Meet the Team: Rob Crawford, RockSolid MAX Sales Engineer

Meet Rob Crawford, RockSolid MAX Engineer

This month we feature Rob Crawford, RockSolid MAX Sales Engineer at ECI Software Solutions. We sat down with Rob to learn more about his role within the team, how he helps small- to medium-sized businesses, and how he unwinds after work.

ECI: Describe your role in 50 words or less.

My role is to work with potential customers to show them the wonderful ways our POS software can make their stores more efficient, profitable, or both.

ECI: What and where did you study?

I went the community college route and received my associate degree in accounting.

ECI: Tell us a bit about your background and the path that led you to your current role.

After college, I started working in the accounting department at Do it Best before transferring to their Point of Sale solution. In this role, I had a chance to help stores implement their system to make their work easier and more efficient. After that role, I moved to ECI RockSolid and used my experiences to help more stores implement RockSolid software. I love helping customers improve their workflows with software solutions from ECI and have been doing for over 17 years.

ECI: What does your day-to-day work life look like?

I work with the sales reps to understand the potential customer’s challenges and then create resonating examples of how RockSolid MAX can help. I demo the product to show them how easy and powerful the software can be, especially the benefits of migrating to the cloud. If there are any unanswered questions, I will research the answer and provide the resolution back to the customer.

ECI: What advice would you give to someone just starting out in your industry? Any words of wisdom?

Have an open mind and gain as much knowledge as you can on how store owners operate their independent hardware/lumber yards.

ECI: What excites you most about working within this industry?

Helping stores become more efficient and profitable. Doing so usually allows them to expand the business into multiple locations, or become more profitable, or both.

ECI: What do you find most challenging about working within this industry?

A lot of store owners are reluctant to make changes. It’s something we see a lot in the LBM space. There are a lot of features that make big changes in their business, such as suggested ordering, ecommerce, and emailing docs. To help with the transition, we suggest stores start with small changes and watch the progress/return.

ECI: What is the most important lesson you’ve learned since you began your career?

To be honest and trustworthy. We are nothing without our customers, and it’s crucial they trust us to help them grow their businesses. It’s the reason we do what we do.

ECI: Since you started working in the industry, what changes have you witnessed?

In 30 years, technology has changed drastically. I’m interested to see what the next 30 years have in store for us all. It's exciting to see the younger generation taking over the family business. They tend to have a better understanding of what technology can do for the business since they use it in their everyday lives.

ECI: What do you enjoy doing when you're not at work?

I enjoy spending time outside in the yard. My family and I spend a lot of time bonding at the lake, where we swim, jet ski and go out on our boat. I also enjoy BBQ/smoking meats for a great evening meal after a busy day on the water. There’s no better way to enjoy family and friends off the clock.

To learn more about ECI industry leaders check out our corporate blog here.