By Matthew Spieler
SALT LAKE CITY—When times are tough, businesses usually look within themselves to eliminate waste and other costs deemed not necessary. Unfortunately, many of the cuts are made without proper, long-term thought and, as often happens, much of the true waste stays in the operation.

It doesn’t have to be this way, said Chad Ogden, CEO, and Trent Ogden, CFO, of QFloors, as the floor covering software provider kicked off its annual Users Conference here.

They noted the sole purpose of the system is to make users better business people. “That’s why we are hear,” Trent added, “to provide a tool and give motivation to be better in running every aspect of their operations.”

With the theme, “Do More With QFloors,” the three-day conference was filled with numerous educational sessions designed to help users get the most from their software, as well as updates on new developments to the program, and a number of open group discussions to find out additional items the retailers are interested in seeing added.

Chad noted this year’s additions, as with previous and future ones, came directly from member input. QFloors discusses with users the various items and through an open dialogue can better group these items into a to-do list consisting of “A” items and future considerations. This allows members to prioritize the things they want to see developed the most and also gives them real time expectations on when they will get the upgrades.

“By working closely with our users,” he explained, “we are able to streamline the processes and features much easier. Getting their input allows us to deliver a more valuable and useful program.”

While many of the add-ons deal with features retailers want to save time, several others are to help account for new laws, such as state, county and city taxes.

In recent years, though, the majority of time has been spent on equipping users with the ability to run their business via the industry’s business-to-business (B2B) Standard, something which is gaining momentum throughout the selling chain as manufacturers and distributors continue to push for its development.

Recognizing this is the way the industry is moving, QFloors has been involved with the B2B development since the start, Chad Ogden noted. “It’s starting to take off and is something that will separate the successful business from the pack.”

He said the biggest reason why B2B is not being used as much as it should is fear and that is something developers are committed to overcoming by making the process as simple and streamlined as possible.

“Right now,” he explained, “about 70% of a store’s orders can be done via B2B. The rest are special orders and things B2B can’t handle yet. There will always be special circumstances, but the goal is get to 97%. We want to eliminate the roadblocks and remove any reservations people have about it because it truly is a huge benefit to the dealer—and industry as a whole in terms of cutting costs and reducing mistakes.”

Ogden said while QFloors’ software is designed to do various tasks, such as interfacing with carpet cutting machines to produce exact cuts and, thus eliminate accidental waste and fraudulent activity, or allow retailers to conduct the majority of their business online via the B2B protocol, the ultimate goal of any system “is to produce an accurate financial statement without having to bring in an outside accountant.”

Trent added, “That’s the end game. And while others on the market can do this as well, the difference between QFloors and them is that we can produce an accurate financial statement without the headaches.”

Part of this has to do with the fact the Ogdens were raised in the family’s flooring retail business and originally developed QFloors to streamline the operation and help make it more profitable. Since then, the company has grown in less than 10 years to become the industry’s second most used flooring-specific software program.

This rapid ascent has as much to do with how the company has kept its program simple from a user’s standpoint to the personnel behind it, say those who run the software in their stores.

“One of the main reasons we first took on QFloors was how they assured us we could run the program,” said Preston Thompson of Preston Thompson’s Carpets in Dickson, Tenn. “We had been in business for 30 years as a mom-and-pop store doing what we thought was the right thing.” That included never having run a computer before.

While he credits QFloors with bringing his company into the 21st century, not to mention “putting us in control of our business,” Thompson said it has only been possible because of “the excellent support, patience and help we get from QFloors. It’s a real family organization and they treat everyone as their own. We never feel rushed on the phone and always walk away with a better understanding ofhow to use the system. QFloors is very much an asset.”

Randy Thorton of Randy’s Carpets Plus in Conyers, Ga., said he knows QFloors has helped his business since buying it almost six years ago but “we haven’t really used it to its full potential. That’s why we’re here—to learn to get the most of it.”

And based on the response from attendees, the educational and training sessions were on the money, even to those who are already considered very good users.

Rob Wankier of Pioneer Floor Covering & Design Center in Cedar City, Utah, is one of them, but noted, “I learned a lot from the classes. I picked up a number of things that I plan to incorporate into my business when I get back.”

More than just QFloors Beyond giving attendees information on QFloors, the company provided representatives from two other technology-based companies—Saca Technologies and X-Charge—at the conference.

Saca offers cost effective, customizable IT solutions and support to small and mid-sized businesses including having over $200,000 invested in just servers to allow for safe and secure offsite data backup and archiving through its True Defense system.

Alex Saca, owner, told attendees his company offers a “full package, full solution for QFloor users,” including the ability to run their entire office remotely. “The reason QFloors chose to partner with us is we share a common bond—we like to provide our customers with hassle-free services that add value to their business.”

X-Charge also ties right into QFloors and allows stores to run their credit process over a fully complied, secure network via the Internet through an inexpensive card swiper that is hooked up to the computer with a USB port or by manually typing in the card number.

Ty Smith, sales assistant manager, said the process is not only faster than the traditional phone method, it is generally less expensive to use. “We give you an apple-to-apples comparison to what you have now and work to, at most, match what you currently pay. But 95% of the time we can save you money.” A key benefit is XCharge does not charge users a per transaction surcharge like other companies do.

Trent Ogden said the company is always searching for ways it can expand the benefits of the QFloors system. That includes partnering with other companies that provide valuable solutions to make a business more efficient.

“It gives us great satisfaction when we can help out a company that has been struggling,” he concluded. “Or help a store simply improve its overall profitability, which translates to a bigger bottom line for the owner.”