When Nicole Menkhaus joined CME Pipe Lining as its chief marketing officer, she knew her duties would go well beyond marketing. One of her missions was to move the rapidly growing business from a yellow-pad-and-pencil mindset and model to high-tech processes. 

Not everything was manual and handwritten, but growth could not be managed effectively or efficiently using the old-school paper-based methods CME still relied on for many things: Calls and sales tracking, estimating, scheduling, inventory management, Department of Transportation and human resources compliance, and other elements on the administrative side of the business.

Menkhaus had extensive experience converting from paper to electronic processes, as well as researching and implementing the right CRM (customer relationship management) and service management tools. So creating a solid plan of action and priorities was straightforward. The first priority and tool onboarded was RazorSync. CME utilizes RazorSync for scheduling, quoting and invoicing, as well as tracking some marketing campaign and sales analytics. 

“Although not as strong as other CRM packages like Microsoft Dynamics, its scheduling and inventory components were highly attractive and a higher priority need for CME,” Menkhaus says.

Built into the system is a mobile app for mapping and GPS tracking so staff can be aware of all team members’ locations in order to communicate effectively internally and with clients as to job status and crew arrivals. 

The next implementation was TSheets for clock-in/clock-out, which is tied into QuickBooks’ accounting and time management tools. These particular additions were adopted readily and are well appreciated by the staff, Menkhaus says.

The latest addition is a mobile app called Whip Around that allows crews to perform DOT compliance vehicle checks. Whip Around also allows for the creation of custom checklists for items needed for each project, which helps eliminate return trips to the shop from the field for forgotten items. 

“It is taking time — patiently and carefully bringing on the right solutions,” Menkhaus says. “But each time we implement new and complementary technology, we increase our efficiency, which increases team morale and our ability to provide even better service to our clients.”

Read more about CME Pipe Lining in the February 2020 issue of Cleaner magazine.