Katrina Oko-Odoi
Content Marketing Manager
“Making it” in retail these days is far from easy, with mom-and-pop shops battling behemoth global retailers for a minuscule slice of the pie.
But there are those small businesses that come along every once in a while with a rare combination of heart, vision and scrappiness whose brand takes on a life of its own. WoodBlocX is one of these brands… going from family sawmill to mail-order garden box retailer to failed business — and then exploding onto the e-commerce scene nearly ten years later with a resurrected product. The journey since has only been up — and fast (catch up on the WoodBlocX story here).
Rapid growth came with its share of painful moments as the small 12-person team struggled to run the entire business and manage a flood of inquiries using only Gmail. When email alone wasn’t up to snuff, the team started searching for a more robust solution that integrated with the Google suite while allowing customization for different workflows across their retail and commercial divisions. After considering platforms like HubSpot and Salesforce, they settled on Copper for its straightforward, customizable features that easily accommodate a complex business structure.
“With seamless Gmail integration and accurate reporting tools, our cross-functional team can now manage B2C and B2B WoodBlocX projects, automate workflows, and handle customer data with ease.” – Henry Blake, WoodBlocX Owner
Custom pipelines for the win
Along with WoodBlocX’s e-commerce growth, the company had recently added B2B to their offerings, designing custom landscape furniture and structures to support large-scale urban regeneration projects. Managing the fledgling B2B side of the business added another layer of complexity, but Copper was up to the task. Business Development Manager Dan McLearnon took on the behemoth role of managing this commercial arm with the CRM as his central operating platform. He built out a comprehensive custom pipeline to track B2B opportunities from lead through to closed sale, taking commercial sales from zero to 25% of business revenue.
In the past 6 years, WoodBlocX has also used Copper to:
- Track all retail sales using a Zapier integration to sync e-commerce data with the CRM
- Monitor daily revenue numbers across the business
- Create task lists and reminders to follow up with prospects
- Automate follow-ups using workflow automation, email templates and Copper’s MailChimp integration
- Oversee each designer’s workflow with customized pipelines
- Record every touch point with prospects and customers for an exhaustive communication history
And they’re just getting started… more international expansion is in the works as we speak.
Get the full scoop on WoodBlocX’s trek to the pinnacle of retail domination by grabbing the full case study here.
