# Manufacturing & Engineering > CRM for manufacturers and engineering firms - technical enquiries, long sales cycles, samples and trials, distributors and key accounts. **URL:** https://cubecrm.co.uk/industries/manufacturing-engineering Technical sales take months and involve many people. The CRM should remember all of it. Manufacturers and engineering businesses sell through long, technical conversations: an enquiry with a drawing, samples and trials, several rounds of revisions, and a buyer, an engineer and a finance director who all need to agree. Much of that happens in email and on site visits, and much of it is lost when the salesperson moves on. CubeCRM holds every enquiry, specification, sample, quote revision and conversation on the customer record, tracks long opportunities with a next step at every stage, and manages distributors and key accounts alongside direct customers. When the business needs orders, stock and production as well, CubeCRM shares its data model with CubeERP. ## Figures - **Every** Sample and trial with an outcome - **Months** Long deals tracked step by step - **Same** Data model as CubeERP ## Common problems in this sector - **Technical enquiries in inboxes:** Enquiries with drawings and specifications arrive by email to individuals, and the detail stays in that inbox. - **Samples and trials forgotten:** Samples are sent and trials run, but follow-up depends on memory. Months later nobody remembers the result. - **Long cycles and many buyers:** Deals take six to eighteen months and involve engineering, procurement and finance. Opportunities stall when one of them is neglected. - **Distributors as a black box:** Sales through distributors and agents are invisible until the order arrives, with no view of what they are working on. - **Reorders taken for granted:** Repeat customers are assumed to be safe until orders drop, by which time a competitor is already in. ## What CubeCRM does about it - **Specifications on the enquiry:** Drawings, specifications and correspondence attached to the enquiry and the customer, with revisions kept. - **Samples and trials tracked:** Samples sent, trials running and results recorded against the opportunity, with follow-ups scheduled. - **Long opportunities:** Multi-stage deals with a next step at every stage and alerts when a deal has not moved. - **Distributors and agents:** Distributor accounts with the end customers they are working, registered opportunities and performance by territory. - **Reorder patterns:** Invoiced sales synced from the accounts package, with alerts when a regular customer’s ordering drops. - **Room to grow into ERP:** When you need sales orders, stock, production and despatch, CubeCRM upgrades to CubeERP on the same records. ## Use cases ### Trials with no outcome **Scenario:** A specialist coatings manufacturer sent dozens of samples a year to prospective customers. Results were rarely recorded, and many trials simply faded. **Outcome:** Samples and trials are now tracked against opportunities with follow-up dates and recorded outcomes. Conversion from trial improved, and the reasons for failed trials fed back into product development. ### A distributor pipeline nobody could see **Scenario:** A pump manufacturer sold mainly through regional distributors and learned about projects only when orders arrived. **Outcome:** Distributors now register opportunities, which appear against their account. The manufacturer can support larger projects earlier and see which distributors are growing. ## Getting started 1. **Discovery:** A short, structured session on how enquiries arrive, how you quote, and where customer information lives now - the inboxes, the spreadsheet, the old CRM and the notebook in the car. We come back with what works as standard and what needs configuring. 2. **Setup:** Pipeline stages, fields, quote templates, email connection, teams and permissions set up to match how you sell - not a demo account with your logo dropped on it. 3. **Data import:** Contacts, companies, open opportunities and quote history brought across from spreadsheets, inboxes or your previous CRM, with duplicates merged. You check it against what you had before anybody switches over. 4. **Training & rollout:** Short, role-based training so the sales team learns the pipeline and the office learns enquiries and cases - in person where it helps. Guides and screen recordings left behind for new starters. 5. **Ongoing support:** UK support from the people who built the platform, with a named contact, agreed response times, and a product roadmap you can influence. ## Frequently asked questions **Should we be looking at CubeERP instead?** If you need sales orders, stock, production planning and job costing now, yes - CubeERP includes everything in CubeCRM plus the operational side. If your immediate problem is sales and customer relationships, start with CubeCRM and upgrade when you are ready, without migrating anything. **Can we see order history from our current system?** Invoiced sales can be synced from Xero, Sage or QuickBooks, and other systems can post order history through the API, so it appears on the customer record. **Can we attach CAD drawings and specifications?** Yes. Files of any type can be attached to enquiries, opportunities, quotes and customers. **Does it handle export customers?** Yes. Customers can be anywhere, with currencies and addresses recorded properly. Hosting and support remain in the UK. ## Relevant solution pages - **B2B CRM Software** - A CRM built around companies, sites and buying groups rather than individual consumers - for long sales cycles, repeat business and accounts with many people in them. https://cubecrm.co.uk/software/b2b-crm-software - **Sales Pipeline Software** - Every opportunity on one board, by stage, with value, likelihood and next step - so the whole team can see what is live and what is stuck. https://cubecrm.co.uk/software/sales-pipeline-software - **Account Management Software** - Plan, grow and protect your most valuable customers - with account plans, contact coverage, renewals and every conversation on the same record. https://cubecrm.co.uk/software/account-management-software - **Quoting & Proposal Software** - Branded quotes and proposals built from your own price list, with every revision kept, automatic chasing and online acceptance that closes the deal. https://cubecrm.co.uk/software/quoting-software ## Related industries - **Wholesale & Distribution** - CRM for wholesalers, distributors and trade suppliers - account management, call cycles, reorder patterns and trade pricing across a large customer base. https://cubecrm.co.uk/industries/wholesale-distribution - **Construction & Contractors** - CRM for contractors, sub-contractors and specialist trades - tender enquiries, estimates, main contractor relationships and repeat clients. https://cubecrm.co.uk/industries/construction-contractors - **Technology & IT Resellers** - CRM for IT resellers, software companies, telecoms providers and technology suppliers - pipeline, renewals, recurring revenue and long B2B sales cycles. https://cubecrm.co.uk/industries/technology-it ## Contact - **Product:** CubeCRM - **Trading name of:** Cube Systems Limited (company number 17220899, ICO registration number ZC216972) - **Email:** hello@cubecrm.co.uk - **Sales:** sales@cubecrm.co.uk - **Support:** support@cubecrm.co.uk - **Telephone:** 01234 672 617 (+441234672617) - **Address:** Unit 11, Olney Business Park, Osier Way, Olney, Buckinghamshire, MK46 5FP - **Opening hours:** Monday to Friday, 9am to 5.30pm - **Part of:** Crushed Ice Group (https://crushedicegroup.co.uk)