When Make it Happen Signage Consultancy launched, founder Sam Armstrong didn’t waste time debating how to run the operational side of the business. Having used Clarity Software for a decade at her previous company, she knew it would be part of the new venture from day one.
“It just made sense,” says Katie Asken, Director at Make It Happen. “Sam had used it for ten years before starting the business, and when I joined a year later from the same company, she already had it set up. We knew it worked, and we knew it would keep things well organised from the start.”
Make it Happen is best known as a training consultancy for the signage industry, but it also runs a thriving product sales operation to the sign trade. “We don’t make anything in-house. We buy in and sell on. The system is everything when it comes to staying on top of quotes and customer details,” Katie explains
Making quoting fast and effortless
For Katie, Clarity Software is first and foremost a quoting tool. “Some of our suppliers have given us price lists, so have added those to Clarity. We can price things up ourselves using the pricing wizard, or we source the quote from our network of suppliers, add the details, and send the quote straight from there. It’s a fantastic tool.”
Recalling what quoting used to be like in the early days, Katies says, “Before all the pricing was loaded into Clarity, we’d work everything out on bits of paper and spreadsheets. It took an age. Now it’s like pick and mix, one of these, two of those, and you’ve got a price. Job done.”
A system that fits the business, not the other way around
Make it Happen uses the on-premise Clarity Pro software and has one module of the Clarity Go cloud-based system for the team that works remotely. “We use it to add new clients to our database, lead source, information in the notes section about the client. It’s simple and it just works brilliantly for the team,” Katie says.
The system enables the business to run smoothly day to day. “We mainly use it for quoting, marketing, and pulling off reports to monitor staff and client conversion rates, client spend, top clients etc,” Katie says. “We don’t hold any stock, so we don’t need all the modules Clarity offers, but it does everything we need it to do and does it well.”
Ease of use and reliable support
Having used Clarity Software for years, Katie says training new team members has been easy. “For quoting, it’s really straightforward to use. New starters pick it up quickly, and if I need to set someone up or fix something, support is only a phone call away. Any issues get sorted there and then.”
Information at a glance
For Katie, one of Clarity’s biggest strengths is reporting. “It’s brilliant,” she says. “I can see which clients are at the top, what our conversion rates are, how much they’re spending, there’s so much information at the touch of a button.”
She also uses Clarity’s CRM functions to pull client lists from specific lead sources, such as events. “If we’ve met people at a trade show, I can pull a list straight from Clarity and feed it into our marketing programme. It saves so much time.”
Driving the profitable side of the business
Katie says the sales side quietly powers the company. “The Bootcamps are the very visible part of our company, but the product sales are a larger part with 80% product sales and 20% consultancy/training turnover split. The great thing is all our customers are recurring. Once they find us, they keep coming back.”
Asked what she values most about Clarity, Katie says. “It’s a critical part of my daily business toolkit. Rather like Outlook, I use it automatically without even thinking about it anymore because it just works. Everything’s where it should be, and it helps us do what we need to do efficiently. We all LOVE the folders where we can keep all information related to that job, under that job, amazing for time management and efficiency.”
After years of using Clarity, she can’t imagine running the business without it. “It’s just part of how we work. It keeps everything organised letting us focus on helping customers get the best results possible and ensuring we operate as efficiently and profitably as possible,” she concludes.
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