CRM Consultants & Implementation Partners in Fairfield, CT

The BlackIron Group is a consulting firm based in Fairfield, Connecticut. It implements and integrates two business platforms, Salesforce and Odoo. It works in a small set of industries: companies that make goods, firms that wholesale and distribute them, and commercial truck and trailer dealerships. Because it doesn't try to cover every sector, it can shape each CRM or ERP system around how plants, warehouses and service departments actually work day to day.

Background and credentials

The firm's principals started out on the operating side of manufacturing and distribution. They handled purchasing, shipping and collections before they moved into software consulting, and that hands-on experience goes back about four decades. BlackIron joined the Salesforce partner program in 2004, so it has more than twenty years with the platform. It started offering Odoo about three years ago.

The company says it has completed over 2,000 Salesforce projects and built more than 400 connections to different ERP systems. It holds Salesforce partner certification, is listed as an Odoo Ready partner and is a Karmak Certified Integration Partner.

Salesforce connected to existing back-office systems

Some manufacturers and distributors want to keep the ERP they already have. For them, BlackIron sets up Salesforce as the sales front end and links it to back-office software such as Epicor, Sage, SAP, NetSuite and Microsoft Dynamics.

Every project starts with the integration, because the firm believes a CRM only pays off when it can see order, stock and billing data.

Client stories on its site include a bus builder and a door maker that use CPQ for quoting, a safety netting producer whose quotes move from Salesforce into Sage 100 without retyping, a specialty chemical company with a two-way SAP link, a sign and lighting firm synced with Epicor P21, and a wine importer whose dashboards update hourly from SAP.

For dealerships, the firm builds Salesforce systems that bring vehicle sales, leasing, parts and service activity together. These systems pull data from dealer management platforms such as Karmak, Procede and CDK. Dealer clients include a Kenworth dealer in the Northeast, a Chicago truck dealer running several Procede syncs, and a trailer dealer that uses CDK data to speed up quoting.

Odoo and accounting options

Some smaller and mid-size manufacturers are ready to retire their current ERP completely. For them, BlackIron implements Odoo as one platform that covers manufacturing resource planning, purchasing, stock control, accounting and customer management. The firm also offers:

• Native accounting inside Salesforce using Accounting Seed
• QuickBooks and Salesforce integration
• Salesforce Maps for field sales teams
• Free ERP planning tools and buyer guides, including comparisons of Odoo with NetSuite, Plex and Katana

How it engages with clients

New clients usually start with a thirty-minute conversation with one of the firm's principals. No separate sales team is involved, and there are different meeting tracks for manufacturers using Salesforce, for dealers and for Odoo prospects.

BlackIron is certified on both platforms, so it says its recommendation depends on how a business runs, not on which product it would rather sell. That neutral approach, plus its focus on industry and integration, is the main way it stands apart from general CRM consultants.