Emails for Quotes Unanswered

[Howling]

Is email spam still a thing? I use both gmail & outlook addresses and I doubt I see a half dozen spam messages a year.

Now maybe these services just have really good spam filtering compared to having your own domain hosted by Godaddy or someone similar, but my experience is that spam is much less of a problem than it was, say 15 or 20 years ago.

Spam filtering is a double edged sword. Gmail does very aggressive spam filtering at a couple of levels. They straight out trash massive amounts of 'junk' email - no option to review it is just gone. The second level moves spam emails to a special folder. You get 30 days to review before it deleted. This gmail filtering is nice compared to the old spam filled days. But I still have review and pull real emails from the spam folder for my business and personal emails multiple times a week.

This whole problem of contractors, vendors, etc comes down to time management and priorities.

They tend to focus on their trade. This is what they are good at and makes them happy and money. Typically the business side is a necessary evil that takes time away for the core tasks. The growth of the web, email, cheap massed produced goods and instant response society has greatly increased the amount of tire kickers looking for that cheapest quote. After a history of wasting time on many quotes that go nowhere they have got selective on what they will respond to.

In some areas the process has changed. It is no longer the client selecting the contractor. It the contractor selecting what clients they want to work with. I have told potential clients no.

 

[grsthegreat]

Spam filtering is so complete, a lot of my true quotes end up in the customers spam files. I have to tell people to check there if they do not see quote within 24 hours.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I used to do my quotes on a computer driven typewriter, on high quality Linen Letter Head. Now you have to ask the customer to check their garbage for your quote.

 

[grsthegreat]

I used to do my quotes on a computer driven typewriter, on high quality Linen Letter Head. Now you have to ask the customer to check their garbage for your quote.

Yup....times sure change that for sure. But i do like the app i use for billing on my ipad. i can complete the bill and email it while talking to the customer. they can pay online or immediately with credit card. money in my account next day and i dont have to mess with billing in the evening.

the program i use is called Joist, and it holds all of my product costs in the program. every possible part i use is listed along with cost per unit. makes billing very easy. The only drawback is i have to have internet connection at the time i am issuing the bill. at some jobs thats not possible.

 

[Industrial Toys]

It's why my billings sometimes took well over six months. Customers actually used to complain! Used to do billing on a typewriter!

 

[grsthegreat]

It's why my billings sometimes took well over six months. Customers actually used to complain! Used to do billing on a typewriter!

Whats a typewriter.........and where does the monitor and printer plug in:cool2:

 

[Diggin It]

^^ The printer is self contained and spare monitors are stored in reams in a drawer.

 

[mikester]

Spam filtering is a double edged sword. Gmail does very aggressive spam filtering at a couple of levels. They straight out trash massive amounts of 'junk' email - no option to review it is just gone. The second level moves spam emails to a special folder. You get 30 days to review before it deleted. This gmail filtering is nice compared to the old spam filled days. But I still have review and pull real emails from the spam folder for my business and personal emails multiple times a week.

Right on.

Is email spam still a thing? I use both gmail & outlook addresses and I doubt I see a half dozen spam messages a year.

Now maybe these services just have really good spam filtering compared to having your own domain hosted by Godaddy or someone similar, but my experience is that spam is much less of a problem than it was, say 15 or 20 years ago.

Spam is a bigger problem now than it ever was. 20 years ago you never heard of ransom-ware...where do you think it comes from?

If you are a business spam is costing you money through wasted time and wasted resources. If you have a business phone line you will be getting bombarded with google robocall scammers, duct cleaning, free trips, outsource your business to India/China, credit card scammers, blah blah blah. There is a cost to having your phone lines and internet devices tied up with this cr@p.

 

[EddieWalker]

Right on.



Spam is a bigger problem now than it ever was. 20 years ago

My phone is on mute. I put my phone number out there on my FB page and I accept friend requests from everyone. The more the better, but that leads to scam phone calls all day long. At first they where annoying, but then just kept my phone on mute and I only check the messages. 90 percent of the fake phone calls that I get don't leave a message. The few that do leave a message are managable. I just delete them the second I realize it's a scam. That allows me to only pay attention to genuine phone calls from potential clients. If they are already clients or somebody I know their name comes up when they call, but most send texts anyway, so it's easy to reply and deal with.

At first, my potential clients seemed put off a little that I never answer my phone, but now everyone has had to deal with scam phone calls and it's perfectly normal to never answer your phone. Times keep on changing and it is what it is.

 

[Fallon]

What software are people using to run their businesses? I'm just using Gmail, Google Contacts, Google calendar & Google Keep for notes. Using Quickbooks for tax accounting.

I despise Intuit & Quickbooks due to their tax lobbying h the fact their software sucks. All the Google tools are ok, but have their limitations. It's only a side gig so I can't afford a lot, but I'm kind of looking for something better to keep track of quotes, customers & what not.