ThoughtSpot - The Digittori Blog

Business owners constantly look for ways to improve efficiencies and protect hard-to-earn profit margins. 

Often, manufacturing and distribution companies bank on an ERP initiative to achieve that. Sure, an ERP creates efficiencies by managing core operations like financials, supply chain and manufacturing.

So with an ERP in place, your business excels at fulfilling orders efficiently—on time, and on budget. But what about ensuring there are enough (and profitable) orders to fulfill in the first place?

That brings us to demand generation. And it's not covered by an ERP.

Before you fulfill orders efficiently, you also need to generate new ones strategically. Achieving business growth requires transforming demand-creation processes to enhance productivity and keep your sales pipeline populated with high-converting leads that promise revenues.

A specialized Sales, Marketing & Service Management platform transforms demand generation processes and gives your teams the visibility and business intelligence to forecast demand and therefore meet demand successfully, winning you repeat orders and sustain customer loyalty.

Read on as we discuss these aspects and appreciate why it is just as important to transform and automate customer-centric functions as it is to optimize operational workflows for business efficiency.

We'll also talk about how seamlessly integrated workflows between a customer-centric CRM and an operations-oriented ERP can be the magic bullet to supercharge your business.  

Are You Missing a Crucial Piece of the Puzzle?  

Implementing an ERP is a resource-intensive IT program for an organization. Undoubtedly an ERP is a valuable IT asset and a successful implementation brings a host of benefits to both business stakeholders and end-users. However, many senior executives and managers find their enthusiasm for the new ERP platform waning within a few months. Why does this happen?

Was the choice of the ERP platform to blame or how it was implemented? Is it the way their employees are using it (or not using it!), or is it that an ERP is not a magic bullet—contrary to popular belief(!)—that can transform all organizational processes?

Maybe you need something more.

And that's where a CRM fits into the picture.

Today, there are specialized CRM-based platforms that orchestrate a suite of tools that focus on productivity and efficiency in customer-centric tasks.

CRM and ERP: Transforming Both Front-facing & Back-office Processes

A CRM transforms and controls processes related to the front office—that is, any processes that involve some engagement or interaction with customers, directly or indirectly. This includes marketing, sales and customer service.

ERP software supports processes carried out by the back office, or departments that don't interact directly with customers, such as purchasing, shop floor, logistics and warehousing, and finance.

Specialized CRM platforms focus on customer-related functionality and bring customer-centricity to your organizational processes—which is a crucial aspect of maturing your product (or service) offerings and building a loyal, delighted customer base.  

Moreover, a CRM stores and manages customer interactions and data throughout the customer life cycle, so you get a broader, long-term view of customer interactions.

Here's a handy list of just some of the workflows handled by advanced CRM platforms:

CRM-based Marketing Automation Tools

• Generate quality leads and nurture them intelligently using tools to create high-conversion landing pages, email templates and paid ads.
• Segment leads into separate lists using relevant attributes collected in the CRM database.
• Set rules to automate lead scoring so the highest quality leads are processed on priority.
• Automate lead distribution for efficiency and prevent lead leakage.
• Share lead engagement metrics between marketing and sales, so that you can focus on the most engaged prospects first.
• Get integrated marketing analytics dashboards with metrics such as landing page conversion rates, and email, social and ad campaign reports without monitoring multiple tools or separate spreadsheets.
• Streamline sales handover of MQLs (Marketing Qualified Leads).

CRM-based Sales Productivity Suite

• Automate lead pipeline for increased sales productivity.
• Get real-time views of leads at each stage of the sales funnel.
• Make personalized offers to prospects and repeat customers based on data-driven sales intelligence.
• Create quotations on the fly and maintain standardized product and pricing information, discounts and promotional offers across your sales team.
• Create and automate deal workflows and get customer behaviour intelligence that allows you to manage the sales cycle more efficiently and close deals faster.

CRM-based Customer Experience Platform

• Create a high-recall, positive experience at each customer touchpoint.
• Use advanced reports to find the most effective channels to reach customers where they are: email, phone, social media, chat, etc.
• Automate service tasks and digitize workflows between chatbots, live agents, and email inboxes.
• Manage high-volume tickets with automated ticket management tools for faster query resolution.
• Create extensive knowledge bases and product information guides to provide customers with quick self-help tools.

Addressing these front-facing or customer-related processes is vital as it affects your organization's ability to manage demand later on in operational workflows.

(And guess what happens if you can't fulfill demand or meet a customer's expectations?! )

A Connected Enterprise: Integrating CRM and ERP

An ERP ensures production processes are in place to keep products in stock at the right time and at the right price.

A CRM provides you with valuable, data-backed insights into customer behaviour and preferences allowing you to make customer-centric decisions which contribute to business growth.  

Together, ERP and CRM solutions provide you with a holistic view of your business - from customer behaviour insights to internal operations and right up to customer feedback.

Integrating these two powerful systems gives your business the competitive edge you need to thrive in today's dynamic marketplace.

For example:

Industrial manufacturers, contractors, and OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) with material-intensive supply chains rely on pre-bid engineering accuracy to build BoMs (Bill of Materials), which are then used to estimate material and effort costs.

Operations need to collaborate & review the BoMs for the sales teams, and the appropriate quantities of material must be reserved based on the probability of winning the deal (as recorded in the Sales CRM).

PRO TIP:

Many customers ask: Can I use the CRM module provided by my ERP software?

Sure you can. But most ERPs have very basic CRM modules (often not more than a simple contact database) to store contact info about your clients (even a spreadsheet can do that!) This module probably does not have the business-essential functionality that an advanced, specialized CRM platform offers. What truly supercharges your business is end-to-end intelligence from demand creation to order fulfillment and down to customer satisfaction.

Streamlining Workflows From Lead to Delivery

Integrating an ERP and CRM streamlines workflows for your sales team. Digitized workflows avoid manual errors and finally result in a better customer experience. Sales reps can quickly generate quotes directly within the CRM, and once a Purchase Order is received, a Sales Order can be generated and fed into the ERP for accurate order fulfillment.

Sounds good on paper. But how does this really change things for your sales team on the ground?

Let's see.

Imagine one of your sales team members is in the middle of a crucial client discussion.

Things are going well, and your sales rep wants to quickly check on past orders placed by this customer in order to make a compelling new offer. An advanced CRM stores past orders and preferences of all customers, their buying patterns not ignoring payment patterns and pending dues as revenue recognition is the other side of the same coin.

If the sales rep wants a quick check on the latest discounts and offers available to him to structure a winning deal on the fly. Sure, he can go back to the office and send more information later. But with a powerful CRM, he can log in on his mobile, fetch the information immediately and fire out his proposed deal, making it faster and more effective.

To close deals more efficiently your sales reps must have up-to-date information during customer interactions, not afterward.

Let's look at another scenario:

An industrial goods distributor wants to know which specification-driven items need to be newly ordered to avoid stock-outs or which parts need to be sourced immediately in order to fulfill firm demand later in the quarter. In other words, sourcing teams need visibility into projected demand (which may not yet have been confirmed with a Purchase Order). With this foresight, they can plan procurement of parts to keep lead times to the minimum and optimize inventory in stores to avoid excessive revenue lock-ins.

Forecasting demand accurately helps you avoid stock-outs and maintain optimal inventory to fulfill demand in time.    

Similarly, integrated workflows and seamless data exchange also provide valuable insights for marketers. A specialized Marketing CRM enriches information available for marketers for pinpointed targeting in their campaigns. They can use data about a customer's buying patterns and preferences (from the ERP's confirmed demand information) as well as their feedback (from the Service CRM) for advanced targeting.

Conversely, you can also use marketing campaign data and profile information about MQLs (Marketing Qualified Leads) to optimize inventory levels and pre-plan production schedules in your ERP, ensuring you have the right products in stock to meet predicted customer demand.

Do I need an ERP or a CRM?
A CRM and an ERP are not mutually exclusive.

Each serves its own purpose and has its unique functions. And businesses may not be making a smart choice by trying to replace one with the other.

What stage is your business at? Early-stage businesses or start-ups may need more of a boost in demand generation activities rather than streamlining or scaling up manufacturing or order fulfillment processes. A Sales CRM is more effective at that stage. A mature business wants to sustain growth levels and forecast demand accurately. A Sales CRM is a great addition to an existing ERP that provides operational efficiency for such companies.

To put it in other words, if your company goals center around streamlining your production, financial and inventory management, an ERP system may be essential. 

What are your organizational goals? If your goals revolve mainly around closing more sales, encouraging repeat business, sustaining growth, and building long-term customer relationships, then a specialized Sales & Service CRM will do the job for you.

PRO TIP:

Some companies may in fact not need a full-scale ERP. If their business goal does not center around operational efficiency but around identifying and engaging with prospective customers, then a CRM is a good choice. They can use the product inventory module in a specialized Sales CRM (such as HubSpot Sales Hub) to forecast demand and provide intelligence to operations teams to prepare for large upcoming orders, knowing the exact price and helping them plan their purchasing and manufacturing to fit into the project budget and timelines.

Customer Centricity Vs Streamlining Operations: Why Choose One Over the Other?

No matter what your business is, your focus must be on your customers.

We've heard the debate over whether you need an ERP or a CRM hundreds of times over.

Beyond striving for operational efficiencies, can we eye more in terms of business intelligence?

Before you rule out a CRM because you already have an ERP—think again. Consider how you can leverage the benefits of these two systems together to create and manage demand, achieve efficiencies, improve productivity, and win customer loyalty.  

What to learn more? Digittori has a strong background and capabilities in both ERP and CRM. We'd be happy to discuss how you can leverage your business data for sales enablement and equip your operational teams with visibility into sales data for better order fulfillment.

Let's talk about how we can create seamless and collaborative digital workflows to turn your business into a high-performing, efficient digital enterprise.

Connect with Digittori for a consultation call today >