ERP or CRM: Comparison and Differences
If you are a business owner, you may have already asked yourself the question of adopting an ERP or a CRM, as part of the management of your activity.
Indeed, these enterprise resource planning and customer relationship management tools now seem inseparable from the expansion of an organization.
It is not for nothing that 49% of companies surveyed consider that all business processes have been improved with the daily use of an ERP (Panorama Consulting, 2018).
So, ERP or CRM: which is the right choice for your company? To fully understand the difference and compare the benefits, we offer you a complete guide here!
ERP or CRM: what’s the difference?
We often talk about ERP and CRM together because they are two software packages intended for business leaders looking for productivity!
These two systems are compatible in the management of a business, one on the side of resource planning (ERP), the other in terms of customer relationship management (CRM).
What is an ERP?
An ERP is a tool that will allow you to group together the operational stages of your business on a single database. In other words, it facilitates access to stocks, orders, but also to the production process and accounting.
The goal is to optimize planning, reduce time-consuming tasks and, ultimately, increase productivity. Major challenges for any business leader, therefore.
An ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) will put its role of planner at the service of business processes, to increase efficiency and limit time-consuming tasks.
CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software acts on the side of marketing management, in particular customer relations.
What are the Benefits of ERP?
The benefits of an ERP are multiple and concern different levels of the company. They target both the optimization of management processes and the homogeneity of information.
Improve efficiency and productivity
The essence of an ERP tool is above all the centralization of information!
Indeed, you work with many customers, all different from each other in terms of constraints, wishes, sensitivity to offers, etc. All this information will be centralized in the ERP tool and made available to all members of the organization who need it.
The information is therefore homogenized at the company level and personalized at the customer level.
All sales representatives have, for example, information specific to a particular customer and can then assess the nature of the offers they are expecting. No more missed opportunities due to lack of information!
In addition, contact management is an important part of the ERP which brings together relevant information scattered in multiple e-mails or Excel files. The time saving is then obvious, as is the quality of customer care in the purchasing process.
An ERP tool also plays a role in inventory management.
Knowing the stock status in real time is useful for analyzing the success of a product, for example, or for planning the restocking of another. Anticipation is often the key to success! ERP makes it possible to analyze and forecast sales, deliveries or destocking.
Lower the costs
Buying ERP software is obviously an investment. And yet, this initial expense will save you money!
Indeed, if you do not opt for ERP software, you will have to equip yourself with accounting software, a solution for customer management, an invoice editor, etc. So many expensive solutions put together, which would however be supported by a single ERP.
In addition, multiplying the software in a company also means multiplying the risks of malfunctions and the use of different technical supports that are more or less efficient and responsive!
We know that this kind of incident seriously affects the productivity of a company…
An ERP ultimately helps companies optimize their operations by streamlining processes. Here, “time is money”. More time to produce, more time to invest or develop other activities!
Improve decision making
To make decisions favorable to his business, the entrepreneur needs precise and reliable information.
Precisely, an ERP allows this. How ? By generating performance indicators, KPIs, such as sales pipeline activity, financial performance or stock levels.
The reliability of the information provided for an ERP tool lies in the compilation of data issued by different sources (customer files, internal studies, social media) in a single location.
The executive therefore has access at a glance to statistics, among others on:
- customer behavior
- total sales
- abandoned shopping carts
- customer loyalty
- inventory status
ERP combines this data for informed decision-making!
The more the data sources are diverse, analyzed and made accessible, the more the business manager can then have a detailed vision of the activity of his supply chain, for example.
In terms of costs, ERP makes it possible to make crucial decisions because it offers the entrepreneur precise monitoring of financial information, particularly in terms of expense management. In addition, because it works in real time, the ERP solution allows the executive to always be in tune with the reality on the ground.
A scalable system
To stick to the economic reality of a company, an ERP must be flexible and scalable.
Thus, it follows the growth of the company in terms of its functionalities and its internal architecture, selecting the most relevant data for your organization at a given time. An ERP is therefore an agile support, which adapts to economic flows and financial resources, always with the goal of growth and productivity!
What is a CRM?
CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software is a tool for centralizing data, for a better understanding and application of customer relationship processes.
It makes it possible to target groups, to trigger campaigns, but also to work on customer loyalty.
Improve customer satisfaction
By analyzing customer data, a CRM helps the company and its teams track buyer interactions and preferences. Finally, this will facilitate problem solving and identify expectations and obstacles to improving customer satisfaction.
It is also a real branding tool for a company, which is then known for the quality of its customer service.
The idea is to listen to buyers, to offer them what they need at the right time so that they have the impression of autonomy in their journey. This is a true self-care solution.
Increase sales and revenue
A good CRM will help you track leads and sales opportunities, making it easier to convert those leads into customers. CRM systems can also help companies perform Upsells, i.e. high value-added upsells, and Cross-Sells, cross-sells.
The CRM also makes it possible to analyze the flow of useful information to set up, for example, marketing automation.
Streamline business operations
Thus, the CRM can automate tasks such as lead generation, contact management, and appointment scheduling. This can free up sales teams from time-consuming tasks, allowing them to focus on sales and customer service.
Optimize decision making
Finally, the flexible and dynamic CRM generates real-time reports on sales pipeline activity, customer interactions and marketing campaign performance.
The entrepreneur therefore has quantified, grouped and analyzed data to support his vision.
This data is valuable because it allows the executive to be in direct contact with the field. This is how the best decisions about sales strategy or marketing can be made.
What are the best ERPs of the moment?
If you wish to equip yourself with an ERP solution, we strongly recommend that you:
Oracle NetSuite
This software can be suitable for all types of activity and shines with its management features for points of sale, warehouses and e-commerce sites, in particular.
Wise 50
Particularly suited to the needs of SMEs, Sage 50 is a precision tool with real dynamic and simple management!
Microsoft Dynamics 365
A very complete ERP system, Dynamics 365 allows you to streamline your finances and your daily operations. Thanks to him, you collaborate effectively and stimulate the growth of your structure.
What are the best CRMs of the moment?
The offer is prolific and finding the best support for your business is not necessarily easy! Here are the best CRM software, which we advise you to discover:
monday
Monday is a perfect CRM to start in customer management. With a very readable dashboard, the tasks are accessible and the flexibility is perfect. An intuitive and reliable solution!
HubSpot
Particularly popular in Inbound marketing strategies, this CRM will suit you if you are looking to develop campaigns and if you think in terms of business strategy. This is surely the best free CRM, providing you with many integrated resources such as online forms or landing page templates.
Salesforce
Cloud-based, Salesforce is the leader in CRM for small and medium-sized businesses looking for growth!
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