My experience after 24 years in my industry and my own company for 18.5 years

I have been in business for over 18 years and recently merged with Code Red Roofers, and with my having an average of 43 employees full time for so many years, I felt I knew just about every item in the productivity fields until I was truly amazed at the Follow Up Power system here. It not only shows management who is producing and tracks how much time they are entering data but shows the closing ratio of each salesman as well as tracks profit margins on jobs sold. Additionally, each salesman can see his own progress and that when he puts in more time on the system he is getting credit company-wide for time put in. It is impossible to interact face to face on a daily basis, in my industry, with eight to ten new clients a day and remember each of their concerns, questions and what is needed on my part to clarify their questions. FollowUp Power also appears on our dashboards in the system so that each time we speak or leave a voicemail or meet a client we set a date to touch base with them again and when that date arrives the dashboard system shows their name in red to remind us to FollowUp with that client. That is a vital part of closing a deal. It is too easy to forget to do so otherwise. Having an online access point that I can go to at any moment without trying to find a piece of paper with my notes has excelled our company in our industry greatly. Not only can I see my notes, but other associates as well as the owner can look at this data as well and quickly gauge if the client is a fit or a high maintenance client that never returns calls etc. By being in this industry for over twenty four years and having my own multi-million dollar per year business, it takes a lot for me to be incredibly impressed and in awe of any system, and FollowUp Power has done just that. This system is not only impressive but being asked by FollowUp Power for areas that can be tweaked and our input as a user causes FollowUp power to continue to become even more productive and help us to be more on the edge in our industry. Great job, and keep moving forward. Jon Duren Sales Associate Code Red Roofers Inc.

Pros

It keeps an easily visible progress report for the employee and his employer.

Cons

When I reached out to customer service one time the person I ended up messaging was unable to answer the basic question of how I would download it to my Ipad. the person kept asking me for my telephone number and could not answer my basic question. I told him I am already a current user and that I just wanted to know how to re-download it on my new ipad, and he finally admitted that he was not sure how to do so. He promised to pass this on to a support team for them to call me and I also asked him to pass on the transcript of our notes as well and he said he would and I never got a call from FollowUp. I feel that he saw that he looked poorly so never passed on my message. It is important for customer service online support to have the basic knowledge of the system them are promoting. I even took screen shots of the conversation so that there is proof of it, as my gut feeling was that it would never get passed on etc...

Great way to track sales

FollowUp Power has been great for our team to stay in front of prospects. As a lean company, we didn't have a dedicated sales team; therefore before we implemented the system, our team was proposing on projects and moving on to the next deadline which meant we never followed up on our proposals. Plus, we also would only stay in front of past clients and potential clients with long lead opportunities when we had time - which was rare. This resulted in missed opportunities because we didn't have a tracking system in place. Now, with FollowUp Power, we can set follow up dates, keep each other updated on the status with the notes section, and we also have a way to remind our selves to reach out to past and potential clients. Our follow up has improved dramatically! The only reason I didn't give Followup Power 5 stars is because I would like to have more of a Contact Management System integrated. Currently, there is no way to save a contact unless you have a project opportunity connected to it. With our new Business Development person on board, we like to meet with contacts in the industry to educate them about our company - they don't always have a project to link to.

Pros

Being able to see who I need to follow up with and any other project related deadlines on my dashboard. The note section is vital to remind me what I talked about with the prospect during our last interaction. I also like being able to see what the rest of the team is following up on and any deadlines that are past due so I know where I can help them out.

Cons

There isn't a good contact management system integrated into the software. This would be extremely beneficial. Also, there are a few issues with running reports - for example if our team doesn't put a bid date and they put in an estimate due date (which is what they are concerned with), the bid report doesn't show the project. There are some areas required for duplicate entries which our team grumbles about.
Also, the categories entry areas are not customizable. Therefore, we don't use have of the Sales Behavior section because we don't manage permits, submittals, and warranties with this system.

Brain damage

The program I'm sure is fine, it's hard to put much value to it all since we are still in training and we are fine tuning how the program adjusts to what we do so it's still a bit cloudy right now. You have to understand I'm before computers so the simpler the better. I'm sure those that were brought up with computers think this is easy but it's involved and and has many moving parts. Since our company is putting their twist on the details like how to categorize the the leads it's still an issue as far as I'm concerned. In a couple of months when we get most of the training done we'll see what it's all about. Thanks, Steve

Pros

It covers many details about a file which is good.

Cons

I think because there are many dialogue boxes to acknowledge different details I wonder if the right info is being seen by the right people that are also involved in the job.

Karinne Dakis @ DreamMaker Bath & Kitchen

I use the program daily. It's exactly what I need to keep me on track with what I've got going on (active clients, meeting schedules, information my supervisor on the status of the meetings). It's helpful to store information that I will later need to access, (web links to products etc.) The Follow Up Power seminars that I've attended have been a helpful platform to the growth of my sales skills and interaction with clients.

Pros

I like the fact that I can view all of my clients in one area without having to think about who I have out there that may or may not be active.

Cons

That I can't sync it with my calendar on my phone. I know that the app is available, but I use my google calendar to show my entire week of appointments with my two jobs and personal life.
(I end up double entering the appointments, which is fine because I'm used to it)

Simply powerful

Contact to contract, the program keeps it limited in scope so they are able to be powerful in delivery. Also, makes the learning curve to get started manageable. Other programs we have bought and never fully implemented, train too complex.

Pros

Ease of use for any level user

Cons

Would like to be able to customize their terminology

Followup is a lifesaver!

Followup Power makes it simple to stay on top of my pipeline. It allows me to stay organized and follow up with my clients when I say that I am going to. It allows me to stay in touch with my clients on each and every project until a decision is made. Especially in the construction industry where the sales process can take months and even years to complete, it gives me a competitive advantage by easily setting follow-up dates to stay in touch with my clients long after my competition has stopped. I would be lost without this software and highly recommend it!

Pros

I like that this software is simple to use and has many tools for staying on top of my pipeline. It also makes it easy to track progress, trends, and create reports.

Cons

Overall it is really great.

FOLLOW-UP POWER

My experience with Follow-Up Power has been pretty good so far. However, I am continuing to get complaints from my sales team about the new mobile app and the difficulties with utilizing it. We no longer can view our report card while out on the road (via mobile app). We are also having difficulty in adding new contacts. I would like to give a thumbs up to Ryan. He has been great and always very helpful!

Pros

Allows me to log in my sales activities for the day. Also, I can get reports on our sales for the day, week or month.

Cons

Mobile app is not very user friendly.

Eric McNichol

Great organizational tool. Great to be organized in my work. Added at least 30% to my sales since we started with Follow Up. It provides what no human can by by himself.

Pros

The organization that it provides. It saves me a lot of time to do other things rather than trying to figure out if it's time to follow up with someone.

Cons

The screen shows only one month of jobs in the active file. It should show all the jobs bid several months ahead.
A point credit should be given for every e-mail sent or received.

Efficient way to keep track of my leads

I am able to easily track my leads. The lead shows up in the "red" color when I have something to do for that client whether it be to follow up with the client or I've set an appointment for the day it turns red.

Pros

I mostly like the fact that it reminds me when I have specific clients that need attention or are ready to be contacted again.

Cons

The thing I like least about this software is the fact that I can not link up to my google or outlook calendar so I didn't have to enter appts. twice

Great for keeping track of client contact.

Pros

The software is easy to use, and the training is worthwhile. It's a good tool for helping your salesforce keep track of their conversation content with clients (or potential clients), and their follow-up schedules. But the key is to USE it! Every time you have contact with the client, you need to go to their record and update it, then mark it for the appropriate follow-up. If used properly, your clients will not fall through the cracks and get forgotten.

Cons

Without training, it's easy to forget what dropdown choices you should choose to categorize various aspects of the sales process and its progress. If you could hover over some of them for definitions of when that choice would be the appropriate choice, that might help.