Icovia™ Space Planner Blog

Customer Quotes

Quotes from some of our Business Edition customers:

“We love the Room Planner at Raymour & Flanigan Furniture.”

Joel Fowler – Raymour Flanigan

“Thanks for the improvements and changes!  I love using the house planner...”

Cathy Yeager Storehouse

“Thank you . . . everything looks great!”

Ashley Furniture – Jake Denning

“I like the look of the new planner.”
Belfort Furniture – Sharron Burgess

“I'm impressed your team is so alert to the details!”

DeBoer’s – Pamela Davidson

“Awesome.  Thanks.”

Startrack – Kristin Harmon

“These changes are great! I have asked for the 90 degree snap for a while, and the change with the pre-built selector being off with no pre-built rooms will also be good in our business.”
Thomasville – Eric Tessau

“Thanks so much! Our staff will be thrilled!”

Rebecca Gardner – Gardner Group

“Looks Great!”
Donna Jackson – Scoutworx

"The application consistently ranks as one of the most effective conversion tools on our site.”

Joseph Bowers -  VP of Direct Channels, Storehouse

We have massive volumes of additional testimonial quotes.  Let me know if you would like to see more.   

+PAul+

Blog Much?

Blog Much?

I just got a call from one of my favorite Icovia (Business Edition) contacts. Let’s call her Jane, for the sake of this conversation. Jane called to tell me that she finally got around to “checking out this blog thing” that I mentioned in my email. She was delighted to find the type of information she found there. Jane also confessed that she’s been ignoring the blog reference in my email signature because she had no idea what a blog is.

Are you in that camp? Or maybe you’ve been to a few blogs, but don’t quite get the concept? Not to worry – blogging is a fairly new concept, so you’re in good company. “Blog” is derived from Web Log. It’s an informal communication forum for exchanging ideas and information, among other things. 

This is a fairly new blog, and there aren’t many comments on it so far. But I would like this blog to be an open forum, with lots of input from people like you. I think that people appreciate candid discussion. To that end, I’m removing the “submit email address” requirement as well as the comment preview filter. Do me a favor, keep it honest, clean and kind. Now you have no excuse. Post your comments. We’d love to hear from you. If you have a comment you would like to post, but don’t know where to post it, you can always comment on this post.

Designer / Decorator Case Study : Developing A Plan From Sketch or Image

In my last post, I described how to develop a plan from scratch. The focus was on developing source information in the form of a napkin sketch. But there are times when you may want to develop a plan from existing images, such as blue prints, CAD (Computer Aided Drafting) drawings, .jpg images or other graphical representations. Icovia provides you with the ability to import graphical images for the purpose of tracing. This case study will explore the general concepts of developing a plan this way.

Overview of the Import command

There are a couple of basics about importing images that you should know. Imported images are not saved with a plan. But they are handy for tracing geometry, especially when the image lacks dimension annotation. Whether the source images is a CAD drawing, a screen capture or any other format, you need to convert it to a jpg or swf for the purpose of importing into Icovia. I should mention that jpg files must be non-progressive format.

Another must-know item is that the version of Flash Player plug-in must be 7.0.

To determine which version of Flash Player you have installed, put your cursor over the work area in Icovia, and right-click your mouse. The Flash Player version will be listed in the line reading "About Macromedia Flash Player." Get Flash Player v7.0.

Converting your data to jpg format

If you have a CAD drawing, and the CAD software to read it, use that product to save the drawing to jpg format. Most CAD products are capable of doing this. There are also CAD drawing readers available. One example is the Brava Viewer. For details about converting CAD drawings to jpg format, see my blog article about it. Any other image that you can view on your computer screen can be turned into a jpg file with minimal effort. A screen capture is basically a snapshot of what is currently displayed on your screen, regardless of format. In Windows, it as easy as pressing the [Ctrl] and [Print Screen] buttons at the same time. (Yes, you do so have a [Print Screen] button on your keyboard. Keep looking!) Then any basic image editor, such as PC Paint can turn your screen capture into a jpg. Open PC Paint, activate the "Select" tool and with your cursor in the work area, right-click your mouse and select "Paste." Now save as JPG and you’re in business.

Tracing your jpg file in Icovia

The import feature is pretty straight-forward in Icovia. Import the image at a default scale. If there are any known sizes in the imported image, place a dimension in your plan and resize the imported image so that the object of known size matches the dimension line. If you’ve resized the image significantly, there may be a significant degradation of resolution. The solution to this problem is to resize the image in your image editor (i.e. PC Paint) and try again. Once you have the imported image at a valid scale, lock it and make note of your image scale. This way you will be able to import it more quickly the in your next edit session.

Now you’re ready to trace. Make sure that you aren’t tracing over wall lines in your image with walls that are so wide that they obscure the image. Otherwise, you’ll have trouble seeing where the windows, doors and other details are. Change your default wall width to a thin line, like an inch or so. Add walls, then doors and windows. Remember to save frequently. If you need to temporarily clear the screen of the imported image to check your work, use the "Show Imports" command to toggle it on/off.

Well, that’s about all there is to it. Like anything else, it gets easier with practice. Keep at it…your planning better every day.

Try Icovia for free

Sign-up for Icovia today

Using Icovia as an Integral Part of Your Marketing Program

This Icovia Space Planner Business Edition is a powerful lead generation and sales support tool for retailers and manufacturers. But it will only produce results if customers know about it. Here are some general tips for making customers and prospects know about this powerful tool and what you can do with the qualified leads that icovia will produce once things get rolling.

1. Promote Your Icovia Space Planner

There's a direct correlation between the extent to which businesses promote their Icovia Space Planner and the number of new leads that they register each month.

Direct browsers to your Icovia Space Planner by placing animated banners, links and other promos throughout your website.

* Promote Icovia in a prominent spot on your home page.
* Make Icovia available throughout your site. Display promos and links prominently in all product category and product detail pages.

        Promote your Icovia Space Planner through other channels.

* Use of existing print and broadcast advertising to promote your Icovia Space Planner.
* It helps to place your launch page in a directory that allows you to point customers to it easily; for example: www.yoursite.com/roomplanner
* Test a specific marketing campaign to drive traffic to your Icovia Space Planner. Find out first hand how your customers respond to the benefits of online space planning.
* Promote Icovia in your stores through displays and web-based kiosks.
* Make sure your sales associates and designers know about your Icovia Space Planner and are comfortable using it with customers and promoting it in your stores. Icovia is a great way for customers to stay in touch with sales associates after they leave your store.

2. Marketing to Your Registered Icovia Leads

Once you've started generating registered leads, develop a plan for staying in touch with these consumers. Use the Icovia Reporting Tool (http://www.reports.icovia.com) to export registered users and import them into a sales automation system like Salesforce.com (http://www.salesforce.com) and/or email marketing systems like Vertical Response (http://www.verticalresponse.com).

    Send regular emails to registered users.

* Remind them of design and sales support resources that you provide, including emailing their plans to sales associates.
* Remind them of their registration and that this powerful design tool is available at no cost.
* Make them aware of features like email a plan, printing and changing icon names to reflect actual products in your store.
* Combine special product offers with content specific to using the Icovia Space Planner.

    Use the Icovia Reporting Tool to segment registrants and send user-specific emails.

* Filter your search by "Last Plan Saved" and send promotional offers to users who have saved a plan in the last 30 days.
* Filter your search by "Last Plan Saved" further by sending personal emails to users who have registered or saved a plan in the last 5 days.
* You can even view specific recently-saved plans to offer design advice, proactive customer support or to inform them of specials related to products they've placed in their saved plans.
* If your planner has product catalog integration, use the "Most Popular Catalog Products" report and send promotional offers for most-frequently placed products or complimentary products.

There are industry standards regarding permission marketing that all marketers should be aware of. Use care when sending emails to prospective customers to ensure that you’re in compliance with regulations and avoid being blacklisted as a spammer. All emails should include the ability to opt-out, particular since Icovia registrations do not currently support opt-outs during registration. Disclose your company’s privacy policy and make it easy for customers to opt-out of future emails.

For more information about these issues visit the Email Sender and Provider Association (ESPA) at http://www.espcoalition.org/. You can download the ESPA Email Best Practices Guide by clicking in “Resources” section of the ESPA website.

For more information about Icovia, visit http://www.icovia.com.

We hope you’ve found this document helpful. Please visit our Blog (http://www.icovia.blogs.com) to provide feedback, post suggestions and share your experiences with us and other Icovia users.

Icovia Customer Support: http://www.icovia.com/customersupport.aspx

Notice:  This document is provided as a courtesy to our customers. Icovia makes no warranty, express or implied, as to whether this document is correct, complete, up-to-date, or as to any other relative fact. Independent verification of the contents is essential.

©2006 Icovia  All Rights Reserved.

Are you getting the most out of Icovia?

We want you to get the most out of Icovia. Registered users who have invested the time to develop plans of their homes and businesses are more likely to return to your site. When they share Icovia plans with design professionals, friends and co-workers, more registrations follow. More Icovia registrations on your site produce more traffic on your site. And let’s not forget about the actionable lead information that can result in bigger sales.

Most of our Business Edition clients have realized a tremendous ROI (Return On Investment) for adding Icovia to their sites, while a few question the value. It’s no surprise; you see it’s all in the presentation.

I've have recently reviewed the Report Tool Summaries for about 100 Icovia Business Edition sites. While looking at total registered users and those registered in the last 30 days, I also looked at the web sites for these clients. The big surprise was the extremes between high counts and low counts. To some extent this can easily be explained by the level of traffic on any given site. But there was also a very clear trend that illustrates the need for an excellent presentation. Sites that give Icovia a high visibility link on their home page consistently have very a high user registration count. Conversely, those that present their room planner in an obscure fashion tend to show low user registration. The range goes from thousands of new registrations a month, to single-digit registrations.

Did that get your attention? Great! I know you want to see your numbers grow and I want to help. Rather than thinking of Icovia as a handy tool for existing customers, think of Icovia as a great motivator that drives customers and increases sales.

The best way to explain what I mean by “excellent presentation” is to provide you with examples:

Basset Furniture consistently shows a tremendous level of new registrations because Icovia is presented with graphics on their home page: http://www.bassettfurniture.com/

Storehouse, another top-gun performer not only provides a graphical link to their Room Planner, but provides a landing page with an option to open a one-page tutorial. Bravo! http://www.bassettfurniture.com/

Want to see more great examples?:
http://www.mathisbrothers.com/
http://www.deboers.com
http://www.plunkettfurniture.com/
http://www.corning.com/lcdtv
and my favorite: http://www.rothmanfurniture.com/

How Do You Use Icovia for Business?

Tell me, how do you leverage Icovia to generate business.  Do you use the Report Tool to increase the number of sales or the amount of each sale?  Have you devised a strategy to use the leads generated in Icovia in an integrated solution?

Business Edition Links

Report Tool Demo

Report Tool Login

Sales Resources

Contact Icovia

Product Information:

              Furniture Edition

              Real Estate Edition

              Game Room Edition

              Outdoor Furniture Edition

Odd-Shaped Rooms

Creating Odd-Shaped Rooms

Icovia Business Edition requires a room is defined with a minimum of three points.  That poses an apparent problem if you need to draw an open-sided room.  Perhaps you need a three-sided room with a partial wall projecting from the middle of one of these walls.  No problem, it's actually quite simple to accomplish. 

The trick is to add breakpoints and then drag wall segments over each other.  You can add as many breakpoints as necessary.  As long as you don't need a free-standing (disconnected) wall, any configuration is possible.

To add a breakpoint to a wall, hold down the [Ctrl] key on your keyboard while you click on the wall. 

Icovia Version Comparison

Which Icovia product is right for you?

If you represent a business and want not only a design tool for your customers and sales associates, but also a space planning solution that runs from your website for public use then the Icovia Business Edition is for you. If not, then skip ahead to the next session.

Icovia Business Edition is a private-labeled solution, branded with your logo and corporate colors to match your website.

When your customers and prospects visit your website you can offer them a space planning tool to use for free. When the customer saves, prints or emails a plan they need to register.

Icovia captures the user's planning and registration information, turning the browser into an actionable prospect. Your bundled online reporting tool makes it easy to see what plans and products your customers are working with. Reports include contact information for registrants, making Icovia a powerful sales and marketing tool.

__________________________________________________________________________________

If you are an Interior Designer, studio, firm, showroom or just need to use a powerful online design tool then the Icovia Design Edition for Interior Designers is for you.

The Icovia Design Edition has an advanced design feature set for the serious designer who still wants an online, intuitive and easy-to-use design tool.

Each designer can have their own license, share a license or if you have 5 or more designers you may be interested in the Icovia Design Edition for Interior Design Studios.

If you need Icovia to run from your website for the public to use as a sales and marketing tool for your business you should consider the Icovia Business Edition.

	BE	DE
Open	X	X
New	X	X
Save	X	X
Save As	X	X
Delete	X	X
Import File	-	X
Email Plan	X	X
Print Plan	X	X
Undo	X	X
Snap Walls 90°	-	X
Snap to Grid	-	X
Wall Thickness Default	-	X
Icon Color Default	-	X
Delete All	-	X
Delete Icons	-	X
Delete Walls	-	X
Delete Floors	-	X
Delete Text	-	X
Delete Line Dims	-	X
Delete Area Dims	-	X
Delete Imports	-	X
Lock Walls	-	X
Lock Floors	-	X
Lock Text	-	X
Lock Line Dims	-	X
Lock Area Dims	-	X
Display Grid	-	X
Fit to View	-	X
Zoom In	-	X
Zoom Out	-	X
Full Screen Window	-	X
1024 x 768 Window	-	X
800 x 600 Window	-	X
Units: Imperial	X	X
Units:  Metric	Optional	X
Show All	-	X
Show Icons	-	X
Show Walls	-	X
Show Floors	-	X
Show Text	-	X
Show Line Dims	-	X
Show Area Dims	-	X
Show Imports	-	X
Show Wall Dims	-	X
Show Color	-	X
Selection Tool	X	X
Wall Tool	-	X
Floor Tool	-	X
Text Tool	-	X
Linear Dim Tool	-	X
Area Dim Tool	-	X
Zoom In	X	X
Zoom Out	X	X
Fit (View)	X	X
Prebuilt Plans	X	-
Measure Distance	X	-
Product Icons	X	-
Generic Icons	X	Optional