By Kathlene Vercellino
Hicksville, N.Y.—For floor covering retailers, estimating is a significant factor in running a successful business. If a dealer does not order enough product he must reorder and takes the chance of getting a different dye lot or the color variation may not match. Order too much, and he is left with the excess and an unnecessary expense.
“Accuracy and professionalism are key to running a successful flooring business today,” said
Ron McConnell director of
RFMS’ estimating division. “Using a good estimating program allows floor covering professionals to figure jobs and prepare bids in a timely, professional and accurate manner.”
“For flooring retailers, good estimating software is a sales presentation and closing tool which builds customer confidence on the spot,” added
Steven Wang, president of
Floor Covering Soft.
There has been a great deal of advancement in technology over the past few years which has made estimating easier and more exact. Today there is a wide range of estimating software which not only help floor covering retailers make professional, accurate estimates, but many can also be integrated into other business software.
For example, RFMS’ Measure software has the ability to accurately figure a job, do a seam layout, compile a materials list, generate a cutting diagram for the installers and produce pricing information, noted McConnell.
“Our software provides all the components of a complete installation job for both floors and walls,” he added. “It can figure and track any material that must be priced to complete the installation. Measure is a stand-alone software package which has the ability to import and export data to many other programs such as RFMS Business Software, Quick Books, Excel Spread Sheets and XML files. It can also be linked to Disto Blue Tooth laser measuring device and digitizers.”
PlanPoint Software by
Blue Cove Technologies as well as other software packages also integrate with Quick Books.
“In the flooring business, margins are slim and customers are shrewd,” explained
Michael Tucker, the company’s COO. “Retailers need to be able to accurately estimate a job and his built-in costs, almost immediately. If he can’t or if he does it incorrectly, he will lose money.
“With PlanPoint, dealers will spend less time on paperwork and more time on activities which allow their business to grow,” he continued. “It calculates all materials, including scrap, and it’s based on the coverages and percentages a user specifies. Additionally, it accurately calculates a retailer’s cost, his price and provides a graphic of cost breakdown and profit/loss margin for the job.”
Floor Estimating Pro by Floor Covering Soft is a stand-alone software package which works with Comp-U-Floors,
Q-Floors and Quick Books, noted Wang. “It also has an Internet edition that can be run from any browser which enables collaboration from different stores.”
The following chart displays a variety of estimating software companies to choose from and their contact information:
• Blue Cove Technologies
Michael Tucker, president
866/321-2583
www.bluecovetech.com
info@bluecovetech.com
•
CDMS Cathy Welsh, operations manager
888/848-2367
www.cdms-inc.com
info@cdms-inc.com
•
Comp-U-Floor Edgar Aya, president
800/766-0330
www.comp-u-net.com
sales@comp-u-net.com
• Floor Covering Soft
Steven Wang, president
866/928-3326
www.floorcoveringsoft.com
info@floorcoveringsoft.com
• Floor Estimator
Massoud Shirazian, president
866/438-3366
www.floorestimator.com
info@floorestimator.com
•
Future Soft Technologies Jim Webster, president
800/933-7638
www.floorsoftware.com
sales@futuresofttech.com
•
LiteningFast Estimating Nick Hurd, president
800/211-4931
www.liteningfast.com
info@litening.com
•
Nivben Dennis Benton, president
859/552-5077
www.nivben.co.nr
floorestimator@bellsouth.net
•
Pacific Solutions Bob Noe, Sr. 800/400-4927
www.pacific-solutions.com
bobr@carpetsoftware.com
•
QFloors Christy Ogden 866/340-2442
www.qfloors.com
sales@qfloors.com
• RFMS
Ron McConnell
205/246-4292
www.rfms.com
info@rfms.com
•
Rollmaster Dev O’Reilly, president
800/777-4107
www.rmaster.com
dev@rmaster.com
(Editor’s note: In part two we will look at the campatabilities of some of the other estimating programs available to flooring dealers.)
