Salesforce at Hufbau Group: Identity Transformation on Digital Foundations

“Do it right, or don’t do it at all.” – This mindset defines Hufbau Group and guided the company when it embarked on its digital transformation journey. Implementing Salesforce CRM was not just about adopting a new system, but about laying the foundation for a complete corporate identity shift.

Who is Hufbau?

Hufbau is one of the key players in Hungary’s building materials trade:

45 stores and outlets nationwide
1,500+ employees
Annual revenue of nearly HUF 70 billion
Multiple Superbrands Business awards

The network began as a purchasing alliance and later developed into a franchise. Following a generational change in leadership, the future path became clear: evolve into a modern retail chain where digitalization, financial process optimization, and professional management take center stage.

The leadership’s mission is clear: “We will renew Hungary’s building materials trade!”

Why was change necessary?

The building materials market is both dynamic and unpredictable. In recent years, Hufbau has faced several challenges:

a volatile pricing environment
data security concerns
complex, multi-actor business processes
the need for franchise-level process optimization

The solution was to implement a flexible, comprehensive digital system that could handle complex commercial processes, accelerate quoting, and strengthen the customer experience.

The business goals

When introducing Salesforce, Hufbau defined five clear objectives:

Faster, more secure quoting
Improved customer experience during sales interactions
Measurable operations and data-driven decision-making
Profit optimization through price control
Full automation of commercial processes

How was the system built?

Salesforce became more than software – it became the backbone of Hufbau’s new operating model. The implementation covered several critical areas:

customer database and contact management
quoting and price calculation (e.g., automated pallet calculations)
pricing strategies and price trend monitoring
project management and lead qualification
inventory data and customer visit tracking

The key advantage of the system is that it accelerated and standardized the quoting process. Tools like the “Quote Wizard” support sales reps automatically, minimizing errors and reducing training time.

Pilot project: Akker-Plus Ltd.

The first rollout started at Akker-Plus Ltd., one of Hufbau’s largest subsidiaries. At this building materials company with over HUF 16 billion in revenue, Salesforce is now the hub of the entire quoting process: every contract, document, and proposal runs through it.

Given the complexity of the pricing environment, Salesforce also includes a semi-automated pricing module that intelligently manages varying manufacturer price lists, significantly reducing the workload on the sales team.

Project lessons learned

The collaboration with Attention CRM Consulting was seamless. Hufbau’s CEO, Sándor Kis, highlights three key takeaways:

clear business goals acted as a compass throughout the project,
smaller, phased steps helped minimize risks,
every development was tied to measurable business value.

Attention’s experts gained deep insight into Hufbau’s operations and acted not only as a technology provider but also as a business partner.

Salesforce at the wheel

Hufbau’s strategy differs from the typical industry approach: instead of relying on the ERP system, they made Salesforce the central operating platform. In the words of CEO Sándor Kis:

“For us, the CRM is the steering wheel, while the ERP is the engine.”

This mindset underpins their future plans: opening several new stores each year, launching online sales, tracking the entire customer journey, and enabling data-driven decision-making.

Conclusion

Hufbau’s story shows how a player in a traditional industry can become a pioneer of digital transformation. Implementing Salesforce was not just a technological upgrade but a true identity shift that positions the company on a stable growth trajectory for the long term.