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Roof Cleaning New Jersey · Jun 2, 2012

Dudes. Gotta check this out!

Liberty SoftWash · Jun 2, 2012

We always use bing maps or google, but Bing rocks!!

Liberty SoftWash · Jun 2, 2012

We do 80% of estimates from bing, with the cost of gas.

Roof Cleaning Raleigh NC · Jun 2, 2012

I do 100% bids with Bing & Google street view. With Bing I like being able to circle the house and see different views of it.

gutterdog · Jun 2, 2012

Just be carefull! Bing isnt always accurate. Describe what you see on the phone with the customer. You could be looking at the wrong house.

Jun 2, 2012

Roof Cleaning Raleigh NC wrote:
I do 100% bids with Bing & Google street view. With Bing I like being able to circle the house and see different views of it.

Bing- go. Lol. Same here. Been using it for years. I can't even remember the last time I did an estimate in person unless its for a bigger commercial job or I have to meet with a pm or president of an HOA. Technology Rocks!

Jun 2, 2012

gutterdog wrote:
Just be carefull! Bing isnt always accurate. Describe what you see on the phone with the customer. You could be looking at the wrong house.

+ 1000 Sometimes it is on the wrong house. I always double check with the client. Double drive? Tan vinyl fence? Fire hydrant out front? Etc...

Roof Cleaning Raleigh NC · Jun 2, 2012

I have found that Google just puts me in the middle of the street. It doesn't point out if it is the house on the left or right. I have to use Bing for that.

Maverick Contracting · Premium Member Roof Cleaning Institute of America

What I've found is Bing Maps shows many images in the fall when leaves are down which is a big help. Rotate potential streaky roofs to make sure they are not branch "shadows". Also assume for every one house in a neighborhood that you can spot as needing roof cleaning on site you can note at least 5-10 more in the same block/area.

SEE OUR WORK HERE!!! · Guest

I use bing for the clear views of the house. Google earth for the measuring tool, and google street view to get an idea of the roof pitch. Between the three of those, and sometimes zillow, it gives just about everything you need to give an accurate estimate. Since we started using these maps two years ago it has allowed me to service a larger area.

Maverick Contracting · Premium Member Roof Cleaning Institute of America

County land records can give you a sq/footage to calc along with the pitch. Not sure if all areas have this service available

Roof Cleaning Tallahassee · Guest

Thanks Ed. Great add on to my existing tool box! I like the birds eye view.

Roof Cleaning New Jersey · Jun 3, 2012

We price exactly what they ask for and get our techs on the property. Then its up to them to upsell for a 15% commission. If there are multiple services requested, we price what we can, then offer our techs to give a price on the rest when they get there. I would love to have the means to visit every lead, but that is just not possible. Salesmen get 1 gallon commission on all sales. They get 15% if they drive out to get the sale.

-- Edited by Roof Cleaning New Jersey on Wednesday 6th of June 2012 06:32:04 AM

MJ · Jun 3, 2012

We all know that Bing, Google and GIS tools are the way to go for the most part, my experience is that once you have given an estimate or quote it is hard to go up in price, second thing is that is difficult to view "complexity" on the internet. We have a lot of "full cover" gutter protection around our area, and it is a pain to deal with, the 5in crap will almost not allow any suds roll in, so it goes over all over the place and then leaves clean marks, plus the next day condensation run marks.

Getting in front of the buyer is the best way for up sell services, we have a hard time doing that over the phone or internet.

Jun 3, 2012

@ Mike... You said- Getting in front of the buyer is the best way for up sell services, we have a hard time doing that over the phone or internet.

We ran into this exact situation last week and I had to bump the client up another $120.00
He failed to mention that nothing had been cleaned in about 8 yrs. He had no problem with it. It was that or I was walking. This has only happened 4 times since I have been doing phone only estimates and we only lost one of them. I normally price them out for worse case scenario to cover myself. If they don't want to pay and they are just looking for cheap, then they were never my customer to begin with.

Eric SCHNAIBLE · Jun 6, 2012

I have always used Google and thought it was great. The Bing photos are very clear but it seems it doesn't let you get very close. Is there a way to get to a lower elevation?

Jun 19, 2012

I have used them all for a long time, if I can't bid in person or if the job is over 20 miles away.
It was mentioned, sometimes the house shown is NOT the right address. That's true. you gotta watch it!
Also, remember, these are not live photos, some are a year or more old. I watched my own house and it took at least a year to show when I had cleared my lot next door. Great tools, if you do as also mentioned and say "I see you have a nice Pineapple palm out front!" Or, I could throw in your paver driveway, while I'm there, for an extra $75.00" etc - Unless they ask, I don't tell them I did it online, I "act" as though I was there. I say "I took a look at your roof today" I did, on GOOGLE EARTH! wink

Of course, if I err in pricing, by not going to the job, I eat it and don't say a word to the customer!

Chuck

The Roof Cleaning Institute Of America Training & Certification Forum "Find A Certified Roof Cleaner Directory"

The Roof Cleaning Institute Of America Training & Certification Forum
"Find A Certified Roof Cleaner Directory"