Vita's Tip in 10: Project Management System for Window Treatment Firms

Hello, hello friend! And welcome to today's episode of Vita’s Tip In 10, where I am going to share how and why to use Airtable to manage your window treatment projects. 

We all know that in this industry, each project is complex and has so many moving parts. There is so much to manage, so much to remember, and so much to follow up on, that it is nearly impossible to keep up with all the paperwork, sticky notes, and files. 

As Window Treatment professionals, we’re swimming in a constant stream of numbers, information, orders, and details to track. And while there are many software platforms available to organize and condense your data, my favorite, and the one we use at Vitalia Inc, is Airtable. 

First, let me tell you what Airtable is. Gone are the days of a metal filing cabinet for file storage - and what a relief that is! Airtable is a cloud-based software that allows you to organize and manage your data in a flexible and customizable way to your specific needs. Think of it as a mix between a spreadsheet and a database but with added functionality and a user-friendly interface. 

Now, why should you, as a window treatment professional, use Airtable? Because it helps seamlessly track your window treatment projects.  

You have a lot of data to manage - from customer information to project details to installation notes.  

Using Airtable can help you keep all of this information in one place and make it easily, accessible and understandable for you and your team - from anywhere, at any time. Check updates on your phone while away, your installer can double-check install notes while on a job, and when someone is out of the office on personal time, anyone else on the team can look up whether certain hardware was received for a project. 

So, how can you get started using Airtable for all the things in the window treatments business? Let's walk through some steps. 

Step one is to identify what data you need to track. In order to build a project management system, you need to have established process workflows.  If you don’t already have a project workflow, you should start there, so you can identify the different stages and statuses you will want to incorporate. 

We use Airtable to track alllllll of the details that go into a window treatment project. We can record an expediting task, and populate it from a dropdown menu that is customized to our needs, and also assign a task status and related notes about the task. 

It can also house all of your customer data, including customer information, contact info, and project details relating to the client. Airtable is also a great way to store customer communications, view revenue totals in each project step, and generate reports, and it also integrates with Quickbooks. 

The great thing about the capabilities of Airtable, and other digital project management software, is that it can be completely customized and built to your needs and workflow, and all the things you need to track. 

Once you have identified the data you need to track, Step 2 is to create your Airtable base, which will contain all of your data, and can be organized into tables, each representing a different category of information. For example, you may have a table for customer information, a table for project details, and a table for tasks. 

After creating your base, it's time to start adding your data. You can do this manually by typing in each entry or importing your data from a spreadsheet or another database. Once your data is in Airtable, you can start customizing your views. 

Custom views allow you to filter, sort, and group your data differently. For example, you may want to create a view that shows all of your active projects sorted by project status or a view that shows all of your customers grouped by task.  

Another helpful feature of Airtable is the ability to collaborate with your team. You can share your base with others and assign tasks and responsibilities, which can help ensure everyone is on the same page and working towards the same goals. 

Airtable is a powerful tool that you, as a window treatment professional, can use to plan and track your essential project data. Utilizing a cloud-based project management system allows you to be more organized, delegate responsibilities because you don’t have everything living in your head, be more productive, and provides a better client experience.  

It is literally the only way to grow your team and create the ability to step away from your business with the peace of mind that all the important information is organized and available to your team. 

And while I love and use Airtable - because it’s the software that most resonated with me - I do want you to know that it is ok to choose another software or platform. Asana, Monday.com, Trello, ClickUp - there are so many to choose from. I’ve just about used them all, and they all have similar capabilities. The important takeaway here is, yes, my friend, a digital project management tool is for you and your business, and it will change the way your business operates, for the better. 

If you are listening in real time, you know that my family and I just came back from vacation.  You also know that vacations can really set you back in terms of getting caught up on ALL the things you missed, statuses of projects, just getting a grip on what happened while you were gone.  I can honestly, hand on my heart, tell you:  I opened up AT the day I got back, spent some time going through it, and just like that knew where the business operations were.  I knew that customer Gerardi got split up and her powder room got installed.  I knew that we have several very sizable projects in the waiting for approval stage, so you better believe those are the ones I paid attention to first.  I knew that customer Kipnes came back with yet another service call – we all have one of those, right?  I knew that most of the ordering is up to date, so we don’t have any major AP coming our way.  I knew that we have 154 active projects, of which 47 were in the expediting stage.  And even though 47 didn’t seem like a big number to me, the dollar amount at almost half a million dollars, is very significant, so I know how busy my team is. I can go on – you get the point!  Really, AT has been a life-changer and a life-saver.   

My friend, if you are looking to start using a digital project management tool, you have two ways of working with me personally.   

One is through LuAnn University, my Systems Driven Operations class. And the second is a two-day in-person intensive where I hand over all my systems for you to use and put to work immediately in your business. I want you to check out both tools because they are different and equally applicable depending on where you are in your business and how fast you want to achieve your goal. Visit my website to learn more about my VIP Experience, my LuAnn University Class, and my Digital Business Tools.  

And in the meantime, I will be working on my next episode of Vita’s Tip in 10. See you next Thursday!