5 Things Your CRM Should Do

Take advantage of your contractor software integrations in your CRM.

By Acculynx.

It’s nearly impossible to find a one-size-fits-all business solution. Unless you’ve created a customized platform to meet all your needs, chances are good that you are not only using a CRM but using other software or programs in support of your business processes. When choosing your CRM, be sure to consider what other software programs are already integrated into the platform that you choose.

1. Supplier-Direct Integrations Allowing your sales reps to create their estimates directly from your supplier’s product catalog and then order those products saves an incredible amount of time and helps avoid human error on your orders. Templates can get you halfway there, but a system that allows quick search, add and edit functions allows you to customize every document. ProTip: CRM’s can also offer discounts or rebate programs like the current Allied Building Products program.
2. Aerial measurements If you work in the roofing industry chances are high that you’ve used aerial measurements to create estimates. Being able to directly order those measurements from your provider through your CRM system, and have it automatically populate into your estimates saves you the time it takes to login to another program, download and hand-key measurements into your estimates before presenting it to a potential customer.
3. Accounting Say goodbye to bulky filing cabinets and boxes of files. As your digital storage needs grow, the cloud scales with you. Often, better pricing is available for larger amounts of online storage. Having an accounting integration saves your office staff time doing double entry and again, avoids human error when typing or transferring data.
4. Digital Storage Solution When you keep your data in the cloud, your digital storage space can be practically unlimited. Many companies are already use programs like Google Drive or DropBox to manage and access their files. Having a place in your CRM with enough space to store job files and associated documents, pictures and contracts lets you avoid toggling between systems, and allows real-time updates directly in a client’s portfolio.
5. Contract Processing and eSignatures When you’re writing your estimates and contracts, it’s important that you can share them with your potential clients and your office staff. Creating editable templates and incorporating an eSignature component helps streamline this process by bringing everything online. Added benefits such as sending notifications to the appropriate staff when a contract is signed and completed can save you from needing to invest in costly online signature programs like DocuSign. Pro Tip: When implementing an eSign feature, make sure that it is backed by secure systems that track IP addresses and time/date stamp all signatures.

Benefits of Integration: Integrations allow you to quickly and easily manage your business from every level. By using pre-built software and program integrations you can:

• Save money on the necessary maintenance to upkeep those links - software development teams make sure that your integrations stay active and current when they are part of the overall software package.
• Save money by not paying for several subscriptions - instead of having to subscribe to multiple different features, they are all part of one software system.
• Save time having to remember passwords, payments and to update individual programs instead of just one central system - when it’s all controlled from one central hub, you don’t waste time keeping up with several accounts just to manage one job.

Note: this article first appeared on AccuLynx’s blog and the original post can be accessed here.

About Allied Building Products and AccuLynx Allied Building Products offers contractors rebates on every order placed through Acculynx – up to $5,000. To learn more about the program visit http://www.acculynx.com/allied5000promo

AccuLynx is the Exterior Contracting & Specialty Trade industry's #1 business management software. We are designed to help contractors see their business more clearly and communicate better. With material supplier and measurement integrations, Quickbooks and SmartDocs, AccuLynx is the one tool to connect your entire company. Learn more at www.acculynx.com