Computer software and the cabinet industry are two terms that just often don’t belong in the same sentence. Sure, cabinet dealers across the country have agonizing slow PC’s throughout their offices running Windows™ and complete with the almost-required Office™ suite. Nobody can function in today’s business climate without email and word processing, but the real value comes from Excel™, right? What would life for a cabinet dealer be without a ba-jillion spreadsheets to handle all of their critical business operations, from sales to installation? “High-tech” operations even have nifty macros to make the whole inefficient process run faster.
As if running faster in the wrong direction will actually ever get you to your destination.
Now you’re thinking, “But wait a minute, I have really impressive design software. My operation is on the cutting edge!” Really? OK…
- How do you manage your sales process?
- How many opportunities is your staff working on right now and what are they potentially worth?
- How many of those opportunities will you close?
- Why are you losing opportunities and to whom?
- What do you have on order with your vendors right now?
- What jobs are you shipping this week?
Be honest, how many times did you just think, “I’ve got a spreadsheet for that”? And while we are at it, how many times were able to say that your “cutting-edge” design software gives you that information? It’s OK, I think we all know the answer.
Running a cabinet dealership is really complicated – maybe not quite as challenging as building the space shuttle, but pretty darn close. Tracking your cabinet operation with manual systems and spreadsheets is like treading water – sooner or later you will drown and it will be painful. Of course trying to track your business operations with kitchen design software is like adding hungry sharks to that same water.
The challenge has been the lack of a cabinet tracking software application, forcing dealers to live in the very real nightmare where information is difficult to come by and too often inaccurate. Quality cabinet tracking software should closely match your business processes, capturing information about leads and opportunities before they become customers and orders. It should allow users to follow the progress of orders as they move towards completion. Cabinet tracking software should provide sales people with the confidence that the quotes they are providing are competitive and profitable. Just as importantly, this software should give decision makers current information they need to manage their business more effectively today. And you just can’t do all of that with spreadsheets and a design program.
Your competition may have already discovered real cabinet tracking software that lets them manage their business more efficiently. They may already have the solution that allows them to monitor leads and opportunities and pinpoint ways to win more deals. Their business is poised to move ahead with a solution that helps them track cabinet orders through every step of their process to ensure the job is done right the first time.
Maybe it’s time you found the real industry software solution built for the way you operate. After all, the cabinet industry is complicated but that is no reason to swim with the sharks.
