Overcoming the digital learning curve with Beacon

By Emma Peterson.

Learn how to save time and money with the Beacon Pro+ platform.

In a recent Read Listen Watch® (RLW), Gabriela Fornino of Beacon Building Products stopped by to chat with Karen Edwards about eCommerce and utilizing digital management tools in the roofing industry. These types of management tools and software are growing more common, but they can be intimidating. Gabriela explained that as Beacon’s eCommerce change manager, she works to try and help contractors overcome that initial, intimidating learning curve. She shared, “We know that change can be difficult. There's a lot of hesitation towards change in any form. So, we want to create awareness surrounding that process and then bring in knowledge pieces to help ease contractors through that.”

The result of that goal is the Beacon Pro+ platform. Originally launched in 2017, this platform is a robust suite of tools and resources for anyone who does business with Beacon to use. With no cost associated to it (all that is needed is a Beacon account), this platform aims to leverage technology in order to help contractors with their day-to-day operations. Gabriela explained, “We're really hoping that it can help contractors to achieve their own goals with their own business by being able to implement this, and save them time to have in other aspects of their business that they want to focus on a little more heavily just by having this in their pocket whenever they need.”

So, what exactly does the Beacon Pro+ platform look like today? It is available on both a computer as a site and on your phone as a mobile app, allowing you to use it whenever and wherever you work. On the platform, you can access a real-time priced catalog that allows you to search for products in your specific market, find product information (such as installation instructions, brochures, specifications and more) and make orders. Gabriela added, “We have the actual, specific pricing uploaded on there and then there are templates for fast ordering... So if someone has an existing order sheet that they like to use, or checklist they like to use, we'll put it right in the system and they can use it again.” And the benefits of working with the Beacon Pro+ platform don’t stop with the order. You can also use it to check past data on orders (like invoices) and track delivery times for new orders.

Read the transcript, Listen to the episode or Watch the full webinar to learn more about Beacon Pro+ and how it can help you manage your roofing business.