The Story of CMI
Located in Phoenix, Arizona, CMI is a precious metals dealer that facilitates trades between the wholesale and retail markets. They’ve been in business since 1973 and sell gold, silver, platinum, and palladium coins and bars. CMI has 12 employees and sees between $125 and $150 million in trades yearly. CMI has two main websites and an app, but all transactions happen over the phone.
CMI has been working with nFusion Solutions for almost a decade. They use an app built by nFusion, the Data Feed, and the Product Pricing Catalog.
CMI Struggled with Slow Transactions and Pricing Accuracy
Pricing Accuracy
Then, there was the issue of accuracy. Prior to working with nFusion, CMI employees had to update an excel spreadsheet to make a transaction, and there was a lot of room for human error. “If somebody bought 20 ounces of gold from me, and I put it in the wrong column, I’m now 40 ounces off,” Estes says. Furthermore, CMI usually has about a 2% profit margin. Therefore, if the spot price was not accurate, there was a chance CMI could end up losing money on deals.
Enter nFusion Solutions
Estes knew CMI needed to update its process to stay ahead of the competition. That’s where nFusion came into the picture. CMI purchased nFusion’s data feed and product pricing catalog to use on its two websites and app. CMI also integrated its Salesforce CRM with nFusion’s product pricing catalog.
Estes knew CMI was losing out on sales when customers would call and couldn’t get through to talk to an employee. “If a customer didn’t get through on the first or second try, they would literally be going somewhere else,” he says.
The Results
Transactions Are Twice as Fast
Before working with nFusion, employees wrote transactions by hand. It would take 12-15 minutes to complete a trade. With nFusion’s products, it only takes six minutes.
In the summer of 2022, CMI had its highest transaction volume ever. “There were just two of here because everybody was either sick or on vacation,” says Estes. “With just two of us, we wrote probably 30% more trades than we ever had with a full crew. Without nFusion, we wouldn’t have been able to do that.”
Accurate Data that Automatically Updates
Since using nFusion’s products, Estes no longer has to worry about inaccurate data that can cost his company money. Additionally, nFusion’s product drastically reduced the potential for human error while saving employees time.
With the product catalog, Estes can update both CMI’s websites and app simultaneously. “I just have to put the image, verbiage, and price, and then hit a checkbox, and then it goes live on all three sites,” he says.
Estes was especially thankful for nFusion’s products when Covid-19 hit. “In 2020, on March 16, all hell broke loose and people were buying everything,” says Estes. “The switch just went crazy, and you couldn’t update it fast enough.”Because of nFusion, Estes was able to put in an automated switch. “The switch is usually about 3 bucks, but it was almost $30,” he says. “With precious metals, we’re working on a 2% profit margin. At $1,800, $36 is two percent, so by the time we ship it, we’d have lost money on a lot of deals.”
Increased Profitability
Integrating nFusion’s products with Salesforce has allowed CMI to increase its profitability. “By integrating it with Salesforce, I can know where I’m making the most money,” says Estes. “I can see which product is the most profitable, and that would be a product I would want to push more than other products.”
Looking for Better Results? nFusion can Help.
Is your company struggling with transaction times and pricing accuracy? Do you want to increase your profits while saving your employees time? Get in touch with nFusion Solutions today.