CE Pro November/December 2024 - 64

BUSINESS RESOURCES
Industry Software Implementation Evolves
The breakdown of integrator survey-takers essentially can
be split into two sizes - roughly half are one-man shops
or companies of 2-10 employees; and half are larger-scale
dealers with 11 or more team members.
When it comes to the number of software programs dealers
implement, about half of this year's survey-takers (47%)
report they are still using 4-5 pieces of software, a jump of
16% from last year.
But the industry keeps moving toward end-to-end solutions,
or at least fewer solutions. The number of integrators
employing 6 or more pieces was sliced in half from 22% to 11%.
Only 5% of integrators do not use business software,
which is status quo from our 2023 report. The median number
of software pieces respondents used is four.
From that, dealers report earning more profits. The number
of those reporting 1%-5% increases in profits grew 4% from our
2023 Business Resources Deep Dive, while those who say software
provides an 11% to 20% uptick in profits surged by 5%.
Median increase in profits thanks to software impact is
13%, according to the survey results.
The majority of integrators stick to their familiar software
programs for various business operations. More than
two-thirds (69%) decide to change solutions every 2-8 years
- about one-third vetting new pieces every 2-5 years and
one-third doing so every 6-8 years.
Still, integrators appear to be underscoring that industry
software specialists are developing and deploying really solid
software solutions. The number of respondents saying they
switch to new software only once or twice per year dropped
in half from 43% to 21% since 2023.
Top 7 Software Selection Criteria
1. Support/Customer Service
2. Compatibility with
Other Software (tie)
3. Price (tie)
4. Mobile Device
Accessibility
As we celebrate annually in our Quest for Quality Awards,
Support/Customer Service is more important than ever,
and it shot up from fifth to the top. Dealers will deploy
any reliable solution - Supplier Reputation was the only
criteria to maintain the same ranking year to year.
Top 9 Reasons for Abandoning Software
1. Too many bugs/Didn't
work
2. Too complicated/
Difficult to use
3. Incompatible with
other software (tie)
4. Too expensive (tie)
5. Company outgrew it
6. Poor support from
software supplier
7. Lack of time to onboard
properly
8. Required dedicated
hardware we could
not accommodate
9. Lack of buy-in by
employees
On the opposite side, key reasons cited for
abandoning software included incompatibility, bugs,
and difficulty, which all rose to the top of the list.
5. Speed
6. Security of Data
7. Supplier Reputation
D-Tools: Integrators Call Payments Tool a 'Gamechanger'
The response from integrators using the new D-Tools Payments
secure, embedded payment processing solution in
D-Tools Cloud has been overwhelmingly positive.
Blake Turner, owner of Turner's Audio Video in South Mills,
N.C., says, " D-Tools Payments has been a gamechanger for me
and my business. Integrating payments directly into proposals
has saved me time, and having one seamless experience for
the customer has increased the quote acceptance as well. I
truly recommend this to any other companies looking for a
new way to take payments! "
Mosey Levy, owner at Backstage AV with locations in
New York and New Jersey, says he is already addicted to
D-Tools Payments. " D-Tools new natively built-in payment
system has been amazing for us! " says Levy. " We've long used
D-Tools for keeping track of project payment status, but now
64 | CE Pro November/December 2024
we're able to request a payment
from a client and have
them pay online without
any hassle. We found that
it's been significantly easier
for our clients to make payments this way, and we have fewer
of our clients requesting to just send us a wire or a check. For
us, having everything in the D-Tools' system makes our lives
easier. "
Bryce Morrow of Area 51 Audio Engineering and Consulting
in Tucson, Ariz., adds, " The payment tool offers an intuitive
experience for managing transactions, making it a breeze for
us to handle billing and payments efficiently. Its user-friendly
interface and feature set have enhanced our productivity. "
Learn more by visiting d-tools.com.
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CE Pro November/December 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of CE Pro November/December 2024
