SP Screens scales service to support 160% growth in branches

SP Screens is an Australian small business offering custom made security screens, retractable insect screens, slatted aluminium privacy screens, indoor blinds, and plantation shutters. Founded in 2010, the business has 13 branches along the country’s eastern seaboard, with eight of these opened in the last two years.

Sarah Lamb, Chief Executive Officer at SP Screens, attributes this rapid growth to an efficient franchise model that depends heavily on Salesforce. The CRM automates workflow so the business’ head office team can support new franchises without adding headcount.

SP Screens has aspired to do things differently from the beginning and set the standard for service in its industry. Early on, however, the business’ vision for great service outstripped its capabilities. Its team was friendly and caring, but paper-based processes impacted service and productivity.

When a customer called to check on their order, they were put on hold while a team member went in search of their file. It then took ten minutes or more to pinpoint where the order was at.

Bringing in Salesforce has digitally transformed the business. Team members are no longer sifting through paperwork. Instead, they’re guided by workflows within Salesforce to keep business moving.

With a complete view of customers, team members can also have more personal interactions with customers. They don’t have to ask customers to repeat themselves or flip through their files; everything they need to respond to customers is at their fingertips.

Outbound communication has also been improved, with customers kept up to date on appointments and orders via automated SMS. Powered by SMS Magic from the AppExchange, the proactive messages enhance the customer experience while reducing the number of calls to the customer service team.

The business now sends automated, personalised SMS messages as part of the sales cycle too, helping to increase conversion by 4% in six months.

“Automating SMS has been a game changer for us. It means that I now know every single lead we’ve worked so hard to generate is followed up on,” said Lamb

SP Screens has automated several other processes to support the increase in branches. One of these is scheduling which is managed centrally using Field Service.

Customers can contact the customer service team to make a booking or go online to schedule appointments themselves. With Field Service, consultations and installations are automatically assigned to the right resource based on time, skills, and location. Schedules are also optimised to maximise productivity.

“In the past, we had customer service representatives dedicated to each branch as they needed to know the area and our resources really well in order to manage scheduling,” said Lamb. “Now, scheduling can be completed by anyone and optimised with the click of a button.”

Once onsite, the Field Service mobile app guides employees through the steps needed to complete each job. It also ensures they enter the required details about jobs, so the customer service team doesn’t need to waste time chasing information.

The overall efficiency of the customer service team has increased by 45%, allowing the team to support 13 branches with four fewer employees than it would have required in the past. This has saved the business more than $350,000 AUD annually.

“We have been able to support more customers with fewer employees dedicated to customer service, and that’s purely due to Salesforce. It helps us run literally every part of our business apart from the physical manufacturing of our products,” said Lamb.

SP Screens is building on these results by using Salesforce to further streamline processes like the creation of work orders. It is also cultivating a culture where team members are engaged and empowered to find more efficient ways of working.

Lamb shared that engagement and adoption were the most difficult aspects of the business’ transformation. However, she’s put in the work to show employees how Salesforce can make their work easier.

“Now that I have that buy-in from employees, they proactively suggest ways to improve their day and make things more efficient. And every little step or click I can save them from doing themselves ultimately saves the business more money,” said Lamb.