Stock up. By Chase Shiels
We’ve spent an exorbitant amount of time working to bring as much valuable information as we can to the industries in which we work. Some of those industries are aware — they know change has happened and it’s happening faster every day. Others… well, not so much.
Originally, we focused solely only on CRM. Read any VC’s blog or tech publication and you will hear all about staying focused. We quickly came to learn that certain industries didn’t even know what CRM is — at best they were familiar with the term “lead management” which is a part of but certainly not fully CRM. While certain markets have yet to fully discover this, their customers have evolved massively. …
By Wes Dillingham
A multi-part series on why adopting a CRM and other cloud based technology is not a personal indictment on how you do your job but an absolute must for businesses that want to compete in the future!
More Customers, Less Work, Big Opportunity.
By Chase Shiels
Awhile ago we posted this picture to our Instagram about Amazon’s home services offerings. Just recently there was an industry publication which covered it, which was awesome to see. In the article, there seemed to be distress over “saving the installers” — which isn’t even anywhere close to why Amazon wins against specialty retail; they win on customer experience which comes from convenience. It also said something to the effect of, “If Amazon gets serious about this…” At this point in time, it should be very clear that Amazon is very serious about moving into the home improvement space. And that’s great news for retailers, because retailers can seriously take advantage of working with Amazon. …
By Chase Shiels
On the heels of many in the retail flooring industry now learning about Amazon’s installation services push (see here and here) I thought it would be a good time to revisit this subject. There are a few key areas where we have seen specialty retailers come up short which is what makes this such an existential threat.
The number one theme: retailers think about themselves first, and their customers second. Interestingly, I read an industry article on this which proved out that theory in a way. Ironically, that article appears to have now been removed. The entire focus of the article was on saving installers from going to Amazon, not on making it as easy for the customer to buy as Amazon does. …
By Wes Dillingham
One of the biggest mistakes companies make when buying and implementing software is not approaching it as change first. Any software you are implementing into your company is likely a major change to the day to day routine of your employees, use a change management methodology and of course the golden rule to increase the likelihood of success!
By Wes Dillingham
I recently learned about a company called ENJOY. Enjoy has no stores. They are a 100% online reseller of consumer electronic products like Apple TV, GoPro, etc. I know what you are thinking, Amazon, right? The thing is, ENJOY takes it to the next level! When you buy a product from ENJOY, they deliver it in person, set it up for you if necessary, and teach you how to use it, all for the same price as buying the product on Amazon or Best Buy. They are currently only in very specific markets, New York and San Francisco and soon to be Chicago. Love it (I do!) …
By Dan Shiels
Can’t believe it! I’m a 60-Plus who still visits retail stores. Like to see what I’m going to buy.
I had time on a Saturday morning to check out some things my wife and I talked about possibly getting. A new mattress, new bathroom cabinets and counter tops, and some tile or another type flooring for the bathrooms we may remodel.
By Chase Shiels
We’re frequently asked about the sales process, sometimes referred to as the “pipeline” or “funnel” since it involves customers working through a series of stages. To help illustrate it, we put together this infographic. We hope it helps!
This post originally appeared on In the Lead.
Chase is a co founder and CEO of The Lead Tool, a Cincinnati based CRM start up. You can connect with him directly on LinkedIn, or follow @theleadtool Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | SoundCloud | iTunes
By Kyle Cheslock
Working in the startup world culture is everything. We eat it, drink it and embody it to our core in everything we do. When it comes to hiring somebody, “will this person fit our culture” is the deciding factor on whether or not she will be offered a position.
Culture drives where our offices are located. Culture determines what kind of cars are in our parking lot. Culture drives our interactions with customers. Simply put, culture determines everything we do as an organization no matter how big or how small the task may be. It’s who we are as company.
By Chase Shiels
Every year since 2001 there’s been a steady decline in the number of businesses who specialize in retailing of lumber/building materials, flooring, and furniture. Over that same time, there’s been a massive uptick in e-commerce. We crunched the numbers and here’s what we found. Check our infographics below for more!
Number of businesses and employment
- For all three industries, there’s been an average 33.5% decline in the number of businesses between 2001 and 2014, with flooring hit the hardest. The total decline in flooring retailers worked out to be almost 37%.
- While lumber & building materials has added employees over the period, both flooring and furniture have seen declines in employment of 40% and 27% respectively. Over 120,000 jobs have disappeared since 2001 in those industries. …
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