Nauta made ordering custom security products even more easy with Hive CPQ
From traditional email orders to a 24/7 digital configurator – Nauta now relies on Hive CPQ to power its custom security product sales. We spoke with Evert Haverkamp, head of internal sales, and Rens Terpstra, sales representative, about how Hive CPQ transformed their daily operations.
Introduction
About Nauta
Nauta BV is a Dutch wholesaler and specialist in mechanical and electronic security solutions. “Our main product groups range from cylinders and keys to door and window hardware,” says Evert. “Most of our business is in the Netherlands and Belgium. Nauta was founded in 1963 by Mr. Nauta, who started out selling security products from the trunk of his car.
Today, we’re a team of about 90 people at Nauta BV and 150 across the wider Nauta Group – which also includes Orgami Sistec in Germany, Nauta Connect, Nauta Security Storage in Barneveld, and S2 hardware in Deventer, each with their own product lines."
Challenge
Orders via email and phone
“All our sales run through our dealer network,” Evert explains. “Our ideal customer is a professional dealer looking for high-quality security products – retailers, locksmiths, hardware stores, and security specialists.” How things worked out before Hive CPQ? “Everything was done manually. End customers would visit a dealer, and that dealer would pass on the order to us by email, phone, Excel sheet, or even WhatsApp. Our internal sales team then had to create the correct configuration manually, turn it into an attachment, send it back via email, enter the order into our system, and send the confirmation. Prices were calculated either by the dealer or by our team using price lists.”
Limited speed and consistency
“We once had a very basic online order page – a kind of early version of today’s configurator – but it no longer met modern expectations,” says Evert. “You could place an order, but not all options were included. For example, you could enter cylinder sizes, but not the specific technical applications. That meant our inside sales had to manually check every order, fix errors, adjust delivery addresses, add details… It was time-consuming and error-prone. Miscommunication happened often, and the speed and consistency of our offers and orders weren’t great.”
From weekday service only...
“One major issue was that many of our customers have different working hours than we do,” Evert explains. “Because everything went through our internal sales team, customers could only place orders during office hours. But many locksmiths and retailers work weekends – around 50% are open on Saturdays or Sundays – and couldn’t reach us then.
“What did work well was the personal contact and technical support our team offered. Customers valued our expertise and involvement. We really wanted to preserve that.”
Our dealers often work during the weekends, but our internal sales team does not, so they couldn’t reach us.
Solution
... to available every day of the week
“We wanted a way to offer products more efficiently and error-free, allow customers to order after hours, and even generate their own quotes. With Hive CPQ, all of that’s possible. Dealers can now assemble sets, see which options are available, and view pricing directly. They no longer depend on us, which makes us far more flexible.”
“It doesn’t matter anymore that we work different hours – the information is always available, and there’s no room for miscommunication. We value customer service highly, so we’ve built all our product knowledge into the configurator. It guides customers through the entire ordering process.”
Quick training, easy adoption
Rens works closely with dealers. “When we launched Hive CPQ, we called several of our dealers personally to walk them through the configurator. But honestly, after using it only twice, they already got the hang of it. Our account managers also gave on-site demos and previews at trade fairs. We actively gathered feedback from some of our largest customers to improve the software even more.”
When we launched Hive CPQ, we called several of our dealers personally to walk them through the configurator. But after using it a couple of times, they instantly got the hang of it.
Results
Happy team, happy dealers
How the internal sales team feels about Hive CPQ? “It saves them an incredible amount of time,” says Rens. “Previously, if an order contained errors, they had to fix them manually. Now that’s history – it’s a huge time-saver.”
“Our dealers are also very happy. They especially like the visual part: being able to see exactly what’s being ordered together with their customer. That wasn’t possible before. The configurator is extremely complete – every option, size, and variant is there.”
Why Nauta chose Hive CPQ
Evert explains how the search for a sales supporting software began: “We started by mapping out exactly what we wanted – which integrations we needed, and what the tool had to do. Then we compared several solutions and spoke with different vendors. In the end, Hive CPQ fit our needs best in terms of flexibility, user experience, and integration options.”
“The visual configurator was a key factor. The customer can now see in 3D what they’re going to receive. That helps a lot – the end customer can follow along and instantly see what to expect. That was very important for us.”
“We also appreciate how fast Hive CPQ evolves. We have a wide and varied catalog, but thanks to the strong foundation Hive provides, we can scale quickly to new product lines without building something from scratch. The platform’s flexibility lets us create multiple configurators – each tailored to its product group – while using the same core engine. That’s a real advantage for a multi-brand group like ours.”
Hive CPQ fit our needs best in terms of flexibility, user experience, and integration options.
Integration with customer portal and order management system
One of the key integrations Nauta relies on, is with its customer portal. “Clients log into our website to access the configurator,” says Evert. “Their account data is automatically transferred, so they don’t have to re-enter details. Once an order is placed, it’s automatically sent to our order management system.”
“Impressed by technical expertise.”
“The collaboration with Hive has been very professional and pleasant,” says Evert. “They think along with us, adapt quickly, and really understand our products and processes. The Hive team can talk about our products on a technical level – they really get it. Sometimes it almost feels like they’re part of our own company.”
Future
A configurator for every product group
Looking ahead, Evert explains: “We’re rolling out the project in six phases, developing a separate configurator for each product line. We started in 2022 and already have several configurators live, including S2’s threshold configurator. The goal is to have a configurator for every product category within our group where customization or configuration is needed. Since Hive CPQ is flexible and works well for complex products, we can easily expand to new product groups.”
Next up, Nauta is looking to improve dealer adoption even more. “While it’s hard to put an exact number on it, about 70% of our orders already go through Hive CPQ – and we’re very happy with that.”
