efficient because Scott is now prompted to send invoices by ServiceM8 and customers can make payment immediately by clicking the ‘Pay now’ button.
- Saved time by eliminating the need to transfer information manually from paper invoices into Xero. Instead, job details are entered directly into ServiceM8 and invoices can be drawn up onsite and then synced with Xero.
- Made it easier for Scott to take payments on his phone and keep his records up to date in Xero.
- Enhanced the image of the business by enabling Scott to send out professional quotes, invoices and emails.
My business is so much more organised now that I’m using ServiceM8 every day. The CRM emails my customers once a month, so I don’t have to even think about it. Thanks to those emails, I’ve already had several new jobs from returning customers.
Scott Atkins
Owner
FXD Plumbing
Ask Squirrel
Could your business benefit from a similar solution? We’d be happy to help you find one. Book a free consult today.
Squirrel Business Solutions implements and integrates CRM and other cloud-based systems, and provides training and support, for small and medium-sized businesses all over Australia, including Melbourne, Bendigo, regional Victoria, Tasmania, Sydney and Brisbane. This empowers them to automate their processes and improve their efficiency.
Elizabeth is our resident customer engagement lady. She checks in with our clients regularly to help the team at Squirrel efficiently deliver what’s important. She’s a bit of a wordsmith too!