BM to roll out Touch training programmes in 2025
By Nick Bailey, head of sales, BM Group.
Business Micros now has more than 4,000 unique company users of our flagship Touch online ordering and quoting software.
We have so far installed Touch Portal systems powered by real time production data at more than 35 of the UK’s leading fabricators and, in turn, 4,000 of their trade customers have signed up either to their fabricator’s Touch Portal dealer network, or opted for their own branded versions of Touch.
As a result, in the most recent three-month period for which we have figures, we saw £26m of work quoted through Touch and £13m of orders placed.
Touch is such an impressive platform that it’s no surprise to us how quickly the number of users has overtaken our previous EvoSatellite online quoting and ordering solution.
However, while Satellite users might have 10+ years’ experience with the system and know every feature and shortcut, the vast majority of Touch users are still navigating the software and establishing the best way to integrate it into their businesses.
Touch is intuitive and user-friendly, but busy fabrication and installation firms are understandably more focused on making and selling windows and doors than navigating new software.
That’s why, in 2025, Business Micros will be rolling out a whole series of new learning programmes to help fabricators and installers really make the most of Touch.
Starting with Touch Portal users, we’ll be offering free training to fabricators’ sales and admin staff so that they can learn how best to manage customer accounts in Touch, how to create and populate their own resource centres, and how to tailor and navigate the KPI dashboard in Touch so that it meets their specific business needs.
Crucially though, we’ll be focusing on training these staff so that they can train their own trade customers. We’ll be showing the most effective and efficient ways to onboard a trade customer and advising on everything from demoing a quote to using the Home Visualiser.
It will be about sharing best practice so that they can guide every type of installer through Touch – whether they are an experienced Satellite user, new to online ordering, and using either a home computer or a mobile.
We want to cascade Touch training all the way down the supply chain, so we’ll also be offering fabricator days where Touch Portal users can invite their trade customers in for face-to-face training sessions with the BM team, and running a series of Touch teaching webinars for installers to watch live or at times to suit them.
Some of our Touch Portal fabricators already have as many of 85% of their customers routinely using Touch Dealer network to sell, price and order, and we’ll be sharing the tips and tricks they have used to help other fabricators in our network achieve those kinds of figures.
Fabricators can get in touch for advice and support on how to sell the benefits of Touch to their customers during the roll out and they can request free training for themselves or their installation networks.
More info is at: https://store.bm-touch.co.uk/
