Distribution companies rely on powerful software to keep operations running smoothly. While your business might already use warehouse and inventory management tools, do you have any software to manage your customers and suppliers? If not, there’s one tool missing from your tech stack—a CRM. 

What Is a CRM?

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is the practice of creating loyal, satisfied customers. CRM software accomplishes this by putting sales and marketing data at your team’s fingertips, automating relationship-building tasks, and storing all the prospect and customer information your company needs.

What Does a CRM Do?

CRM software centralizes customer and supplier information in one database. Because data is centralized, it’s easily accessible to anyone who needs it, including sales, marketing, and customer service teams. Modern CRM solutions ensure this data is up-to-the-minute, and it’s easy to integrate a CRM with the other tools in your software environment.  

The most common CRM features include: 

• Lead and contact management 
• Sales forecasting 
• Sales pipeline management 
• Report and dashboard generation 
• Productivity tools such as workflow automation 

Why Should Distribution Companies Use a CRM?

Your current tech stack might include Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), inventory management, warehouse management, or resource planning software. These solutions come with limited sales functionality—usually enough to support the quote-to-cash process—but cannot manage conversations with customers and suppliers, streamline the sales pipeline, or automate basic marketing tasks.   

Whether your distribution business is B2B, B2C, or somewhere in between, CRM software empowers your sales and marketing teams to wow customers and suppliers. And, when you integrate a CRM with the other solutions in your tech stack, you can generate insightful reports using data from across your business. 

What Should Distributors Look for in a CRM? 

Certain CRMs might be a better fit for your distribution company than others. When comparing CRM software, pay close attention to the features that your team will rely on the most: 

1. Integrations. Some CRMs have pre-built integrations with the software used in other business areas. Look for a CRM that has an open API and a network of add-on developers or one that includes pre-built integrations. 
2. Forecasting. Distribution companies juggle supply from the upline to demand from customers. CRMs with robust forecasting can help your team stay ahead of market trends and shorten lead times to satisfy customers.  
3. Flexibility. You don’t have to limit your search to distribution-specific CRMs. Look for software that is powerful right out of the box but still welcomes add-ons and customizations. 
4. Dashboards and Reports. The big draw of CRM is that the software makes business data accessible across the entire organization. Personalized dashboards and easy-to-generate reports help your team make smarter, faster business decisions. 

How Can Distributors Choose the Right CRM?

Picking the right CRM is half the battle; setting up your software, syncing it with your tech stack, and learning the ropes can cause undue stress for your team. That’s why companies should team up with an implementation partner like Cargas to get their new software up and running. 

From sales to finance to operations, Cargas helps distribution companies select the best technology for their business. We have years of experience in the CRM space and offer solutions from three leading providers—Microsoft, Salesforce, and HubSpot. No matter what your needs are, we have a solution to match.