CRM and the job shop--Customer relationship management software streamlines metal fabrication marketing

摘要

Walk the shop floor of any successful contract fabricator these days and you'll find signs of process refinement. In the job shop, characterized by nonrepetitive jobs, we know that product quality and overall profitability depend on how well we systematize our processes. So why hasn't this mindset been applied to the process of finding new business? A perfect shop floor alone can't sustain a company. A manufacturer needs work, and that's where the sales process plays a role. In 2009 I joined Nex Solutions, a contract metal fabricator in south-central Michigan. The company already had a solid track record of double-digit growth. Managers had invested heavily in new machinery and overall manufacturing process improvement. They also had established great relationships with three market-leading companies in three different industries. At the time managers were ready to find new customers, and they brought me on to help. I was new to the manufacturing industry, but not new to building a sales organization.