Critical to growing my business

I love how IVY makes it so easy to track my orders, billing, and client project progress. Houzz Pro helps me stay in front of clients with great exposure.

Pros

I really like the exposure Houzz Pro gives me to my target audience for attracting new clients. The referrals I receive more than pay for my monthly subscription. I have found that organizations use Houzz to find me which has resulted in the award of local and statewide recognition.

Cons

Sometimes the "tagging" process using keywords to describe the contents of each photo can be cumbersome.

So Glad I Went with Ivy

I've gotten to know quite a few of the people with Ivy customer support. Everyone is a class act and very helpful.

Pros

I like that it integrates with Quick Book since I have been using QBs for my accounting and did not want to change that. It's fun that my clients get to see pictures of what the item is too. My favorite feature is the time tracker app!

Cons

I am hoping that you add a feature to communicate directly with clients regarding their projects. Something like Basecamp.

Great Concept

We like how intuitive the software is, saving time by adding products, creating tear sheets, and getting client approval within moments.

Pros

This program makes tracking our products very easy, and customer service has been fantastic! We love being able to add things from all over the web and customize them to our needs.

Cons

There are a few things with billing that end up being duplicated in quickbooks. In that same respect they are duplicated within the project tracker (so in order to track appropriately you must save to a spreadsheet and delete the duplicated items - difficult when you have 10+ pages of products).

Banking Nightmare

Very stressful. I am canceling their service

Pros

I bought Ivy because it was designed for interior designers and it was recommended by ASID (American Society of Interior Designers) Ivy has a easy to use extension that makes it very easy to add materials and pricing to your personal inventory from any website. Ivy also has a project management system to track purchases and tasks responsibilities.

Cons

I have only had an account with Ivy for less than 2 months and have had several major banking issues. 1st it was hard for me to link my bank account to my profile. My Ivy account manager ended up having to do it manually. 2nd they somehow linked a bank account that was not mine to my profile, so when my clients paid me I was not getting the payments. They had to refund my clients their money, then I had to re-send the invoices for them to pay again. Which was very embarrassing. 3rd they have been attempting to take a large amount of money from my bank the whole month, which they are not authorized to do. Causing me hundreds of dollars in insufficient fund fees. On top of this, there is No customer service/tech support number for Ivy. I only have an email and phone number for my assigned Ivy account manager. Who is available by appointment only, even though I paid for the Unlimited Package that "includes" priority support. How can you run a business with no access to tech support!!??

Interior Design Software

This had made proposals and invoicing a easier and more professional. My clients love how they can see the products that I am either proposing or invoicing.

Pros

It is built for an interior design firm. It is very professional and easy to use.

Cons

I wish this software tracked (time and date stamped) when adjustments were made to the invoice or proposal and each time a client was reviewing either.

Ivy Review

Excellent customer service, intro to product and easy to get up and running on. Positive so far but the accounting part of it is nowhere near as sophisticated as Studio Designer which we have used for years.

Pros

Great client portal, easy to get started on and the company seems to be very open to questions and feedback. We love that they are constantly working to make the software better for designers by implementing new features all the time.

Cons

It is weak on the accounting end and there are some small tweaks that still need to be made to allow for more internal notes on products, keeping track of items and reporting profits easily and on each item.

The little things...

We are billing our clients more efficiently since using IVY. The customer service is top notch! Our rep is amazingly helpful at the drop of a dime... sometimes a quarter, but he tries his best to resolve our questions within the same working day.

Pros

The system is a great way to communicate with our clients and the designer teams. Our account enjoys the ease of tracking all finances. Our expeditor loves having multiple ways to communicate the status of items.

Cons

Reports/Time Billing don't 'total' numbers. The 'schedule' isn't available to our client.. (for tracking their orders). Time Billing doesn't give a 'running' total of hours used for the project and doesn't display what the clients remaining retainer balance is.

HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SUPPORT & SOFTWARE IS FRAUDULENT

Horrible. If you want to have to double check everything twice then buy this. It is a total waste of money.

Pros

It is somewhat user friendly, but the back side of syncing with QBO is horrible. Don't waste your time with this software.

Cons

It in no way shape or form syncs with QBO. It will download partial information but you will soon learn that sales tax only loads one rate so if you use multiple you won't get the right rate in QBO. It also has horrible support. I have been trying to get someone to help me for over a month now. They dance around my questions.

Poor User Experience and Awful Customer Service

I've had an overwhelmingly negative experience. The salesperson forgot our first appointment (I should have cancelled at this point) and did not show up, then when we rescheduled she was pushy and looking back, rather manipulative. She did not share the terms with me, just expected me to read the fine print. The customer support is argumentative and not helpful. They talk in circles and do not address issues and are slow to respond. It is not a customer first business they are running, it is a numbers game. I would look for alternatives before using this software or supporting this company. While I can forgive some technical product difficulties, the service put the nail in the coffin. Personally, when the 1 year contract is up, I will be running far away from this company.

Pros

The user interface is nice looking - that's all I liked.

Cons

It's hard to get around - things are in illogical places. They have features that would be really cool if they worked properly, like the Chrome extension. Additionally, you are locked into paying for 1 year. So if you decide the software is not right for your business, you cannot cancel. The terms are not communicated properly. the fine print on a presentation deck and a terms agreement buried in the settings of the program and not pointed to does not constitute communication of terms in a service-oriented field. No wonder the Interior Designers who built this software and no longer designers. their customer service is atrocious.

Not worth it

This service doesn’t solve any of my problems, it just creates more and takes valuable time away from working for my clients as I struggle to learn how to navigate the system.

Pros

The hope of getting a handle on invoicing and proposals.

Cons

Hard to navigate, very limited options for billing, price is way too high for the value provided.

Very unsatisfied

I signed up with this program to help me stay organized and to create proposals with a professional and attractive presentation for my clients. My expectations were that I would receive the help I needed to get set up & sufficiently run the program. This program has not only cost me money (overpriced for quality of product & services) but has cost me several jobs because of the lack of clear images migrated from the ivy clipper tool and my files stored on my computer!! I have tried to contact customer support, what a joke! I am told that I have 15 minutes. I have tried to email the company and the program freezes. This software program needs a complete overhaul as does the support team. This is the first review I have ever written but I want others to know that Ivy is not worth the money that you spend, or the time that it is supposed to save! I can say that I sure wish that I had done my homework before signing up with this company. I am still struggling with finding an adequate software program to help me stay organized and present a profession proposal to my clients.

Pros

I liked the software program's concept.

Cons

I did not like the functionality or the quality of the presentation.