Mistakes to avoid when linking CRM and ERP software

11/17/2011 at 12:38 pm by The Sage ERP Team

The fusion of enterprise resource planning and customer relationship management software is an important one and shouldn’t be taken lightly. After all – few commercial applications have the ability to unite the disparate elements of a company in such a way that front office and behind the scenes workers are operating in perfect harmony.

However, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t some pitfalls when it comes to implementing these two systems at the same time, linking existing applications or bringing one program into the fold after the other’s been in place for some time. Most of the problems that this kind of situation can result in often involve miscommunication or misunderstandings of the abilities of these types of software. Here are some road bumps to be aware of when going down the road of synergistic business software adoption.

Avoiding a vendor
The bottom line when it comes to business software is that vendors know more than almost anyone that might work for a particular enterprise. After all – if they knew so much about the intricacies of ERP or CRM solutions, they’d probably have a job with the vendor themselves. Consequently, executives and planners should always listen to the advice of vendors when it comes to choosing an ERP system that complements their CRM software, even if they feel the need to take that advice with a grain of salt.

Ignoring business plans
Technological changes necessarily require operational updates. Failing to do this, even for the most mundane alterations, can reduce a fair amount of an organization’s efficiency and automation. Even companies that already have both enterprise resource planning and customer relationship management programs in place should account for the fact that their employees can now communicate more effectively by reflecting this in standardized practice documents.

Not connecting employees
It is well and good that united CRM and ERP software can help workers stay in touch with each other and make tasks easier, but it is important to make sure that staff members behind the scenes and in the front of house are comfortable with one another. After all – collaboration is much more effective when people can put faces to names and are able to develop something approaching personal relationships.

Overlooking clients
At the end of the day, enterprises need to be sure that their decisions are both lower costs and helping to provide a higher level of service to their employees. Linking ERP and CRM programs helps customers more than any other group of people, so make sure that updated processes reflect this. Increased efficiency and automation are important, but they should always be in service of helping clients and consumers.