Dear ShootQ,
First off, you have a great platform that helps us keep our studio organized and running smoothly. However, most any photographer who has been working with ShootQ for some time, can tell you there are many shortcomings to your platform... Luckily there is a forum for feature requests (http://help.shootq.com/forums/156115-feature-requests) where your users are offering valuable information and suggestions for improvement and development of ShootQ. However, we are seeing little to no development from ShootQ. Please ShootQ, it is time to allocate some resources to develop your platform.
Just to list a few:
photographer arrival time
suggested this on July 29, 2010 14:16
http://help.shootq.com/entries/226520-photographer-arrival-time
Customize the Client Area
suggested this on June 29, 2010 15:41
http://help.shootq.com/entries/204818-customize-the-client-area
[Feature Request] Timelines
suggested this on December 30, 2010 11:59
http://help.shootq.com/entries/372445-feature-request-timelines
Discount at booking
suggested this on August 24, 2010 10:41
http://help.shootq.com/entries/245791-discount-at-booking
Organizing the Add Ons Page
suggested this on July 15, 2010 20:06
http://help.shootq.com/entries/215793-organizing-the-add-ons-page
Different Email Templates for Different Auto-Questionnaires
suggested this on June 29, 2010 15:22
http://help.shootq.com/entries/204802-different-email-templates-for-different-auto-questionnaires
Coupon/Discount code
suggested this on July 25, 2010 11:29
http://help.shootq.com/entries/222587-coupon-discount-code
Additional Variables for Email Templates
suggested this on June 28, 2010 15:22
http://help.shootq.com/entries/203893-additional-variables-for-email-templates
"Request a Quote" button on pricing page
posted this on Aug 28 14:09
http://help.shootq.com/entries/21939138-request-a-quote-button-on-pricing-page
How do I get the location for a non-wedding event to show up on the contract?
http://help.shootq.com/entries/201783-how-do-i-get-the-location-for-a-non-wedding-event-to-show-up-on-the-contract?page=1#post_22063506
…....and many more valuable suggestions from you users
http://help.shootq.com/forums/156115-feature-requests
sincerely,
John Davies, ShootQ user
Date
Votes
19 comments
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Variables in the email subject line to increase open rates. Real tracking to know if the email was read and which links clicked through.
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How about being able to simply type the names of your clients in your contract during the booking phase. Or being able to add any information really at any time to the client area?
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We've been with ShootQ for nearly 3 years and we've been very disappointed with the lack of customer service and development lately. ShootQ used to be awesome. We've actually begun learning Tave.
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I have been finding workarounds and posting them, but honestly, these workarounds should not have to be used. These are simple, regular features in many other CRM systems on the market. Honestly, if Studio Cloud did not require Merchant Warehouse, and had a better proofing system attached, we would be using it still. Employee Time punch, commissions tracking, gear tracking for jobs, these are features we need to grow as business', and need to be offered to us, to continue to have growth on both ends.
It feels like a lack of caring, growth has been steady, control has changes hands and is more profit minded as opposed to industry growth and customer service minded. It honestly feels, when speaking with reps, that they seems tired of hearing the same complaint or question, and that, should be an obvious sign it needs addressing and updating.
ShootQ Only exists due to the members that continue to use it and if changes are not made to keep up with the demand of the business owner in this industry, then ShootQ will go the way of the Myspace, used only people by people that do not know any better, until they discover these same issues for themselves.
The idea of the ShootQ system and the Pictage system is amazing, only it needs to brought into the times of now and face the industries demands head on and match them, beat them and go beyond just this looking towards the future of business growth, on our end, if we succeed, ShootQ succeeds, and ShootQ fails us, we find another. it took far too long for us, in Pictage to be able to order Calendars, this should have been the very first option thought of, like here, there are too many obvious flaws.
OBVIOUS FLAW TO ADD TO THE LIST- NOT BEING ABLE TO UNLOCK SHOOT TYPES "PORTRAITS, WEDDINGS, OTHER", Make using Brands almost seem like a waste of time. Speaking, so is chasing down all the reports from each brand, they should be accessible all as one business unit, with sub brands, not all as individual business and kept separate
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FIX the shipping glitch when clients select any add on's at booking. I've had to stop allowing client to add on the add ons because this created such a problem!
Customize what shows up on the invoice such as adding phone number & e-mail address.
Ability to link to a questionnaire PRIOR to creating a lead. (i.e. link from website directly to a questionnaire and the lead can be generated when the client submits it.) This would eliminate 2 e-mails when a client requests a quote.
Adjust a package without losing the payment information!!! This is a maaaajor hassle when a cilent selects a package 10 months in advance, then changes quantity or options. Can't the final balance be adjusted to reflect the new package without throwing everything else out the window?
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Add me as +1000 --on these and so many other issues that I have requested to be fixed.
It seems like ever since Pictage took over that there has been a 180 turnaround from a steady improvement to the software. I didn't want to believe the rumors about Pictage, but I have seen that there have been so very few of the improvements we have all asked for -- heck, not even improvements, really, issues that really need to be addressed, such as not losing the payment information.
My biggest pet peeve is that the profit on the job percentage is not correct -- do the math. It doesn't figure correctly.
What I keep getting is "There is going to be a major overhaul...next year...sometime...can't really tell you when, but these issues will be addressed."
Myspace is a great analogy -- I have blood, sweat, tears and lots of time in ShootQ as an original member, but at some point, we all went to Facebook, right?
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I think the MySpace analogy is totally accurate! For example were promised a mobile solution what... a year ago? but still nothing.... I've invested a lot of time and energy into how things run in ShootQ, and it's certainly better than NOT having it. But I do get the sense that there are other solutions out there with an eye for ShootQs market. If Pictage doesn't start investing in the continued improvement of it, soon there will be several other options worth jumping ship for.
I WANT to stay with ShootQ, so I hope they get the message!
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And I was unfortunately reminded of this today...
Add the ability to make a PARTIAL refund.
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I realize I am contributing quite a lot to this thread, so I want to make clear that my experience with ShootQ is not all bad...it's been a tremendous studio manager for me and has kept me sane and organized! That said, I've seen almost no development since I signed on and I feel that a company like this should always be striving to be better. The reason I chose ShootQ over Tave was because, at the time I was researching, no one at Tave could tell me when their newest release with all the features I wanted would actually be out. Their lack of forthrightness made me feel as though it might never happen and they were stringing people along. ShootQ seemed different...like users had a voice in the way the product would grow. The fact that no one from ShootQ has yet responded to this very important thread is troublesome.
Okay, with that out in the open now, I have two more things to add to the list:
1) Ability to put a deadline on proposals. I'd LOVE to be able to say "this proposal is valid for x days" and have the thing automatically show a message of stating that the proposal has expired and inviting clients to contact me to check availability. Right now, I say that in my emails, but there's nothing stopping a person from going through the booking system later unless I physically go in and delete it. It would be most helpful if the proposal was not deleted, just "expired" in the client portal, so that if the customer DOES come back, we can access what we'd sent them previously.
2) This is a biggie...what's the point of the ShootQ iPhone ap? You can't DO anything in it! Can't even view responses to a questionnaire? It's a glorified Rolodex. PLEASE make the ap worth using!
Thank you.
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On Oct 16, 2012, I called ShootQ technical support in hopes to solve or find workarounds to a few of the above mentioned “shortcoming” in ShootQ. After no solutions were found I asked the ShootQ tech (Francis Perez), “how many active users does ShootQ currently have.” He was not sure at first, but mentioned it was less than Pictage, and put me on hold while he inquired with his ShootQ colleague. 30 seconds later, he gave me an estimate that there are 6,000 active ShootQ users.
So, let’s do the math...
Approximate number of ShootQ users: 6000 (based on estimate from ShootQ tech support call with, Francis Perez, Oct 16, 2012)
> Let’s be safe and assume 1000 of those are trial users (free accounts)
> Therefore, there are still approximately 5000 paying subscribers.
> Again, let’s be safe and assume all paying subscribers have basic accounts ($40/month).
> Therefore, (5000 paying subscriber) x ($40/month/subscriber) x (12 months/year) = $2,400,000/year [annual ShootQ revenue from subscribers]
Granted this is an estimate, $2.4 million annual revenue for ShootQ seems like plenty for ShootQ to afford some serious development. -
Hello John and Fellow ShootQ'ers
We wanted to follow up with you to let you know we hear you. There are a lot of great suggestions in this post and in the feature requests section of the forums. Admittedly we haven't been as quick with development over the past two years as we had been previously, but our new management committed in mid-September that we would release something great for this platform every few weeks.
Since that time, we've pushed different improvements into production every 3 weeks, communicating them through the "Announcements" (http://help.shootq.com/categories/20079237-announcements) area of the forums as well as email, Notification Banners, Facebook and Twitter. Our latest release happened just last week, on October 30th, 2012. The development was primarily dedicated to Nimbus, but we were also able to get in a few bonus ShootQ application changes. You can see full detail of both releases in a new area of the ShootQ Forums here (insert link) - an area dedicated to all release and company announcements.
As for what's to come - we are quickly knocking off the features slated for our next ShootQ release, scheduled to go out in two phases : November and December - and I'm happy to let you know we're actually addressing several features that you're mentioning here. More to come on this very quickly, as the first phase is scheduled to go live in about two weeks!
Oh - one last note! Our executive team begins roadmap planning sessions next week, so watch for even more steady improvements to this application as we move into 2013.Katie
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Kate, I'm thrilled to hear a response -- and will be even more thrilled as we see ShootQ follow through.
I think it would be awesome if you would go through the suggestions that we have taken time to make to ShootQ and let us know which ones are going to be rolled out .
I don't know about the rest of my fellow photographers but anything that affects the MONEY to me is extremely important.
Please see my Request #6099from 2010 -- the Profit margin percentage figures incorrectly. PLEASE FIX THIS. We need to be able to depend on the calculations in ShootQ.
Also, anything paid by discount should NOT be considered income -- right now ANY type of payment is showing as income and that puts the profit marging wrong.
When will this bug be addressed??
Thanks,
Mindy
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PLEASE add an ability to customize the client area. It seems insane to me that we currently cannot list our price list and add-ons there.
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Still waiting for shootq to add photographer arrival time three years after it was first suggested / requested by MANY users
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How about adding appointments to the calendar that aren't related to a booked shoot or lead? Like my personal events & such.
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This was posted nearly a year ago... Katie did ShootQ meet their goals?
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Hi Jonathan,
We have been very busy at ShootQ. To answer your question yes, ShootQ has been meeting their goals with the release schedule. We have releases every three to four weeks, which can be seen at http://help.shootq.com/forums/171595-Releases-and-Updates. These areposted on our Announcements page. We have added new features such as Product Options Visible To Clients, Post-Booking Pricing Page, Appointment Schedules, New Nimbus Themes, Time Fields Update, Updated Lead API, Updated RedCart Integration and so much more. Subscribing to the updates will help to keep up to date with what we are doing.
We do have a process in place for moving features into the queue to be reviewed. Any new features, bug fixes, integration updates etc, require development and our challenge is simply one of timing. We review all technical ideas every few weeks and revisit new and old requests at that time. We have a variety of factors that go into the decision making process, which from the outside can be difficult to understand. We are constantly evaluating our users needs/requests, addressing bugs that pop up, regular software maintenance and integration upkeep.
Katie
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Melanie,
ShootQ has the obvious need to handle time-related events (shoots, appointments about shoots, etc.) but everything is tied to a shoot. That stuff gets put onto a calendar feed and sent to your favorite calendar software so it shows up on your master calendar, where you would see everything. In order to import your personal calendar you will want to follow these instructions http://help.shootq.com/entries/195236-How-do-I-integrate-my-calendar-. We don't have any immediate plans to change the way ShootQ handles personal calendars or appointments not related to jobs.
Importing calendar feeds to ShootQ is the suggestion solution. However, I have heard of other users coming up with work ways to work around this issue. One user added a "Dummy" shoot that they booked a job and called it personal. Now all of their personal appointments are booked through that "job".
Katie
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I would seriously like to see a better integration with other Photography websites. I currently use Zenfolio, well because the cost is lower than Pictage. Plus i heard bad reviews of the print service pictage uses. I would also like to be able to customize the client portal by adding links. notes to my clients etc instead of bombarding them with countless emails. a one stop shop type of deal where they can get all the pertinent information they need just by going onto the portal.
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