Launch27

Vorteile

There isn't one or even a set of features that I would say I like best about L27.
L27 has allowed me to grow a business of this sort in a much shorter time than would have been possible otherwise because of nearly all the features that are included.
Despite its shortcomings, no other software available is going to allow you to do what you can with L27 at this price point.
If i had to pick a few, the payment system is fantastic. Automatic holds and charges for customer cards is very convenient.
The email notifications work very well to give customers plenty of warning about their upcoming booking and to let them know automatically if there's an issue with their payment method.
The metric screen is decent. I'm glad it has that, though I think there are a few ways it could be improved.

Nachteile

1. L27 is geared more toward service businesses that operate using independent contractors. We use employees so there are certain features that would be nice to have.

2. Inability to add customer reviews/feedback manually. It has to be done with the emailed customer surveys that come with L27 which isn't great.

3. The scheduling screens have improved but are still very difficult to use when you exceed about 10 bookings per day. Scheduling at this point is going to be difficult, regardless. I do think there are certain tools that would help.

Vorteile

I liked the support, the story of the founder, the concept and idea for the software. I tried this concurrently with housecall pro.

Nachteile

The setup is incredibly complicated. Even though there is great support it’s much like computer programming.

Vorteile

Initial willingness of team to accept feedback and improve software

Nachteile

Terrible SLA, unhelpful customer support, development going the wrong direction

Vorteile

The thing I like the most is that this software is meant for specific industries, so it has the built-in functions tailored for those industries. And, if the software is missing something and the community requests it, then there is a clear "feature request" process that the company follows.

When using the Launch 27 platform, I can imagine how many other spreadsheets and tools I would need to tie together to make business operations flow the same if I were to not be using Launch 27. It would be a lot. Launch 27 has the CRM, payment processor, scheduling, booking, etc. all in one platform which really helps save a lot of time. It also helps with the training and transition of new managers who may be using the platform as well. Although learning the ins and outs of Launch 27 to it's fullest extent can definitely take a long time and there is a lot of trial and error, I am confident that it takes less time than it would to learn the sum of a bunch of separate platforms.

Nachteile

Broadly speaking, this is how I would describe what I like the least. From the top level, many companies do run their operations generally in a similar fashion. However, once you get down to more specifics, a lot of businesses run things differently. When building functions, Launch 27 has to choose which route to go, what to focus more on, what features to implement first, etc. So, sometimes the functions that would work best for my business may not come soon because the functions of other businesses are in higher demand. I would absolutely love to have Launch 27 be the one and only platform I use to manage all of the daily operations, and I do use it for 90%+ of operations, but there are still some area's where I have to resort to google docs and 3rd party apps to handle certain features. And note: the features I am talking about are related directly to things that Launch 27 could have implemented into the system (I'm not talking about things like advertising or email campaigns, etc.). For example, I do still calculate payroll on excel sheets because Launch27 does not calculate pay amounts in the same way and level of detail that we have set up as a company. The hourly and percentage functions are limited, and they don't have the ability to split pay between two people when they are both on percentage pay and cleaning the same home. For that reason alone, I run payroll on a spreadsheet.
Lastly, employees always seem to have problems with the app.*hit text limit*

Vorteile

Online booking features are second to none! Online payments and automated emails/texts really make for an impressive efficient process! L27 delivers a self-serve model where the customer is in control! Our customers enjoy ease of use, booking online, rescheduling or cancelling, if necessary. They also love using the email feedback loop! We love it, too!

Nachteile

All customer support is handled through web chat and email. Occasionally, someone will call you if you are dealing with a difficult issue.