Remove Quantifying from Your Workflow

“Every day, flooring retailers miss sales opportunities because they lack the time to quantify projects. It is as simple as that.”

Okay. You won’t completely remove quantifying from your workflow. What you can do, however, is recognise quantifying for what it is: the biggest bottleneck in your sales process, and your single biggest unseen cost.

Every day, flooring retailers miss sales opportunities because they lack the time to quantify projects. It is as simple as that.

After 17 years in flooring retail and 15 years in systems for flooring businesses, I'd like to share my perspective on how quantifying holds back flooring businesses. I have experienced it myself, and we regularly interact with clients who face the same challenge.

If you are using quantifying software, congratulations, but keep reading. You are likely not getting the full benefits of the software that you are using.

Firstly, let’s address my contention that quantifying is our biggest bottleneck and unseen cost.

Let’s talk about the cost of quantifying. It’s generally accepted that between 20% and 50% of a salesperson’s time is spent quantifying; around 20% for residential and 50% for commercial. If we express that as dollars, for every $100,000 we spend on salespeople or project managers, between $20,000 and $50,000 of that money is spent on quantifying.

It doesn’t help that most flooring businesses continue to quantify exactly as they did fifty years ago, using a scale rule, calculator, and pencil for plans and grid paper and a pencil in the home. These methods are time-consuming, prone to error, and, most importantly, represent skills that are not easily passed on to new salespeople. Not only this, but quantifying skills vary from salesperson to salesperson. Plans can be unclear, incomplete, or can’t be found when you need them.

“…for every $100,000 we spend on salespeople or project managers, between $20,000 and $50,000 of that money is spent on quantifying.”

Quantifying software resolves all three.

Using quantifying software still takes time, but most users only scratch the surface of its capabilities. The most common mistake I see is salespeople and project managers using quantifying software to calculate the headline products (carpet, vinyl, tile, etc) and then keying those quantities into a spreadsheet to calculate every other cost in the project. Or they calculate them manually. Quantifying software will automatically calculate every aspect of a project, and what’s more, it will be more accurate, and you don’t have to worry about the formulas in the spreadsheet being inadvertently changed.

“Most flooring businesses miss out on sales opportunities because they don’t have time to quantify everything, or they don’t quote promptly enough.”

To address the quantifying bottleneck in your business, you can utilise quantifying software as it was designed: to perform the entire task, not just a portion of it. Using quantifying software as we often see it used is like buying a new car and then not moving it out of first gear.

Even using quantifying software and using it well doesn’t necessarily remove the bottleneck. Very few flooring retailers quote every opportunity that comes their way. Most flooring businesses miss out on sales opportunities because they don’t have time to quantify everything, or they don’t quote promptly enough.

How is it possible to quantify and quote every opportunity? By using a quantifying service. You need a service that is accurate, professional, quick, and affordable. QuantiSafe (QuantiSafe.com) is such a service. QuantiSafe clients are quoting and winning more jobs at a fraction of the cost of hiring a specialist quantifier.

Since launching QuantiSafe, I have noticed a reluctance to outsource quantifying. Some retailers have told me that they pay their salespeople to quantify, so why would they incur an additional cost? Others have expressed concerns about relying on a third party for such an essential aspect of their business.

If we believe that our salespeople are the ones who should be doing the quantifying, then that’s a business decision. However, in doing so, we are baking in a cost that we could avoid, and we are allowing our salespeople to be distracted by non-sales activity.

“You will recoup your investment in quantifying software and a quantifying service in the first weeks of using them.”

Regarding having someone we don’t know doing our quantifying, I understand the concern. However, relying on third parties for key aspects of our business is not without precedent; most flooring retailers use contract installers rather than employing installers. Additionally, the internal review process at QuantiSafe, along with the checklist provided to clients, is a more robust verification process than most retailers employ for checking quantities.

RFMS Australasia can show you both quantifying software and provide a quantifying service. Measure and Measure Mobile are market leaders, incorporating cutting-edge technology such as AI and Lidar.