Elite Flooring & Design, an Atlanta-based flooring provider, sought a CRM
system that, when combined with other initiatives, could help the company
provide high levels of customer service and set themselves apart in the highly
competitive flooring industry. Elite found their solution in Microsoft CRM.
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Solution Overview
Customer Profile
Elite Flooring & Design is a leading seller of high-quality flooring to
institutional customers throughout the southeastern United States. Their
customer base includes home builders, apartments, schools, stores, retirement
communities, office buildings, hospitals, and general contractors. The company
has nearly 50 employees in offices in Atlanta, Georgia and Charlotte, North
Carolina. Their annual sales are approximately $25 million (USD).
Business Situation
Elite Flooring & Design sought an integrated CRM solution that, combined with
other service initiatives, could help the company take customer service to new
heights and differentiate itself from their competitors.
Solution
Microsoft CRM is providing Elite Flooring & Design with easy access to powerful
customer information, helping the company save time, increase sales, and boost
customer loyalty.
Benefits
Easy access to a wide range of customer information
Increased customer loyalty
Time savings through tight integration with other applications
Software and Services
Microsoft Business Solutions CRM
Microsoft Business Solutions–Solomon
Microsoft Exchange Server
Microsoft Windows® 2000 Network
Microsoft Office 2000
Partner
Templeton & Company
West Palm Beach, Florida, USA
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In the past, we had difficulty retrieving customer data when requested.
Now, not only can we provide customers with quotes more quickly, we can dedicate
more time to focusing on their future requirements by tracking their past
transactions and specifications.
Sean McCarthy,
Chief Executive Officer
Elite Flooring & Design
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Situation
"We want to know our customers better than they know themselves."
That’s how Elite Flooring CEO Sean McCarthy sums up his philosophy toward
customer service. And with good reason. The flooring industry, in which Elite
competes, is largely a commodity business, characterized by a fickle customer
base that often doesn’t recognize differences in product quality or
availability.
As a result, customer service is among the biggest differentiators between
flooring companies. To compete effectively in this highly competitive
environment, Elite recently launched an initiative to upgrade their customer
service. "We wanted to improve every area of customers’ total experience in
interacting with us—everything from answering the phones, to billing, to all the
process-related items," says McCarthy. "Then, once we perfected all those
processes, we wanted to put a tool like CRM in place to enhance those processes
and take our customer service to a whole new level."
Solution
Elite’s new software had to be easy to use, easy to navigate, and able to
eventually integrate tightly with the company’s Microsoft® Business
Solutions–Solomon back office solution. Above all, it had to help the company’s
employees deliver a consistently high level of service. "We want to pick up our
conversation with a customer where the last one left off, whether it was last
night or last year," says McCarthy.
Elite evaluated a number of CRM packages—even installing two potential
solutions. One proved to be overly complex, difficult to use, and simply didn’t
meet Elite’s requirements. The other was geared to a much larger company, and
was filled with expensive features Elite didn’t need. So Elite tried out
Microsoft CRM—and liked what it saw. "I think the big decision when choosing a
CRM solution is, ‘Just how much CRM do you want, and what’s practical for your
company?’ "McCarthy says. "Microsoft CRM is perfect for our needs. It allows us
to get very sophisticated or very simple. Plus, we’ll be able to build on it
over time." In addition, Microsoft CRM is highly intuitive and user-friendly,
McCarthy says. "I was wary at first," he concedes. "But using it myself, I’ve
found that it’s very practical and easy to use."
Benefits
By implementing Microsoft CRM, Elite is enjoying many benefits, including:
One-Stop-Shopping for Customer Information: "The biggest benefit of Microsoft
CRM is having a single source for all of our interactions with our customers,"
McCarthy says. "The more we know about customers and their last interaction with
us—be it one month, one day, or one year ago, or be it e-mail, fax, or
telephone—the better and more efficient we are and the better a business partner
we are," McCarthy says. "And that’s really how customers value us."
Currently, eight of Elite’s nearly 50 employees are using Microsoft CRM, with
that number expected to increase to approximately 30 in the near future.
Improved Customer Loyalty Through Understanding Customer Needs: Because of high
employee turnover at many of Elite’s customers, they often come to Elite without
a clear understanding of the styles, configurations, and customizations of their
own properties. By using Microsoft CRM to maintain detailed job information,
Elite’s customer service representatives often know more about a customer’s
specifications than even the customer does. "Customers know they are our top
priority," McCarthy says, "because we no longer have to ask, ‘what did we do for
you last year?’"
Time Savings Through Tight Integration with Microsoft Outlook: Microsoft CRM’s
tight integration with Microsoft Outlook® saves Elite’s sales representatives
time and gives them fast access to critical customer information they didn’t
have previously. "With Microsoft CRM, our sales reps can go into one
application, and everything they need is right there," says Ruth Beaulieu,
Elite’s Technology Coordinator. Looking ahead, Elite is eagerly anticipating
integrating Microsoft CRM with their Microsoft Business Solutions–Solomon back
office solution, which will allow for a smooth flow of information between front
and back office.
©2003 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
