What software do curtain and blind shops use for quoting?

Most independent curtain and blind shops quote with three things: supplier price lists, a spreadsheet or calculator, and a Word or PDF template for the quote itself. Some finish the quote in a general tool such as Xero or QuickBooks. Fewer use software made for made to measure work, which holds their products, fabrics and pricing rules and works out the price from the customer's sizes. Which is right for you depends on how many quotes you write a week, and how many people write them.

The four ways shops quote today

1. Price lists and a calculator

The supplier sends a price grid by width and drop. You find the band, add the options, add your margin and write the total down. It costs nothing, and it works when one experienced person writes every quote. It breaks when someone new quotes, when the supplier changes prices, or when a customer wants three fabrics compared.

2. A spreadsheet you built

Many shops have one, with fabric widths, making charges and a formula for curtain widths. It is faster than the calculator and it is yours. The trouble is that it lives on one computer, usually only one person really understands it, and it does not turn into a job sheet or an invoice.

3. General quoting and invoicing software

Xero, QuickBooks or a CRM will make a tidy quote and chase the payment. They do not know what a fabric width, a pattern repeat or a size band is, so the price is still worked out somewhere else and typed in.

4. Software made for curtains and blinds

This kind holds your products, supplier grids, fabrics and making charges. Staff enter the width and drop, pick the options, and the price comes out the same way every time. The same job then becomes the order, the workroom sheet and the invoice.

What to look for if you change

It prices both ways you sell: blinds from size grids, and curtains from fabric, widths and making.
It quotes a whole house in one job, room by room.
It works on a tablet at a home visit, not only at the counter.
The workroom sheet comes from the quote, so nothing is typed twice.
Someone sets it up with your real prices. Software you have to fill in yourself often never gets filled in.

What it costs

Price lists and spreadsheets cost nothing up front, but they cost time on every quote, usually your evenings. General invoicing tools are a monthly fee for the business. Made to measure software is usually a monthly fee per user plus a setup charge to load your products.

InterioApp, as an example, is £99 a user a month with every feature included, plus a one-off setup from £1,800, in which we load your products, fabrics and price lists and train your team.

When a spreadsheet is still fine

If you write a handful of quotes a week, write them all yourself and rarely get one wrong, a good spreadsheet is enough. The time to change is when customers wait for you to price a job, when two people price the same job differently, or when a wrong number has already cost you a remake.

See it with your own products

If you want to see one of your own products priced in quoting software, book a 30-minute demo and bring one price list.

First published on the InterioApp blog.