- Who / What is ServiceCharlie?
- ServiceCharlie.com is a cool, new (and FREE) way to find service-providers for all your home-improvement and home-repair jobs.
ServiceCharlie lets customers find home services professionals in their city of choice in a simple and quick manner.
Why is that different or valuable?
Take a quick 5-min tour of ServiceCharlie.com
or read on....
- Isn't this what Craigslist is for?
- Good Point! This is *exactly* what Craigslist does except for the fact that:
 Customers have to wade through a mountain of listings.
Customers have no basis to choose (no feedback mechanism).
The actual process of choosing is very laborious.
- * Search for service-category
- * Drill down to city/region
- * See headlines
- * Click each one... then pick one
- * Call the person.
- Repeat process a few times until you've had enough!!
We, at ServiceCharlie.com want to make the process easy and quick. We want to be Craigslist on steroids !!.
- ServiceCharlie is Craigslist on Steroids? What the....?
- OK - here's the deal. We don't want to be everything to everybody at all times. We want to focus on just one thing and do it exceedingly well. The niche we have chosen is Home Service providers and that too in the SF Bay Area.
We don't have a Jobs section or an items-for-sale section or discussion forums. We only offer speedy and focussed search for providers of Home Services. Nothing more and nothing less!!
- What does ServiceCharlie offer?
- Here is how things work with ServiceCharlie:
* Customer submits job-requirements and his/her city to ServiceCharlie.
* ServiceCharlie finds providers of that service in that city.
* ServiceCharlie lists those providers based on consumer approval ratings.
* With minimal clicks and page-views, customer reviews and shortlists candidates.
* ServiceCharlie passes on job-requirements to shortlisted candidates.
* Shortlisted service providers contact customer with quotes/offers/bids.
ServiceCharlie adds value to customers by making it easy to review and shortlist service providers.
Take a 5-min screen-tour of ServiceCharlie.com
- What services are covered by ServiceCharlie?
- Home Services include (but are not limited to):
* Plumbers
* Painters
* Electricians
* Roofers
* Handymen
* Garage Door specialists
* Landscapers / Gardeners
* Cabinetry specialists
* Flooring/Carpet installers and cleaners
* Windows and Door Installers
* Home Cleaning Service providers
* Fence installation and repairs
* Bathroom and Kitchen remodelling
If you or anyone you know would like to enroll please contact us at enrollment AT ServiceCharlie.com. Its free and will remain FREE through the introductory period (estimated until Nov-09)
- If its free, how do you make money?
- Service providers pay us to be enrolled on our database (similar to Yellow-pages). During the introductory/trial/honeymoon period (projected to be until Dec-31-09), we will not be charging anyone anything. So sign-up and take a free ride!
- So... are you like the e-Yellow Pages type of guys?
- Oh No! Although we charge service providers to be enrolled in our database, we are NOT like the yellow-pages or whatever they are called these days.
We do not discriminate between ServiceProvider-A and ServiceProvider-B. We don't offer anyone any preferential allocation of space or ranking or visibility. Ranking is performed democratically and *exclusively* through end-user feedback. Our enrollment rates are flat-fee based. In short we favor meritocracy rather than aristocracy.
- Service providers are consumer-rated? How does that work?
- Customers are provided with a feedback page with which to rate the service providers that they picked/shortlisted. This rating PLUS free-text comments constitutes the feedback that a service providers gets which in turn determines his/her ranking (5 stars or 4 stars..... ).
Service providers therfore have an incentive to not just win business but to also win accolades by providing the highest service level at the most competitive rates. All of this, ofcourse, benefits you, the customer!
- How does ServiceCharlie compare with ServiceMagic?
-
ServiceCharlie and ServiceMagic are similar but have crucial differences:
Simplicity: ServiceCharlie.com asks for project details in 1 simple text-field. ServiceMagic asks you for it in excruciating detail. Do you have that much time or know that level of detail?
Cost-effectiveness: ServiceCharlie.com only charges $5/- to service providers. ServiceMagic charges $50/-. Obviously service providers recover that cost from you. Do you have that much extra cash ?
Speed: Service providers can reach you faster because they are informed about your project details via PHONE plus traditional methods (like email and fax ...). They don't need to have email/fax access to know about your project needs. ServiceMagic ONLY relies on tradional means. Therefore, service providers can reach you faster because they get to know your needs even though they are on the road.
- Hmm.. so the advantage(s) of ServiceCharlie are?
- Advantages for customers
* Customer has a fast, focused and informed way to select service providers.
* Customers can browse listings based on previous customer-ratings and comments.
* Customers can (confidentially) rate their service providers.
* Service providers are directly accountable to the customer community.
Advantages for service providers
* Service providers don't waste time placing (multiple) ads in classifieds.
* Can track job-leads and performance through a password-secured login.
* All of this at zero cost to customer and minimal cost to service providers .
- When does ServiceCharlie GO LIVE?
-
ServiceCharlie is currently in development and Go-Live is planned in Sep-09. Stay tuned for more info.
- I'm a service provider. Where can I learn more about ServiceCharlie?
- Are you guys hiring? I'm looking for a job.
- AT this point we are not hiring but we are open to commission-based arrangements. Send us an email at sales AT ServiceCharlie.com to discuss further.
|
|
