Read Time 7 mins
Many furniture and lighting brands are eager to expand into new markets, increase their presence, and introduce new product lines. But while some scale with confidence, others get stuck. Despite quality products and experienced teams, inefficiencies rise, and growth remains elusive.
To understand why, we analyzed 15 real SuperCat sales processes (aka deals) with brands in the furniture, lighting, and manufacturing sectors: 11 partnered with SuperCat to become customers and 4 sales processes are still active and ongoing. The data reveals clear patterns behind sales struggles and how high-performing brands are overcoming them.
Scaling Problems in Furniture Sales
We want to start by highlighting the most common challenges we’ve identified across our customer base, recurring issues that consistently block growth, slow down teams, and frustrate buyers.
Manual, Outdated Systems
In 4 out of 15 deals, brands were still operating with paper-based workflows, legacy ERPs, or disconnected tools. These outdated systems slowed down everything from order entry to quoting and made it difficult to respond to modern buyer expectations.
Product Configuration Challenges
3 companies reported serious issues with complex product configuration, including pricing logic, finish options, and interdependent features. Reps often needed special training just to build a quote correctly, introducing unnecessary friction into the sales process.
Inefficient, Time-Consuming Processes
In three additional cases, teams were hindered by manual workflows and disjointed systems. Whether it was searching for product specs, referencing multiple documents, or re-entering order data into ERP, the result was the same: wasted time and a higher chance of costly errors.
Limited Customer Access and Self-Service
One brand flagged a growing pain. Their customers had no way to access products or order details without a rep’s help. With no 24/7 digital access and customers spread across time zones, this limitation led to slower cycles and missed sales.
Lack of Sales Visibility and Analytics
Without clear insights into what content was working or how reps were performing, managers couldn’t optimize or scale effectively. This was an acute issue for a brand further up the sales maturity curve eager to use data for sales forecasting and territory planning.
The Hidden Costs of Outdated Sales Systems
Despite strong products, inefficiencies in internal systems can quietly drain revenue and momentum. Here are five of the most common and costly consequences we’ve uncovered:
Reduced Efficiency
The most frequently cited issue impacting 4 deals was a general loss in productivity. Manual processes slowed down reps, overburdened support teams, and stretched internal resources thin. Tasks that should take minutes typically took hours, wasting valuable time chasing files instead of closing deals.
Lost Sales and Revenue
In 3 of the 15 deals, outdated tools directly contributed to lost revenue opportunities. Slow quoting, delayed responses, and disorganized catalogs caused prospects to walk away or place orders elsewhere. These issues also affected cash flow, leaving teams scrambling to meet goals.
Errors and Quality Issues
Three companies experienced frequent order errors, miscommunication, or misconfigured products, resulting in frustrated customers and strained relationships. These errors didn’t just hurt credibility, they frequently led to rework, cancellations, or additional costs.
Competitive Disadvantage
In 2 deals, outdated systems prevented companies from responding quickly to market needs, keeping them behind more agile competitors. Without real-time inventory, digital quoting, or online access, they couldn’t meet the speed buyers now expect.
Operational Burden
Also, in 2 deals, teams reported feeling overwhelmed by manual workload and fragmented systems. Whether it was entering orders in multiple places, managing disconnected catalogs, or constantly fixing mistakes, the day-to-day grind left no time for strategic selling.
4 Steps to Fix Your Sales Process
Fixing a broken process doesn't require a full system overhaul, but it does require focus. Based on patterns from our customer data, the fastest-growing brands follow a clear set of steps to improve alignment, remove friction, and unlock growth.
Here’s how you can do the same:
1. Leverage Trade Show Urgency
For many B2B brands, market events like High Point or Dallas Market are natural deadlines. Use them to your advantage. Align implementation timelines with these milestones to create momentum, secure buy-in, and generate immediate ROI.
2. Provide Integration Assurance Early
System compatibility concerns often slow down or stall deals. Address them proactively by developing a clear understanding of how your tools (ERP, CRM) can and do connect with other systems (a domain called APIs).
3. Align Stakeholders Upfront
Successful implementations start with the right people at the table. Identify decision-makers across sales, IT, ops, and executive leadership early, and make sure everyone understands the problem and the solution before rollout begins.
4. Prioritize Speed and Value
Companies that see fast results get more internal traction. Offer rapid deployment options with a clear time-to-value promise. Make it easy to go live in weeks, not months, and demonstrate what success looks like at every stage.
How to Drive Sales Success
A smooth implementation is only half the battle. Long-term success requires continuous support and expansion. Here's how leading brands ensure adoption sticks:
Measure ROI and Celebrate Early Wins
Track metrics like quote speed, order accuracy, and content usage. Show efficiency gains and reduced errors to validate the investment and build internal momentum.
Expand Within Accounts
Once the system proves itself in one team or product line, don’t stop there. Use success stories to expand to new divisions, reps, or catalogs. Land-and-expand works best when tied to measurable impact.
Prepare for seasonality
Furniture and lighting brands live by seasonal cycles. Align your optimization roadmap with trade shows, Q4 budgeting, and product launches to keep teams focused and performance high.
Support Change Management
Help teams adapt to new digital processes. Offer training, onboarding, and usage tracking to help teams adapt, stay engaged, and build new habits around digital sales tools.
What Helps Sales Scale Smarter
The brands that scale successfully work strategically. They invest in systems that eliminate friction, improve visibility, and empower both reps and buyers to move faster with fewer mistakes.
That’s why SuperCat was designed as a connected ecosystem of four tightly integrated apps, each solving a critical part of the B2B sales puzzle. Instead of fragmented tools that create more work, SuperCat delivers a unified experience across teams, channels, and customer touchpoints.
This shared ecosystem ensures that reps, customers, admins, and sales leadership works from the same source of truth. No matter where or how they interact with your brand. It eliminates duplicate work, reduces errors, and speeds up every step of the sales process.