Most organisations have difficulty differentiating between enterprise resource planning systems and a customer relationship management system. The above systems have a lot of things in common but differ in core functionalities.
ERP and customer relationship management are valuable for offering business solutions to improve productivity and revenue. Are you ready to know the difference between the two? Visit this page to compare and contrast enterprise resource planning and customer relationship management systems.
What is all-in-one CRM?
Customer relationship management systems are made to collect, record, and store information concerning customer interactions. Therefore, it is easy to share information throughout the company since it is standardised.
For example, a sales representative can add new information about a certain customer, like conversation notes and contact details if a prospect calls. Later, a marketing person in the same organisation can generate a new and personalised newsletter using the information collected. The only thing they need to do is derive the information from an all-in-one CRM system.
Organisations can easily segment and organize every customer experience provided they are using the right system.
Additionally, the CRM system is capable of:
• Using the sales funnel to nurture prospects
• Creation of sales projections
• Managing invoices and communications.
Advantages of customer relationship management system
• Increase sales
• Offer more customer data accuracy
• Improve efficiency
• Enhance customer relations
Features to execute with customer relationship management
• Identify new leads
• Analyse purchasing patterns
• Offering high-quality customer support
• Manage and automate marketing campaigns
• Automate redundant tasks
• Streamlining sales processes
• Creating data reports
• Managing inventory
What is ERP system
Enterprise resource planning system works by streamlining business operations. Unlike all-in-one CRM that focuses on the organisation’s sales side, the ERP system is implemented and integrated across several departments.
An ERP system will offer you interconnection management of a particular business process at its core. Therefore, you can benefit from standardised customer information flowing throughout every organisation’s department in real-time. When running a small business, you will have enough time to focus on data more than operations. ERP system ensures that the organisation makes fewer errors and improves making better decisions.
Feature to execute with enterprise resource planning system
• Getting alerts about arising issues
• Update accounts
• Creation of enterprise-wide strategies
• Managing payroll, benefits, and employee information
• Entering organisation process data in real-time
• Manage hiring initiatives
• Tracking supply and manufacturing chains
• Process orders
• Services knowledge base
• Improve financial data accuracy
• Distribution process management
• Lower purchase costs
• Reduce redundant tasks
What is the difference between enterprise resource planning and customer relationships management
Both systems use different ways of increasing profitability. ERP is designed to cutting down costs and reduce overhead. ERP improves business processes by reducing the capital spent on the ongoing processes.
On the other hand, a customer relationship management system focuses on increasing profits through generating greater sales volume. Customer relationships are more addressed in a customer relationship management system than in an enterprise resource planning system.
In a nutshell
Both systems are good tools for improving productivity and optimising revenue. However, they have some differences in the purpose they serve. Customer relationship management system focuses on marketing, customer relationships, and sales, whereas ERP offers a comprehensive solution that majors on all front and back-office processes. The best system for your organisation will depend greatly on the investment you are willing to make and the scope of your needs.