Herne Bay Plumbing & Bathroom Supplies
Herne Bay Plumbing and Bathroom Supplies, led by owners Adam and Ella Baker and their experienced team, is renowned for its local, friendly service and comprehensive range of products. However, juggling different systems and a lot of paper-based processes, impacted their operational efficiency.
Before Intact Xline
Previously, Herne Bay Plumbing and Bathroom Supplies used an EPOS system and basic accounting software. However, they were heavily dependent on paper for tasks such as sales, deliveries, and accounting. This led to significant inefficiencies, slowing down processes and leading to increased inaccuracies affecting their operations and customer service.
A major challenge for them was accurately tracking costs, adjusting prices, and monitoring profits. This proved to be exceptionally labour intensive and prone to errors, making it hard for them to know if they were selling at the right price.
Staff having limited access to important information also caused delays in customer service and decision-making.
Pain points
- A heavy reliance on paper-based processes led to inefficiencies and inaccuracies in sales, deliveries, and accounting tasks.
- Difficulty in adjusting prices to accommodate price increases resulted in uncertainty around their selling prices.
- Limited access to important information caused delays in customer service and decision-making.
The impact of Xline today
After transitioning to Intact Xline, Herne Bay Plumbing and Bathroom Supplies experienced a remarkable transformation in their operations, significantly improving their efficiency and customer service.
Centralising all processes onto a single system eliminated outdated paper-based methods, while automated invoicing and streamlined tasks freed up staff to focus on serving customers.
In addition, enhanced order tracking, a document management system for supplier invoices, and better payment procedures improved purchasing efficiency, transaction processing, and after-sales service, increasing overall customer satisfaction.
Ella, the Finance Director, finds Xline’s customer management features empower her to effectively handle credit limits, providing greater control over accounts receivable. She explains,
“Compared to our previous system, Xline is 100 times better for managing customers. If someone is nearing their credit limit or has outstanding payments, we can put them on stop so the trade counter can’t sell to them, which wasn’t possible before."
Herne Bay Plumbing’s crucial need to manage their cost prices effectively has greatly improved. Manager, David Philpott, notes ‘Xline has made dealing with price increases so easy. Once we have the supplier information, I put it into a format that works for Xline and with just a few clicks, the system is updated, ensuring our pricing remains accurate.’
Adam, the Managing Director adds,
‘Xline has also greatly enhanced our understanding of what’s selling and what’s not. We were actually staggered by what the numbers were showing us. You think you’re selling a lot of something when you’re not. This information is so easy to find and helps us make more informed decisions.’
David’s favourite Xline feature is ‘linked transactions’ which links documents directly to customer orders. This feature alone has greatly enhanced their after-sales service. ‘Having linked transactions on orders has truly saved us hundreds, if not thousands, of hours spent searching through old paper files and not finding what you’re looking for. Everything we need is right there on the system. It’s just so easy’.
Herne Bay Plumbing’s smooth transition to Intact Xline was facilitated by comprehensive training and on-site support for go-live, ensuring any queries were promptly addressed.
Overall, Intact Xline has become an indispensable tool for Herne Bay Plumbing and Bathroom Supplies, driving greater efficiency and success.
Adam finishes with “Xline has played a crucial role in our business expansion, enabling us to launch a new off-site showroom recently. It allows me to efficiently manage this new location using just one system, which makes things much easier. And if we ever expand to another warehouse or grow our staff, it’s reassuring to know the software can facilitate these seamlessly.”
Key benefits
- Moving all their processes to Xline has significantly enhanced the efficiency of Herne Bay Plumbing and Bathroom Supplies, leading to improved operations and customer service.
- With the removal of manual paper-based processes, Xline has saved the business a considerable amount of time, allowing them to serve their customers better and focus on growth.
- Xline has simplified cost management, price adjustments, and decision-making processes, making operations smoother and more effective.