As you know that CRM or customer relationship management is a crucial tool for customer service, marketing and sales, whereas ERP helps streamline critical business operations. For those unaware, these solutions work great when integrated! However, the only cache here is that the integration of both these systems ought to be robust and perfect.
Today, businesses strive in an era where information is generated at warp-speed thus, spurring the need for having a unified business management system for improved enterprise resource planning and customer service. This is why it counts to integrate ERP and CRM together.
Here is a rundown on some key benefits that businesses can reap by integrating CRM and ERP.
Bid farewell to tedious data entry and duplication
Both ERP and CRM systems entail account and contact details for varied business purposes. CRM is focused on support/sales and prospects, whereas ERP is focused on inventory, warehouse, shipping and billing address, etc. Thus, a robust integration of ERP and CRM shuns the nuisances of duplicate entries. For instance, any changes or updates done on ERP will reflect in the CRM system and vice versa. This is also applicable for addition or removal of custom fields, new entries or changes in database, etc.
Spruce up customer service
A well-integrated system allows employees in your company to have a 360-degree view of customer interactions. This speeds up the query resolving time, and enables businesses to approach customers in a more personalized manner. For instance, if a prospect reaches your support team inquiring about inventory/stock, your CRM rep won’t have to browse through multiple systems, since all the information is served on a unified platform. Swift customer service at your disposal!
Market smart!
With all the quintessential customer and product data available at keystroke, it becomes easy for marketing professionals to come up with effective marketing strategies. Reaching the right people, at the right time and with the right message is sure to escalate ROI for marketing endeavors. Simply put, accurate targeting for marketing campaigns would turn easy, swift and effective.
Reduced IT and Training overheads
With a single and unified platform for both ERP and CRM, there is no need of maintaining two separate systems resulting in reduced IT costs. Also, with a well-integrated CRM and ERP system, the amount of support and training goes down. Since training would be required for a single system thus, saving additional training and support overheads as well.
Better Visibility into Sales Cycle and Improved Sales Forecasting
ERP and CRM integration creates a single point access for invoice-order-product information. This renders sales rep with improved visibility of order status, purchase history and other order details. Most importantly, a full-blown integration offers sales reps and marketing professionals with real-time customer and sales data that can be leveraged for improved forecasting.
Better Mobility
This is a boon for all those sales reps, who are always on the run! Nothing can be more beneficial for a sales rep to have all the customer, inventory, product and pricing information at his fingertips when on the go during a sales meeting. This helps greatly to close more deals efficiently.
With a robust CRM and ERP integration, employees from various departments will find it easier to collaborate. Further, streamlined information keeps everyone in your business on the same page. Managers and CXOs can keep a track of all the critical business operations in real time, which will aid them to make more informed business decisions.
To know which CRM and ERP application suits you the best, You can also write to Sage Software Solutions Pvt Ltd at sales@sagesoftware.co.in
