Every window treatment dealer wants to improve margins. But when it comes to actually finding and acting on the areas of the business where profitability can be gained, the details start to get a little fuzzy. In this article, we’ll review 3 issues that can drag down profitability for window fashion retailers and offer insight into how to take those margins back.
1. Stop wasting time on manual data entry
How much time does the typical window fashion dealer spend keying in product and pricing information? Keep in mind that this industry has among the most complex product configurations in all of manufacturing. The number of potential product iterations are staggering. Yet, many retailers feel compelled to dedicate a fortune in work hours manually entering product information from different fabricators. Want to add a new line of rolling shades? Prepare to port all of that product data over to your retail system by hand.
The problem here is not just the waste of paying someone to spend hours for data entry (or doing it yourself instead of being out there selling); it’s also inevitable that mistakes get made whenever manual data entry is involved, which can also eat away at your profit.
So how do successful dealers cut down the amount of manual data entry in their businesses? By working with partners and fabricators who can easily plug their product data into their retail systems automatically. When all of those options and configurable details are pushed through, retailers and fabricators can essentially eliminate a very costly manual step in the process. And if any updates, changes in pricing or color options occur, those can be pushed through automatically, as well.
2. Make more sales more quickly
Whether serving potential customers in a retail location or meeting in customers’ homes, the sales process requires a huge investment of time for window fashion dealers. Anything that simplifies and shortens the sales cycle can allow dealers to reduce the investment required to make each sale and fit more sales calls into each day.
The key is cutting out the gaps between figuring out what the customer wants and easily providing one or more quotes that the customer can approve. Tools that help dealers measure, configure, price, quote, close and order from the fabricator right there on the spot with the customer significantly increase the likelihood of a sale.
With the order processed automatically, the dealer can move on to the next sale much more quickly. No having to circle back to the office to doublecheck pricing or availability, or to submit orders. Choose tools that allow you to do it all on the spot.
3. Stay on top of the latest intel
The old adage, “knowledge is power,” is true, especially when that knowledge is always at the dealer’s fingertips. Staying on top of sales, marketing, trends, product updates, supply chain issues and other data in real time can help dealers make decisions quickly in order to spot potential problems before they impact operations or to seize opportunities when they arise.
Yet, the search for that window industry information can require a shocking amount of time. Look for tools and technology that can aggregate all of this intelligence and insight for you. So instead of wasting time chasing information, the data you need comes to you.
Talk with the experts to learn more
Ultimately, addressing these three issues comes down to finding the right technology partner to help you take care of it all with one tool. That’s where Solatech comes in. Solatech FOCUS is one of our simplest ways to knock out manual data entry, delays in the sales cycle and gathering information in a central location.
Cloud-based and fully integrated with a network of fabricators’ product and pricing information, Solatech FOCUS even offers a new dashboard feature that collects and displays sales, marketing, trends and production information you need when you need it. It’s a simple way to use technology to create opportunities to adjust, improve, and evolve your business.
We invite you to reach out for a demo of our software, including our new dashboard capability, so you can see firsthand how the issues that are eating into your profitability can be resolved if you have the right software partner.