Establishing business processes and software development for an oriental rug supplier and seller

Overview

The London Persian Rug Company supplies and sells a unique collection of handcrafted, oriental carpets, rugs and runners. The company attracts customers across the whole country. This includes famous British department stores and world-class interior designers. The products on offer may be excellent but without efficient management and sales software, internal processes at the London Persian Rug Company were likely to suffer. We helped by providing our client with two custom software solutions as well as a thorough analysis of complex business processes.

The Initial Stages

Our client had three major challenges:

• The use of multiple spreadsheets,meant that employees’ work was dispersed between various files. Each employee also had a different file with details about the products. Exchanging information was so problematic that it caused frequent frustration for the owner, especially as the data was unclear and some was not digitized. There was no transparent process for managing or maintaining data. This made scaling the business impossible.

The company tried to deal with the challenge by using a physical notice board. However, with all the products, number of orders and additional information about their clients, the board quickly became ineffective. It was also limited as it only benefitted those in the office at the time, whilst employees working in the field were unable to track orders or find information.

• Clients personally visited warehouses to see products. Because the company didn’t have management software, clients had no choice but to visit warehouses in order to browse the stock. That was highly inconvenient for both clients and employees. They had to see everything since nothing was clearly displayed and compared. The initial stage of the sales process was therefore inefficient and expensive for the company.
• Lack of cohesion increased overall inefficiency.Different employees had access to varying forms of data. There was no central space for the storage and exchange of basic information. This wasted both time and money.

How we helped

We first analysed the challenges at hand then we created a number of internal processes that supported daily operations. Through extensive conversations and workshops together with the client, we understood the business needs and were able to help. Close cooperation and the client’s domain knowledge benefited the outcome. We started by building the prototype that was iterated in one-week sprint intervals focusing on functional aspects of the system initially to design a robust workflow. Once the functionality was agreed, we focused on developing a seamless and user-friendly interface for users to interact with. During the entire development process, we received feedback from the client, who tested the flow with their internal teams.

The final step was to build two custom software solutions that complemented each other and supported the business goals. For the development of the portal, we used an Agile development approach, delivering the system iteratively to ensure it met the client’s requirements. For us, this means focusing on client, customer, and user needs by finding creative ways to solve their problems.

The delivery of the portal was split into workstreams and phases to segment activities and ensured it was delivered within the specified timeframe.

We also configured a Trello app which supports different company departments and helps them to cooperate on a daily basis

Throughout the development phases, testing was critical to ensure that the system operates as expected on the devices and operating systems used by its users and that the information shown is correct.

By providing continuous business and technical support, employees were fully prepared to embrace the system from its go live. This was a large factor in why the time it took to implement the system didn’t exceed initial expectations and remained short.

Software features

• Gathering, processing and exchanging data between various company departments
• One-contact cooperation between warehouses and sales departments
• Central and easily-accessible repository for photos, prices, client contacts and information on products and warehouse stocks
• Easy data import from previously created files and spreadsheets
• Mobile availability – the sales department can access information from anywhere, anytime

The next phase

The software implementation has allowed for the ability to add more functionalities in the future, such as:

• Easy access to stock for clients. They will seamlessly browse through the entire catalogue for the perfect rug or carpet
• Profiling, product positioning, and customer restricted data access. Employees will have the ability to share selective product information with clients, position the offer among various client groups. Varied prices for different groups will drive more revenue
• Specific product requests. This feature will allow the sales rep to communicate the need for a specific product to the warehouse. That way it will be on-show for the client upon their arrival

Benefits for the client

Our engagement solved two major problems:

• Information exchange deficits that were causing frustration to our client
• Loss of time and money due to an unnecessarily complex and time consuming sales process.

The result

Through understanding the client’s business goals we were able to drive a successful software implementation, analysing key processes and identifying the main opportunities for growth.  Our client’s business is now more efficient, flexible, and offers products in a different, more customer-friendly light.