Whatever you need. Done.

In a constant effort to refine the way our customers can vet providers once they receive quotes, Redbeacon is pleased to announce two new features that have gone live on the site recently: Verification Badges and Redbeacon scores.

Verification badges are voluntary badges our providers can add to their profile page.   There are three levels of the verification badge and on the profile, they look like this:

Basic      Advanced  Full

What are the differences you ask?  A basic badge verifies the providers are who they say they are.  It verifies their name and business.  An advanced badge takes it a step further and verifies their social security number and provides an immediate electronic criminal background check. The full badge includes both the electronic criminal background check as well as a thorough physical criminal background check.  Keep in mind, if the providers do NOT have these badges, it does not mean they failed any of these checks, it is that they simply haven’t elected to have themselves verified.  However, if you DO see these badges on a provider’s profile, you can feel confident that you’re hiring a provider that’s been vetted thoroughly.

The other new feature we launched is the Redbeacon overall score.  Redbeacon scores combine two 50 max point scores for an overall rating of 0-100.  The two categories for scores are information and reputation.  On the profile page, you see the score appear like this:

The information score demonstrates how much information a provider has in their profile.  The score is based on whether or not the profile has a detailed description of the provider’s services, photos, website, company logo, and Facebook verification.  The reputation score is based on review strength, testimonials, background checks, and licensing, bonding, and insurance information.

Redbeacon is always trying to make sure customers feel comfortable with our providers and we want our providers to have as many tools as possible to validate themselves as well.  We hope you find these new features helpful!

If you’re familiar with Redbeacon, you may have seen some recent changes regarding provider profile pages.  A lot of these changes have come at the suggestions of our customers, who want as much information as possible about a potential provider they’re going to hire.

One new feature added: Citysearch reviews.

Citysearch reviews have joined our current crop of Yelp, Yahoo, Google, and Redbeacon ratings to help our customers evaluate providers.   Our hope is that the variety of these reviews will paint a well rounded picture of our providers and give the customer a comfort level in scheduling them. When you see a scoreboard like this, then you have to feel secure knowing this provider is a slam dunk, no?

Or that this provider will likely give you a good experience?

The other feature we added:  Testimonials

A lot of feedback we got from both our providers and our customers was that they wanted to see some testimonials. Well, we’ve listened. As of last week, providers may now ask previous clients for testimonials and feature them on their revamped profile page.

Testimonials give providers a chance to get some positive feedback if they don’t have any reviews or they can help validate existing reviews.  Customers will also feel more at ease with examples of a job well done.  And if you’re a provider, we’ve made it easy to get testimonials from past clients.  You just need to click on the “Get Testimonials” link in your “Manage Profile” tab and you’ll be prompted for email addresses.  It’s that simple!

At Redbeacon, we’re constantly striving to make the site the most useful to our providers and customers.  We hope you find these two new features beneficial!

As Charlie Sheen likes to say, it’s all about “winning”. And Redbeacon is at its best when customers and providers alike are “winning” by having great experiences. Customers win by finding a qualified professional that does excellent work on their job and providers win by putting some cash in their pocket and (hopefully) getting positive reviews that lead to winning more jobs in the future.

We’ve already covered two tips on how providers can win jobs. If you missed out on those tips, you can review them here:

How to Win More Jobs: Tip #1

and here:

How to Win More Jobs: Tip #2

However, sometimes our customers put in a request and don’t get the quotes they expected. Why is this? It might be more simple than you think.

What we found is that jobs are more likely to get scheduled (meaning the customer receives satisfactory quotes) if they use correct spelling and punctuation! It may seem to be a minor thing but job requests with proper grammar and a clear description of the job tend to have the best chance of working out for both parties.  The provider is able to quote the job because it looks valid and has enough necessary information where they feel comfortable quoting and the customer receives viable quotes for their request.

Job requests with clear descriptions have a much better chance at receiving quotes and scheduling than those with brief descriptions.

And grammar helps!  On both sides!  A customer will feel more comfortable using a provider that responds to their request using proper punctuation and grammar while providers consider requests that are grammatically correct to be more viable.

Finally, uploading photos can greatly enhance your chances of receiving the best quotes because providers will have a real sense of what the job entails.

So if you’re serious about finding a provider and getting quotes

• BE DESCRIPTIVE
• USE PROPER GRAMMAR
• UPLOAD PHOTOS

Use these tips and you’ll have a “winning” experience using Redbeacon!

The stars and starlets were out in force last night for the 83rd Academy Awards. But unless you have some pull in Hollywood, you likely watched the Oscars from the comfort of your own home. Maybe you even had an Oscar party. If so, you’re probably staring at a mess of dirty dishes, leftover appetizers, and stained (red) carpets.

Well, time to light up the Redbeacon!  Not only kings need help tidying up their castle!  Feel free to request a maid or a carpet cleaner to help you tidy up the disaster that is your home! Our qualified housekeepers will have your apartment, condo, or house sparkling clean in no time.

Isn’t it nice to come home from a long day of work and see a flawless kitchen? We think so.

We hope you had a good Oscar night and with our help, we hope you have a great week after the Oscars!

Did you forget to celebrate Valentine’s Day? Were you too busy with work to take out that special person in your life? Or did you have an evening full of romance only to be left with the mess that is the Valentine’s Day hangover?

Well, that’s what Redbeacon is here for. Do you have flower petals strewn about?  Empty champagne bottles and chocolate boxes littering the floor?

If so, feel free to use Redbeacon to find a housekeeper that can can come by and tidy up your place so you can bask in the glow of love!

Or perhaps you forgot to get your partner a gift! No worries, order up a massage therapist and have your significant other’s stressed muscles melt away!  Or request a personal chef and have a nice gourmet meal together this weekend to make up for those long hours you were working last night!

Blow the gasket in the hot tub? Request an electrician!

Or maybe you had the worst Valentine’s Day EVER and decided to call it quits! No problem, we have movers at the ready to get your stuff out of the house!!

In any case, remember Redbeacon is your source for local service providers that can help you when YOU need them.  We hope you had a great Valentine’s Day (and hopefully, you don’t really need those movers unless it’s to move in together!)

Happy Friday Redbeaconites!

Every now and then, this blog will feature a “Meet the Team” segment to give you an inside look at the people behind Redbeacon and give you an idea of what it is that we do here!  We’re a friendly bunch, so don’t be scared!

Our first foray into the brilliant minds that call Redbeacon home (er, work) are our Wizards.

What is a Wizard you ask? Well, yes, obviously it’s someone that has a wand.

Redbeacon wizards are the people behind the Redbeacon curtain that do a lot of things that aid the user experience! When a customer puts in a job request, it’s our wizards that help determine if a job has enough description to send to our provider base.  Once the request goes out, the wizards monitor the job activity to make sure our customers have a good experience and get solid quotes from ethical professionals.  Once a job is scheduled, our wizards confirm the scheduling with the provider to ensure an effortless and smooth transaction.  So without further ado, let us meet Redbeacon’s two primary Wizards!

Garrett S.

Garrett has been with Redbeacon since October 2010.  He is a former University of Arizona business major and he is now the primary wizard of new accounts for Redbeacon.  Garrett was instrumental in the launch of Washington DC as he served as the “face” of Redbeacon in terms of acquiring new providers and educating them on how the site works.  He is the person new providers speak with when they sign up and he has established relationships with providers from SF, Seattle, and DC.  Garrett’s primary responsibility is to make sure new providers are comfortable and understand how to use Redbeacon.  He is there as a guide to help coordinate quotes with customers and make sure jobs get scheduled correctly.  If you use the new chat box help feature, you have a 50% chance of speaking with Garrett.  When he’s not signing up providers and educating people about Redbeacon, Garrett is a “professional” gamer.  He loves gaming!  And eating great food.

When you’re not chatting with Garrett, you’ll find yourself chatting with…

Joe M.

Joe has been working at Redbeacon since July 2010.  A graduate of Arizona State University, Joe is now the primary wizard of Redbeacon’s customer care and accounts department.  Joe has deepened relationships with many of the Bay Area’s provider base and has helped keep providers happy and active.  Any time customers or providers have questions about how to use the site or have problems with their accounts, Joe is there to save the day.  Every month, Redbeacon has an all-hands meeting where customer and provider complaints and suggestions are presented by Joe and reviewed by Redbeacon’s decision makers.  He is the primary link between Redbeacon’s user base and the powers that be.  He also aids Garrett in new user development when needed and is a key contributor to this blog!  He is also a die hard Giants fan and is still basking in the glow of their first World Series Championship!

So there you have it, our first behind the scenes look at Redbeacon.  Whenever you have questions or comments about your Redbeacon experience, these two are the ones you will primarily be dealing with.

Have a great weekend and don’t forget, if your air conditioner goes on the fritz or your washing machine blows up or your DVD player conks out, head to Redbeacon for help!

So we already covered how providers can win more jobs by being quick to quote. While doing research on our user’s tendencies to book jobs, we discovered other factors that can help win more jobs. What’s another one of those factors? It seems like common sense. But a lot of our providers ignore this simple way to win prospective jobs… ENHANCE YOUR PROFILE!

When a customer is comparing providers, they’re looking at the quality of those professionals. Are they licensed? Do they have photos of past jobs? Do they have reviews? Is there a company logo or a personal photo of the professional?

All these things add up to paint a portrait of the person they’re planning on hiring to come to their home. So it’s important to fill out as much information as possible in your Redbeacon profile.

Imagine you’re a customer. Are you going to hire the plumber who’s job description says “I’m a plumber” and provides no photo that leaves the customer to imagine what you might look like?

Or are you more likely to hire the plumber who gives you some information about himself (or herself) and has a photo?

Sounds like a no brainer to us and unsurprisingly, our data backs it up.

Service providers on Redbeacon with full profiles win twice as many jobs as those that do not.

One of the most important elements of the profile are your reviews.  Most of the time our customers will base a decision on who to use on the past experiences of others.  Unlike some other sites out there, Redbeacon is all about solicited reviews!  If you go to a job, don’t be afraid to ask the customer to leave you a  rating and review on Redbeacon.  Better yet, ask them if you can take some photos of the job you just completed!  Then you can add those pictures to your Redbeacon profile.  The chances of you scheduling  your next job will greatly enhance if you leave your customer happy!

So if you’re submitting lots of quotes but not winning jobs, be sure to check out your profile and see if you’re missing any crucial information.  Like, a business name!    And if you need help with your profile, we Redbeacon Wizards are ready to help you out.  Just give us a call!

We just took 1st place at Business Insider’s Startup2010 competition!!

It was a big honor since there were 9 other fantastic finalists (culled from a list of hundreds of other entrants).  We were especially excited that we won both the audience vote and the judge’s vote.  But rather than keep the $100K in prize winnings for ourselves, we’re going to share it with our users!

From now until May 31st, Redbeacon will contribute $20 towards the price of any service you schedule through us!

So get started now with that spring cleaning, gutter repair, flower planting, car waxing,  or maybe just get in shape for the warm weather.  Not only will we save you money through our competitive bidding process, we’re going to help pay your job (but don’t delay – this is a limited time offer).