Convince Your C-Suite: 5 Reasons For CRM ERP Integration

So you’ve gone through the long slog of implementing both CRM and ERP systems in your business, and come out alive on the other side. However, you’re not quite seeing the ROI you expected and data is getting lost and corrupted in the shuffle between the two systems. Integrating data processing and input fields between your ERP and CRM seems like the way to go, but you come to find your company’s big decision makers won’t sign off on a project that just adds more money on top of the cost it took to implement the software. It’s not surprising after all—there’s going to be an instinctual pushback to any project that seems like it’s going to cost time and money, and for an endeavor your C-Suite might not necessarily understand the true benefits of. Yet, it’s critical that you convince the decision makers at your company that CRM and ERP integration is a vital tool for business growth and enterprise transparency. The project can do so many things for your business’ ability to both serve customers and drive profits, it’s only a matter of laying out all of the benefits of enterprise integration for your C-Suite to truly convince them to sign off on the project.

So, bust out these 5 reasons for CRM ERP integration in your next meeting, and your company’s executives will have a hard time turning your company’s next integration project down.

Supercharged Sales

Although such a project can be easily affordable, the price of connecting CRM and ERP might have some executives turning their noses up at any check—why spend any more money on enterprise software that has already cost a good amount? You have to let them know that an integration project won’t hurt the bottom line in the long run, and in fact will help your sales team work smarter, faster and harder than ever. With access to inventory levels, production times and data-backed delivery dates, the sales team can close deals on-site, or wherever they can access that ERP data. Base your integration in the cloud, and all of this data will be available to them on their mobile devices.

When you start thinking in terms of the functionality and mobility, the reasons for CRM ERP integration multiply. Compared to the initial investment in ERP or CRM systems the price of integration is minimal, and the returns you will see are incomparable.

Total Enterprise Transparency

When you integrate ERP with CRM data, a whole new world of enterprise transparency opens up. Because it fosters greater communication between your company’s back office and your sales team, the integration project will naturally improve productivity and collaboration across the organization. Every employee gets a greater insight into how their task impacts others on the team, and departments work together for the customer rather than in inefficient isolated solos.

If that kind of jump in connectivity and communication isn’t enough, let your top executives know that with CRM ERP integration, they will understand better than ever what is happening at every level of the business and be able to drill down into the details of production and processes at the click of the few buttons. Whether they need this information for performance reviews, important stakeholders or an audit; your executives will have a hard time saying no to that kind of information.

Streamlined Production

Another one of the many cost-cutting reasons for CRM ERP integration, partly stemming from the aforementioned increase in company transparency and partly from growth in process efficiency and the speed at which every business process can now be carried out. Instead of working in between two systems and going back and forth for the information on an order date and client/sales history, all data is stored on one platform. Decisions will be made faster, backed by the actionable data needed to drive them through to success.

Another one of the biggest reasons for CRM ERP integration that employees love? No more double entry of data! Double-entry of client and transaction information into multiple enterprise systems is arduous, often pointless and mind-numbing. It’s also one of the biggest opportunities for mistakes and corrupted data within your technology infrastructure. Avoid this costly time-waster and watch as employees have more time to focus on mission-critical tasks. Both morale and revenue will go up; your executives won’t be able to resist that kind of improvement!

Cleaner Data Guaranteed

Clean, accurate data is a precious to your executive board and the entire company. It’s what your business needs to drive production, close sales and follow up with clients who could become valuable repeat customers. Reporting is a crucial function provided in both systems—imagine if you could generate just one report from the combined ERP and CRM information; a single source of truth with actionable data to drive processes across the business. With the accuracy that an integration can provide through the reduction of double entry and the pooling of all necessary data into one critical system, reducing the mistakes that arise from disparate entry methods and best practices across systems and departments.

After all, one of the reasons you implemented ERP and CRM software in the first place was the access the software provides to a whole wealth of data on your operations and customers. Remind your C-suite of this, and they’ll want to ensure the integrity of this priceless information.

Seamless Stock Control

If you’re looking for a way to get a tighter hold on your inventory and your production lines, look no further than ERP and CRM integration. ERP may allow you an overview of your stock levels, excess inventory and KPI when it comes to your shop floor, but without the help of CRM data, you only get half of the picture. Your front-office and sales team form a crucial link in your supply chain—and every link in that chain should have an effect on the way you handle your inventory. Demand forecasting and purchase

If you deal in perishable items or manufacturing parts that eventually run their course and need to be replaced, consider the power that fusing customer purchase history with your inventory data can truly hold. By tracking when and what clients buy, you’ll know exactly when they will be in the market for a replacement part or a service, and can be in front of the client offering up your services before your competitors can ever get their foot in the door. You’ll know exactly what needs to be produced, and when—leaning out your stock and moving you towards greater efficiency than ever; just one of the many attractive reasons for CRM ERP integration.

Wrap Up

Sometimes, even with pages and pages of proven benefits and all the reference calls you can find, projects can get pushback—especially if it seems like it wouldn’t be necessary for a business’ survival. If you run into this kind of roadblock, consider implementing a short pilot project to truly show off everything CRM ERP integration can do for your company.

Not only will a successful pilot project convince your C-Suite of the necessity of integration, it will also bring around your whole organization to the many time-saving and cost-cutting reasons for CRM ERP integration. When they see just how much easier the change will make their day-to-day tasks, software adoption will be a cinch. After all, with the results right in front of them, how can your co-workers and team members not want to achieve the kind of growth and ROI that enterprise integration can provide?

If you want advice on how to get started on your own ERP and CRM integration, get in touch with an expert consultant at Datix today! We offer Datix Unity, a pre-built and managed application for Epicor and Dynamics or Salesforce, or can work with you to customize an integration project that suits your unique business needs and processes. Just drop us a line; we can help!

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