Floor Covering Institute of Australia streamlines membership management with CRM
About the Floor Covering Institute of Australia
The Floor Covering Institute of Australia (FCIA) is a non-profit industry association representing the Australian floor coverings sector. The organisation supports retailers, suppliers and installers through membership programmes that provide training, professional standards and industry services.
As Company Secretary Garry Thomas explains, the industry presents a unique challenge:
“It’s a very fragmented and niche industry in Australian terms, with a lot of small independent businesses. What FCIA wants to do is bring everyone together and help the industry become more self-regulating.”
Despite the fact that flooring is present in every building, the trade often operates outside the spotlight.
“Everyone has a floor, but people don’t always realise that there’s a skilled industry behind installing and maintaining it properly. We’re not always on the radar in the same way as electricians or plumbers, even though it’s the second highest paid trade in Australia.”
The challenge
As a membership-based organisation, FCIA needed a system that could manage a complex network of members, including businesses, individual contacts and apprentices linked to those organisations.
With a small team of three and limited office hours, minimising administrative workload was critical. The organisation needed a CRM that was flexible, easy to use and capable of handling membership data, communications and reporting without adding overhead.
Why Spotler
FCIA selected Spotler CRM, formerly Really Simple Systems, as the central platform for managing its memberships and communications.
Garry had prior experience with the platform from a previous role, where he had used the free version to manage customer relationships. Compared with older, non-cloud systems, the simplicity and clean interface stood out immediately.
“It’s very intuitive. Having a cloud-based CRM with a clear interface makes a huge difference, especially for a small team.”
After working with the Spotler team to tailor the system to FCIA’s specific membership structure, the organisation was able to get up and running quickly.
“For the size of our business and a reasonably complex membership setup, everything works very well.”
Managing memberships more efficiently
Spotler CRM is now used as FCIA’s central membership database. Custom fields and drop-down menus allow the team to track different member types, apprentices, applications and payment methods in one place.
This flexibility has significantly reduced administrative effort.
“I would argue that switching to Spotler has halved the administrative time we put in.”
Custom reporting enables the team to generate insights across virtually any data point, making it easier to manage memberships and support strategic decision-making.
Communication and finance in one system
FCIA also uses Spotler’s marketing functionality to communicate with members. Email campaigns can be tailored and targeted based on membership type, status or other criteria, ensuring relevant information reaches the right audience.
“Even the campaigns are easy to run, with customisable reporting. It’s a very neat application.”
Integration with Xero has further streamlined operations, helping the team align CRM records with accounting data and manage direct debits and financial information more accurately.
“Being able to match account details with Xero has been a big win for us. It gives us confidence that everything is aligned.”
Support and future growth
Support has been a key part of FCIA’s experience with Spotler.
“The support has been amazing. The turnaround time is unlike anything we’ve had before, and the help with customisation and technical questions has been invaluable.”
Looking ahead, FCIA plans to expand its use of Spotler to support pipeline management and future product and membership growth.
The result
By using Spotler CRM, the Floor Covering Institute of Australia has created a central, flexible system that reduces administrative workload, improves member communication, and supports the organisation’s long-term growth.
For a small team operating in a fragmented industry, Spotler provides the clarity, efficiency and scalability needed to bring the sector together under a single, trusted platform.
What is marketing without a CRM?
Knowing your (potential) customer helps you send more relevant messaging, lower acquisition costs, and sets your sales teams up for success.
