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• Needed a sophisticated yet simple CRM solution to manage sales and marketing
• Rudimentary pen and paper system failed to track sales pipeline
• Lacked documentation and a centralized repository for contacts and documents

• Aerospace Composite Products deployed Salesforce Group Edition and had it up and running in seven days. Information is now in a centralized location and accessible on demand while integration with Google Calendar allows managers to track the company’s production schedule and projects.

• Sustained a 40 percent annual growth rate since deployment
• On track to generate $3 million in revenue in 2007, up from $600,000 in 2002
• Easily create reports and remote access them to keep an eye on the business while on vacation

Justin Sparr is vice president at Aerospace Composite Products, a family-run composite materials distribution and manufacturing company based in Livermore, Calif. The company focuses primarily on military and medical applications, and supplies materials to a variety of industries including automotive and sports equipment.

What issues were you were facing in your business that led you to consider Salesforce?

My parents started this business in 1984 out of our garage. My father left his full time job in 1996 to run the business full-time with my mother and it has grown to a staff of 10 people.

We were looking for a way to help my parents grow the business and ultimately make the transition to retirement. That meant that either I would take over the business or they would find a buyer, but their whole business was in their heads! Vendors, customers, processes...nothing was documented. If they retired, we couldn’t sell the business or pass it on since there was nothing to go on. I had to make a concerted effort to put all our business information into a system to track it, and Salesforce was the easy choice there.

When I came on board in 2006 they had no network in the office, just a series of workstations with different operating systems. We had no central database of our customers or vendors, so the first thing I did was to implement Salesforce and start collecting all of our business contacts, sales opportunities, and manufacturing processes, into Salesforce. We also needed a return material authorization process—our customers wanted a clear, formal process for returning parts and then they wanted to see corrective actions documentation. I was able to easily create a custom object to address this need and had it rolled out in two days.

What were you looking for in a CRM solution?

Before we used Salesforce, we were all pen and paper. It was actually a big liability—our offices were broken into in 1996 and we almost had to shut the business down because all of our data was lost. With Salesforce, I know that my data is safe, I never have to upgrade the software, and I didn’t even have to buy new computers—once we got the browsers working on our old machines, we were up and running.

First, it had to be remotely accessible. We all work from home offices frequently, and my parents need to have access to the systems when they travel and as they make the transition into retirement. Also, my parents are at near-beginner levels when it comes to computers so I wanted something that was really easy to learn. I loved that Salesforce was easy to customize for my business—there’s no installation so you don’t waste any time getting the software to just show up on the screen, and much of it is point-and-click so I’ve built a lot of custom applications into Salesforce. Salesforce has allowed me to focus my time on growing revenue and building relationships with our key customers – not worrying about drawn out CRM implementations or technical issues.

Once you chose Salesforce, how did you get started? 

I implemented it myself in about seven days of tinkering. 

What advice would you give companies like you getting started with Salesforce?

Your CRM roll-out needs to be a top-down initiative. As a principal in the business, you have to commit to CRM and make it integral to your company culture. Leadership and vision from the top-down makes everyone come around. Salesforce.com’s easy-to-use, intuitive interface made adopting the system companywide a breeze.

Tactically, I have a few tips. When my dad gets on the phone, he still grabs a pen and paper. He types with one finger, so I said “Use the paper, but you have to enter the notes after words into Salesforce.” That was the process change that worked for him, so that’s the way he does it now. 

Also, we tried to make it really easy for our guys in the shop to get the data they needed. I created links on the desktop of the computer in the shop that take them to reports directly so they don't have to navigate around.

How are you using Salesforce in your business now?

I've built quite a few custom objects in team, so we use it for almost every part of our business. We’ve managed to automate a lot of our processes so that even when I’m at my home office, I can update our work schedule and know that our shop will have access to it in real-time.

We have a custom application called "projects" where we can enter all the details of a particular project and attach the PO to that project so we don’t lose it.

I have a custom tab called "Part” to track revisions to our part drawings. It used to be that anytime there was a revision to the part drawing, we would lose it! Now we use attachments to upload drawings and documentation processes, and we can attach those “parts” to the project application. Our machine shop can just run a custom report we’ve saved, and print it, and they get a full rundown of what projects are due, what parts to make, and they can see all drawings. I embedded the Google Calendar into a tab so now I can update the production schedule from home or from anywhere, and I know every day they'll look at that report and get it done.

Our customers had been asking for a return materials authorization process, so I built that alongside a corrective actions process which has not only helped us to manage this part of our business but has helped us build credibility with our big customers. 

The other really cool thing I’ve been able to do is share my customizations with my neighboring businesses. There’s another manufacturer in my business park who was asking me about Salesforce—I told him to buy TE, then I packed my customizations privately on AppExchange and he was able to install them. It took me a little while to build all those customizations but he was up and running in just one day!

Can you summarize the results you’ve seen since adopting Salesforce?

Salesforce has allowed us to grow from a $600,000 company to a $3 million company in just a few years. I’m seeing 40 percent growth year over year and we’re holding steady at that rate. Salesforce is partly behind that high rate of growth, but I would also say we wouldn’t be able to handle that volume of business without Salesforce. I can run a production team of six people, and Salesforce has helped us to operate more efficiently and scale our processes.

Now, we’re looking to expand to a higher-end client, and I know that Salesforce can help us get there, too.

The biggest thing for me and for my family though is that now my parents can start their retirement. They can travel and be away from the business with the peace of mind that business will continue. Salesforce is easy to use, so the team can log in and get all the information they need. I’ve got the processes automated and we can continue to grow.