By Kathlene Vercellino
Hicksville, N.Y.—In today’s ever-changing world, keeping up with new software technology is important to ensure a hassle-free business. Software companies must constantly stay on top of new technology in order to meet the demands of the retailer.

“It is our mission to improve our customer’s day-to-day operations by utilizing the latest technological advancements,” explained Dev O’Reilly, president of RollMaster. “We have the floor covering experience and the technology to be effective in pursuit of this objective. Our RollMaster software is installed on the dealer’s server and network while NetFloor, a fully functional, modern floor covering business management solution, is delivered over the Internet.”

The new breed of programs are called on-demand Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems that are mostly Web-based, collaborative and centered around customers, noted Steven Wang, president of Floor Covering Soft. “CRM systems help flooring business owners effectively manage their sales team by improving the productivity of individual reps with measurable conversion rate, communication logs and schedules. With sharing of information through a Web site, it empowers the team work.”

Another player in this area is WinSched, a labor scheduling tool which can “greatly simplify the most hectic part of your business,” said Mike Myhre, president of the software company. “This tool is more than just a mark on a calendar, it is very flexible, allowing you to customize to fit your business instead of changing your company to fit the software.

“Winsched is also compatible with many other software packages such as Microsoft Outlook, Word and Excel, as well as flooring industry software like QFloors and RFMS,” he continued. “With seven
different databases and customizable edit forms, along with display formats, schedule boards and reports, you are limited only by your imagination.”

According to software executives, some of the key components to their software package are:

Floor Covering Soft—CRM systems have been deployed for sales and marketing automation that tracks the life-cycle from prospect generation, qualification, conversion and support. It enables store management to monitor, in real time, the channel/campaign effectiveness, reps’ conversion rate as well as the expected revenue in the pipeline;

RollMaster—RollMaster and NetFloor software manage the complete floor covering enterprise from point-of-sale through the general ledger to electronic transactions with vendors. The system manages inventory, installations, employees and job information, bringing all departments and business processes together. RollMaster integrates the back office (accounting) with the front office (sales/ management) which results in access to critical information for every department;

WinSched—Besides just scheduling the installation itself, WinSched helps track phases of the job such as material received and ready to bill. Measurement appointments, quality control and vacation schedules can also be tracked and an integrated mail server allows the user to be able to automatically send email conformations when changes occur to a schedule. Seven different databases and customizable edit forms, display formats, schedule boards and reports are limited only to the imagination, and

CDMS—With the use of Net Term Telnet software it allows the user to save any CDMS report directly onto a PC. The user can then attach the reports to an email or pull them into a word processing or spread sheet program. CDMS is also barcode compatible and will allow you to print your own labels from within the software. All samples can be barcoded so they can be scanned at check out time. This will increase the speed and acuracy of the sales personnel in performing stock lookup or placing a customer order. In addition, by purchasing a hand-held terminal, Bar-code Assisted Physical Inventory can be performed which speeds up the time needed for a complete physical inventory.

On The Horizon

Software executives say the industry is continually evolving its systems to meet the user’s needs. For RollMaster, this is an every day focus. “Our daily objective is to maximize all available technology to improve our software products while delivering practical functionality,” said O’Reilly. “There are many technological toys in the marketplace, however, we try to avoid anything that leads to stand-alone software or away from floor industry specific functionality which is our primary area of expertise.”

For WinSched, the company plans to release a server version this summer. “This will allow users from satellite stores or remote offices to connect via a high speed Internet connection,” explained Myhre. “Users who already have the standard version will be able to extend that functionality and configuration to the Web.

“Sharing schedules with other comapnies that use WinSched Server can both save time and verify you both agree on the details of the job,” he continued. “For example, a builder places the schedules for a new home on his schedule board. The flooring contractor receives a request for a new job and accepts its placement on their schedule board. He then selects an installer and any other information not in the builder’s request. The flooring contractor can also share this information with its subcontractors or installers.”

CDMS is also planning to release a new version later this summer. It will interface with its Floor Wizard estimating take-off package. The estimating package will tie directly into CDMS’ existing proposal maintenance application, noted Cathy Welsh, operations manager.

“We will be releasing CDMS version 8.05.00 later this summer. It will allow for up to six job cuts to be placed on a single B2B purchase order,” she explained. “Previous versions allowed users to place B2B purchase orders, however, you could not include a description of the job-cuts. This feature will allow dealers to take advantage of any possible roll-balances that the suppliers have available. All of the B2B features save the dealer time and money.”

“Email marketing/campaign systems are the most cost-effective marketing tool yet they have been ignored by the flooring businesses,” concluded Wang. “ FloorLink.net is working to incorporate this technology into our CRM system in the near future.”