4
APRIL 2016 PRO INSTALLER
PRO NEWS
www.proinstaller.co.uk
WEBSITE CLOSES LOOP
FOR TRADES PEOPLE
The YouKwoteMe.com website has been designed to tackle problems
associated with some ‘lead generation’ websites. Among these issues
are installers losing jobs through lack of communication with the client,
no guarantees of winning jobs, and paying for leads going nowhere.
Pascal Baptista has
designed YouKwoteMe.
com. He knows and
understands how big
organisations operate,
applying the same principles to domestic and
commercial clients.
He said: “I’ve been working in construction for
over 15 years and saw the
selection process for main
contractors develop into
what is now a two-stage
process.
“The first is the pre-qualification process. This is
a quality, financial health
and capacity check based
on a written ‘question and
answer’ assessment. As part
of this process, the same
companies are subject to
additional checks on credit,
financial stability, health
and safety, rules and policies, experience and any
other relevant category.
“The second process varies
depending on clients and
projects but ultimately becomes an assessment of the
balance between time, cost
and quality. This is basically
when a quote is submitted.
“Time and cost in general
are directly linked and can
have a huge influence on
the final quote. We have
replicated these processes and built them into the
website. Traders undergo
initial checking to determine if they qualify for the
YouKwoteMe.com Approved
Trader Stamp.
“This process includes
the collection of credentials, credit, past work done
and any other relevant
experience and feedback
collected. From this point,
clients can be assured that
our Approved Traders meet
minimum standards. The
second step, ‘Pricing,’ depends entirely on the client
and the quality of information provided to the traders
when the job is listed.
“There are many websites
out there, and some of them
have actually created a
strong foundation. But there
are issues. These include
missing the point when
trying to sell leads based on
a text message, and traders
going through the checking
process and receiving feedback but with no guarantee
they will ‘win’ the job. They
may also find the reasons
for losing a job are due to
lack of communication from
the client.
“With YouKwoteMe.com
the loop is fully closed.
Traders will receive job notifications and view jobs online with text, pictures and
documents. Once they want
to do the job, this is when
they make online bookings
and start to ‘reverse bid’ or
submit quotes via the YouKwoteme.com website.”
When clients list their jobs
online, they have 30 days
to decide if they want to go
ahead or not. Once work
starts, traders and users are
protected with the YouKwoteMe.com contract. This
contract is very simple and
can be summarised in one
line: ‘Do the works in accordance with best practices
while following manufacturer instructions and as stated
in the job detail.’ Every
construction step can be
recorded in the Daily Diary
Log showing progress with
text and photos.
If there is a change, details
such as if there is a cost
impact are recorded in two
boxes. Once this is submitted the client receives a
notification and if approved
the works can proceed with
the change. This simple process makes it clear to both
parties.
Lastly, there is a two-way
feedback rating where not
only can the clients dictate
which traders can bid on
their jobs but traders can
give their thoughts about
the client, which will later
influence the way future
jobs are priced.
Handover documentation,
operations and maintenance
manuals, and health and
safety files can be saved
online for future reference.
When there is a disagreement between client and
trader, they can raise a
Dispute. If the issue remains
open for more than 30 days
or needs escalating, YouKwoteme.com will assist in
helping resolve the problem.
Scots research their handymen more than their plastic surgeon
Scots are more likely to spend time
thoroughly researching household
handymen than researching cosmetic
surgeons or healthcare professionals.
With negative stories in the headlines
about dubious procedures, a new survey
reveals that over 35% of participants quoted
word of mouth as a source of information
when seeking advice on cosmetic surgery
or dentistry rather than speaking with consultants directly (26%) and reading specialist professional media (7%).
Over 50% of respondents stated that they
were most likely to scrutinise household
handymen while more than 56% said that
they would carefully examine various holiday packages before booking. 37% of participants proclaimed that they would make
further enquiries about financial service
offerings and 31% would investigate real
estate services. Just over 24% and 8% would
take the same amount of care to research a
cosmetic surgeon and healthcare professional respectively.
The survey was conducted online in 2016
among 1,002 male (508) and female (494)
respondents nationwide aged between 18 to
55 or more.
Dr Foued Hamza, cosmetic