Creating a Frictionless Buying Experience with Saberis
Key Takeaways
Inside Saberis’ Quiet Revolution in LBM
In this episode of the Paradigm Industry Insiders Podcast, host John Wheeler sits down with Geoff, VP at Saberis, to explore how a family-owned integration company quietly became the “glue” between design tools, web portals, and ERP systems across the window, door, and LBM industry.
The moment everything changed: “Why Are You Doing This Twice?”
Saberis began with a single, almost obvious question: Why were kitchen designers entering the same quote into two different systems?
A full design would be completed in 2020 Design (now Cyncly), then retyped into a separate POS system with all the same products, prices, and customer details.
When “that’s just the way we’ve always done it” was the only answer, Doug Syme teamed up with his son to build a bridge so quotes and orders only needed to be entered once, launching Saberis and a 25-year mission to connect systems so people can sell instead of rekey.
"Don’t annoy your customers...eliminate the clicks, rekeying, and confusion that make it harder for dealers to buy from manufacturers."
Geoff Syme – Saberis
From kitchens to the window and door industry
The pivot from kitchens to windows came in an airport lounge. After a sales conference, Doug overheard a dealer complaining that a major window and door vendor had switched software. The dealer’s frustration was simple: “Now I have to redo the integration from scratch.”
Spidey sense activated.
If one dealer had this problem, others did too. And it didn’t just apply to cabinets. Any special-order product that starts in a configuration tool and ends in a POS or ERP creates friction if data cannot move cleanly between systems. Saberis expanded into windows, doors, and other LBM categories so dealers could configure once, while orders and data flow automatically to their ERP, POS, and manufacturing partners.
- Dealers can configure complex products once
- Orders flow straight into their ERP or POS
- Manufacturers receive clean, consistent data every time
An Industry That Suddenly Hit Fast Forward
When Geoff Syme joined Saberis, the LBM industry still ran largely on manual processes, institutional knowledge, and “we’ve always done it this way” mindsets. Over the last five years, the pandemic, generational leadership turnover, and rising expectations around digital experiences pushed dealers and manufacturers to finally invest in automation and integrations.
Connectivity shifted from a “nice to have” to a clear competitive advantage for vendors who make it easy to move from website to ERP with a click.
Turning Portals into Frictionless Buying
Historically, even when manufacturers had web portals, salespeople often didn’t trust them.
They would configure online and then still call a rep to place the actual order, forcing duplicate entry in two systems. Two people. Two systems. Twice the work.
Today, with modern tools like Paradigm Omni on the front end and integrations from companies like Saberis behind the scenes, dealers can configure complex windows and doors online, submit orders directly, and have clean data flow to both manufacturer and dealer systems through APIs.
- For the dealer, that means one source of truth and a smoother path from quote to production.
- For the manufacturer, it means fewer errors and a better buying experience.
When competitors still need each other
Visit the Saberis website and you’ll see a familiar pattern: competing vendors show up side- by- side. It’s not an accident.
Manufacturers, ERPs, and dealer tools may compete in the market, but they share the same ecosystem. Dealers rarely use just one platform. They stitch together multiple systems to build a workflow that works for them.
Saberis lives in that overlap. By integrating across vendors, they help:
- Manufacturers win more business by being easier to buy from
- ERPs and POS systems stay central without extra manual entry
- Dealers move from “spreadsheet glue” to clean, connected data
It’s cooperation and competition at the same time. Or as John calls it: co-opetition.
What's Next
Saberis started by solving one big problem: double entry for sales quotes and orders. The next frontier is everything that happens after the order is placed.
“Don’t annoy your customers”
Asked how to make “John’s Door Distribution” stand out, Geoff’s advice centers on service and knowing the customer rather than chasing technology for its own sake. Fast responses, tools that do not force repeat work, and systems that feel natural to the dealer’s existing process all ladder up to Doug’s original rule:
don’t annoy your customers.
Technology is a means to that end:
- Fast responses to emails and calls
- Tools that don’t force customers to repeat work
- Systems that feel like a natural part of how dealers already operate
You can plug in APIs, portals, and ERPs all day. But if the net result is more friction instead of less, you’ve missed the point. Done right, technology becomes the quiet partner that lets “old-school” customer service thrive at modern speed.
Geoff Finds Opportunity In:
- Receiving and matching
Helping dealers match incoming product to purchase orders without work stoppages on the dock. - Invoice reconciliation
Making it easier to line up what was ordered, shipped, and invoiced. - Downstream identifiers
Using line IDs or tracking identifiers so products can be recognized consistently from manufacturer to ERP to jobsite.
When those pieces connect, integrations don’t just save salesperson time. They protect margins, reduce errors in the yard, and keep jobs moving without costly pauses.
Why This Conversation Matters
The Saberis story shows that some of the most important innovations in the window and door world are the ones no end customer ever sees. Quiet integrations that eliminate duplicate entry, turn portals into true order hubs, and help manufacturers make the shortlist by being easier to buy from ultimately free teams to focus less on fixing errors and more on serving customers.
- Remove duplicate entry from dealer workflows
- Turn web portals into true order hubs
- Help manufacturers make the shortlist by being easier to buy from
- Shift focus from fixing errors to serving customers
For leaders across the supply chain, the takeaway is clear: make it effortless to do business with you, use integrations to reduce friction rather than add complexity, and treat technology as an extension of your service so your company feels simple, responsive, and trustworthy at every click.
- Make it effortless to do business with you
- Use integrations to remove friction, not add complexity
- Treat technology as an extension of your service, not a replacement for it
