Checker Automations

Chase your quotes, invoices, appointments and services without lifting a finger

Four handy workflows built into Checker that send branded reminders to your customers in the background. To them, it looks like you’ve sat down and written every message yourself. Checker does it for you.

The three tabs, in this order

1. Preferences. Set what gets sent and who it goes to.
2. Templates. Set the wording for anything you have switched on.
3. Set Reminder Period. Set when it goes out.

In short: who gets what, then what it says, then when it lands.

Step 1

Choose what gets sent, and who gets it

Go to Preferences. This page lists every automatic message Checker can send. Against each one you decide three things:

• The client. Usually the person paying, the landlord or the homeowner.
• The install. The contact at the property, normally the tenant or the person who lets you in.
• You, the engineer. A copy to yourself so you know it has gone and can follow it up.

Then pick how each one is sent, by email, by SMS, or both. Most are off as standard, which is deliberate. Nothing goes out to your customers until you say so. Switch on only the ones you actually want, and turn off the rest.

Work down the page one row at a time and hit save. If you are not sure about a row, leave it off. You can come back and switch it on later.

Step 2

Set the wording for the ones you switched on

Go to Templates. Every reminder comes with default wording written for UK trades, so if you change nothing at all it will still go out and still read well.

If you want it to sound like you, open the template for each reminder you turned on in step 1 and edit the subject line and the body. A few pointers:

• Keep the merge fields in place. They fill in the customer name, the address and the due date automatically.
• Say what the visit is and roughly how long it takes. People book faster when they know.
• Give them one clear way to reply, a phone number or just “reply to this email”.
• Keep SMS short. One or two lines is plenty.
• Send yourself a test before you leave the page.

Step 3

Choose when the reminder goes out

Go to Set Reminder Period. The default is 4 weeks before the file is due. You can set anything from 1 week to 12 weeks.

• 4 to 6 weeks suits most landlord gas safety work. It gives you room to book without the certificate running out.
• 8 to 12 weeks suits agents and portfolio landlords who need to get approval before booking.
• 1 to 2 weeks is fine for domestic services where people book on the spot, but it leaves no slack if they do not answer.

Save it and you are done. From that point on, every file you complete gets its reminder queued automatically.

Step 4

Check it is working

Open your overdue and due list. Against each file you can see what has been sent and when, so you are never guessing whether a customer has been chased. Anything sitting there with no reply is your call list for the week.

Why reminders and chasers are the bread and butter of the business

Every job you did last year is next year’s work, as long as somebody remembers it. Revisiting your own customer list is the cheapest, steadiest work you will ever get, and it costs you nothing to win. The only reason it gets lost is that nobody has the time to sit down and go through a year of files by hand.

The same goes for money. Not getting paid on time is what finishes most small businesses, not a lack of work. A quiet, automatic chaser at the right moment keeps the cash coming in without you having to be the bad guy on the phone.

• Remind people in plenty of time. Four weeks out gives the customer room to sort it and gives you room to fill the diary. A week out and you are competing with whoever rang them first.
• Last year’s jobs pay for this year. Every certificate, service and install sitting in Checker has a due date on it. Turn the reminders on and that list works for you all year.
• Cash flow is the one to stay on top of. Invoice chasers go out on their own at day 1, 5 and 10 past your terms, so nothing sits there quietly unpaid.
• Quotes go cold fast. A nudge at 7, 10 and 14 days gets answers, and an answer either way is better than silence.
• Send it to the right person. Landlord, tenant, agent or homeowner, each one needs something slightly different, so you choose who gets what.
• Email or text, your call. Some people never open email. Pick the channel per message and copy yourself in if you want to know it has gone.

Set it up once and let us handle it. It quietly rebooks work and collects money for you all year, without you writing a single reminder by hand.

Quick checklist before you close the laptop

• ✓ Every reminder you want is switched on in Preferences.
• ✓ Each one is pointed at the right person, client, install or you.
• ✓ Email or SMS chosen for each, and the rest turned off.
• ✓ Wording checked, or defaults left in place on purpose.
• ✓ Reminder period set, 4 weeks unless you have a reason to change it.
• ✓ Customer records have a mobile number and an email on them, otherwise there is nowhere to send to.
• ✓ One test sent to yourself.