JunkBossPro Blog — Online Booking & Leads

Choosing Junk Removal Booking Software: What to Check Before You Switch

Switching software is a real cost: setup time, a learning curve, moving your customer list. It's worth doing when the current setup is losing you jobs. If leads are slipping through a contact form email, if you can't see which estimates are open, or if your schedule doesn't know where your trucks are, it's time to look. Here's what to check, in the order that matters most for a junk removal company.

Start With How You Book Today

How a one-truck owner fits booking into a working day is covered in The One-Truck Owner's Booking Day: Answering Leads Between Loads. Before comparing tools, write down how a lead moves through your business today, from the first click to a paid invoice. Every place someone retypes something, or a lead waits in a personal inbox, is a place new software should fix.

Most small junk removal companies run on some mix of spreadsheets and paper, a contact form that emails a phone, and generic field-service software built for trades that don't price by the truck load.

1. Forms on Your Own Website

Check whether the software gives you forms you can put on your own site, and where submissions go:

• A request form for customers who want a price first.
• A sign-up form that captures a card for customers ready to book.
• One shared inbox for every submission, not one person's email.
• A one-click convert from a submission to a client, with no retyping.

In JunkBossPro these are the request form, the sign-up form and Form Responses, as covered in The Website Request Form: Getting Junk Removal Jobs From Your Own Site.

2. Fast Replies

Can you answer a lead by text from the office, with replies coming back to a shared conversation? Is there a monthly text allowance included, and how big? JunkBossPro includes two-way texting with 500, 1,000 or 2,000 texts sent and received each month on Start, Pro and Crew (US and Canada).

3. Estimates Built for Junk Removal

Can you set up services the way you actually price: minimum load, quarter, half, three-quarter and full truck loads, single items, mattresses, appliances, hot tubs, pianos, sheds, cleanouts and same-day service? Can the customer approve online, and does the approved estimate become the scheduled job? Are there follow-up emails and templates?

Also check the junk-specific details on the job itself: the truck load, number of items, what's going and where it gets hauled. And check how dump weight is handled. In JunkBossPro, the dump fee overage is added to the invoice automatically from the dump ticket's tons.

4. A Booking Queue on a Map

This is where generic tools usually fall short. Ask: where do unbooked jobs wait, and can you see them on a map next to tomorrow's route? JunkBossPro's Waiting List shows every request that isn't booked yet on a live map and a list, so you can drop a single item near a booked cleanout. From there, the dispatch board, auto-routing from the yard and the crew app take over.

5. The Customer Side

What do customers see after they book? Check for:

• A customer app where they can request service again and sign up for services and pricing.
• Their visit day and a live route map with their place in line.
• Alerts they choose: night before, when they're next, when the crew arrives.
• Card updates, invoices and online payment.
• A way to rate the job and refer someone.

6. Partners and Repeat Work

If you work with realtors, property managers or apartment complexes, check that one client can hold many addresses, and whether they can get one monthly statement with each address labeled. Check that clients can carry tags and custom fields, so you can track lead sources and partners in reports.

7. The Practical Stuff

• Price. JunkBossPro plans are $59, $89 and $199 per month for Start, Pro and Crew.
• Trial. A 14-day free trial with no credit card.
• Moving your data. CSV import for your customer list, with imported addresses placed on the map automatically.
• Phones. The crew app runs in the browser on iPhone and Android and installs to the home screen, with no app store.
• Where you work. The US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the UK, billing customers in their own currency.

Try It on a Real Week

The best test is your own leads. During a trial, put the request form on your site, answer a week of leads by text, send real estimates and plan routes from the Waiting List. You can also click through a fully stocked sample junk removal company, with no signup, at my.junkbosspro.com/demo.html. For the full picture of the booking side, visit the JunkBossPro junk removal booking software page.