I say this with absolute confidence: Every shop needs a Leta.
For the last 17 years, Leta McConnaughey has been the guru behind the shop’s Moraware set-up. Not only is she kind and engaging, Leta is curious and eager to continuously make things run better. Her role as Estimating and Scheduling Manager has benefitted Crowley’s immensely and will continue to as she continues to fine-tune their processes.
So, how has she done it?
Becoming a Moraware Guru
Leta credits her experience to a few things. Her curiosity fueled her to explore the software and play around with the features on her own. For example, Leta will go in and make test quotes to try to figure things out, or go into different aspects of each platform to understand what she could be using it for. Because she’s in CounterGo and Systemize so much, she’s usually aware of any changes to the platforms immediately.
The secret to getting good at Moraware? Leta says it’s being curious, but also being willing to email support and ask. She also encourages others to regularly watch the YouTube videos and browse the “fantastic” knowledge bases. This will help you learn what other features you maybe aren’t using yet, which could really help your process in some way! Then…you guessed it…go in and play around with it.
💡Learn: CounterGo Knowledge Base
💡Learn: Systemize Knowledge Base
Adjusting to changes
Crowley’s is a small and highly impressive shop averaging about seven jobs a week and incredibly high customer reviews. In fact, I still remember my first visit and how surprised I was that it was so calm and quiet in there. Thought I stumbled into a very niche day spa for a second…
Recently, there’s been a shift in the type of jobs they are getting. This means their standard processes don’t always fit the bill. True to the Crowley way, Leta has managed this calmly and strategically.
Their usual 6 day turnaround time doesn’t work for the more customized jobs, which are coming in more and more. Because they need more time, Leta has created a new job set for a 10 day turnaround. By doing this, the production can keep moving smoothly with the right expectations set for everyone involved from the customers to the installers.
An important part of this is one of Leta’s favorite features – autoschedule. Every part of their process is in Systemize and on the calendar, so when something needs to change, it’s a huge relief to know that the following dates will update accordingly. No one needs to spend the time moving each activity one at a time, and there’s no letting things fall through the crack.
A guru’s tip
Working with homeowners, contractors, builders, etc, Crowley’s has a lot of folks who want to see different things on their quotes. And, with the increase of custom work coming in, the complexity of these jobs can be challenging and time-consuming when drawing up a quote.
Leta’s solution to this was to create a bunch of quote templates in CounterGo. There are templates for the unique things each contractor wants to see on the quote. Then there are templates for set prices for the more complex work like full height backsplash, or extra counters, or extra counters AND full height backsplash…you get the picture. Now, all the team has to do is choose a template, enter the measurements, and everything else automatically populates on the quote. Talk about a huge time-saver for the Crowley’s team!
Thank you
A huge thank you to Leta for sitting down with us and sharing your experience with our software! If you’d like to see more of our conversation, check out the clip below.
