My father owned a curtain shop and blind workroom and during the school holidays, I used to help him make roman blinds and do some administration work. I worked as a librarian and did not think I would ever work in the window coverings industry full time. About seven years ago dad decided to sell his business and my husband Tim thought that we could take over the factory as he was tired of being a contract Telstra technician. I did the quoting and Tim made the pelmets in the factory and installed our jobs.
As the business grew we needed to simplify and streamline our procedures as there were only two people doing many tasks. I looked around for software and trialed a couple of quoting systems but they were not quite what I wanted. I then received an email newsletter about DBs and remembered seeing their stand at DesignEX. I had a demonstration over the internet and have not looked back since.
The staff at DBs are very helpful and the support is great. There was a bit of work involved with setting up but help was always at hand when I needed it. I have now customized the system by adding blind fabrics and colours so everything is at my fingertips when I quote.
Before we had DBs my main problem was that I was taking too long to get back to potential customers with quotations as big jobs were too difficult to do on site. I purchased the mobile version of DBs straight away and now do most of my quotes in the customer’s home with a tablet PC. I did a quote recently with 25 windows - all with drapes. It only took me 40 minutes to complete after the window measurements were entered in. I love the copy function as this saves a lot of time. I have a portable printer in the car and give my customers their quotes straight away.
Quoting on site has enabled me to win about 80% of my jobs before I leave. Back in the showroom, I get my administration person who has no background in window coverings to enter the window dimensions for house plan quotes. Previously these types of quotes simply did not get done and I lost out on jobs.
Without DBs our business would not have grown so quickly. I am still the only one quoting but before I could only do about three or four quotes per week and now I do between twelve and eighteen quotes per week. I always look forward to the new version releases of DBs as my comments and suggestions are taken on board. Sometimes it’s the little things that make a difference. I would recommend the system to anyone in the window coverings industry, especially if they are starting out or have limited resources.