Confused Between ERP & CRM? Integrated Both For Quick Results

While ERP and CRM go hand in hand as business solutions that simplify the processes of businesses, this article explains how integrating the former with the organisation’s CRM system can give them returns in the long-run.

Most entrepreneurs are in a fix while deciding whether they first need an ERP software or a CRM solution. While both are great together and happen to be most demanded solutions to aid in business management, they have distinct areas to serve. ERP systems specifically operate to serve the major back-end functions of organisations like finance, purchase, manufacturing, marketing and HR. On the contrary, CRM holistically targets the front-end aspects like customer interactions, custom services support, managing sales pipeline, sales follow up, tracking customer information and leads. So far, most enterprises implement the two systems separately but that puts a strain on their budget. Adhering to this concern, expert Odoo or ERP software consultants suggest businesses integrating ERP with the CRM system and that’s quite advantageous in other ways too. Here’s explained why.

Improves production planning

Integrating the ERP with CRM will help in enhancing the production forecasts and make it more accurate. The operations executive thus could plan the production wisely knowing their exact capability and prevent excessive stocking up of goods in the inventory. In other ways, it also saves up the money that could be used in some other areas.

Streamlined product delivery

Owing to the consistent and smooth flow of data between the two systems, i.e CRM and ERP, businesses always have automatic updates regarding what customers want or what they have ordered. So, this helps companies to ship their products in time, cutting down their costs of operations and providing the customers with great satisfaction.

Improves sales opportunities

When the sales executives of companies get real-time access to customers’ purchase information through the CRM, like their withstanding orders, credit limit, invoices pending payments etc. With complete financial history available with one tap, the salesmen can easily influence the terms of the proposals.

Results in faster closing of leads

The salesmen can approach the prospective customers i.e. follow up the leads faster than before when they’ve got their ERP integrated with CRM. It gives them instant access to the contacts and the interactions that have taken place before, and so they can move the contracts to the process of approval quicker and real-time. They can also allow the customers to sign in on the same day and quick approvals resultantly shorten the billing time.

Thus, the privileges of integrating ERP with the CRM system are many. Besides enhancing the sales opportunities, it helps enterprises to keep up their production as per the prevailing market conditions or demands. There are minimal chances of overproduction and waste of resources. In this era of competition, where companies are vying against each other with prices, optimising production is the best way to cut costs and sell at lower prices while maintaining the profit margins. Also, with the integration, you save up the costs to be incurred in maintaining a discreet CRM and ERP software applications, with two separate teams for operating them.

Alex Forsyth is a senior Odoo consultant in Sydney who is working for Envertis, a trusted Odoo partner and leading services provider of Odoo ERP consultation and implementation in Australia. No matter what businesses you are involved with, he is there to give you a precise custom ERP solution and get it implemented by hands of Odoo developers and experts.