How Does CompanionCabinet Work?

A decade ago, a group of cabinet industry professionals gathered to create software that allows dealers to better control costs, compete more effectively and generate more profit. Their vision was a software application that streamlines all the process between initial design and accounting. The software manages the entire lifecycle of a job until it is complete, including service and warranty.

Dealers are often frustrated by their quoting process because it uses a combination of design, spreadsheets and word processing software to prepare quotes. This practice robs sales people of as much as 40% of their selling time and creates many costly mistakes, especially as customers make changes to their kitchen.

CompanionCabinet solves this challenge. The software imports design information into a starting quote and all pricing and costing is performed automatically. The system also allows salespeople to quote things like countertops, appliances, granite, and services (i.e. kitchen tear out).

Salespeople don’t have to manually calculate anything and simply review the gross profit of the job before showing the customer. As customers make changes and selections, the software updates all associated paperwork automatically. Since all job details reside in CompanionCabinet, the need for paperwork and bulky job folders is greatly reduced. Everyone with the appropriate privileges can access all the job information from one central system.

CompanionCabinet also gives salespeople the capability to create robust job templates which include all products, labor and contract pricing. These templates are especially useful in responding quickly and accurately to the demands of higher volume builders.

The software allows salespeople to up sell and quickly generate quote variations for customers, increasing salespeople’s closing rates. Unique catalogs are created for hardware, countertops, sinks and just about any other product or service you sell so salespeople can quote more accurately. These catalogs eliminate the errors associated with manually looking up and pricing accessory items.

Most cabinet dealers have trouble controlling pricing to customers because it is left up to the salesperson who uses design software to price. CompanionCabinet solves this challenge because it uses management approved catalogs and multipliers to price quote automatically. The software also gives management the ability to determine which salespeople are able to adjust price and by how much.

After a quote has been shared with a prospect and that customer accepts it, CompanionCabinet converts that quote into a sales order, recording it as a win. Management can easily view salespeople’s closing rates to identify areas of improvement.

When it is time to place orders with your suppliers, CompanionCabinet’s automated purchasing takes over. Purchasing employees can build and release trucks or generate them individually. It also generates all the purchase orders needed for service and accessory items like hardware, countertops, closet organizers, etc. With CompanionCabinet one purchasing employee can easily handle $20 million or more sales volume because there is no need to manually create, double check or re-key purchase orders.

Once the purchase orders are approved, the orders can be placed automatically with the manufacturers via fax or EDI. CompanionCabinet then packages the sales order and purchase order information for your accounting system, eliminating the need to re-key this information for your internal book keeping.

CompanionCabinet serves as a central repository of all job related information. Anyone can check the status of a job by accessing CompanionCabinet from their office or home, eliminating lengthy customer inquiring phone calls and never-ending searches for job folders.

And because the software benefits your team, management gets all the detailed reporting it needs for supplier negotiations, company performance, and target areas where margin can be easily recaptured.