What is a CRM system?
A customer relationship management (CRM) system allows businesses to manage their customer relationships, nurture their leads and process their sales orders effectively. A CRM becomes increasingly important as a business grows and the team has increased volumes to manage, as manual systems and processes can quickly come under strain.
CRM benefits
Single customer view
A CRM allows you to store and organise customer contact details and other relevant information in one centralised, online system.
Automated customer communications
Having customer data in your CRM allows you to automate your sales and marketing communications to them, so you can engage with your customers and leads consistently, professionally and — importantly for your business – efficiently.
Improved customer service
Having a single view of the customer via the CRM means your teams can collaborate effectively and deliver the most streamlined customer experience.
For example, customer service representatives can access live chat histories and support tickets and have a complete history of client interactions so the customer doesn’t have to keep repeating themselves if they need to follow up on an enquiry.
Valuable customer insights
A CRM system increases sales efficiency, strengthening business performance and the customer relationship. By tracking customer and lead actions, the CRM is a mine of valuable data. Authorised users can pull off reports to dive into this detail and understand customer behaviour, sales trends and how your business’ sales and marketing efforts are performing overall.
What is an ERP system?
An enterprise resource planning (ERP) system is business management software that can be customised to fit the specific needs of different companies and industries. The primary goal of an ERP system is to digitalise and connect different parts of the business to improve visibility, streamline and automate processes, improve efficiency and enhance decision making.
An ERP may be modular in design and include a CRM, but may also offer other functionality.
Tip: MYOB Acumatica offers an integrated CRM feature, so you can get the most value out of your ERP investment.
MYOB Acumatica also offers features for:
reporting and more.
ERP benefits
Centralised information and processes
With an ERP, there’s one underlying database that contains all a company’s financial and operational data. This means managers don’t need to deal with the data silos and discrepancies that happen when information and processes are in different systems. Managers just need to update data in one place, and it’ll replicate through the system.
Improved efficiency and productivity
With company data accessible from a single sign-on, employees can quickly retrieve the information they need to do their jobs. By increasing efficiency, staff can get more out of each day.
What’s more, an ERP allows you to automate a wide range of business processes. This helps ease the administrative load for employees, while ensuring day-to-day workflows are fast, accurate and compliant.
Faster decision-making
An ERP is a treasure trove of business data. As such, most ERPs offer a range of business reports out of the box. You can also often customise your dashboard, so you see data that’s specific to your role. Having real-time data on your dashboard allows managers to make fast, informed decisions and respond quickly to changes in the market or new business opportunities.
Reduce risk
An ERP reduces risk by improving data accuracy and providing managers with increased visibility across the organisation. By automating key business processes, you can make sure they’re performed reliably every time, and that fraud checks and other risk management strategies are never overlooked.
ERP vs CRM: Which is right for your business?
Whether a comprehensive ERP or a CRM is right for your business depends on many factors, including your current pain points, long-term needs and the investment that you’re able to make.
Similarities between ERP vs CRM
As sophisticated, modern software there are some similarities between the two systems:
Cloud-hosting
Both ERPs and CRMs are available as cloud-based solutions. This means customers access their software and data via a software-as-a-service (SaaS) subscription. The software vendor hosts and maintains the software, so the customer doesn’t need to do this themselves.
Process automation
Both systems can automate critical business processes to improve efficiency, productivity and performance. A CRM can automate sales and marketing communications, sales tracking and service management. An ERP can automate financial management, payroll, inventory tasks, reporting and more.
Customisation and flexibility
Both systems can be customised to meet specific business needs and workflows. This makes them adaptable across industries. They can also be integrated with other systems to meet a business’ wholistic software requirements.
Differences between ERP vs CRM
Here are a few differences between the systems to consider:
Scope and functionality
The main difference between an ERP system and a CRM system is that an ERP is built to meet an organisation’s holistic operational needs. A CRM, on the other hand, is specialised software for managing client relationships and sales and marketing efforts.
It’s important to be clear on what you need in your software so you’re not paying for features and functionality that you won’t get full value from.
Implementation costs
An ERP implementation can be complex and cost significantly more than a CRM implementation. However, by bringing your business onto one integrated platform, you can increase efficiency, lift productivity and grow your business effectively.
As a result, it’s important to consider the projected return on investment alongside the total cost of ownership for each software system.
Integrations
With an ERP, additional modules are available out-the-box so you can add on to your platform when you’re ready. This saves you the time, effort and expense of going out to market to curate a tech stack.
Conversely, it may be expensive and complicated to integrate a best-in-class CRM with existing company systems or applications you may choose to integrate in the future.
Software vendors
With an ERP, there's one software vendor who has expertise across your platform. Conversely, with a CRM, you’ll have a specific software vendor that may differ from those responsible for your other company systems.
Consider how many vendors you want to deal with, and whether there are advantages in having one software vendor who knows your entire platform inside out.
ERP vs CRM implementation
As a CRM is less complex software than an ERP, it’s usually quicker and cheaper to implement. However, an ERP may better meet your needs and provide a stronger return on investment. If you’re looking to implement either system, some best practices include:
working with an experienced software vendor
engaging the right internal stakeholders
detailing your software requirements
carefully reviewing your system design documentation
testing the solution thoroughly
training and supporting users
maintaining a close relationship with your customer success manager.
Working with an experienced partner can help you mitigate implementation risk.
ERP with CRM: The platform for you
With a cloud ERP like MYOB Acumatica, you don’t need to choose between an ERP and a CRM.
With MYOB Acumatica, you can design the solution that’s right for you, adding features and scaling up as your business grows and your needs evolve.
Find out more about MYOB Acumatica and its CRM – arrange a demo today.
Disclaimer: Information provided in this article is of a general nature and does not consider your personal situation. It does not constitute legal, financial, or other professional advice and should not be relied upon as a statement of law, policy or advice. You should consider whether this information is appropriate to your needs and, if necessary, seek independent advice. This information is only accurate at the time of publication. Although every effort has been made to verify the accuracy of the information contained on this webpage, MYOB disclaims, to the extent permitted by law, all liability for the information contained on this webpage or any loss or damage suffered by any person directly or indirectly through relying on this information.