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40 | Kitchen & Bath Design News January 2015 Trend Spotting By Jamie Gold, CKD, CAPS W hen former NKBA Presi- dent John Morgan wants to show one of his sup- plier's or rep frm's team members a detail on a project, chances are he's not sending them out to the job site as a frst step. He'll pull out his smart- phone or tablet, click on the Evernote or Skitch app and create a message on a photo showing the issue. He can then send that to whichever Morgan Pinnacle professional, dealer, designer or vendor needs to address it. TECHNOLOGY FOR YOUR BUSINESS "I estimate that I do 90 percent of my work on my tablet," Morgan says. "If I am at a jobsite, I will type notes from the consumer. I will take a photo and write notes directly on them. I may even take a photo and live video chat with the factory directly from the job- site." Since Morgan keeps his business entirely cloud-based, he can access his fles from any device or computer anywhere he has Internet access, and thus has less paper to carry around. "You will never hear me say that I do not have my notes with me, because my project details are everywhere I go; all I need to carry is a little three- by-fve device in my pocket," he adds. Chances are, you're using a smart- phone or tablet to communicate with your clients and potentially show them images you uploaded to Houzz, Pinterest or other sites. You're most likely creating your designs in com- puter-based software to save time and simplify the presentation and ordering process. But is your business behind the tech curve in every other way? What about your competitors? "From experience, I see that many are just scratching the surface of what they could be doing," Morgan comments. "I would recommend that everyone spend a little more time in the virtual communities asking what's helping other businesses and learn from each other." Those virtual communities could include LinkedIn industry groups, Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus and other places that designers virtually gather. Don't hesitate to ask colleagues about technology tools that can make your business life more productive; it could free up more personal time as an added beneft. You could also gain knowledge about tech tools at indus- try conferences such as KBIS for the kitchen and bath industry or CEDIA for the technology feld. Some tech tools, like CRM pro- grams, make customer relationship management more efcient and could lead to more efective sales and mar- keting. "I predict that over the next fve to 10 years, all dealers and de- signers will be using a form of CRM, and if they do not, they will not be able to compete for clients," Morgan states. CRM allows a business to easily track existing and potential revenue through customer and prospect man- agement, predict which leads become actual customers and better manage your business. It's very powerful and actually rather inexpensive to use, Morgan adds. Two that he recom- mends are Maximizer and Salesforce. TECHNOLOGY FOR DESIGN Before you even start your design, you can create private folders on plat- forms such as Houzz for client idea sharing; this is the digital equivalent of the magazine clippings that used to walk into your showroom. In addition to using one of the popular design software packages, there are other new tech- nology tools you can use in your projects. Skitch and Evernote are favorites of Morgan's and other de- signers polled in a brief LinkedIn survey. Penultimate, an app from Evernote that lets you hand-write or draw on your device, and DropBox for fle sharing, got designer nods, as well. Morgan also uses Magic Plan to save himself time in measuring a cli- ent's home. "I can measure a room by simply pointing my phone at the corners and clicking. It converts the image into a CAD file that can be instantly uploaded to me or my as- sistant. I no longer have to go back and draw walls; it opens right into my 20-20 design. It's a huge time saver." TECHNOLOGY FOR PRESENTATIONS Some designers have clients and projects in out-of-town locations. Technology is a natural for presenting to them and any other professionals who need to see what's going on at a distant job site. It also assists when you're traveling to a factory or confer- ence, but still need to be in touch with ongoing projects. GoToMeeting, Face- Time, Skype and other virtual meeting applications are ideal for these needs and save time and money. Parallel Ac- cess lets you access your computer fles remotely. Morgan, who has a business re- lationship with 20-20, finds the company's new rendering technol- ogy helpful. "I am now using my smartphone and the consumer's Succeeding with Technology in 2015 With new 3D immersive technology, clients can 'stand in' your kitchen design. Don't forget to specify the charger. iPhones and iPads have democratized home automation. Photo: Savant® Photo: Legrand, NA Photo: 20-20 Technologies Continued on page 42