King's Corner: Bird's Eye View
The concept is fascinating: You just send in the address of a residential or commercial building, and you receive a detailed report with an aerial photo and line drawings of the roof with length, pitch and area noted for easy and accurate estimates and professional presentations.
The concept is fascinating: You just send in the address of a residential or commercial building, and you receive a detailed report with an aerial photo and line drawings of the roof with length, pitch and area noted for easy and accurate estimates and professional presentations.
That’s the concept behind Eagle View Technologies, which supplies contractors with detailed reports of roof measurements based on its patented software. I recently spoke with Chris Barrow, the president and CEO of Eagle View, and Dave Carlson, the founder of the company.
Frustrated with the difficulties and dangers of climbing roofs to take accurate measurements, Carlson, a second-generation roofer, teamed up with his brother-in-law, a software engineer, to develop a system to take the measurements automatically, day or night, regardless of the weather. The company celebrated its one-year anniversary in February, and Carlson said business was booming.
The company maintains that its service not only provides accurate measurements and helps with customer presentations, but it reduces waste and saves drive time and money by reducing the number of trips to the jobsite. Since it eliminates the need for the salesman to get up on the roof, it allows salesmen who are unable to get on the roof - or those uncomfortable doing so - to work in the industry.
“Many find it beneficial to order the report before they go to the site so they can show up with the report in hand,” said Barrow. “With old-style measurements, there might be multiple trips to the home, and perhaps the husband or wife might not be there while the measurements were taken. Now it’s possible to schedule one appointment, walk in with an Eagle View report, and make the sale right there - one trip, one close.”
There are two pricing plans for Eagle View reports: a “pay as you go” plan that offers reports for a flat fee and a tier-based subscription plan.
I’m in the process of interviewing contractors who have used the service for a future article. If you’re interested in sharing your experience, please feel free to e-mail me at kingc@bnpmedia.
For more information about Eagle View Technologies, visit www.eagleview.com.
The concept is fascinating: You just send in the address of a residential or commercial building, and you receive a detailed report with an aerial photo and line drawings of the roof with length, pitch and area noted for easy and accurate estimates and professional presentations.
That’s the concept behind Eagle View Technologies, which supplies contractors with detailed reports of roof measurements based on its patented software. I recently spoke with Chris Barrow, the president and CEO of Eagle View, and Dave Carlson, the founder of the company.
Frustrated with the difficulties and dangers of climbing roofs to take accurate measurements, Carlson, a second-generation roofer, teamed up with his brother-in-law, a software engineer, to develop a system to take the measurements automatically, day or night, regardless of the weather. The company celebrated its one-year anniversary in February, and Carlson said business was booming.
The company maintains that its service not only provides accurate measurements and helps with customer presentations, but it reduces waste and saves drive time and money by reducing the number of trips to the jobsite. Since it eliminates the need for the salesman to get up on the roof, it allows salesmen who are unable to get on the roof - or those uncomfortable doing so - to work in the industry.
“Many find it beneficial to order the report before they go to the site so they can show up with the report in hand,” said Barrow. “With old-style measurements, there might be multiple trips to the home, and perhaps the husband or wife might not be there while the measurements were taken. Now it’s possible to schedule one appointment, walk in with an Eagle View report, and make the sale right there - one trip, one close.”
There are two pricing plans for Eagle View reports: a “pay as you go” plan that offers reports for a flat fee and a tier-based subscription plan.
I’m in the process of interviewing contractors who have used the service for a future article. If you’re interested in sharing your experience, please feel free to e-mail me at kingc@bnpmedia.
For more information about Eagle View Technologies, visit www.eagleview.com.
