About FlatRateNOW

FlatRateNOW is an Australian-made quoting solution for Trade Services Businesses. The App boasts a catalogue of over 1,800 pre-built tasks for Plumbers & Electricians and a set of simple-to-use sales tools. Using the App, on-site technicians build detailed quotations for their customers in a matter of minutes, all using your prices for labour and materials to achieve your profit goals. For speed and accuracy, FlatRateNOW integrates seamlessly with SimPRO/LaserPRO and ServiceM8 so that all technicians can focus on the needs of their customers, rather than typing up quotes and calculating prices.

Exclusive Q&A With FlatRateNOW's CEO, Marcel Donnelly

CEO, Marcel Donnelly, addresses several FAQs in this session and explains how FlatRateNOW has helped several businesses to grow their average job value.

How did you identify the challenges that Tradespeople faced and how did you solve them with the FlatRateNOW app?

"At FlatRateNOW, when we first started to develop the system we looked at why tradespeople were spending so much time away from the customers building quotations. Due to the lack of a system in place when the tradesperson is on-site, they were unable to build a quote and deliver the tasks on site. FlatRateNOW has bridged the gap by introducing the quoting solution which allows tradespeople to maneuver through more than 1,800 pre-built tasks on-site with their customer and quote right then and there." 

What are the Features and benefits of the FlatRateNOW app?

"As a quoting solution for tradesmen; plumbing, electrical, solar and HVAC; the features that we have within our software are all tailored and geared towards improving the quoting potential. The features of the app are focused around images of the products, easy to manipulate headings and descriptions, easy to tweak pricing, photos attached to the quotation to improve the awareness of the customers to what the solution is and an option builder of multiple quotes. The 'ScratchPad' known as the options builder, is one of the key features within the app. It helps you to build multiple quotes on the same screen with different pricing eliminating competition from your competitors." 

Does FlatRateNOW have integrations with the industry job management systems?

"FlatRateNOW's solution integrates with the leading job management systems in Australia. We also integrate with pricing systems such as Stripe and Accounting systems as well such as Xero." 

What do you mostly hear from your customers who are using the FlatRateNOW app?

"What I mostly hear from our customers is how easy it is to build quotes through the FlatRateNOW app then and there with the customer. And what that does is increases their average job value because they are no longer walking into a job that may be servicing of a tap or quick upgrade of a downlight, they are able to build multiple quotes and have a discussion with their clients. This allows their clients to choose the best option that satisfies the client's needs." 

How does FlatRateNOW build their catalogue and continually improve on it?

"One of the challenges that tradespeople face attempting to build their catalogue within their quoting system is the maintenance of the actual catalogue. You've got thousands of products that are linked up to the various lists of suppliers all of which are constantly changing. You get new price files each month with updating pricing, removing old products, adding new products, maintaining product images, and all of this becomes really difficult for tradespeople to maintain. When you run a trades business, you don't have enough time for that. That is why we at FlatRateNOW are continuously expanding and updating our catalogue so that it is easier for tradespeople to browse through products with images and the latest pricing."

How is providing a quote upfront different from the common method of 'do-and-charge'?

"As all tradesperson know the "do-and-charge" method came first. Essentially a person would arrive on-site, they would talk to the customer about what their problem is and then the tradesperson would give the invoice once they are finished. The problem with that is, the customer is not aware of the problem and the pricing he is going to be charged with. Once the customer receives the quote from the tradesperson, they would not be happy and end up having an argument with the tradesperson. So providing a quote upfront with the details of the tasks you eliminate the problem of price objection questions from the customers." 

Does FlatRateNOW offer a Free Trial Period to New Users?

"At FlatRateNOW we do it slightly differently when it comes to the 'free trial' of our software. We understand that a tradesman is still learning the ability to provide quotes upfront. Therefore, we allow tradesmen to join our freemium plan to quote $10,000 worth of jobs for free. We do not ask you for any credit card details or lock up any contracts for the freemium plan. At FlatRateNOW we believe tradespeople should be given the flexibility to learn our system and app and we allow this for their peace of mind. So try out our software and use the quoting solution up to $10,000 worth of jobs and see for yourself if it works for your business." 

Marketing Manager, Simon Shakir talks about the focus of technology and innovation at FlatRateNOW

Marketing Manager, Sayem (Simon) Shakir, explains that technological change is at the forefront of how tradespeople do business with their customers. Product knowledge is key in adapting to this new change, and we at FlatRateNOW are hosting live, free and interactive webinar series to enable our customers the tools and knowledge they require to better their business. 

Join Australia's No.1 Quoting solution for Tradespeople and Embrace the innovation today for FREE!