A commercial furniture dealership manages an unusually complex combination of sales, design, product specification, project management, purchasing, logistics, installation and financial management.

A single project may contain hundreds, or even thousands, of individual line items from numerous manufacturers.

Each product can have different sizes, options, finishes and features. Pricing can vary by product line, contract and customer. Products may manufacture and ship from different locations, with lead times that vary not only between manufacturers but even between product lines from the same manufacturer.

And that's before an order is ever placed.

Dealers may need to develop designs, specify products, identify substitutions, validate finishes, obtain manufacturer quotes, calculate freight and installation, coordinate lead times and prepare complex proposals or RFQ responses.

Winning the project is only the beginning.

Once the order is received, the dealership must place and verify manufacturer orders, reconcile acknowledgements, manage changes, coordinate freight and receiving, schedule installation crews, communicate site conditions, complete installation, resolve punch-list items and close out the project.

All while information moves between salespeople, designers, sales coordinators, purchasing, project managers, warehouse personnel, installers, accounting and management, as well as customers, end users, design firms, contractors, purchasing departments, contracting officers, manufacturers and other project stakeholders.
 
No project is exactly the same. No site is exactly the same. No customer is exactly the same.

And as projects become larger and dealerships grow, that complexity multiplies.

That's why generic CRM, ERP and project-management software can struggle to manage a contract furniture dealership.

The challenge isn't simply managing furniture orders. It's managing the entire business surrounding those orders.