Kerr is a leading wholesale distributor of heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration (HVACR) materials for residential and commercial markets. From a humble beginning in 1949 with founder David Kerr Wilson selling and servicing out of a milk truck, Kerr Controls Limited has grown immensely through the years.
Today, Kerr is a contractor’s one-stop shop for HVACR jobs. Kerr operates nine locations in Atlantic Canada under the Kerr Controls Limited and RL Fulton Equipment brands with branches in Truro, Halifax, Dartmouth, Sydney, Charlottetown, St. John's, Corner Brook, Fredericton, and Moncton. It also operates three locations in Ontario – London, Sudbury, and Owen Sound – under the Kerr Smart Energy Limited brand.
Kerr offers the best technology that enhances home comfort, saves energy, and protects the environment. So when Kerr began looking to improve its process, Kodaris fit the initial criteria.
“Kodaris’ deep experience in the mid-market and enterprise spaces, combined with our deep experience with Infor and security certifications, made a difference for Kerr,” noted Kodaris founder and CEO Tony Zakula.
When Kerr decided to upgrade from Infor StoreFront, the process did not happen overnight. Instead, company execs used this project to deep-dive into internal processes – an opportunity to future-proof its commerce business.
The Kerr team began with broad research, compiling a list of platforms that fit its criteria of cutting-edge technology as the base for success. Kerr trimmed the initial list of 20 platforms to a dozen and then the top three. Behind-scenes sleuthing and input from trusted colleagues helped the Kerr team focus on Kodaris.
“The upfront, flat fee all-inclusive – was huge for us,” Kerr Marketing Director Laura Lee Faulkner said.
One thing that stood out to Kerr was Kodaris' prompt response time. "We feel like they're part of our team," Faulkner noted. "We feel important. … Kodaris was easy to deal with, and we're happy. It all went really smoothly.
“Kerr's tagline is ‘Better People, Better Service.’ Kodaris was a perfect fit with a great team and amazing service.”
For Kerr, being able to accommodate customers is an essential pillar of its business, so its dealer locator page was a large part of the redesign. Kerr was the first Kodaris customer to request a dealer locator page.
“From the founding of Kodaris, it has always been to provide an open, flexible platform for the mid-market/enterprise space that can be configured, modified, and tailored to each customer and how they do business,” Zakula said. “This request is just one example of those that Kodaris is happy to provide to Kerr, built on top of the existing platform.”
Answering the challenge, the Kodaris team worked with Kerr to address the need to highlight its dealer network. "That was key," Faulkner said. “The Kodaris team was easy to deal with; it was everything we asked for and beyond our expectations.”
