As Ab Initio celebrates its 30th anniversary , Rhonda Ridge , owner and director , looks back at how the company ’ s strong relationships with customers helps to continuously improve the system and what it has to offer installation businesses in 2025 .

Automation has always required a fine balance of improving efficiencies and maintaining relationships . Although there is now an intergenerational acceptance of automation , people still like dealing with people and appreciate personal service . AdminBase was established as an installer management system to overcome specific problems in a specific business 30 years ago but after ongoing improvements is today helping all size and type of installation business exceed ever-growing consumer expectations .

Back in 1995 when I was working in a family-run installation business , I could see the potential for the automation of some of the processes to improve efficiency across the company . But there were no existing systems that could smoothly integrate and streamline the specific processes involved . That is when I decided to write my own management system software tool that could automate some of these processes , without sacrificing customer service .

The first prototype of the system solved the problems we were having in our own installation business , on one single platform , but it clearly had a lot more potential . I shared it with other similar companies , and they found it to be incredibly useful too , because it tackled typical issues in an installation business from the inside out .

Staying ahead of changing markets

Since we launched the CRM 30 years ago it has undergone significant development with constant improvements and updates to make sure it stays relevant in a changing marketplace . Customers of AdminBase have been invaluable , giving us honest feedback and useful suggestions about what would be helpful to their business next . The fact that we listen carefully to this feedback and act on it as quickly as we can has helped us to stay ahead of our competition , and more importantly has helped our customers stay ahead of their competition too .

We plan to maintain the momentum of development too . We have just launched , for example , a new feature called Notes Design to allow installation companies to better track communications with homeowner customers , helping them to stay ahead of their increasing expectations .

With Notes Design , users no longer have to look through different pages of the system to find the information they need because all important information on a customer can be accessed via a single screen overview . On this one page , home improvement companies can see all communications that have occurred with one customer including documents that may have been sent to and fro , e-mail communications , SMS messages and notifications . These notes can also be shown across the bottom of the leads browser to further save time as companies don ’ t need to open up a lead or contract to quickly check on an order status .

Nurture customer relationships

Taking this feature one step further AdminBase now offers its customers the ability to create Flash Notes on a contract caption , serving as a reminder of any particularly important notes about a project or homeowner customer . For example , if someone is going on holiday and doesn ’ t want to be contacted that week , or if there are any special needs to be taken into consideration , homeowners don ’ t want to repeat this information to every member of the team they speak to . As we have seen with our own business , strong relationships are not only built on listening to

customers but also proving that you have listened to ensure they feel important and nurtured .

With economic difficulties and increasing consumer expectations set to continue through 2025 , installation businesses need to use their resources wisely to improve efficiencies and build strong customer relationships . Automation is the best way of achieving this as long as it utilises the best tools for your business . AdminBase is proud to support home improvement companies in achieving the perfect balance between efficiency and customer service , with a system built on integration and interconnectivity .

www . abinitiosoftware . co . uk