CRM for welding supplies distributors

A welding supplies distributor sells wire, electrodes, tips and nozzles, machines, torches, gas equipment and protective gear to fabricators, shipyards, contractors and repair shops. The money is in two places: the consumables a shop burns through every week, and the machine that locks a customer into your wire for years. A CRM for this trade has to remember what each shop welds, what it uses and when it last ordered, so a rep can call before the wire runs out.

In PromptLab, each shop's prices sit in a customer price list, a machine demo is tracked as a sample on the deal, and each order is a sales order on the account. The wider view is on the distributors page.

How does welding supply distribution actually sell?

The buyers split by how they weld, not by size.

Fabrication and structural shops run steady volume of the same wire on the same machines. They buy by the pallet or the drum and care about price per kilo and delivery on the day they said.

Contractors and site crews buy in a hurry, often at a counter or by WhatsApp message, and expect you to know what they usually take.

Specialist shops, such as those working in stainless, aluminium or pressure vessels, buy specific alloys and tell you the code they need. A wrong alloy is not a small mistake.

Machine buyers are a different sale. A shop replacing a welder compares several brands, wants to try one on its own work, and decides over weeks. Winning the machine often wins the consumables.

What do buyers ask before they order?

• The exact consumable. Wire and electrode are named by classification, diameter and pack. Keep those as product fields so a rep can search by what the buyer says, not by your internal code.
• Certificates. Many fabrication jobs need a certificate for the consumable batch the shop used. Attach the one you sent to the account's Files tab, so you can show what was supplied against which order.
• Approval for a job. A shop working to a welding procedure can only swap a consumable if the procedure allows it. The buyer's welding engineer decides, not the CRM. Note the approved product on the account so a substitute is never offered by accident.
• A machine trial. The buyer wants a demonstration or a loan unit on a real job. Track it like a sample: who has it, since when, and what happens next.
• Service and spares. Torch parts, liners and repairs are a steady side of the business. A buyer who gets fast service buys the next machine from you.

How do machine demos work as samples?

A demo or loan machine is the welding version of a product sample. It goes out, it is meant to come back, and the sale depends on what the shop thinks after using it.

PromptLab has sample tracking on every plan, with samples on the deal. Log each demo on the day it leaves, with the machine and serial number in a custom field, and set a follow-up date on the deal. Quotes and samples sit on the deal, so the rep sees the demo status next to the machine quote. The routine in how to track product samples fits a loan unit as well as a bag of powder, and how to turn samples into orders covers the follow-up.

Why do consumables decide the account?

A fabricator that runs one wire on three machines will reorder it at a steady rate. That makes the account predictable, and it makes silence visible. If a shop that took four pallets every month takes none, someone else has the order.

Three things protect it:

1. A price list for the shop, so the wire is the same price every time.
2. A reminder before the next order, set as a task on the account and dated for when the shop usually reorders.
3. A volume rebate agreed in writing, tracked as a note on the account. What is a volume rebate explains the term.

What pipeline stages fit a welding supplies distributor?

PromptLab has one deal pipeline per workspace, with stages you choose. Use a field to tell machine deals from consumable accounts, and a saved view for each.

Counter sales skip most of this. The pipeline is for deals that need a follow-up.

What must the CRM track?

• Process and material on the account: which welding processes the shop runs and which alloys it welds.
• The machines it owns, with brand and age, so a rep knows when a replacement is due.
• A price list per shop and a trade tier for the counter.
• Quotes with line discounts and named additional costs such as delivery.
• Certificates and approvals on the account's Files tab.
• Demo and loan units as samples on the deal.
• WhatsApp and phone-first messages. Site crews rarely write long emails. They send a photo of an empty drum.

How do you set this up in PromptLab?

1. 1

   Import and tag accounts

   Bring accounts, contacts and products in from CSV or Excel. Add account fields for processes, materials and machines owned, and product fields for classification and diameter.

2. 2

   Set the price lists

   Create a customer price list for each key shop and one for the counter. Editing a list reprices every quote linked to it, so a price change goes in a new list.

3. 3

   Log every demo as a sample

   Create a sample on the deal when a machine leaves, with a custom field for the serial number. A workflow can create a task when a sample changes status, so a unit never sits at a customer unchecked.

4. 4

   Put the counter in the Inbox

   Connect email, your WhatsApp Business number and your company Telegram bot. The buyer messages first on Telegram, and the thread lands on the account.

5. 5

   Raise the order

   Create the sales order on the account, with the trade terms and planned delivery date. A task dated for the shop's next usual order keeps it from slipping.

6. 6

   Review silent shops

   Use Ask AI to list accounts whose last order is the oldest, and call them. How to reactivate dormant accounts has a script.

How does PromptLab compare for welding supply distributors?

Swipe the table sideways to see every CRM →

HubSpot is a polished all-in-one suite with a Starter plan from $7 a seat a month, billed annually. Quoting sits in the separate Revenue Hub and there are no sales orders, price lists or sample tracking. Pipedrive has a clear pipeline from $14 a seat billed annually, but no samples, price lists or sales orders.

monday CRM is friendly for building a CRM from boards, with quotes from its $12 Basic plan, billed annually. Sales orders, samples and price lists aren't there. For a side-by-side look at one of them, see HubSpot vs PromptLab.

Frequently asked questions

What should a CRM for a welding supplies distributor include?

It should hold a price list per shop, quotes and sales orders, a way to track demo machines, certificates on the account and every message from email and WhatsApp. PromptLab has all of these from $11.99 per user per month.

How do I track a demo welder out at a customer?

Log it as a sample on the deal, with the machine's serial number in a custom field and a follow-up date. When the sample changes status, a workflow can create a task for the owner.

Can the CRM store material certificates?

Each account has a Files tab, so attach the certificate you sent. Keep the master copies in your quality system.

How do I stop losing consumable accounts quietly?

Put a task on the account dated for when the shop usually reorders, and ask Ask AI which accounts have the oldest last order. A call a week early is cheaper than winning the account back.

Is there a free trial?

Basic and Professional come with a 14-day free trial, with no card needed. There is no free plan.