You're booked.
Watch this before your call.

1 Who we are

I booked because I saw you work with SERVPRO. But I can't find a single review of you anywhere. Who's behind this?”

SAM'S ANSWER

We're a small company and you won't find us on the review sites, so I won't pretend otherwise. Here is who we are, what the SERVPRO line means exactly, and the customers you can call. You'll also find things on our own website that don't line up, and I'd rather point them out myself.

2 Proof for your trade

Every story on your site is a restoration company waiting on insurance. What's the proof for my trade, on what you're selling today?”

SAM'S ANSWER

The stories are real restoration customers, on the earlier version of the product, and every one started from a very long wait. I'd rather say that than stretch them. Here is what they prove and what they don't, and why you judge this on your own invoices.

3 QuickBooks & job software

We run everything through our job software. QuickBooks only gets a copy. Isn't that three systems that can fall out of step?”

SAM'S ANSWER

AR Workflow reads QuickBooks Online and nothing else, so it's only as good as what lands there. If your invoices reach QuickBooks open, on the day they go out, it works. If they arrive late, or only once they're paid, it doesn't. There's a two-minute test you can run before the call.

4 Disputed amounts

Our invoice goes out at $20,000 and the adjuster comes back at $18,000. What does it chase while the number is still moving?”

SAM'S ANSWER

It chases the balance that's in QuickBooks, so it's only as right as that number. You decide when an invoice goes into a chase and who gets chased. While the amount is still being argued, chase the adjuster for a decision and hold the homeowner until it's settled.

5 Real monthly cost

What's the real monthly number once texts, calls and card fees are counted? And does my plan jump when we get busy?”

SAM'S ANSWER

The plan is $295, $395 or $495 a month, set by how many open invoices you carry. Card and bank payments carry a processing fee, as they do anywhere. A monthly plan ends when you cancel, and an annual plan is a commitment. Here is each cost, in the open, before the call.

6 Worth it at my size?

I've got 15 open invoices and it takes me half an hour a day. Is this worth $295 a month at my size?”

SAM'S ANSWER

Maybe not, and I'd rather you work that out before the call than a month after it. It pays for itself in hours, and in invoices that would otherwise slip past 60 days. Below about 50 open invoices the sums get thin, unless the person doing the chasing is you.

7 Work for your office

You said it runs by itself. Then it handed me a list of calls to make, and someone has to type in every adjuster. What does this really take from my office?”

SAM'S ANSWER

It isn't hands-off, and anyone who says it is, is overselling. The writing, the sending and the remembering are automatic. The phone calls, the replies and the contacts QuickBooks doesn't hold are still yours. Here is that work, in minutes.

8 Old, written-off debt

We already send the letters. We've filed liens and won in small claims, and we still haven't been paid. What does more chasing do for that money?”

SAM'S ANSWER

For money that has already been through a lien, a judgment or an agency, very little, and I won't sell it to you for that. Chasing works on payers who will pay once they're asked properly. Its job is to stop the next invoice from reaching day 90.

9 Your first 30 days

There's no trial and no guarantee. What should I see in the first 30 days to know whether to keep paying?”

SAM'S ANSWER

The worst case is one month's plan and a few hours of setup, with your books untouched. Your days-to-pay won't move in 30 days, so judge it on four things you can see: every invoice in a chase, replies coming in, old invoices getting paid, and what's blocking the rest.

10 Staying in control

Cash flow can make or break us, so I want my own hands on AR. If software does the chasing, don't I stop knowing what's going on?”

SAM'S ANSWER

You should stay close to your receivables. Chasing by hand is the worst way to do that, because your time goes on typing and none of it on looking. When the chasing runs by itself, you see every invoice, what was said and who's stalling, and you step in where it matters.

11 Upset customers

My customers get upset when we chase them. They say, my insurance is paying. Won't more messages make that worse?”

SAM'S ANSWER

They get upset because the first time they hear the balance is theirs is week six, on the phone. Told clearly on day one and kept informed, the homeowner is the person with the most pull over the insurer. The same goes for a general contractor you want the next job from.

12 Firm messages & texting

How hard does it get with someone who's 90 days late? That's my company's name on the message. Who answers for it, and am I even allowed to text my customers?”

SAM'S ANSWER

You answer for what goes out in your name, so nothing firm goes out unless you chose it. The firm wording is for seriously overdue invoices, and you decide whether any invoice ever gets it. Don't send a warning you wouldn't act on.