Marques & Herdeiros (real case — data altered under NDA) is a family-owned building materials distribution company headquartered in Leiria, founded in 1987. With 18 employees, 3 warehouses and a portfolio of 340 active clients, the company operated exclusively with analogue methods: salespeople jotted down orders on a notepad and phoned the warehouse; stock was tracked in a ledger; invoicing was done on a local software package connected to nothing else; and the online presence consisted of a sporadically updated Facebook page. The founder, on the verge of handing the business to his son, summed it up: "This company works because we have known our clients for 30 years. But new clients cannot find us, and our old clients' children buy online."
The Diagnosis: A Solid Company with Analogue Foundations
Marques & Herdeiros was not a company in crisis — it was a profitable company that was slowly losing ground. Revenue had been flat for five years, which in a growing market effectively meant loss of market share. Competitors — including large DIY chains and distributors with e-commerce — were capturing younger clients and larger construction projects, whilst Marques & Herdeiros maintained its historical base of small builders and property owners.
The audit revealed a company with manual processes in every area. The three field salespeople visited clients with no route management system or CRM — they relied on experience and handwritten lists. There was no digital record of client interactions, which meant that when a salesperson left, they took all knowledge about their clients with them.
Stock control was particularly problematic. With more than 4,000 product references across 3 warehouses, the stock ledger was permanently out of date. Salespeople promised delivery times without knowing whether the product was available, and stock-outs were only discovered when the warehouse operative went to fetch the material and could not find it. We estimated that 8% of orders suffered delays due to unforeseen stock-outs.
The company had no website, did not appear on Google for relevant searches ("building materials Leiria"), had no digital product catalogue and did no form of digital marketing. New clients arrived exclusively through word-of-mouth referrals — an effective channel but insufficient for growth.
Metrics Before the Transformation
• Digital presence: Facebook page only (irregular updates)
• New clients per month (average): 3–4 (100% word-of-mouth)
• Orders delayed due to stock-outs: ~8%
• Average order processing time: 45 minutes
• Digital client history: non-existent
• Quotations prepared per day: 5–6 (manual)
• Annual revenue growth: 0% (stagnant for 5 years)
• Time spent on administrative tasks: ~35% of each salesperson's working hours
The Strategy: Phased Transformation in 6 Months
The digital transformation of a company with zero digital infrastructure requires a phased and pragmatic approach. Attempting to implement everything simultaneously is a recipe for failure — the team becomes overwhelmed, resistance to change intensifies and benefits take too long to materialise. We divided the project into four phases, each building upon the previous one.
Phase 1: Digital Foundations (Months 1–2)
CRM — the company's digital memory. We implemented a CRM adapted to the Marques & Herdeiros business model. Each client has a profile with purchase history, preferences, negotiated commercial terms, contacts and notes. The salespeople access the CRM on their phones and record every visit, every quotation request and every interaction. For the first time, the company has a consolidated view of each commercial relationship — regardless of who the salesperson is.
Historical data migration was carried out from the invoices of the preceding 3 years in the accounting software. We extracted names, tax identification numbers, addresses, purchase frequency and average order value. The salespeople supplemented this with qualitative information during the first weeks of use.
ERP with real-time stock management. We replaced the stock ledger with a digital inventory management system using barcode scanning. Every material entry and exit is recorded digitally — stock is updated in real time and accessible at any moment by salespeople, warehouse operatives and management. We configured automatic reorder points: when a product's stock falls below the minimum level, the system automatically generates a replenishment suggestion to the supplier.
The initial stocktake across all 3 warehouses took two full weekends. It was a significant effort, but necessary — without knowing what we have, effective management is impossible.
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Professional website with product catalogue. We developed an SEO-optimised website with a complete product catalogue — more than 4,000 references organised by category, with technical datasheets, photographs and prices (visible only to registered clients, in accordance with the company's commercial policy). The website includes service pages (delivery, cutting to measure, technical advisory), client testimonials and a quotation request form.
Local SEO optimisation was critical. We configured the Google Business Profile, created content optimised for searches such as "building materials Leiria", "cement price Leiria", "roof tiles home delivery" and dozens of variations. Within three months, the website appeared on the first page of Google for the most relevant searches.
B2B client portal. For professional clients (builders, contractors), we created a restricted-access portal where they can view negotiated prices, check stock availability in real time, place orders online and track the status of each order. The portal integrates with the ERP and CRM, creating a continuous flow from order through to delivery and invoicing.
Phase 3: Process Automation (Month 5)
With the digital foundations in operation, we implemented automations that link the systems together and eliminate manual work.
• Automated quotations: The salesperson selects the products in the CRM, the system calculates the price using the client's commercial terms, generates the PDF and sends it by email — all in under 5 minutes. Previously, the same process took 30 to 45 minutes.
• Replenishment alerts: When stock reaches the minimum level, the system automatically sends a purchase suggestion with the preferred supplier, suggested quantity and reference price.
• Automated follow-up: If a quotation receives no response within 3 days, the salesperson receives a reminder. If a regular client has not purchased in 45 days, the CRM flags them for proactive contact.
• Integrated invoicing: When an order is dispatched, the invoice is generated automatically and sent by email. Information flows from the portal or CRM to the ERP without any manual intervention.
Phase 4: Analytics and Optimisation (Month 6)
The final pillar was the implementation of a management dashboard consolidating data from all systems: sales by product, by client, by salesperson and by region; stock levels and inventory turnover; profitability by product and by client; website traffic and conversions; and pipeline of pending quotations.
The founder's son — who had by then taken over operational management — shifted from making decisions "by instinct" to making data-driven decisions. He discovered, for example, that 20% of clients generated 68% of revenue, that certain product categories had margins significantly above the average, and that one of the salespeople had a quotation conversion rate 2x higher than colleagues (whose techniques were subsequently shared with the team).
The Results: 12 Months After the Start of the Transformation
Results were measured after 12 months (6 months of implementation + 6 months of full operation).
• New clients per month: from 3–4 to 14–18 (website + SEO + B2B portal)
• Orders delayed due to stock-outs: from 8% to 1.5%
• Order processing time: from 45 min to 8 min (−82%)
• Quotations per day: from 5–6 to 15–20 (automated)
• Revenue growth (12 months): +94% (nearly doubled)
• Salesperson time on administrative tasks: from 35% to 10%
• Orders via B2B portal: 32% of total (without salesperson intervention)
• Clients with complete CRM data: from 0% to 95%
The 94% revenue growth in 12 months — after 5 years of stagnation — was the most impactful result. This growth had three sources: new clients acquired through the website and local SEO; increased purchase frequency from existing clients (facilitated by the B2B portal); and increased average order value (automated quotations make it possible to include more products and cross-sell suggestions).
Change Management: The Human Challenge
The greatest difficulty of this transformation was not technological — it was human. Three of the salespeople were over 50 and had never used a CRM or a smartphone for work. Initial resistance was significant: "I've always done it this way and it's always worked", "This is to control me", "I don't have time to be putting things into the computer."
Our approach was pragmatic. First, we demonstrated immediate benefit: automated quotations eliminated the task the salespeople hated most (preparing paper proposals). Second, we involved the salespeople in the CRM configuration — they were the ones who defined the information fields for each client, which gave them a sense of ownership. Third, we implemented individual training, at each person's pace, without group pressure.
After two months, the most resistant salesperson was the one recording the most data in the CRM — because he realised the system automatically reminded him to follow up and gave him information about each client's history before every visit. "I used to forget half the things. Now I arrive at the client and know exactly what they bought last time and what they'll need", he confessed.
The Investment and the Return
The total investment in the Marques & Herdeiros digital transformation was approximately €28,000, spread over 6 months: CRM and ERP (licences, configuration and migration), website with catalogue and SEO, B2B portal, automations and dashboard, team training. This figure includes everything — software, development, training and ongoing support.
With a 94% revenue increase and a 4-percentage-point improvement in operating margin (less stock wastage, less administrative time, fewer errors), the return on investment was achieved in the fifth month of operation. From that point on, each month generated increasing net returns.
It is important to contextualise: Marques & Herdeiros did not need a large-company budget to digitalise. It needed a phased strategy, tools suited to its size and a partner who understood that a family SME has different constraints and dynamics from a corporation.
Conclusion
The digital transformation of a traditional SME is not a technology project — it is a business project enabled by technology. Marques & Herdeiros did not change what it does: it continues to sell building materials with personalised service and technical expertise. It changed how it does it: with tools that amplify the team's capacity, that attract clients who were previously invisible and that turn data into decisions.
For any Portuguese SME that recognises itself in this portrait — without CRM, without a functional website, without digital stock management, without automation — the message is clear: transformation does not need to be disruptive, expensive or frightening. It needs to be phased, pragmatic and driven by measurable results. In 6 months, reality can be radically different. In 12 months, the business can be at a level that a year ago seemed unattainable.
