CRM and ERP Integration
Pen and paper, peanut butter and jelly, peaches and cream—some things just work better together. That’s certainly the case for customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. However, businesses often don’t see the need for a CRM and ERP integration. After all, they’re built for completely different ends of the enterprise—CRM for the front end and ERP for the back end. Wouldn’t integrating these systems just be a waste of time and money?
But those days of conceiving of the back and front offices of the business as unrelated are long gone. More and more, businesses recognize the interconnectivity of every workflow and every process. With this change in approach has come a change in how we utilize data throughout the enterprise to achieve total transparency and connected operations. Rather than waste company resources, software integration increases the return on your IT investments in no time. Today, we describe how integrated ERP and CRM software provides rapid ROI by transforming manufacturing and distribution businesses.
Better Efficiency
An ERP and CRM integration can transform businesses almost instantly by fueling productivity. One major source of inefficiency is manual data entry. No employee enjoys the redundant task of entering datasets by hand. This medial task wastes hours the employee should spend on revenue-generating operations. If that’s not bad enough, your business will undoubtedly experience errors from incorrectly entered datasets.
Integrated systems eradicate this process by enabling access to CRM and ERP data from the same screen. But the benefits of having a central hub for enterprise data go well beyond the removal of manual data entry. Automated real-time data collection and workflows ensure accuracy and streamlined operations. An integrated solution empowers users to easily view every facet of your business, meaning no more toggling back and forth between screens or waiting for emails from coworkers to get critical information. Plus, with mobile functionality, business insights are available on any of your devices to keep users connected even outside of the office.
Better Customer Experience
With ERP and CRM data available anywhere, anytime, businesses can enrich customer experiences. Enterprises gain a truly 360-degree view of customers by enjoying easy access to everything from billing information to buying habits. When salespeople visit clients, they can use mobile devices to find pricing or inventory updates from the ERP system, ensuring clients have the most accurate information. Additionally, automated workflows allow orders to be fulfilled faster, generate automated payment reminders and enable other tasks to be performed instantly.
Customers have higher expectations than ever, making the customer journey more valuable than ever. When businesses personalize customer experiences using integrated data and execute orders to near perfection, they gain a loyal customer base that continuously comes back to purchase more.
Better End-User Adoption
Integrated software may seem like a cumbersome system considering that it encompasses such an impressive array of features and data from multiple applications. However, a connected system will offer a more user-friendly environment than separate platforms.
A software integration allows users to take advantage of new functionality without sacrificing their familiar tools. For example, your accounting department isn’t learning a totally different system; they’re accessing CRM data that has been seamlessly connected with their ERP interface. Furthermore, users will quickly discover the numerous benefits the integration contributes to their daily routines. Employees gain a responsive system that provides full visibility without switching between applications or entering duplicate datasets.
Wrap Up
With an integrated ERP and CRM solution, manufacturers and distributors become stronger than ever. By partnering with Datix, you can receive software expertise and robust integration solutions all in one place. In our 20 years of enterprise software consulting, we have become masters in serving manufacturers and distributors from a number of industries. Unity, our integration platform, connects Epicor ERP with a number of systems, including Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Salesforce. Our certified consultants will quickly install your solution to deliver fast ROI and maximize the value of your ERP and CRM.
Ready to make your enterprise even better? Reach out to Datix today to integrate your software for superior business performance. Plus, be sure to check out our Unity demo to witness its optimal performance for yourself!
