Are you thinking of investing in window and door software? If so, you need to know what to expect. Then, once it’s in place, you need to be confident you’ll be supported to make it work for you and your customers as you want it to.
We’re in no doubt, the right window and door software will help your business. It will save you time. It will save you money. It will get you ready for growth.
We’ve seen it time and again when businesses choose EndtoEnd’s integrate software. Quoting, pricing, designing, invoicing, and CRM processes are brought together in one place, and soon you can’t imagine the old days of multiple spreadsheets and paper notes.
But you need to see integrate in action. That’s why we caught up with Dan Johnston, Owner and Managing Director at SashWise Ltd. After recently installing integrate across their business, he was happy to share his experience of what it looks like to work with EndtoEnd.
After all, transparency is important in the window and door industry.
Tell us about SashWise Ltd
SashWise is a specialist timber joinery and glazing business. We’re based in London and have been going for 20 years now.
We provide beautifully crafted timber doors and sash windows for homeowners and heritage properties. Like with many specialist craftspeople, we pride ourselves on the quality of our work and service. Customers come to us because they know we’ll meet their specific requirements.
Why did you need window and door software?
With a growing number of customer enquiries and quotes, the team needed a more streamlined way to manage leads and track jobs.
There’s a tipping point where growth becomes tricky if you’re always reaching for different folders, using multiple spreadsheets, or relying on just one or two people to know your processes. So, we spoke to EndtoEnd about whether their window and door software would help us, and that’s where integrate came in.
Dan Johnston, Owner and Managing Director at SashWise Ltd.
So, integrate software is now up and running at SashWise…
Yes, it’s in. Initially, we started look at integrateCONNECT – it seemed perfectly set up for us, and then we decided to add integrate CRM and FIT too. That’s the beauty of it. The software can cover all your business processes, some of them, or more of them over time.
It’s good to speak to you at this point, as we’re only recently “over the line” with the software. Our systems have now all been moved to the integrate modules, and we’ve spent some time getting our heads around the changes. You’re getting a proper picture of what it’s like at the beginning.
How’s it going so far?
Really good.
It’s user-friendly, and it’s simplified our work.
It’s probably most useful to compare it to our last CRM system, Business Pilot, and I’m sure other people in the window and door industry will relate. Previously, we had loads of different bits of information we had to fill in for each lead or client. As you can imagine, half of these weren’t relevant, but you still had to go through the process.
integrate is more slimmed-down and straightforward. I love that we’ve now got the quoting system populated; that’s been the main benefit for me, as we can automatically pull out the stored pricing information and generate the numbers our customers (and the people in accounts) need to see.
People often ask about the software setup. Was the setup support good?
This is the thing. Software might be good in theory, but does it work in reality? It’s also inevitable (and right) that you’re going to have hiccups, and need to ask questions or get clarification.
When we met Gareth [O’Brien, Director], it was obvious he understood specialist companies like ours. We were confident the system would be tailored for our timber manufacturing and installation.
The support from EndtoEnd during onboarding is brilliant. The guys are quick to respond, so it doesn’t drag out. You don’t feel like a burden, even though I’ve been asking them to tweak different parts of the costing templates over the last few weeks.
There’s never been a sense of ‘one and done’ because it’s more like a partnership. They know their customers will want to get it right, and this takes a bit of time, so they support you like they say they will.
Are you able to feed things back to EndtoEnd?
Yes, the EndtoEnd communication is excellent. As I mentioned, the team have been happy to update pricing and costing templates as I’ve been busy tweaking things during the setup.
One area we’ve discussed is the email system and whether a preview pane, similar to Outlook, can be implemented.
I’ve also suggested having an easy filter for viewing completed jobs. My feedback has been welcomed, and it will be good to see my ideas incorporated – I know there are regular updates from the software team, which is the benefit of having bespoke industry software rather than an off-the-shelf option.
Have customers noticed the difference?
It’s still early days, so I wouldn’t expect customers to comment on the quotes themselves – they care more about the service and the price.
In some ways, you could say it’s impressive that we’ve had a major system change and our customers haven’t noticed. Everything is where it should be. But from our side, it’s made a noticeable difference, and I have no doubt it will make all the difference in making the right first impressions with new customers too.
Any advice for someone looking at integrate for their window and door software?
Don’t be scared of it – take the plunge.
My one piece of advice would be to make sure you plan time to dedicate to it at the start. The initial period of transferring your information to the new system, particularly quoting and past leads, is in-depth, but the time is 100% worth spending.
Another thing I would say is that you shouldn’t delay. We reached a point where we’d grown and needed better software. There will be companies that go with integrate from the early days of set up and will massively benefit.
Would you recommend integrate for other window and door manufacturers?
Of course – without hesitation.
Being in the window and door industry, we’d heard lots about integrate, we’d read customer case studies, and we’d done our homework.
We knew what we wanted the software to do, which in some ways made it harder to make us happy. So, we’re pleased to say that integrate is doing exactly what we wanted it to.
From Gareth O’Brien, Director of EndtoEnd Ltd
It’s brilliant to work with SashWise. Thanks for the great feedback. Dan’s right, at EndtoEnd, we know our industry and working with our customers is like a partnership.
Dan mentioned two common situations you might be in. The first is companies starting out and considering investing in software. The other, like SashWise, are those who have grown and are weighing up whether to invest in software “now” or “later”.
Click on the links to read our articles about how integrate will help you.