Detail log

shortcut11

shortcut11

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Hi everyone, first off I would like to thank everyone for all the knowledge they share. I am currently doing details for friends as a part time job. I was hoping someone on here has some kind of tracking program, I.E. customer name, vehicle, date, and what products you used, and any kind of observations that you noticed.

I appreciate the help. The wife has offered to do an excel sheet for me, but I figured if one of you guru's has something, I wouldn't reinvent the wheel.

Thanks for your time.
 
shortcut11 said:
Hi everyone, first off I would like to thank everyone for all the knowledge they share. I am currently doing details for friends as a part time job. I was hoping someone on here has some kind of tracking program, I.E. customer name, vehicle, date, and what products you used, and any kind of observations that you noticed.

I appreciate the help. The wife has offered to do an excel sheet for me, but I figured if one of you guru's has something, I wouldn't reinvent the wheel.

Thanks for your time.
Click to expand...

Just like your wife's idea, I use Excel, with all customers info, year,make color of car, products used, when it was last detailed with customers personal info, phone# cell# eamil address, then once a month I do a mail merge from Excel, reminding customers of specials that I may be running for that month or just a simple follow up, letting them know how much I appreciate their business.
I did try Gold Mine (customer data base management software) but rather redundent and way too much work.
 
Microsoft Excel spreadsheet to keep it simple.

Use QuickBooks 2009 or Quicken or one of those small business management software suites to organize the entire business would be the next step.

I am thinking that Microsoft Access may fall somewhere in between the first and second suggestions, but it's so not user friendly it is hard to recommend.
 
thanks, It looks like excel is the easiest route. Thanks everyone.
 
Hey Shortcutt,

We use an I-Pod Touch. Every detail we do, every customer, any comments, and customer info. is logged into this thing, and the best part is it's with us everywhere we go. If a customer has a question, we often reference it. I highly recommend one of these things, especially for our line of work.

Chris
 
TMD, what program(s) are you using in the iPod Touch to log all this information?
 
Hey Emile,

We have the standard I-Pod touch, but we utilize everything available on it. We map our customers, input the date and times into the calendar, and stuff as much info. into their contact space that we can. In contacts, we add the dates of service and what was done, and below that in the notes section we input anything relevant to a particular detail.

The beauty of it is when we charge it, it syncs with our computer. Not only is all of that information in two places in case I lose the I-Pod, but when we do mailers we're just a couple clicks from a good looking envelope.

From what I've looked into, this is the cream of the crop for this line of work.
 
TMD said:
Hey Shortcutt,

We use an I-Pod Touch. Every detail we do, every customer, any comments, and customer info. is logged into this thing, and the best part is it's with us everywhere we go. If a customer has a question, we often reference it. I highly recommend one of these things, especially for our line of work.

Chris
Click to expand...
God i sure hope your joking. iPhones and iPods cure all the worlds problems! Insert sarcasm.

If you guys need a simple db to keep track of customers, upload photos, and set reminders or something I would be happy to set it up for free. I dont see excel as really being up to the task and especially putting a few notes and pic in an iphone.
 
My bad lgtpecdthysohchhcp,

I must've forgotten to add the "Ha Ha" in the first post. And dangit, I forgot again in the second post as well.

Somebody asking a question on what is used effectively by members of the forum, and my responding with what we've used effectively on a daily basis for over a year doesn't warrant a clownish remark.
 
TMD said:
My bad lgtpecdthysohchhcp,

I must've forgotten to add the "Ha Ha" in the first post. And dangit, I forgot again in the second post as well.

Somebody asking a question on what is used effectively by members of the forum, and my responding with what we've used effectively on a daily basis for over a year doesn't warrant a clownish remark.
Click to expand...
iTMD, does your ipod wash the car for you too? I would label you a fanboi but you cant even spell iPod.
 
Seriously? I'm on this site less then two weeks and name-calling already starts. I thought this was a professional forum for detailing enthusiasts to share their work and experiences along the way, not a second grade classroom. I hope there's only one of your kind on this forum.
 
lgtspecb said:
iTMD, does your ipod wash the car for you too? I would label you a fanboi but you cant even spell iPod.
Click to expand...

Relax buddy. Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. Did your iPod poop in your cheerios??
 
well thank you for all of the reply's, I didn't quite plan on starting a battle. I like the idea of the ipod/iphone, for scheduling and quick look ups. All of the suggestions were great thanks.
 
If you think that pos will do you, then go for it, but my offer still stands. It's like using a glaze by hand for a job requiring heavy compound and a high speed.
 
LG, I would appreciate a DB if you don't mind, i'm open to anything that helps me keep track.

I would love to have customers name, address, email and phone
Description of car (possible photo) work done, hours spent and products.

I would also love to have an inventory type setup for products.

I realize this is asking for alot, but I figured if you were offering, I would atleast ask.


Again, thank you everyone for your input.
 
> LG, I would appreciate a DB if you don't mind, i'm open to anything that helps me keep track.

No problem, just keep in mind that I would be doing it in my free time (there is not much of it these days) so it could take a bit. Hopefully I could have it working by the end of the month.

> I would love to have customers name, address, email and phone
> Description of car (possible photo) work done, hours spent and products.

All no problem. For photos I could either allow any number of photos up to a size limit, or I could put an interface in to load the images directly from picasa, flickr, or any photo service with a public api.

> I would also love to have an inventory type setup for products.

Not. sure what you mean here. You want inventory management system to define your products and then select products from that when you enter a new car into the log?

I think it would be great to make the detail logs public so others can view the products and process used (not your customers information though). I might consider making it so you can toggle it to be public or private but I think if i'm giving the service away for free, the users can give back to others by making the information public.

I'll get started on this, so everyone just add your comments and wish lists here.
 
Great thanks, yeah I mean since your willing to do it for free, I think it should be something that everyone could share and also use as a Knowledge base.
 
For my customer data base I use Excel spreadsheets with each tab for that customer.
New data is updated on the top of each page along with notes to self about the car or the client.
Examples:
Tab = Joe in a Hurry
Mustang Cobra Bright Red
Do not clean the shifter - ever - he wants grab on the stick - use bowlers rosin lightly
Rear panels may have tire rubber attached - burnouts
Refill/Replenish his supplies in the gym bag

Tab = Jenny’s Smile
Honda Fit Bright Red
IS super clean, door sills have shoe scuff marks

Tab = Amanda
Aircraft carrier Smoke grey
6k in rims, 4k in pipes
Driver cockpit is always a mess - the rest of interior just dust
Garage code - xxxxx
 
I'll definitely allow notes entry, any other ideas feel free to let me know.

I was busy with a client most of the weekend so I got very little done (registration, login), and I've been thinking about the flow of the rest of it. As soon as I have customer & car entry in there i'll post a link so you guys can play around with it a bit.
 
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