A few people have asked so here are the Postcode Software details again...

We're always looking for ways to reduce costs in our business and a different Postcode Data supplier came to our attention.  Until now GetBookedUp has only worked with AFD Postcode for the 'instant addressing' function in the system.   A different supplier contacted us and is offering a data package which does everything GetBookedUp needs at a lower price when compared to the AFD product.  As our AFD licences expired we switched over to ensure their data was 'up to scratch' and we're happy to report it certainly is.  So, we've developed GetBookedUp to work with the new data supplier's product also.

The annual cost is just £79.00 + VAT per licence, compared to AFD Postcode costing £154.00 + VAT in the first year and renewals around £84.00 + VAT.

You can find a specific page for GetBookedUp Users HERE - Postcode Software  You just need the Product "1 licence £79+vat (per year)" option, unless you have multiple PC's you want to use it on.

You don't need to do anything in GetBookedUp to make Postcode Search work.  Just make sure you download the file into the default location they suggest and GetBookedUp will automatically find it next time you log in.

If you're not already using the 'instant addressing' you really ought to consider it.  You can enter just the house number and Postcode and automatically complete the rest of the details.  Saves time entering data AND no more misspalt adresssus in your database.  The data is in the Royal Mail PAF format, so you can make savings on bulk mailings such as CleanMail, UK Mail and many more.  It also means the data is in a format easily exported to Docmail for online print fulfilment services.

Just call if you have any queries about Postcode Search Software, or Docmail.

Allan.

Exporting Data, how easy it is? Your queries answered...

Following our post on Facebook about exploring integrating with Infusionsoft there was a post which said it was hard to export from GetBookedUp and that led to a couple of queries from potential users about how hard is it to export.  The easiest way to answer those queries was do do a live session to demonstrate how it works, so, rather than do that for everyone who has a query I thought I'd do a video to show the options for export and How To...

Watch the video now>>

If you have any queries, or need any support please don't hesitate to call us on the support line, 01405 813665.

Allan Jnr.

Finally, a Monthly Newsletter Already Written and Designed For You… Ready to Mail and E-mail to All of Your Clients and Prospects

The title says it all.  We all know that we should keep in regular contact with our clients and the Client Newsletter has shown over the years to be a great way to do that.  If the thought of having to commit to writing a monthly newsletter puts you off starting, as compiling an interesting newsletter isn't easy, these guys have done it all for you.   I'm not going to repeat everything that's on their website here, but this is a FANTASTIC new resource available from these guys...

P.S. This isn't an affiliate link, it's just such a great resource I wanted to share it with you.

Allan.

IT'S HERE! Easy Street Marketing...

Just over a month ago I mentioned this and now after further testing and tweaking it's available and ready to go, the final tutorials will go live over the next few days but it's pretty self explanatory how it works from the video below.

So, what is 'Easy Street Marketing'?

It's something we've been using for a while now, but it was always a little bit of faffing around to do and often got missed if the phones were busy.  As it is such a successful marketing technique we've decided to automate it as a specific new tool in GetBookedUp.  It's in the Business Builder, Turbo-Charged AND the one time only fee Professional+ Edition too.  Plus,  if you're an existing user, it's also available as a free update.

Basically, we send an email or text to everyone on the database who lives on the same street as the person we have just booked a quote or job appointment for.  Why? Because this does a couple of things.  Firstly it lets people know you're in the area, so if they need anything you can call at the same time, which saves you fuel, time and marketing costs.  Secondly it lets people know you're in the area!  Always in the area!  which has a drip, drip effect and builds your reputation as THE Carpet Cleaner in the area.

This isn't rocket science, it's just a way to drip, drip market your existing clients, cementing the fact that you are the local cleaner and at the same time reducing your fuel, travel time and marketing costs.  As I said, we've done this for some time now, and we thought it was time to automate the process in GetBookedUp now we've proven it works.  It may only be that you have one or two other clients in the street, but this is a virtually free method of keeping in touch with them which, and I'll say it again, cements you as THE cleaner in the neighbourhood.

If you tie this in with always doing at least a '5 around' leaflet drop, or better still a small notepad drop (more about this idea another day), and you're perceived as always in the area so you must be popular in the area.  This works amazing in the higher end areas too, where it's virtually impossible to break into without a word of mouth recommendation.  People start talking when they keep seeing you in the area and the recommendations flow.

Take a look at the video to see how easy it is to use, we even include the templates for you...

You Asked, So We Did, AGAIN! Text Marketing...

It's here and those who have done Beta testing have said it was worth the wait.

You see, we've been looking at adding this for some time, but we didn't want to rush into adding texting to GetBookedUp and only do half a job.  We wanted to be sure of several things.  Firstly, that we complied with all the legislation and weren't just flying by the seat of our pants.  Secondly, we wanted to make it more than a simple "you can send a text, type what you want here then send it" system.  So what we've developed covers both of those.  We've partnered with the Industry leaders, TextLocal, to provide a fully integrated solution.  Not only that, we now have our own webportal for using the other TextLocal tools too, so those of you with a real flair for the clever stuff can export data files and let your minds go wild.  We've also decided to pass on some saving we make buying text messages in bulk.  Because we buy in bulk you can buy text message credits from us at just 4.5p each if you buy 1000.  Direct from TextLocal they would cost you 4.9p each, not a massive difference I know, but every little helps.  Having our own webportal also means we have much more flexibility, so you get easier to use tools in GetBookedUp.  The biggest benefit is by composing text messages in GetBookedUp we can allow you to merge many more fields that if you were using the other text messaging websites direct.  Most have a limit of five, and by the time you've added Mr Simmons you've used two already.  You can add as many as you like and the merge is done before it's uploaded to the portal, so there's no problem, a clever tool suggested by our developer.

So what's it do?  Take a look at the video...

Text Templates.

These allow you to have 'ready to go' text messages at various points within the system, ie the Client Record screen, The Diary when booking a Quote or Job, and the new East Texting bulk text marketing facility.  The system downloads with several for you to use straight away.  You can use as is or edit them to suit, you can even add as many others as you like, let your mind go wild with ideas for how you can use this.  The great thing about these templates is that we've made it dead easy to add mergedata into them, suach as the clients name, job or quote date, appointment time AND MUCH MORE.  This means you don't have to type that data into the text, the system DOES IT FOR YOU when you use the template, good eh?  You can even edit the merged text before you send it if you like, WOW!

Single text messages.

You can send a single text directly from a clients record.  You can do this from a button next to the mobile number field, then choose a template or just type your own message.  This is recorded on the Clients contact log too making tracking responses easy.

Confirm Quote and Job appointments from directly in the Diary system.  Just choose the appointment and click 'Text', compose your text or choose a template, edit if you wish, click send and a fully mailmerged date and appointment time confirmation goes out.

'Bulk' Text messaging

Want to send job reminders by Text, or better yet send a text to everyone in a particular area with an offer to fill a gap in your diary tomorrow?  EASY with Easy Texting.  Select who you want to text to using the filter tool, even the easy filter tools or the target marketing filter tools, you choose.  Choose which Template text you want to send, or create a new one, or even just modify a previous one, EASY!  Click 'Send' and it's sent and recorded on the clients contact log, again allowing accurate measuring of response rates.

It is in the:

Professional⁺ Edition

Business Builder Edition

and Turbo-Charged Edition.

There are so many ways you can use Text Messaging.  I look forward to sharing some of the success stories of our users with you in future posts.

That's all for now, regards,

Allan.

You Asked, So We Did - Extra Quantity Field Flexibility...

Several users have asked if there was a way we could adapt the quoting system to handle Circular, Oval and Semicircular items easier.

The system has always been very flexible handling unusual shaped rooms such as L shaped or commercial areas with several section that need adding together to get the total area, but until now Circular, Oval and Semicircular rugs have had to use a formula to calculate the ACTUAL size.  Well, you asked so we've done it.  Oh, I almost forgot, this change is also including our Professional+ Edition too.  Existing users can just run an update and get the latest version free of charge.

Rather than try to explain what the update is and how it works I've done a quick video...

Quick What's New Video

Or there's an overview of the Automatic Price Calculating tools if you want to see more on this video...

Watch an Overview Video

Watch this space!  We're working on many more "You asked, so we did!" tweaks and features right now.  If you have any suggestions for features just tell us.  It may be that it's there already and you're just not aware, or

Allan.

Spend A Whole Day With Paul Pearce Teaching You The Right Way To Clean Upholstery!

PLUS if you book both the Hands on Upholstery School on the 6th February and the Hands on Carpet School on the 5th February we will give you 10% discount off the total cost! Call 01763 208222 to Book NOW!

Extra feature in Professional+ Editions...

When Angelo of Cleaning Time got frustrated with another another carpet cleaning software package he was using he decided to try our Forever Free Edition.  Apparently he'd deleted an item on his pick list and because he had 'used' that on a record his deleting it had corrupted his database.  That doesn't happen in our software, you can delete 'redundant' items even if you've used them, without causing a problem with your data.  If you couldn't delete used items you'd have a huge list of 'old' sources, for example, which would just clutter up the selection box.  We've taken care of attention to detail like that so you don't have to worry.

Angelo loved the Free Edition so much he almost immediately upgraded to our Professional+ Edition and we imported the limited existing  client detail we could recover from his old system.  Angelo said he was so excited at what this new software would do for him and couldn't wait to start mailing his clients.  When he used the Easy Mailing facility he commented on how easy it was to find the right people.  While we were logged in doing some training with him he said in his old system he used to manually copy and paste each individual address from the list into an excel spreadsheet to be able to send that to Docmail (or any other online fulfilment house).  In our Business Builder and Turbo Charged Editions it's possible to create the excel spreadsheet automatically, but not quite so easy in the Professional+ Edition.  Whilst you didn't have to select each client individually and copy them, you had to right click in the grid of clients and select the right option to get the excel spreadsheet he wanted.  Angelo casually said "It would be great if that was just one button to click."  What a BRILLIANT idea, SO WE DID IT!

Angelo asked  "It would be great if that was just one button to click."

SO WE DID IT!

Now in the Professional+ Edition, when you use the Easy Mailing facility to create your mailings you can, with one click of a button, turn that list into an excel spreadsheet to upload to Docmail (or any other online fulfilment house).

It's yet another great reason to change the software you're using and start using our Professional+ Edition.  Just a one off fee of £289.00 + VAT,  NO monthly fee and a 60 Day No Quibble Money Back Guarantee.  PLUS, the system can grow with your business WITHOUT losing ANY data when you upgrade further and no new system to learn.

Thanks Angelo for the suggestion.  You can visit Angelo's website at Northampton Carpet Cleaners Cleaning Time.

Existing Users can get this new function by simply updating.

Go to the Data Interchange Menu, Choose the Load Latest Version Files option, accept the default 'Medium' of "GetBookedUp Support's Internet Folder" and click Load Files.  The system will do an automatic backup before downloading.  When the download is complete just close GBU and restart it.  You'll see the new button in the Easy mailing screen, bottom left hand side.

Save time and money by using online printing services...

One of the most time consuming parts of any mailing campaign can be the actual printing, folding and stuffing of envelopes for mailing.

Well, in our carpet cleaning business we've found a company that take all of that hassle away. We have been using Docmail for some time now and can highly recommend their service. I was skeptical what the effect would be on the response rate. When I saw the hard evidence that in our side by side trials there was no difference in response to mail sent through Docmail, and that which we had printed, folded and stuffed in house, I decided the saving was well worth making and am now a regular user.

Effectively we get the item printed, folded, stuffed and posted for LESS than we were paying for postage alone doing it in house (and that was with a discount for bulk and clean addresses). Not only that but now we don't have to do the labour element of printing, folding and stuffing, saving even more! With Docmail there is no minimum order and it's dead easy to use. You can export the required data, in the required format, from [getbookedup] and they do the rest, even custom mailmerge fields are available.

Check out their service, their details can be found HERE.

Create More WordPress Blog Articles, Faster, Using Press This | ROCKET POWERED ®

More Great advice on how to use a tool on your WordPress website blog.  Take a look...

Create More WordPress Blog Articles, Faster, Using Press This | ROCKET POWERED ®.