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Work flow management system?
Afternoon all, I know this is a topic that has been covered over the years but looking for something up to date to help Hugh in visually managing his days, his workload & all the job/project sheets better. From a to do list one day, that say, if not is completed that day, it moves across to the next day but possibly prioritises it? Currently we do this on a daily basis with the old pen & paper ‘to do’ lists for the the next working day, the forthcoming week etc, adjusting it hourly!
Any thoughts appreciated. Thank you. -
16 Replies
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I use an online programme that has really helped me called Bitrix24! I set it up to have columns from initial consultation going through all the stages to job completion/invoice. You can add jobs to the columns and include job notes and files etc! Best part is it’s free
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ShopVOX! Firstly, it’s an amazing quoting system! Then it handles workflow, with online proofing and different custom job stages etc. You can also invoice from the program and link in with some existing accounts softwares. All completely web based, so access from anywhere! It’s really helped us put more profit in our pricing as much as anything!
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Trello as an online "tcard" system to monitor job progression from enquiry through to completion.
Google calendar for managing day to day stuff, get an email each morning with tasks to do, and get notifications by email 24hr before, and notifications on phone 1hr before.
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We been using ShopVOX since November and is very good and reasonably priced. We are completely paperless now and all my staff are glad we changed to it.
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quote Warren Beard:We been using ShopVOX since November and is very good and reasonably priced. We are completely paperless now and all my staff are glad we changed to it.
Hey Warren, does your accounts package link in with shopvox? I currently use sage which doesn’t integrate at the moment, but should do in the near future. That’s the only stage that is keeping me from going paperless!
Another couple of great features Hugh is that the quoting system also works very well for clothing too! You can also set like to do tasks, so if for example a customer calls and they want you to visit to measure up, you can leave yourself a task and you will keep getting reminded about it until it’s completed!
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Warren am I right in thinking you were using clarity?
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If your using Office 365 Exchange – have a look at Planner, its included in the subscription, links to emails, customisable, cloud based so works on across all your PC’s & smartphones!
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No was never impressed with Clarity and was very expensive, been using printed job sheets we designed for years but took the plunge to give ShopVOX a try and was a great decision.
quote Andrew O Brien:Warren am I right in thinking you were using clarity? -
We use Xero and yes syncs no problem. You can export to CSV and then import. If it worked that way for the short term I would look to implement sooner rather than later.
It does take 4-8 weeks to build a comprehensive system but it is worth it.
quote Luke Culpin:quote Warren Beard:We been using ShopVOX since November and is very good and reasonably priced. We are completely paperless now and all my staff are glad we changed to it.Hey Warren, does your accounts package link in with shopvox? I currently use sage which doesn’t integrate at the moment, but should do in the near future. That’s the only stage that is keeping me from going paperless!
Another couple of great features Hugh is that the quoting system also works very well for clothing too! You can also set like to do tasks, so if for example a customer calls and they want you to visit to measure up, you can leave yourself a task and you will keep getting reminded about it until it’s completed!
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We use Clarity.
At the time ShopVox wasn’t an option, if I was looking now, I’d be leaning heavily towards ShopVox. Can’t knock clarity, it does what it says, and it’s helped us enormously.
Why would I choose ShopVox against clarity?
- More Features off the shelf (no extra bolt ons)
- Cheaper
- Not as reliant on support
- Cloud Based
I really need to investigate how to get all the data we have stored in Clarity, out and into a usable format, and then we can switch :rollseyes:
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We’re looking at moving away from Clarity. It’s a good programme but it is expensive compared to what else is out there. It’s also rather dated and isn’t web based.
We’re looking at moving to either ShopVOX or Quikflow. We moved from Sage to Xero for our accounts and it’s much better and I see the Clarity – ShopVOX/Quikflow transition having a similar positive result.
Has anyone had experience of moving away from Clarity? We’d still like to access the data that’s in Clarity but there’s no export function and I know they’ll be really unhelpful and probably want to charge £300 for a single license just to access the archived information. -
That’s the predicament we’re facing, and I think it’s the same regardless of what system you choose.
You can probably extract the data, but it’s not easily usable. :shake:
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Thanks for all the info guys,
Caro’ (She who is to be obeyed / accounts / foreman / boss / credit control / salary / etc.) who posted this, is going to try a weeks trial of Shopvox, Can’t say I’m keen on seeing another £100 a month (near on) going out on overheads but, if it makes such a difference as to stop me missing jobs through poor job sheet management, and so on, I guess it will pay for itself.
Thanks again.
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I’m confident you’ll make more than the £100 it costs… you have to embrace it though.
As soon as you deviate from the ‘workflow’ that’s when things get a little messy :thumbsup:
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I’m not sure if the shopVOX trial allows you to use the quoting system, but that is an amazing tool and definitely something that will allow you to make that extra £100 a month at least!
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quote David Hammond:I’m confident you’ll make more than the £100 it costs… you have to embrace it though.
As soon as you deviate from the ‘workflow’ that’s when things get a little messy :thumbsup:
That’s my main concern, I have a few customers who are very last minute but, they’re easy large cut vinyl work, they install and they pay immediately, worth looking after!
Hence the reason I’m two hours behind already today!!
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