Trade-specific CRMs can help your business grow

If you are a flooring business owner or operator, you have likely heard of the term customer relationship management systems (CRM) already in various flooring trade shows, or perhaps you have even been approached by some CRM software vendors. Recently, after several flooring industry group meetings, our survey data uncovered the top-three business challenges of most flooring businesses: 1) growing sales revenue and profitability in this highly competitive market; 2) providing better customer service with enhanced efficiencies; and 3) acquiring and training talent in the context of labor and skill shortage.

CRM systems are available to help businesses meet these challenges. In fact, we have started to see increased adoption by flooring businesses, especially from bigger retailers and members of major flooring contractor groups like Starnet and Fuse.

How CRM systems work

CRM systems have been around for 20-plus years, starting with Salesforce followed by a few others. Its origins stem from a need to automate and manage sales processes; since then it has extended to marketing, customer service, project management and more business functions.

Here are some of the primary benefits CRM systems provide:

1. Helps track your sales leads, sales pipelines and sales rep conversions, creating accountability that results in fewer dropped balls.
2. Keeps all of the job-related communications in one place: measurement diagrams, price catalogs, quotes, phone notes, email, install schedules, PO/ WO/invoices, etc.
3. Provides integrated estimating and quote functions, which is a key assignment in the flooring sales process. It also tracks the timing to follow-up with prospects, with the right timing tools to close the sale.
4. Standardizes your key workflows with streamlined procedures so your employees and subcontractors can collaborate to get jobs faster. For example, an employee doesn’t have to take a call while on vacation as other staff can pick a note from the CRM and respond to a customer inquiry immediately.
5. CRMs can also help your marketing to existing customers on a mass scale, with five-year maintenance calls, referral programs, holiday sales, manufacturers’ promos, etc. Also, it tracks the results of each marketing campaign so you know what strategies or ad channels produce the best sales results.

While generic CRM systems like Salesforce, Zoho, Hubspot, etc., are popular in most other industries, they can be a bit overwhelming for most flooring businesses. Here are some key considerations on selecting a flooring trade-specific CRM:

1. Product catalogs need to meet flooring product spec (style, color, width, roll length, cut length, sell by box, etc.)
2. Quote, bid, PO/WO and change order directly from measurement diagrams.
3. Installation schedules need to include installer crew calendars with work orders and floor plan seam diagrams.
4. More advantageous if the product catalog is integrated with your vendor FCB2B online.
5. Integration with popular financial software, i.e., Quickbooks Online, Xero and other flooring-specific ERP systems.

In the next installment, we will lay out the CRM implementation process.