Bringing clients' visions to life with Central States

By Emma Peterson. 

From design tools to quoting systems, this platform can help you simplify even the most complex workflows. 

In a new episode of MetalCast, Megan Ellsworth talked with Zach Coats and Delton Rhodes of Central States Manufacturing about their new digital platform – Central Link. This platform provides contractors with a powerful suite of tools to make their sales process simpler than ever. From quoting tools to a 3D visualizer, this is the perfect platform for any professional looking to simplify complex workflows. Zach, who is the Central States’ general manager of sales operations, explained, “Central Link is a customer portal where our various customer types can do pretty much anything. You can track order statuses, trucks, you can manage pricing for your customers, depending on how many layers removed you are from that end user. It's very robust.” 

Making quotes 

When it comes to quoting and pricing out your materials and jobs, Central Link has more tools than ever. If you are working with pre-engineered structures, Central Link’s Building Design Suite will make it easier than ever to quote pre-engineered metal buildings. And when you are designing yourself, tools like Quick Add, Item Wizard and the Building Package Wizard are key. Delton, one of the account managers at Central States, explained, “The Building Package Wizard makes it very easy to assemble a quote. You can pick different colors and just mess with how you would want the building. And then it spits out the quote automatically. It's very simple to use. You design it how you want.”  

Alternatively, if you want to build your quote from scratch, you can use the Item Wizard and Quick Add tools. Delton shared more about this, saying, “The Item Wizard is really useful for a when a customer comes to you and says, ‘Hey, I want this panel.’ And then you're trying to figure out a trim that fits it. Item Wizard lets you click on the chosen panel and then gives you recommended trims and such.” From there, Quick Add makes it simple to add that part to your quote using a simple code.  

Creating a visual 

Another aspect of Central Link is the tools it offers contractors for designing. The main tool is their 3D Building Designer. Zach explained, “The 3D Building Designer is available to any and all customers who want to go onto our Central States website and be able to visualize a pre-engineered metal building up to certain parameters. They can initiate a quote request and a sales representative will reach out to them with a follow-up as far as design and some technical questions.”  

By creating this visual, contractors will have a step up when it comes to selling to their customers. Zach elaborated, “The visual is going to help drive the sale with the end user, being able to provide them with that animation. The background setting that they may currently be in, whether it be a field in the middle of Kansas or the mountains in Colorado, you can go in and get that visual of what that looks like. You can also go into the tool and see what the interior of the building looks like and scale everything based off what's going to go into the building.” 

Overall, Central Link is the perfect platform for contractors looking to sell and work more efficiently. From design tools that help customers see how their vision will come to life to quoting tools that make sure the entire system will fit together like a perfect puzzle, these tools are a great addition to any contractors’ operations.  

Read the transcript, Listen to the podcast or Watch the recording for more about Central Link.