Completing a check-measure is a necessary part of the security screens and doors installation process; without it, we run the risk of manufacturing the products in the wrong size, style or colour. When this happens, it is the dealer who bears the cost of the mistakes – if you make too many mistakes, it could be deadly to your business, eating into your profit margin and eventually sending your business into the red.
In light of the importance of getting the check-measure right the first time round, we’re sharing three common mistakes that could be detrimental to your business.
1: Believing that the paperwork is correct
When you go to do a check-measure, you should be double checking and confirming all of the details of the customer’s order, not just the measurements. This means frame colour, insert colour, style, accessories, and all other details. We have seen many jobs come back because one small detail on the paperwork wasn’t checked correctly – the customer was expecting yellow but was given green instead.
Another common mistake is if the paperwork says ‘bathroom’ but there is more than one bathroom, or there is more than one window in the bathroom – you need to be checking which bathroom window the screen is going on because they might all look the same, but one might be slightly smaller.
Your job in the check measure is to check everything – nothing is to be missed. Your job at check measure must be to doubt everything that is on the paperwork and to confirm everything.
2: Missing Something
Missing something is the second biggest mistake a dealer completing a check-measure can make. You’ve done the check-measure and you’ve written it all down on a piece of paper. Then you come back to the office and you go to enter the check measure into the system to place the order – and you’ve missed something.
You’ve missed a lock height, or you’ve forgotten to write down what type of insect mesh it’s supposed to be. You’ve forgotten to include the dog door, or what size the dog door the customer wanted. Whatever it is, you’ve forgotten to do something, or you’ve missed some steps.
Starline Security’s online ordering portal takes you through all of the required steps when placing your order – but if you haven’t collected the information or you’ve left something out, you won’t be able to finalise your order until you have the missing information. That is why we recommend using the ordering portal in front of your customer on site – you will then be prompted to fill in each piece of information and go through the various steps, confirming each with the customer as you do.
If you do use the online ordering portal in front of the customer, it can also help you mitigate any issues with inconsistencies in the paperwork – by getting the client to confirm and approve the details as you’re placing the order, you will have confidence that the order has been placed correctly. If there are any issues when you turn up to install, you can confidently say that you asked the customer to check and reconfirm all details entered.
3: Key Mistakes
The third and final mistake that we see is making silly ordering errors or mistakes when placing the order. Keying in the wrong measurements – typing in 2048 instead of 2084 – when placing the order is one of the biggest and most common mistakes we see dealers make.
These types of seemingly small ‘human errors’ can add up very quickly for your business. Making mistakes from time to time is almost impossible to avoid, especially when you’re placing large orders for an entire house including all of the doors and windows. These types of orders would have something in the vicinity of 100 or even 200 different key requirements.
We do try and minimise these types of errors in the portal by having default options, but it is still very easy to make mistakes.
As a dealer, the best thing that you can do to minimise the mistakes is to double check everything, check the specifications sheet, as you’re entering the clients order details into our wholesale ordering system and to also include a mistakes margin in your pricing. Price your products knowing that maybe one in every 100 screens or doors is going to be a mistake, and your business will have a bit of padding for when the odd mistake does happen.
Become a Starline Security Dealer
Interested in becoming a security doors and screens dealer? Head to the Starline Security portal to learn more and fill in an application form.
