Customer story: Sky Products

The problem

Commercial clients rely on Sky Products to design and engineer roofing equipment solutions ranging from solar panel arrays to snow retention systems. With each project involving so many individual pieces, proper inventory management is critical to Sky Products’ success.

As a result, when business development manager Dave Kowch began his search for a CRM, he wanted a system that not only offered contact management, but could also sync data from QuickBooks Desktop.

Initially, Dave found a generic CRM that promised to provide a seamless QuickBooks connection. Upon introducing the new software to his team, however, he began encountering problems with data integration. To send any estimate or invoice, Dave’s team had to rely on a co-worker’s QuickBooks access to get the job done. They also still lacked insight on inventory count — a crucial aspect of their business.

Most importantly, Dave realized that his team needed to move on from their “archaic” CRM to a cloud-based solution. Their existing CRM ran on a single computer in the office, so inputting or accessing information became impossible when they were on the road.

The solution

Sky Products switched to Method:CRM 6 years ago and hasn’t looked back since. With Method’s real-time QuickBooks sync and customizable interface, Dave’s team is now able to manage customers, vendors and inventory on one platform. This allows them to provide faster service, leading to a 50% reduction in order processing time. For instance, without waiting for QuickBooks access, employees can immediately follow up with customers, create a quick estimate, or send a purchase order to a vendor.

Inventory management and customized sales reports

Sky Products’ previous CRM software was unable to support the business in managing inventory. With Method, Dave is able to easily manage S-5!® product stock by checking which items customers have ordered and what quantities are currently on order. And since Method syncs all QuickBooks data bi-directionally, his team is able to receive up-to-date inventory numbers at all times.

Dave also relies on custom reports in Method to get real-time visibility into Sky Products’ sales performance, including sales and marginal profit by product and a snapshot of sales by province. He progressively builds new reports with Method’s customization team, based on accumulated data insights. “What we have now is a good reflection of our business,” Dave explained. “As we see that, we’re also looking to drill down more.”

“The flexibility of Method is that you can use it anywhere.”

— Dave Kowch, Business Development Manager

Sales pipeline and opportunity management

With Method’s opportunity management features, Dave can easily manage potential sales and assigns tasks to his team. “We’re tracking them throughout the whole process,” Dave noted. “I’m managing opportunities from sending a quote to closing a sale.”

Dave also frequently uses Method’s sales leaderboards to see detailed data on both his won and lost opportunities. With these insights, he is able to constantly improve his lead management by digging into why some opportunities are successful and others are not.

Even while away from the office or on vacation, Dave is able to check up-to-date opportunities and sales reports using the Method app. He summarized that “the flexibility of Method is that you can use it anywhere” — and that allows him to run his business from anywhere, too.