Caber Sure Fit Has Sales Growth Covered
As the exclusive Canadian distributor for all Protect-A-Bed mattress-protection products, Caber Sure Fit has been getting a lot of business of late, thanks to the sharp increase in bedbug infestations across North America. The provider of home decor and furniture-protection products, however, credits its implementation of Sage SalesLogix customer relationship management and ACCPAC enterprise resource planning systems for the 28 percent sales growth it experienced last year and the 35 percent sales growth it saw in the six months prior to that.
Caber Sure Fit has been a longtime user of Sage products, and only recently upgraded to version 7.5 of SalesLogix as a way to help it deal with its 1,500 clients, consisting of retail outlets, including independent furniture and mattress specialty stores; hotel chains; healthcare organizations; property management groups; and pest control firms, from coast to coast in its native Canada. Its product line includes furniture covers, bedding (including the exclusive Sleeplogic line of top-quality sheets, pillowcases, and pillows), curtains, cushions, placemats, tablecloths, slipcovers, window treatments, fabrics, and draperies.
Bernard Weinstein, president and CEO of Caber Sure Fit, calls SalesLogix "a major difference maker."
The company, based in Markham, Ontario, uses SalesLogix to manage sales targets, customer registrations, contacts, direct marketing campaigns, and appointment scheduling. Customized dashboards with individual and group reports let all of the salespeople and company executives know where they stand toward monthly and annual sales goals. Sales representatives can also use the system to view and monitor accounts, identify sales opportunities and determine which ones they should target based on detailed histories, and track the status of orders.
"We've also done a lot of integration with ACCPAC so we can see how our customers are trending," says Weinstein, a former CRM systems specialist in Toronto.
Prior to automating Caber Sure Fit's sales processes with SalesLogix, sales reps did most of these tasks manually.
That competitive edge has led to a 28.6 percent increase in retail and trade channel sales in the past year. "We were better able to show customers what we could do," Weinstein says.
The company has grown, both organically and through acquisitions, in recent years, adding clients, distribution channels, and product lines. That growth has necessitated four moves to progressively larger premises, and at each turn, SalesLogix was there to help roll the new product lines, sales data, and customer accounts into its operations.
To provide retailers with opportunities for increased profits, Caber created the Caber eShare program, the BedCare Mattress Warranty Program, the Diamond-Kote Furniture Protection Plan, and the P3 Performance Protection Plan for appliances from W3 Solutions.
During all that change, and the initial deployment, Caber Sure Fit had to contend with some resistance from some members of its sales force as it brought SalesLogix on line. "Salespeople do not like being told how to do their job," Weinstein says.
Once they saw how the system could help them, they quickly jumped on board. "And since most of our staff had previously used a Sage ACT! contact management system, our migration and training curve wasn't steep at all," he recalls.
"Many processes have become so sophisticated—probably too overly sophisticated—but Sage has maintained its ease of use," Weinstein adds. "They don't need a lot of bells and whistles."
Moving forward, Weinstein plans to step up his company's e-commerce efforts, and will roll the Web sales channel into SalesLogix when he does. He's not currently using all of the marketing capabilities in SalesLogix, but that might change as well. "I think the CRM industry has reached a level of maturity, and now everyone is looking to get the most out of the solutions they have," he says. And his company isn't any different.
"Anyone trying to grow a business without a CRM system is doomed to failure," Weinstein says. "We were looking for a CRM system that could grow with us and found Sage SalesLogix gives us a unique competitive advantage. It's been meeting all of our requirements."
The Payoff
Since implementing Sage Saleslogix 7.5, Caber Sure Fit has gained:
- a 28.6 percent growth in sales;
- improved internal and external communications;
- sales efficiency; and
- a greater ability to view customer trending data.