J.F. Cook Company, Inc. has been selling, installing, and servicing quality doors and windows throughout the greater Milwaukee region since 1947. The company has divisions serving commercial and residential contractors, as well as residential home owners, so they require flexible business management software that can adapt to the way they do business – that solution is Sage 100 Contractor.
Ready for An Integrated Solution
When Stacey Teal, operations manager for J.F. Cook, joined the organization, many of the company’s accounting and operations were still being handled manually.
“We were using Sage 100 Contractor to handle our accounting and project management tasks,” says Teal. “But our inventory, service management, reporting, and many other tasks were being handled separately with spreadsheets and other standalone databases.” Stacy knew that she ultimately wanted all of the company’s data in a single application.
That’s when she turned to her Sage Business Partner who recommended incorporating the service management and inventory control capabilities within Sage 100 Contractor.
“Now, we are using nearly every aspect of Sage 100 Contractor, and we love it,” says Benjamin Engel, owner and president of J.F. Cook Company.
J.F. Cook was able to take full advantage of their investment in Sage 100 Contractor while converting previously manual tasks and external spreadsheets into a much more connected, automated, and fluid process.
Improved Customer Service
Sage 100 Contractor delivers the tools and functionality that J.F. Cook needs to provide better customer service. “Before our service operation was managed with paper, spreadsheets, and the knowledge in peoples’ heads,” says Steve Getzin, vice president and service manager. “Now we have full inventory control, warranty tracking, a graphical dispatch board, tight integration with job costing, and our technicians now have the ability to input data from the field using an iPad.”
Throughout J.F. Cook’s warehouse, staff is able to access the Sage 100 Contractor database to look up part numbers and work orders, and questions and issues surrounding service billings have been greatly reduced.
“We have many types of contracts with different billing arrangements. Before we did not have an efficient way to track the contract details, so billing errors sometimes occurred,” explains Teal. “Now we can use Sage to track all the contract information which makes billing faster and more accurate.”
Significant Return on Investment
Benjamin Engel notes that the return on investment of Sage 100 Contractor is significant.
“We used to have an accounting staff of six full-time employees. With the efficiencies we gained, we were able to eliminate two full-time positions and reduce two others to part time. The labor savings significantly improves our bottom line.”
Sage 100 Contractor Opens the Door to Opportunity
See and hear how J.F. Cook uses Sage 100 Contractor to improve their margins, and do more with less.
