Solutions

Klapprodt Pools

Klapprodt Pools manages everything from design through customer service while saving tens of thousands of dollars, all using FileMaker solution

With FileMaker Solution for Integrated Business Management System, Klapprodt Pools Saves Thousands of Dollars in Months

Pool design and building firm (www.klapprodtpools.com) discovers customer satisfaction and improved returns with end-to-end business automation solution (Pool Pro Office) based on FileMaker

Overview

  • Backyard pools and spas may seem like a simple business, until you factor in the complexities of design, construction, maintenance, and service. Klapprodt Pools puts it all together to achieve exceptional customer satisfaction, return on investment and business success using Pool Pro Office, a solution built based on the FileMaker Platform.

Industry

  • Pool design, construction, and maintenance

Solutions

  • Used Pool Pro Office created with the FileMaker Platform to integrate business processes, from design through to maintenance

Benefits

  • Achieved ROI in months; improved productivity by putting all customer information (pool design, invoicing, location, and maintenance) in a single location; improved customer satisfaction by having everyone involved aware of every detail of a pool construction or maintenance project

Serving the Dallas/Fort Worth area, Klapprodt Pools has grown into a 25-person company with a reputation built on a unique approach to designing, constructing and maintaining pools: make it quick, efficient, and personalized for every buyer. No surprises: just gorgeous pools and great service.

The company’s 25 employees design and build up to 120 pools a year, maintain 200 pools weekly, and make an additional 150 to 200 service calls each month. Keeping the details straight can be daunting.

Now, Klapprodt is using Pool Pro Office (PPO), a custom-built solution from FileMaker developer Pool Pro Office that’s based on FileMaker. It runs on Mac, Windows, and iPad using the FileMaker Go app, and was created with the FileMaker Platform. Klapprodt achieved return on investment within months, and its business is growing efficiently and profitably. Best of all, customer satisfaction is at an all-time high.

"Our vision," says Co-owner Jeremy Klapprodt, "is to make sure everyone is synchronized, extremely productive, and aware of even the most minute details of each customer’s unique job, whether we are on-site designing a new pool, or on our way to a routine maintenance call."

When synchronization matters

Klapprodt Pools 1
A Klapprodt Pools sales representative and designer first enters customer sales lead information into the FileMaker Pro database

Before the iPad app and Pool Pro Office, running the business was not always as easy and organized. Like many small to medium businesses, Klapprodt Pools has grown organically, and the single-purpose IT systems supporting the business were acquired one at a time.

As a result, the information needed to serve customers wasn’t always available from the road. Or, it was isolated in different software systems. For years, the company was using multiple in-house or outsourced solutions for lead management, construction, service, and billing, which meant duplicate data entry and extensive travel among multiple locations to obtain the right information. The company was also paying a substantial monthly fee for externally provided lead and service management solutions.

Overall, the FileMaker solution has created more efficient processes and information that is accessible just about anywhere, at any time.

— Jeremy Klapprodt, co-owner, Klapprodt Pools
Klapprodt Pools 2
A customer folder with complete construction plans is created to track all key aspects of the pool construction

Details, dispersed everywhere

In the past, once a new customer lead came in, staff entered it into an online lead management system that would trigger the sales process. Once a job was sold, a supervisor set up design and construction scheduling manually. Plans and documents were kept in a file folder, accessible only on desks or in filing cabinets. Customer information was then manually entered into Intuit QuickBooks as well as a service management system for future service and warranty work.

Klapprodt explains, "It was a chore to find specific information for a customer, especially from a remote location. People would have to go to the service office to look up service details, the construction office for design or construction information, and the office manager for billing data. Zero information was obtainable from the field without a phone call."

Recognizing the inefficiencies, Klapprodt began looking for a single, integrated solution capable of handling all aspects of the company’s business. He found Pool Pro Office, a desktop and iOS solution created using the FileMaker Platform. Today, Klapprodt Pools uses Pool Pro Office in every aspect of the business, every moment of the day.

After selling the pool, a process that’s usually done at the home office, designers get to work using the app for iPad. They visit the customer site to scope out the terrain and enter early ideas into the system. Construction supervisors on iPads pick up from there, sketching out more specific plans, subcontractor requirements, and more.

Klapprodt Pools 3
At the pool site, a Klapprodt Service Technician completes a service call order with FileMaker Go for iPad

In the same lane

Three technicians and a service manager use the solution for maintenance and routine servicing; built-in maps show them how to get to the client site efficiently. The maps are universally viewable, so anyone can immediately see where the job is. Schedulers can devise the most efficient routes; and technicians can plan their days.

Even pool cleaners, office managers, owners, and directors tap into the Pool Pro Office solution. There might be technicians in the field servicing pools and needing to invoice clients on the spot, or construction management personnel looking for detailed information on approved pool designs. Which tile, which depth, diving board height? These details, now, are all in one place.

"Our customers see the results because we are more organized and accountable," says Klapprodt. "Overall, the FileMaker solution has created more efficient processes and information that is accessible just about anywhere, at any time."

Klapprodt Pools 4
Work progress, starting with excavation, is tracked using FileMaker Go for iPad by a Klapprodt construction supervisor

The best, done better

The customized Pool Pro Office system based on FileMaker solutions has helped the pool company build a thriving business by doing things a little differently. The solution is helping the company do what it does best even better.

Management and owners, too, are seeing the benefits because they can run reports and glimpse what is happening company-wide, in-real time, which is extremely beneficial considering the number of jobs in progress daily.

Customer satisfaction is job one for Klapprodt, but there’s also no substitute for return on investment. The FileMaker Platform based Pool Pro Office solution paid for itself in a few short months, based only on the savings from the recurring payments that are no longer being made on the outsourced lead and service management systems. This translates into tens of thousands in savings annually that can be funneled into a growing business now capable of building and maintaining more pools.

"We are genuinely excited about the benefits this new solution provides to our company," says Klapprodt. "We have been able to maintain better accountability, and we appreciate the overall cultural change. Because we have so many things happening all at once, we can stay on top of it all, remotely and in real-time."

For FileMaker:

Kevin Mallon
Public Relations Manager
FileMaker Inc.
408-987-7227
kevin_mallon@filemaker.com
http://www.filemaker.com

For Client:

Jeremy Klapprodt
Co-Owner
Klapprodt Pools
817-431-0335
Jeremy@klapprodtpools.com
http://www.klapprodtpools.com

For Developer:

Gerard Beutler
tech@poolprooffice.com
http://poolprooffice.com
Direct: 321-452-7691
Corporate: 321-574-0358

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