For Behn and Tanealle Monley of The Landscape Centre Dubbo, streamlining operations and improving customer experience was essential to making their vision a reality.

Inefficiencies and inflexibility of IT systems that can’t keep up with business processes is a dilemma many businesses face as they grow. Univex helped The Landscape Centre get day-to-day operations running smoother so that they could get on with business, help customers, and spend more time on the things they love.

 

Background

The Landscape Centre is Dubbo’s premier landscaping supply store. Servicing both public and trade, The Landscape Centre is a highly regarded outlet that stocks “anything outdoorsy” from soil and mulch, to paving, turf, and edging products. Behn and Tanealle Monley own The Landscape Centre and have extensive experience as both landscapers and business owners.

The Challenge

Behn and Tanealle have a clear vision for his business and where growth is going to come from. Unfortunately, their existing computer system wasn’t able to support this growth. Challenges with that system included:

  • Difficultly performing basic functions in an efficient manner, such as sending out invoices and statements to customers.
  • Many reports didn’t present well and were not customisable.
  • Difficultly in training staff and achieve consistency in operations.
  • Inability to expand and adapt as The Landscape Centre grows.

These and other issues meant staff were spending significant time managing the system and trying to make it work for them, instead of getting on with business. Their IT system was putting the brakes on business growth.

Behn and Tanealle first saw the Univex system at a trade show in 2022 and spoke to Univex staff about their situation and potentially upgrading their IT system. They brought the idea of new software back to Sylvia Dashwood, operations manager at The Landscape Centre. They know they needed to find a better way of doing things. Together they reached out to Univex to explore how a modern retail system could help streamline their business.

 

The Solution

Brad Kinsella from Univex was appointed as the primary point of contact. He worked closely with Behn and Sylvia to understand their challenges both current, and what might come up in the future. Brad is a systems specialist at Univex who is responsible for installation and configuration of the Univex system. One point of contact meant The Landscape Centre were able to explore, discuss, and enact options quicker. Behn and Sylvia never needed to repeat their story or requirements to other Univex staff all the way through installation, onboarding, and ongoing support.

Brad formed a custom-tailored solution for The Landscape Centre’s operations. Software demonstrations were given and opportunities to fine-tune the software were identified before installation. Hardware upgrades were also performed with Univex providing much of the equipment, already configured and tested before it arrived on site. This gave The Landscape Centre staff confidence that the new Univex system would run smoothly from day 1.

The Landscape Centre’s existing data was brought across and imported by Univex staff. There was no need to re-key information from the old system which ensured business operation was continuous, and The Landscape Centre’s customers were not affected.

Behn chose a level of support with Univex that includes customisation built in to the monthly plan. By doing so he was able to customise the behaviour of the software to match exactly what his business needed, rather than change long-established business processes to match the software. One-size-fits-all POS and sales software is a big challenge amongst retailers. Univex is unique in its approach to giving custom functionality to small and medium retailers normally only accessible to the largest of businesses.

Today

Only one month in to running on new software, the benefits of a Univex system are already being realised at The Landscape Centre. There is less time spent on the computer or explaining things, and more time spent with customers and other business activities. Debtors are much easier to invoice, email, receive payments and send statements.

With processes quickly becoming streamlined Behn has more time to spend building his business and getting closer to realising his vision.