Design, sell and place orders through a single sales tool!
That’s the message Emplas is offering its customers after the launch of its new retail tool which simplifies remote-selling, whilst offering seamless integration with the ordering process. This includes allowing installers to change window colours and designs in seconds, swap in and out different glass specifications, and apply the options chosen to a digital image of any property, either remotely or in the home. The new system automatically pulls in pricing for each job, changing instantaneously as specifications are adjusted, before automatically pulling that data into Emplas production systems.
On the new system, Jody Vincent, sales director at Emplas, said: “On the front-end, the bit that you actually use to sit down with the homeowner and to sell and design windows and doors, we’re using WindowCAD. It’s a great tool, you can develop designs in real-time with the homeowner, either in person or remotely, but it’s not unique to us.
“What is unique is the integration we can offer with our ordering process. Our inhouse developmental team has created an API (Application Programme Interface), which allows WindowCAD to ‘talk’ to Window Designer and export the data to it. It transforms the sales process while delivering tangible efficiency gains by removing processes.”
In addition to supporting installers in selling more effectively, placement of orders from WindowCAD directly into Window Designer, means there is no requirement to input data for a second time. It’s pulled through as soon as the order is approved. Emplas has also developed a further interface so that quotations are automatically created, pulling in terms and conditions, relevant organisational memberships and service-level agreements, modelled on those developed for T&K Home Improvements, Emplas’ retail business.
Jody continued: “We started trialling WindowCAD, the API and Window Designer with the T&K sales team early in the summer. We’ve gone through a number of refinements since then to make sure that what we’re launching works for our customers in a retail environment. And it does, it’s proven.
“It’s allowed them to sell more effectively, delivering a better and more professional service to the end-user; but the automatic pricing, the automatic pull-through of a professional quotation pack, and then the ability to place that order in seconds without additional data input is a definitive commercial advantage. You’re getting time back and eliminating error.”
In addition to the ability to take the homeowners through the sales process remotely, Emplas also created a ‘digital signature system’. This can be used to record and register approvals in exactly the same way as they would a handwritten one.
Jody concluded: “COVID-19 makes the operational and efficiency gains that the WindowCAD integration with Window Designer deliver a real benefit, as more of the UK goes into lockdown. Moving into the digital integration of your sales process and operations, simply, however, makes sense: You’re delivering better customer experience and saving time. That’s important when the industry is seeing a boom and even more important when it’s not.”
If you’d like to find out more about Emplas’ WindowCAD, fill out our online contact form and our team will be in touch.
