“You can’t grow until you get the right technology in place!” – An interview with Sue Parten, WindowWears, Inc.
When it comes to business technology, Sue Parten finds herself working with more than one type of Windows. Her company, WindowWears Inc., designs, fabricates, and installs custom draperies and shades for interior designers. While the work itself takes the skill of an expert craftsman, managing the business takes an extensive amount of technology.
“We are completely reliant on technology for our day to day operations,” Sue says. “Our customers’ orders, estimates, emails, and invoices are saved electronically—no paper!” Sue’s team relies on Office 365 to get the job done, particularly OneNote, which they use to track projects and daily to-do’s, checking off critical line items as the team moves through custom orders.
“We first realized we needed to do things differently when there were more people included in the process,” Sue says. As WindowWears continued to expand, Sue and her team found themselves faced with a much larger network of employees and vendors, with every member of the team needing access to files and processes at every step of the order process. “We needed a way to keep everyone in the loop and updated on what needs to be done next.”
Sue connected with Grand Technology Solutions through one of her employees, who uses GTS for her own personal technology needs. “Paul was immediately available to talk with me,” Sue remembers. “I was convinced his help could help us grow.”
GTS helped Sue transform her business from a model meant for a few employees to a streamlined order and fulfillment process centered around the business potential of Office 365. Through that integration, our team was also able to solve an error keeping Sue’s clients from receiving business emails.
When a business like WindowWears relies so much on technology to keep client orders and information protected and up to date, a virus can wreak havoc on its day to day operations. Sue’s team has seen the benefit of remote monitoring and management services through GTS.
“We did have a virus sneak onto our computers,” she says. Through remote monitoring, GTS was able to catch and stop the virus before it could cause any major problems.
“Paul called to notify us of what had happened and quarantined it immediately,” Sue explains. “Just this morning, he helped us through a glitch with Office 365! I would never be able to work through these issues on my own.”
As Sue’s business is headquartered in Denver, Colorado, all of our planning calls and training sessions took place over the phone and by video chat. These remote sessions built confidence in Sue and her team, as they watched WindowWears’ internal efficiency and ease of access expand practically overnight thanks to the new technology.
“You can’t grow until you get the right technology in place,” Sue says. “We are growing and are able to handle the impact of that because of the technology we are now able to access. Besides getting us set up with top notch business technology and training us to use it, GTS has also been available when we have had issues. I’ve rarely had to wait more than a few minutes to hear back, and never more than a day.”
This remote communication and accessibility has been a high point for Sue—and is one of our major points of pride at GTS. “GTS is worth every penny and has helped us immensely,” Sue says. “Once, we had an issue and contacted Paul. He called us back from Italy to take care of the problem!”
Denver, Colorado or Jacksonville, Florida; the vineyards of Italy or the middle of the Pacific Ocean—wherever your business may be, we’re here to listen, and we’re here to help! To learn more about what GTS can do for YOUR business, give us a call at (904) 606-6011 or drop us a note at info@helpgts.com.
To learn more about Sue Parten and WindowWears Inc., visit their website at www.windowwearsinc.com.
