ERP software is short for enterprise resource planning. It’s used to connect and manage a company’s operations and finances. In many cases, ERP is a single source of truth for processes, reports, and data across multiple departments.
A large ERP can integrate different systems and their different data into a unified platform. This provides easy access to data in every department in the organization.
Why use ERP?
Organizations adopt ERP systems for many reasons. They may want to increase their sales or streamline their operations. For example, for small and medium-sized businesses, ERP can reduce decision-making by 35%. An organization considering ERP may also want to reduce costs.
Finance and operations often get the most out of ERP, although all departments benefit from it. A good ERP also offers many benefits in the form of reporting and analysis. As a way to invest in efficiency, ERP allows data analysis and reporting that helps businesses plan, budget, and forecast operations quickly and efficiently.
What is CRM?
CRM, short for customer relationship management, is a platform for managing and maintaining relationships with customers and prospects. Like ERP, CRM is a relational database. Unlike ERP, CRM is designed to help marketing, customer service, and buyers provide the best experience for their customers.
CRM provides an interface and security for everything related to company prospects and customers. This usually includes call logs, text messages, emails, and meeting notes, as well as any related documents, such as quotes and purchase orders. It also serves as a form of project management system related to any customer or prospect.
As you can see, both ERP and CRM software is important for all brands. To get the most out of it, you need to know what type of process is best for a given job, process, or task.
How to choose between ERP and CRM systems?
ERPs and CRMs share the bottom line because they are both designed as a database that provides the same source of truth, although there are clear differences between the two:
- ERP focuses on business operations and finance.
- CRM software focuses on sales processes, customer experience, and contact management.
As you can imagine, all organizations rely on these two tools to do their jobs. That said, if you don’t know where to focus your efforts, the first step is to understand your unique business needs.
Some reasons to choose an ERP solution include:
- Operational Insights: Advanced reporting helps companies identify opportunities and avoid pitfalls.
- Increased efficiency: Automating repetitive tasks can greatly increase productivity and operational efficiency.
- Better supply chain: Successful supply chain management means businesses can predict more quickly and optimize production and inventory management.
You may choose CRM because:
- Sales information: As a database for all your customer relationships, CRM can provide detailed information that can help support salespeople and improve your sales pipeline.
- Increased customer loyalty: Sales professionals can manage existing relationships and build new relationships with potential customers, resulting in customer retention and loyalty.
- Better marketing: Creating a marketing role means that team members can focus on the most important aspects of their marketing, such as the overall marketing strategy.
In an ideal situation, these two tools share the same data center, enabling a strong link between business operations and customer experience. This is exactly why many companies have adopted customized OS Services, such as monday.com.