If you’re running a ready-mix or building material supplier business, this will feel familiar: You invest $50,000 in a horizontal CRM system because it promises efficiency and growth, only to spend over $100,000 every year just to keep it running.
This isn’t an isolated story.
Many construction material suppliers underestimate the hidden costs that come with horizontal CRMs.
In this blog, we’ll explore why these systems drain resources and how a purpose-built alternative can deliver faster ROI. But first, let’s understand the difference between a horizontal CRM and a purpose-built one.
What is a horizontal CRM?
Before we dive deeper, let’s first clarify what a horizontal CRM is.
Horizontal CRMs are platforms like Salesforce or Dynamics CRM designed to serve any industry. They offer broad capabilities for contact management, pipeline tracking, and reporting.
But when it comes to construction materials, these systems don’t fit out of the box. You’ll find yourself paying for expensive customization, integrations, and maintenance just to make them usable.
These CRMs are built to be everything to everyone, which means they’re not purpose-built for the complex needs of suppliers who juggle dynamic pricing, dispatch schedules, and compliance requirements daily.
But there are better options available.
What is a vertical CRM?
Now let’s look at what vertical CRMs bring to the table.
A vertical CRM is purpose-built for a specific industry. For construction material suppliers, this means the platform comes ready with the workflows, data integrations, and margin protection you need. A strong vertical CRM typically includes:
- Dispatch system integration to connect quoting directly to delivery schedules.
- Live material pricing feeds so quotes always reflect current costs.
- Dynamic quoting workflows that automate approvals and reduce errors.
- Margin control tools to protect profitability.
Because these features are built-in, you don’t have to spend months (and hundreds of thousands) configuring the software to fit your business.
Next, let’s look closely at the specific ways horizontal CRMs can inflate costs.
4 ways horizontal CRMs are increasing costs for building material suppliers
You might invest in a horizontal CRM expecting it will help you increase profits, but when you look closely, the hidden costs tell a different story. If anything, implementing the wrong CRM can drain your resources, both in terms of time and money.
Here are four of the biggest contributors to this:
1. Implementation and consulting fees
Getting a horizontal CRM off the ground requires extensive configuration. This often involves hiring consultants who charge $150–$300 per hour. Even a modest project can quickly balloon into six figures before your team ever logs in.
2. Admin overhead
Horizontal CRMs are complex. You’ll likely need a dedicated administrator or an IT team to maintain workflows, manage licenses, and troubleshoot issues. The average CRM admin costs over $100,000 annually.
3. Custom integrations and maintenance
Horizontal CRMs don’t integrate seamlessly with dispatch systems or batching software. So, you end up paying extra for developers to build and maintain custom connections to systems like Command Alkon or Sysdyne.
4. Slow time to value
Even after months of setup, it can take a year or more to see any return on investment. For many suppliers, that’s simply too long.
In fact, even if your initial license fee is only $50,000, you could easily spend another $100,000 trying to make it functional.
But these hidden costs are only part of the problem. The bigger issue is that horizontal CRMs simply can’t handle the realities of construction materials sales. Let’s explore why these systems also fall short operationally.
Why horizontal CRMs underperform in the construction supplier industry
Here’s why horizontal CRMs simply can’t handle the realities of construction materials sales.
- No live materials cost data: Construction material prices are volatile. Your team may have to update material costs manually, even after using a CRM. As prices fluctuate constantly, this means quotes can be outdated before they reach the customer. This creates unnecessary back-and-forth and delays when clients ask for revised estimates.
- No built-in dispatch integration: Without dispatch visibility, sales reps can’t see delivery schedules or truck availability. This leads to delays and confusion, and sometimes, overpromising on delivery times.
- No automated margin protection: Horizontal CRMs don’t enforce margin floors. Reps can accidentally send quotes that erode profitability. Over time, this can compound into significant margin leakage across projects.
- No construction-specific forecasting: You’ll get generic pipeline reports that don’t account for seasonal trends, plant capacity, or regional demand. That means your planning remains reactive instead of proactive.
- Data overload without context: These platforms track activities but don’t connect them to profitability. You can’t see which deals are truly driving revenue, making it hard to prioritize the right opportunities.
So, if you still have to handle so many tasks manually even after spending $50k or more on a CRM, you have to ask: are you really getting your money’s worth?
You could simply switch to a building material supplier software, like Slabstack, and avoid all of this complexity.
A vertical CRM for construction material suppliers that pays for itself in 2 months: Slabstack
Unlike horizontal CRMs, Slabstack is purpose-built for construction material suppliers. Here’s how it helps you avoid the hidden costs and unlock faster payback:
- No extra admin costs: Slabstack is easy for non-technical sales teams to use. It has an intuitive interface that doesn't need much training, so your team can get started fast without hiring a dedicated administrator.
- Built-in dispatch integration: Connects directly with Command Alkon and Sysdyne so your quotes reflect real-time costs and delivery availability.
- Margin protection and forecasting: Set target margins by customer or material, auto-flag risky quotes, and access forecasting tools that help you plan demand and production capacity accurately, including visibility into seasonal trends and pipeline health.
Many suppliers see a full return on their investment within 60 days of going live and improve their quoting accuracy to near 100%.
Here’s what John Malcolm, Vice President at Carew Concrete, has to say about using Slabtack,
“We chose Slabstack because it isn’t just a tool for today; the team is committed to building the features the ready-mix and aggregate business has always needed.”
Ready to see what a purpose-built CRM can do for your business? Talk to our experts to see how Slabstack can help you quote faster, protect your margins, and get up and running quickly.