You’ve probably head of CompanyCam… as the name implies it is an app that is essentially a CRM for all the pictures you take. At a basica level it logs who took the picture, where it was taken, which job you were at, and organizes the photos. From there it has features that let you annotate on the photos, share them with others (clients, adjusters, subs), turn them into a report, make before and after photos, and a whole slew of other things.
As a contractor, I know how valuable photos are. We are not (yet) a client of CompanyCam, we use photos for marketing purposes, and also documenting job progress, and occasionally looking back on customer complaints. BUT, admittedly, it is always a pain in the ass managing and finding the photos… hence my interest in CompanyCam.
I wanted to see how other contractors are using CompanyCam so I posted in a few Facebook Groups to get results.
[toc]
In an HVAC group it quickly got 18 comments…
In a Roofing Sales & Claims group it stirred up more talk with 48 comments.
Clearly contractors are using CompanyCam… but how? How are they using it? What are they using it for? That’s what I wanted to know. So let’s jump into it!!
A roofing contractor using CompanyCam to cover his bases.
If you’ve been in business for longer the then a few weeks, you’ve certainly heard the line “your guys broke my _______” with an implied expectation for you to pay up otherwise there will be the imminent outspokenness across the web (go to my piece on handling bad reviews).
The best way of combating those is with pictures that show the area or object with damage, before your crew even stepped foot on the property.
Without pictures you’re basically succumbed to footing the bill or facing the wrath of disparaging reviews.
This roofing contractor is using the app to do just that.
He also indicates that he is using the annotation feature to communicate clearly to other contractors he is working with.
Gather Sales Details
Even the best onboard training for sales people will leave gaps that only trade experience can account for. Even with experienced sales personnel I’ll still get the call “um, they have number 14 screws connected a beam to a gutter where it ties into another gutter, what can we we do about it and how much do we charge?”.
My response is usually, “wtf send me a picture”.
10 min later I ask “what project is this for now?”
This HVAC contractor in the Tacoma area is using the app to streamline this.
On the backend of the sales process is the handover to operations. It seems like he may also be using it there as well. I’m talking about point when a project is sold, and someone in operations looks at the contract and sells back across the office “WHAT THE HELL ARE WE SUPPOSED TO DO ON THIS ONE”.
Don’t act like your business is so perfect that yells like that don’t happen daily.
Where the written contract isn’t the best method of conveying the scope of work and pictures is a better method.
He also gives an idea of just how many pictures are being taken in an hvac job. You can see the numbers in my screen shot of his comment… that’s a lot. ????How cool would it be if there were a hands off service turning all those pictures into blog content, email marketing, and FB ads… well there is check out the Connected Contractor.
Quality Control Inspections
Having managers lay eyes on every job sounds great it in theory, but it isn’t practical for residential service contractors who have trucks zipping around town. This HVAC contractor in Oregon has made a final inspection by managers digital, using the CompanyCam App.
Sending Reports to Homeowner and Adjuster
CompanyCam has a feature to turn the pictures, with annotations and comments on them, into reports. This roofing contractor in Nebraska is loving this feature to fire off reports to homeowners and adjusters.
I see this as a quick and easy way to compile impactful reports in trades where an ‘inspection’ is part of the sales process as it is for this roofer.
Submitting ahead of time
Being ‘on the ball’ keeps things running efficient (which leads to more profit) and helps build positive rapport with clients, adjusters, and other contractors (which also indirectly leads to more profit). But some tasks like submitting supplements just aren’t… um user friendly. That probably doesn’t make sense. What I mean is there are something people just delay because they don’t like doing them and the process behind them is tedious, frustrating, and annoying. I sense for this roofing contractor in Albuquerque the app is making the process of submitting supplements seamless.
My thoughts on CompanyCam
Photo of projects throughout the entire process are valuable. Disarming a damage claim by a client can easily save thousands of dollars and excellent before and after photos make for GREAT marketing content.
As I mentioned at the top of the post, collecting and organizing the photos is a struggle. With photos being taken by dozens of service techs, and seldomly ending up into any time of useable organization, I constantly find myself wasting hours trying to digging through our photos for marketing content, and also sending out group texts and pulling my guys aside to dig up pictures when we need to defend a client damage claim. CompanyCam seems to solve all those problems and more as indicated by the other contractors above.
Who can turn my photos into awesome blogs, Email marketing, and FB + Insta Ads?
Glad you asked. I’ve extended my content team and made them available for the EXACT SAME NURTURING PROCESS I use in my own business. Not only do we make awesome, fresh, and authentic content but we strategically deliver it with FB ADs, and email. The whole process will:
” /> Turn more leads into sales (and you can command a higher price)
” /> Earn referrals and repeat business
Learn more about the Connected Contractor (see pricing and signup)