If you installed your ERP and CRM solutions separately, you may now find yourself stuck with two seperate functioning products, meaning duplicate data entry and hampering enterprise-wide analysis. If you want your business to learn more efficient processes and to improve how your business uses your software, you should strongly consider integrating your ERP with your CRM. Your ERP system is designed to streamline all your processes, saving you time and money. Your customers go hand-in-hand with the rest of the business, so streamlining that process as well is worth the consideration. Integrating ERP and CRM makes the process of daily business activities easier. Despite a clear separation in duty, there is certainly a crossover in customer information and orders. Your ERP software will store your clients financial information, while your CRM will save their order history and demographic profile information, allowing your sales team to better target their needs. Running these two systems together will ensure better sales, marketing and expenditures.
Here are 3 of the top reasons to integrate your CRM and ERP systems:
- Increased Sales. Having an integrated system will give you a well-rounded view of your customer. The solution holds information, including purchase history, contact profile and financial info, making it easier for employees to assist clients during shopping. Your users can also recommend products their clients might like, process an order quickly and pull up payment information on the spot. When it comes to marketing, CRM creates detailed customer reports allowing better visibility into what works and what doesn’t. Your business can better plan for the future and design more effective sales strategies due to having access to all this information.
- Return on Investment. Implementing an ERP system is a very large expense; a CRM system isn’t inexpensive either. By having these 2 systems work together, companies may experience lower expenses and efforts than in the past functioning separately. Anytime you can eliminate redundant processes and data entry, you are getting a cost saving from reduced administrative costs. You will ultimately achieve a higher ROI than running the 2 systems independent of each other.
- Inventory Control. Inventory management is usually one of the largest problems organizations encounter. By having an integrated solution, it automatically updates inventory numbers when an item is purchased or a service is bought, making records more accurate. As a result, employees and their customers will always have up-to-date information in regards to certain orders. All departments will have access to what orders have been placed and what stock remains. Furthermore, the solution can keep track of shipments, even improving the amount of time it takes to get an order from the stockroom to the customer. By having more accurate inventory control, you are able to keep less stock on hand, ultimately saving your business money.
An integrated CRM and ERP system offers many benefits for companies. From greater inventory management to a favorable return on investment, these integrated systems give businesses a complete picture of their clients, while increasing sales and customer satisfaction simultaneously. Having all this visibility into your business will allow you to streamline a good amount of your daily tasks. Seeing the 360 degree view of your company allows you to make better decisions and reduces your communication errors. 2W Tech is a Certified Epicor ERP Consultant and would be happy to help you with your integration needs.
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