Many people confuse the CRM system with an ERP system, making it easy to bypass or misunderstand the benefits of integration. In this article, we’ll differentiate between the two systems and explore the advantages of combining them.
Explaining CRM
The CRM system manages a company’s communications with prospects and customers. It can automate, organize, and synchronize sales activities at each stage of the sales funnel from prospecting to closing.
CRM helps increase efficiency, maintain customer relationships, and promote repeat business. With standardized customer data, it’s easy to share within sales, marketing, or any other department with a need for customer data.
Explaining ERP
The ERP system manages business processes and reduces both costs and overheads. It can be a string of integrated functions that manages and analyzes data from manufacturing costs, inventory, shipments, product planning, and more.
An example of how an ERP system works would be when a sales rep takes a customer order, the ERP system will give automatic access to order history, inventory, and even credit ratings.
Why Integrate CRM with ERP?
Integrating CRM with ERP is essential in today’s data-driven and digital world. Companies that do not embrace this fact risk leaving money on the table or becoming obsolete. The data environment is becoming much more complex, and if not handled appropriately, it can be a major obstacle to achieving business efficiency, affecting forecasting and decision-making.
One of the most valuable assets of any company is happy customers. To maintain good customer relationships with an increasingly impatient market, it’s crucial to have the right data at your fingertips at any given time or place. Integrating your CRM and ERP system can boost the efficiency of your business and sales processes.
A Comprehensive Customer View
Integrating your CRM with your ERP system means managing one database, and avoiding potential user errors when transferring information manually. It helps in every business and sales process area, from providing faster billing services to taking and placing accurate orders. Moreover, it provides a comprehensive view of your customers. From accounting to sales and support, you can see everything from purchase history to buying habits to general interactions.
This type of data can be easily used for building long-term client relationships, determining areas of potential growth, and utilizing enhanced reporting and analytics to track any changes in your customer’s needs.
Enhance Flexibility and Mobility
Integrating your ERP data with your CRM allows you to make more informed decisions, even on the go. This is especially useful for sales reps out at client meetings. Sales reps can see orders, inventory, product, and pricing information in an instant, making a big impact in terms of showing customers that your data is always up-to-date.
When customers are ready to buy, they want to be serviced right away. A completely integrated CRM and ERP system makes sales reps much more efficient when it comes to servicing customers, cutting down on the loss of business when sales reps had to make customers wait as they crawl through various databases.
Conclusion
Integrating your ERP and CRM gives you all the customer data you need, driving efficiency and profits throughout your company. It’s easy to do and offers numerous benefits. With the right data, you can build strong customer relationships, make informed decisions, and stay ahead of the competition.
Looking to improve your business processes and boost your profits? Contact our certified experts for a consultation today
Running a small business means wearing many hats. Tools like spreadsheets and documents may work in the beginning, but as Read more
Implementing new software in a business setting is one of the most impactful projects an organization can undertake. Whether you're Read more
SugarCRM is one of the most powerful customer relationship management platforms available. To get the best performance, the way companies Read more
Today’s CRMs offer far more than contact storage. An optimized CRM can help you understand customer behavior in real time, Read more