Simplifying Your Shop Management: Six Essential Features Your Software Needs to Run Your Business More Profitably

Running a successful print and sign shop involves managing numerous tasks efficiently, from handling customer orders to ensuring seamless communication within your team. At times you may think you are a hamster running on a treadmill, always running at top speed and never being able to slow down.

At shopVOX, we understand these challenges and have developed shopVOX Pro and Express to help streamline your operations. Here are six powerful features that can transform how you manage your business.

1. Streamlined Billing

Speed of order taking to invoice is crucial for maintaining cash flow and customer satisfaction. shopVOX Pro and Express offer flexible billing options that cater to different business models. Our system allows you to customize billing schedules and integrate payment gateways, send invoices and statement via email making it easier to keep track of invoices and payments and order deposits.

shopVOX Success Coach Crystal said that one of the best things about shopVOX is the ability for shop owners to instantly ask for their deposits in a variety of convenient ways. The best being a link in the quote to collect the payment. "Shops can instantly improve their cashflow by collecting deposits. Often in the heat of the moment (and owners can be the first to skip this step) orders can slip through the system without which can really impact the business. When it becomes a part of your process every staff member handles it (including the owner) the same way and clients come to understand the process and fall in line. This one thing can transform a small business."

2. Online Proof Management

Managing proofs online can significantly enhance communication and reduce errors. With shopVOX’s online proof management feature, you can handle all proofing activities digitally. Clients can review, annotate, and approve proofs online, ensuring faster turnaround times and reducing the risk of errors. This feature streamlines the approval process and keeps all feedback organized and easily accessible.

Gone are the days of emailing proofs, having them sent to the wrong person or a sick staff member delaying the approval step when away from their email. Everyone has visibility of the proof step and can see if actions need to be taken like redesigns. By tracking the times and dates proofs are send and revised from both sides there are no times where a rush needs to be enacted because of a lost email.

shopVOX Marketing Manager, and 25+ year veteran in the sign industry, Jennifer says " We started proofing online in a separate program to our production software at the time, and it was amazing for our productivity. When we started with shopVOX and it integrated with our workflow it was revolutionary. Just the act of moving the job into production once the art was approved saved us so much time. Our Production Manager collected all the approved orders, checked them for materials and then assigned them the next step in minutes every morning, ensuring on time delivery and reducing our days to invoice."

3. Comprehensive Reporting

Data-driven decisions are key to business growth. shopVOX provides a suite of practical reports that help you monitor key metrics such as sales performance, customer engagement, and financial health. With these insights, you can identify trends, track progress, and make informed decisions to drive your business forward.

The most important KPI's (key performance indicators) in your business are the ones that mean something to you. But some common ones are on the shopVOX dashbaord for you to see every day. Average Dollar Sale, Days to Invoice, Days to Pay.

"We tracked a lot of numbers but really there were very few that all the staff needed to know to do their job better. For them we reviewed the invoiced $ every day and had a daily target to meet. Once we started doing that everyone was pulling in the same direction." says Jennifer. "Often they had ideas on how to move other jobs ahead of one that stalled for any reason, and they were the first to understand a multiday job that took all resources would pay off when invoiced and they got ahead of potential problems quickly. shopVOX made that information and more easy to find and report."

4. Efficient Job Management

Keeping track of orders and job statuses can be overwhelming. shopVOX’s job management tools allow you to monitor every step of the production process. From order creation to final delivery, our platform ensures that you have a clear view of each job's status, helping you manage resources effectively and meet deadlines consistently.

"Having 100 orders or more on the go at a time is reality for many multi disciplinary shops. You have the in all states from design to waiting on install and everything in between. Managing them on a white board became impossible and customers were paying the price. Once we moved to the shopVox jobboard it became manageable. We could identify due dates, created systems to manage 80% of the jobs so they just moved through the production line without hesitation. The PM would oversee the 20% special cases. There were many days when I hated answering the phone calls "where is my sign" but then more often than not the answer was good news!"

5. Product Templates and Customization

shopVOX offers a comprehensive database of product templates that can be customized to fit your specific needs. This feature allows you to create consistent, accurate quotes and manage complex projects with ease. The ability to customize templates ensures that your unique business processes are supported and optimized within the platform​​​​.

"Pricing is the hardest part of the industry," Says co-founder Rao. "We wanted to develop something to help. For many years we relied on every customer doing it their own way, until we realized that they wanted an easier way too! So we created Golden Products with industry experts. Not every product has to be micro managed on the pricing and cost side, its more about communicating the information to your production team and making profit on the jobs. So using those products you can do that. Then spend your spare time pricing more complex jobs. It saves time and makes money for shops."

6. Enhanced Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

Building and maintaining strong customer relationships is essential for long-term success. shopVOX’s simple CRM features help you keep track of customer interactions, manage follow-ups, and personalize communication enhancing customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Gone are the days of rolodexes and stacks of business cards stapled to paper handwritten work orders. Todays clients deserve you to have their information at your fingertips. This makes your job easier and faster. Actually it makes your staff's jobs easier. If you as the owner or manager don't have to tell the staff all the details about a client so they can get their design or quote done, they can act with autonomy and speed. By using tags in shopVOX you can denote a VIP or friends and family client. You can set pricing levels for discounts (or upcharges). You can track important dates or other information for the team to know. Every time you download this information to your CRM you can take a step back and let your team shine.

Empowering Your Business with shopVOX

shopVOX Pro and Express are designed to meet the diverse needs of print, sign apparel shops and more. By leveraging these powerful features and more, you can simplify your operations, enhance customer satisfaction, and drive business growth. Explore how shopVOX can transform your business today and take advantage of our free demo to see these features in action.

For more details see our features of both versions here.