Cyncly, a leading global provider of AI-driven software for the spaces-for-living industry, recently named Wynn Grubbs as general manager of the Cyncly Flooring business unit. Grubbs brings more than two decades of experience in high-growth SaaS companies and has spent the past two years leading Cyncly’s Kitchen, Bath and Furniture retail business unit.
According to James Hamilton, Cyncly COO, Grubbs’ track record is a key factor in his appointment. “He understands how independent retailers operate, what slows them down and how connected software helps them grow,” Hamilton said.
Grubbs has experience as a retail business owner and operator, complementing his software background with a practical understanding of the day-to-day demands of running an independent retail business. He has owned and operated several retail businesses, including a resort general retail store in New Hampshire and a Dairy Queen franchise.
New Role and Challenges
As the new general manager of Cyncly Flooring, Grubbs plans to apply lessons learned from his experience in the kitchen and bath retail business to his new position. He noted that flooring retailers are running sophisticated businesses, but too much of their operation still depends on stitching together tools that weren’t designed to work together.
Grubbs stated that his priority is helping dealers spend less time on their software and more time on their customers and their growth. He also emphasized the importance of connecting all the processes that go into each job from start to finish, and enabling different lines of business with software that helps coordinate every step.
The amount of diversification in what Cyncly calls spaces-for-living businesses, and the overlap of services they offer, is larger than most people think. Grubbs noted that complexity and fragmentation can grow quickly as a flooring dealer grows into other types of services, making it essential to bring systems together and make things simpler.
Success in the kitchen and bath retail business didn’t come from owners working harder to manage multiple tools, but from the ability to start bringing systems together and making things simpler. Grubbs emphasized that once businesses were able to manage quotes the same way across different types of projects, they prevented downstream mistakes that eat into margin.
Lessons Learned and New Approaches
Grubbs learned that phasing is essential when rolling out a new system or process, as it’s not practical for a business to change everything at once. He also emphasized the importance of training, as the team needs to learn how to do things consistently with their software or it doesn’t work.
Change management is a big aspect of Cyncly’s work with customers, and Grubbs noted that the company has learned to bring customer success, training, and system change together as one program. The data from the Cyncly Flooring platform shows that there’s a shift in where leads are coming from, with many businesses seeing fewer phone calls and more online form submissions.
Grubbs stated that some independent dealers see new approaches to lead generation as a challenge, but using digital tools is essential to compete with larger operators. Cyncly Flooring is building a full, closed-loop lead generation system, where dealers can get more efficient at generating high-value projects.
The company is working on a cloud-native business management system, created from the ground up, specifically for the flooring industry. The system will offer a single connected system, rather than pieces bolted onto each other, and will make the process far more efficient, improve the customer experience, and help dealers get paid faster.
Grubbs noted that the system is being built with a co-innovation community of customers and dealers, who have provided great feedback and shaped the product. The new platform will put the whole business on one record, on one cloud-native system, so dealers can bring all their business together on one record, and Grubbs is set to unveil more details about the system in the coming weeks, ahead of its official rollout at Surfaces.
Cyncly already supports many workflows, including websites and digital storefronts for lead generation, payment systems, CRM, supply chain management, and accounting.