SYNLawn Houston Saves Nearly 40 Hours per Week + Increases Acceptance Rate
At a Glance
The Customer
- World’s premier manufacturer and pioneer in artificial grass products and technologies
The Challenge
- No operations app, stuck juggling multiple spreadsheets
The Results
- Saving nearly 40 hours per week
- Proposal acceptance rate increased 30%
- Sales rep daily visits increased from 3 to 4 or 5
SYNLawn is the world’s premier manufacturer and pioneer in artificial grass products and technologies. As the first and only provider of plant-based artificial grass, SYNLawn has instilled their products with more than 50 years of research and development. Manufactured in private facilities in the US, SYNLawn uses sustainable bio-based materials like soy and sugarcane and consumer-conscious additives like antimicrobials.
Since opening its Houston location, SYNLawn Houston Artificial Grass has been installing SYNLawn products, saving customers time and money on maintenance, conserving thousands of gallons of water, and helping prevent the spread of fires.
The Challenge
“We were using an app called SYN Office to generate quotes for new deals, but the app was simple and had no operational piece. We would print quotes and manually remove prices to give to the installers. We used Microsoft Excel for everything else, including the calendar, so we had a bunch of disjointed spreadsheets, forcing us to enter info repeatedly. The spreadsheets were also not connected to our accounting system, so we had to duplicate efforts there,” explained Courtney Fetzer, Chief Financial Officer at SYNLawn Houston.
The Solution
“We were fed up and looking to make a move quickly. One of my colleagues uses SingleOps at his business. We also did a web search and ended up on the SingleOps website. Using the built-in chat, we were able to hop on a demo just a few minutes later. That was huge and enabled us to make a decision quickly. SingleOps was able to work with us as fast as we move.
“We evaluated other apps, including Microsoft Dynamics but the inventory capabilities and user-friendliness were lacking. What brought me back to SingleOps was the operations piece. Other apps usually just had CRM, operations, or inventory. Nothing else has as much of a robust operations flow.
The Results
Responsive Implementation Support
SYNLawn Houston onboarded quickly and referenced SingleOps’ various online training resources. As the implementation process progressed, SYNLawn Houston found SingleOps to be helpful and very responsive. “We wanted to do it right and not rush. The implementation specialist was sometimes waiting on me, but I wasn’t ever waiting on them,” said Courtney.
Enter Info Once, and It Flows Through
Leads come into SingleOps automatically via API connection with the SYNLawn Houston website or are entered into the system by the office staff. The data is entered just once, and then flows all the way through to the company’s QuickBooks accounting system. SYNLawn Houston’s implementation and training process included making certain fields required to ensure all vital information was captured.
“One feature I really like is that from the calendar, a sales rep can go on an appointment and get driving directions to the prospect’s house in one click. Once they arrive, the info is already there, so they don’t have to type in fields like name and address in order to generate a proposal.
“SYNLawn Houston also added numerous custom fields, which I really love about the system. You can add any input to any type of transaction, even adding them on the fly. We’ve added ‘Lead Source’ since we really dig into our marketing spend.”
Generate Quotes on the Spot + Ensure Required Margins with Templates
“My ultimate favorite thing is templates. Our sales team can pull up a template and generate a quote on the spot, which we were never able to do before. They had to build out a spreadsheet and plug that into our antiquated SynOffice system, and then they’d have to print and scan the proposal and have the customer sign it and scan to accept. We’d put it into our merchant services account, and once the card was charged, the accounting team would have to manually put it against the invoice.
“Now with SingleOps and the integration with DocuSign, we can quote on the spot, and even charge a credit card right there which is tied to the estimate. Just having it fully integrated was a game-changer for us,
“We also built templates that hold sales reps accountable for the margin we require. When we used Excel, any time there was a change in price, I’d have to update about twenty spreadsheets. With SingleOps, it’s all built in, and we never have to guess whether a sales rep will be underbidding.”
Reducing Errors, Saving Time
“The more times a human must touch a record, the greater the potential for errors. Using SingleOps has absolutely reduced errors in our data and operations. We used to have one full time person handling much of this administration work, and we no longer have that employee, so SingleOps is saving us nearly 40 hours every week,” said Courtney.
The SYNLawn Houston operations team also uses SingleOps to text customers to let them know they’re on the way.
Increased Win Rate
SYNLawn Houston uses SingleOps to generate and email invoices. Customers can click through to the portal to pay the invoice directly. Additionally, SYNLawn Houston has set up automatic email reminders when invoices are due.
If a proposal isn’t accepted, an email reminder is sent automatically, contributing to increasing proposal acceptance rates by 30%. The feature is particularly helpful with commercial clients.
A Source of Competitive Differentiation
“Our proposals automatically have spec sheets attached. The sales team doesn’t have to dig for it or remember what to attach. This all differentiates us. Our competitors aren’t providing that.“I don’t know exactly how many more proposals we’re generating, but I know for certain SingleOps is a super timesaver. Our sales reps each used to go on about 3 visits a day, and now it’s 4 or 5. More visits combined with our increased win rate means SingleOps has contributed to increased revenue,” said Courtney.