RLO was using a spreadsheet as an “application” tool for managing sales, customer service, operations, and decision making. The tool caused delays and put critical information at risk. Axian built a web-based application in the cloud to replace Excel, yielding improved efficiency and close rates.
Satisfied customers and unparalleled products are the cornerstones of Roof Life of Oregon (RLO), a leading roofing contractor in the Pacific Northwest. Specializing in roof replacements, repairs and maintenance, Roof Life of Oregon (RLO) delivers on their lifetime craftsmanship warranty to ensure each of their customers has a healthy, beautiful long-lasting roof.
The Challenge
Seeking revenue growth, improved margins and better alignment with their customers RLO began to discover some of their challenges. Inconsistent information, inefficient operations, and how they were perceived by their customers and prospective customers were at the heart of what they uncovered. Sales team effectiveness, team collaboration and being perceived as top-notch professionals all came into question.
Problems Without Resolution
These challenges pointed to where and how they captured, shared, and utilized information and data. At some point in the past an employee built a tool for his personal use that captured and shared information with a spreadsheet. In lieu of other tools being available, other employees began to adopt this tool. Soon this growing spreadsheet became an “application” used as a tool for sales, customer service, operations, and decision making. After the employee who built the tool moved on, key usage rules, logic and tracking disappeared. Making updates or changes to the data within the “application” became impossible to control or track. Information was inaccurate or lost. “Critical information on pricing, projects, and customers was unorganized and scattered across the business,” says Jerry Becker, RLO Sales Manager. New hires struggled to learn how to use the tool and in all use cases the tool was both unsightly and unwieldly. Estimates were not precise, sales were lost, and inefficiencies continued.
Finding the Solution
“Once we had a good idea of our actual challenges we needed to find answers. Fortunately, we received a referral to Axian and made the call,” states Patrick Morin, President at RLO. The solution team at Axian began to consider the actual business logic and needs of each function in the company. Business rules were written and requirements were built. “It was apparent that RLO was using a disorganized spreadsheet as if it were a business application and a database.
We see this often and it is often a recipe for failure,” describes Sean Murphy, SW Solution Lead at Axian. A three-tiered solution was developed that included a SQL database, a web API, and a web-based, intuitive user experience. “Sean and the Axian team were amazing to work with; from project start to implementation and training, everything happened quickly and on-point,” describes Jerry Becker.
Solution in Action – The Results
All company data and processes were now captured and ready to be utilized across the business. A reliable, extensible, and easy-to-use web based tool was implemented and adopted quickly. Training employees on the new solution was simple and fast. Because of Axian’s and Sean’s work, our business operations are 100 times better”, Patrick Morin points out. “Our sales close rates are now up 50%, job bids now take half the time, profits are up, and positive impact with our customers has doubled,” Jerry Becker points out. Information is now accurate and up-to-date, internal and external communications and transparency are improved.
Into the Future
Roof Life of Oregon (RLO) can now replace older business systems with modern, integrated systems such as their CRM tool with the assurance that business logic will be followed and data will not be lost. RLO is now in a better position as a leader within their industry as they look into sharing and marketing this custom software solution across their marketplace. “Working with Axian to build this application is one of the best investments we have ever made,” proclaims Patrick Morin.
Technologies
- .NET 4 WebAPI
- SQL Server 2014
- AngularJS
- AWS EC2, VPC, S3 and ElasticTranscoder