What Is the Role of a CRM Software Distributor?

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Table of Contents

1. How Are CRM Distributors Different from Manufacturers?
2. How Do CRM Distributors Help with the Sales Process?
3. How Does a CRM Distributor Use Customer Data?
4. CRM Software Halves Manual Labor for Sales Team
5. Why Is Surefront the Best CRM Distributor?

A CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software distributor is a company that has a a partnership with a CRM software manufacturer to sell or distribute their software. These distributors often have the technical knowledge and resources to help organizations effectively implement a CRM software solution.

A CRM distributor may also provide a free demo, free or affordable field service, and after-sales support and training. Working with a distributor may ease the path to CRM implementation for a sales team, which needs to actively use the software for it to provide the business with ROI.

If you're still wondering what effective CRM is or how it can help a sales team with customer retention and inventory management, check out this article.

CRM software distributors work in various industries, but we will focus on the wholesale distribution industry in this piece. CRM offers wholesalers an ideal solution to drastically improve their sales and marketing efforts.

CRM in the distribution industry typically includes the following:

1. Sales and Marketing:

A CRM helps the distributors' sales and marketing team sell the software to potential customers, managing opportunities, creating email campaigns, and following up on new leads. A campaign might include: conducting demonstrations, explaining the benefits, and convincing potential clients of how the software can meet their business needs.

2. Implementation Support:

CRM implementation can be complex. It often involves data migration, system customization, integration with existing systems, and user training. CRM software distributors often provide these services for a smooth software implementation.

3. Training:

They provide training to ensure that all users are on the same page, ensuring each team member understands all of the CRM software's functionalities. This includes both initial training and ongoing support as users get more familiar with the system.

4. Technical Support:

A CRM distribution business often provides technical support to users long after the software is sold. This could involve resolving software issues, installing updates, and helping with any technical difficulties that arise.

5. Consulting Services:

Many CRM distributors also offer sales management consulting services. They advise businesses on best customer retention practices, offer planning tools for managing customer relationships, and strategies to use CRM software to improve their operations.

6. Customization:

Every business has unique needs and sales processes. A CRM software distributor can help customize the software to meet a unique distribution business's specific requirements.

Remember, the exact role of a CRM software distributor varies quite a bit based on each customer segment's preferences, their agreement with the CRM software manufacturer, and the services they choose to provide to target customers. Buying from a CRM distributor should provide a wholesale business with lifetime value, providing tools and techniques to scale the software as their customer base grows.

How Are CRM Distributors Different from Manufacturers?

Here's a common question: what's the difference between CRM manufacturers and distributors? CRM distributors and manufacturers play slightly different roles in the CRM software supply chain.

Here's how they differ:

Manufacturers/Developers:

Manufacturers are the companies or entities that create and develop CRM software. They design, code, and test the software to ensure it can meet wholesalers' unique business needs. Manufacturers are responsible for product updates, introducing new features, fixing bugs, and maintaining the software's overall performance.

They also usually offer some level of direct customer support, but not the ongoing support that customers get from distributors. Examples of CRM manufacturers include Salesforce, Microsoft (Dynamics 365), HubSpot, Zoho, and many others.

Distributors/Resellers:

Distributors are authorized to sell CRM software on behalf of the manufacturers. They typically don't have a hand in creating or developing the software. But their role can also be quite complex, involving executing the sales process, some marketing efforts, technical support, consulting, training, and implementation services.

A CRM distributor might specialize in a specific industry, such as the wholesale business. This means they'd provide tailored advice and support to their customers within that industry. They help customers that operate in that specific business vertical choose the right CRM system, implement it, train users, and provide ongoing support.

It's worth noting that the lines between these roles can sometimes blur. For example, some manufacturers sell directly to customers while also working with distributors. Meanwhile, some distributors might offer their own add-ons or customizations that extend the functionality of the base CRM software.

In other cases, a company might act as both a manufacturer and distributor, creating their own CRM software and then selling it directly to businesses.

How Do CRM Distributors Help with the Sales Process?

Customer relationship management (CRM) distributors should help customers throughout the selling process. Effective CRM software only works if teams actually use it.

Here's how distributors can help:

1. Product Demonstration:

They showcase how the software works to potential clients. This usually includes demonstrating key features, capabilities, and how the software can be used to gain insights.

2. Understanding Customer Requirements:

They listen to the needs of potential clients, helping them understand how the CRM software can address those needs. This could involve mapping out potential workflows, showing how data can be managed and analyzed, or explaining marketing automation features.

3. Proposal and Pricing:

They provide detailed proposals to current and potential customers, including pricing plans and services. They negotiate terms of the contract to reach a mutually beneficial agreement with repeat customers.

4. Training:

Once the software is sold, CRM distributors usually provide training to distribution companies' sales staff. This helps wholesale customers use the software for their business processes to: track leads, manage customer interactions, generate reports, create a sales campaign, etc.

5. After-Sales Support:

They offer after-sales support, helping clients resolve any issues that they encounter when using the software. This includes troubleshooting, technical support, project management, and even software upgrades when necessary for the business.

6. Continued Engagement:

CRM distributors don't just have customers walk away after the sale. They maintain relationships with their clients, checking in to ensure the software continues to meet their needs, informing them of updates, and offering additional services or products as needed.

Remember that the goal of a CRM system is to harness reliable data to help manage the customer experience, enhance business success and boost customer retention. A good CRM distributor is crucial in helping businesses achieve these goals.

How Does a CRM Distributor Use Customer Data?

A CRM distributor helps with managing, interpreting, and utilizing real time data on behalf of their clients. It's important to note, however, that privacy and security regulations must be strictly adhered to when dealing with customer information.

Here are a few ways a CRM distributor might utilize this data:

1. Customization and Implementation:

When setting up a CRM system for a client, the same data used to choose a solution can be used by the distributor to customize the software. This can involve setting up custom fields, structures, or workflows based on the client's specific needs.

2. Demonstration:

In order to provide a meaningful demonstration of a CRM system's capabilities, a distributor might use sample data from marketing campaigns (stripped of any identifying information) to show how the system works in a practical context.

3. Training:

During the training process, the distributor might also use anonymized information from customers to help sales managers understand how to interact with the CRM system. This could involve showing how to input information, generate reports, or analyze customer trends.

4. Technical Support:

If a client has a technical issue with their CRM system, the distributor might need to access customer data to diagnose and resolve the issue. However, this would typically be done under strict privacy controls and in accordance with all applicable regulations.

5. Integration:

If the CRM system needs to be integrated with other software (like an ERP system or other marketing automation software), the distributor may use customer information to test and validate this integration.

6. Analytics:

Some CRM distributors offer analytics services, using shopper and sales data to generate insights about customer behavior, past purchases, sales trends, or other important business metrics to creating customer satisfaction.

In all these activities, the CRM distributor needs to respect data privacy laws and regulations. This means only accessing and using customer data in ways that are necessary and appropriate, and with the permission of the client.

Customer Relationship Management Software Halves Manual Labor for Sales Team

Customer Relationship Management software drastically reduces repetitive tasks during sales cycles. It does this through marketing automation, significantly reducing manual labor for sales teams in several ways:

1. Automated Data Entry:

Sales representatives used to spend a lot of time manually entering customer information into spreadsheets or databases. CRM systems can automate much of this process, automatically pulling in information from emails, contact forms, and other sources in just a few clicks.

2. Sales Force Automation:

CRM systems can automate a number of routine tasks usually performed by sales teams, such as: follow-up emails, task reminders, updating contact details, and even generating quotes. This frees up sales reps to spend more time on revenue-generating sales activities.

3. Centralized Information:

CRM software provides a centralized place for all customer information, so sales reps don't have to search through emails or documents to find relevant details about a customer. Everything they need to know can be found in the CRM.

4. Improved Communication:

With a CRM system, all communications with a whole customer base can be logged and tracked in one place. So, sales reps don't need to spend time tracking down previous interactions.

5. Automated Reporting:

Generating sales reports can be a time-consuming process. CRM software can automate it, providing real-time reports and dashboards to give sales reps and managers a clear picture of marketing and sales performance.

6. Pipeline Management:

CRM tools can automate most pipeline management and sales process itself. For example, it can automatically move a lead to the next stage of the sales pipeline once certain criteria have been met, or it can automatically assign leads to reps based on predefined rules.

7. Task Management and Reminders:

CRM systems can automate the creation of tasks and reminders for business reps. After a call with a business prospect, for instance, the system can automatically create a follow-up task.

By automating many of the manual tasks that sales and marketing teams traditionally had to perform, CRM tools let them to focus less on administrative work and more on selling.

Why Is Surefront the Best CRM Distributor?

Surefront is a unified collaboration management (UCM) system that counts customer relationship management (CRM), product information management (PIM) and product lifecycle management (PLM) among its many functions.

It's CRM functionality is primarily focused on wholesale retail businesses, particularly those dealing with complex supply chains. Surefront's integrated system manages the product lifecycle, integrated contact management, sourcing, procurement, supply chain, and collaborative e commerce processes together in one centralized hub.

Surefront is specifically tailored to businesses looking to consolidate their operations into a single integrated platform. Therefore, Surefront's CRM solution is most suitable for:

Retail Businesses:

This includes both brick-and-mortar and e-commerce businesses. Surefront allows for real-time collaboration between all stakeholders, providing a single source of truth for product data, improving customer experience and accuracy, accelerating sales efforts, and reducing time to market.

Wholesale Companies:

Surefront can help wholesalers manage their complex supply chains and communication-heavy relationships. It streamlines every retail process, from production to marketing, from inventory management to product listings. It gives all selected stakeholders total visibility into the product lifecycle.

Companies with Complex Supply Chains:

Surefront's solutions are best suited for businesses dealing with multiple suppliers, distributors, and other stakeholders. That's why it's a leader in the wholesale industry. Surefront provides full visibility into supply chain management, which can help to identify bottlenecks, reduce costs, and improve efficiency.

Businesses Looking for a Unified Solution:

You don’t want your data to be siloed. Your company’s PIM, CRM, and PLM solutions shouldn’t operate in a vacuum, either. Surefront is a Unified Product Collaboration Platform to power growth and ROI. Our patented PIM, CRM, and PLM solutions streamline the omni channel sales, merchandising and product development processes.

By combining these essential functionalities, Surefront creates a single source of truth throughout your product lifecycle, sales and listing processes. The results? Up to 150% more revenue per employee and a 40% shorter product development cycle is just the beginning. Try our 10x ROI calculator to see your company’s potential profits.

Or, skip the noise and book a custom demo with one of our unified product collaboration management experts today. The retail industry evolves quickly and your business process has a lot of moving parts. We do all of the research, so you don’t have to. Stay ahead of market fluctuations, trends and new features by subscribing to our Unified Product Collaboration Management Blog.