The customized construction industry maintains a traditional mode of operation with little computerized versatility, due to lack of adequate computing resources.

Present developed Sales Assist, an application designed to optimize the quote process; the desire was to provide business tools with a high level of adaptability to meet the clients very specific business needs.

The solution was first to adapt an automated process for the control and selling of doors and windows for this construction company.

Before proceeding we needed to see how it could adapt to the reality of all companies that sell custom made construction products, the following problems had to be resolved within this particular company, before we could move forward.

Case study: company manufacturing and installation of doors and windows

1. Business Issues

The growth of the company selling doors and windows was compromised by:

• • The burden of data collection for tailor-made products (width, height, blow molding, gas energy, color)
• • The lack of precision within the bidding process.
• • Costly errors related to problems above.

The company representatives would travel regularly to customers to take action and gather the data necessary for estimating costs (sizes, colors, materials, condition of existing construction, etc.).

All forms were completed on site by the salesmen by hand so that a quote could be submitted directly to customers while on site. This process, despite the competence of representatives, generated many errors and compromised the profits and the profitability of the company.

So the company began looking for an IT solution tailored to their particular needs. Since Present already had a mobile base of compatible corporate custom quote processes, we were able to react quickly to try and develop a customized solution.

2. Present’s Solution

The application Sales Assist was designed based on three essential criteria for made to measure business products.

1. Mobility

By providing each representative a tablet including the application Sales Assist, we allowed the company to improve the collection of data when taking measurements.

2. Simplicity and speed

The application interface is simple and accompanies any representative during all data collection. This prevents oversights, automatically calculates installation time, depending on the model installed and the specificities of each residence (ground height of the window, if the existing walls, etc.). It also allows to directly transmit the quote to the customer by email.

3. Accuracy

To err is human and calculations made by hand can cause significant losses for a company. Sales Assist is accurate and has enabled the company to significantly reduce errors and related losses due to incorrect entry and calculations.
In addition to allowing easy and rapid capture of information for the custom doors and windows, the application sends the information directly to the factory for production. Thus, the whole process is linear, the data is entered once and the application takes care of any routing errors.

3. Business gains for the company

The computerization of the company's sales process allowed them:

• Improve the effectiveness of the production team through access to simple information, that was standardized and fast.

• Eliminate calculation errors and reduce associated losses.

• To produce accurate quotes and avoid unpleasant surprises to customers.

• Improve the profitability of the company.

Sales Assist is a highly adaptive solution

With a mobile application based fully on customizable solutions, matching to each company's needs, Sales Assist may be suitable for the majority of companies specializing in custom construction products, such as garden sheds, fences, roofs, etc.

Since Sales Assist is customizable, development costs are minimal, making it an affordable application for all companies, even the smallest.

Once the custom mobile application is developed and installed, businesses have only a monthly fee to pay. Thus, companies have access to a tool on the cutting edge of technology, including updates necessary for its operation. In a changing world, it is a great advantage!

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