An ERP covering 100% of customer relations
What customer relationship management tool do you use? Does it interface with your wider business management software? Is it suited to the way you work? Three fundamental questions to ask yourself when choosing software solutions for your business. All our advice on the use and challenges of ERP is available in the dedicated section.
Integrating CRM with your ERP
ERP and CRM
An ERP - Enterprise Resource Planning - solution is always at the heart of a company's processes. It is the tool used by your teams to enter accounting entries, draw up quotations, prepare invoices, etc., while CRM - Customer Relationship Management - is used more specifically by sales staff.
Adopting the same tool
The point of linking your CRM to your ERP is to unify your teams' working tools. So that your sales staff don't have to work on their own and your support departments - accounting, HR (Human Resources), etc. - don't have to work on theirs. - from theirs. By compartmentalising things in this way, you run the risk of slowing down the flow of information internally.
Encouraging collaborative working
From now on, the various tasks will be carried out using the same tool, and the information will become unique and collective. Let's say one of your sales staff learns that the contact person at a customer's office has changed: Mr X has replaced Mr Y. If he notes this in his CRM tool and forgets to notify the accounts department, the next invoice may be sent to the wrong name. Unless his CRM is integrated with the ERP, any changes he makes will be instantly available to the other departments. In this way, information is shared and updated continuously.
Operational and strategic benefits
Integrating all stages of the sales process
When ERP software includes CRM, it covers the sales chain from A to Z: from pre-sales actions (prospecting, lead generation, canvassing) through to invoicing. On a solution like Fitnet Manager, certain tasks are automated. You can turn a quote into an invoice in just one click. And thanks to the integrated customer file, the solution will automatically send out invoices or send out customer reminders.
Monitor your company's performance
The tool solution has an obvious operational utility, but not the only one. The strategic aspect of business management is also well supported. With Fitnet Manager, the reports generated enable you to assess the company's situation, both financially and commercially. This gives you a real-time view of :
- in value: of your cash flow, or your sales, for example,
- in volume : the number of deals in progress in your pipeline, or the number of sales concluded.
Organisational benefits
Supporting project management
From an organisational point of view, combining ERP and CRM is invaluable, especially if you're working in project mode. With Fitnet Manager, the project management module is integrated with the rest of the solution. So you can monitor both current and future projects from the dashboard.
Streamline work organisation
There's also a direct link to staff schedules. So each project manager has a clear view of the workload and availability of each person. This same data is transmitted via the interface to the HR department, and vice versa. In this way, absences and holidays are known directly to the parties involved, so that the project teams can organise themselves more effectively.
Simple and professional
Adopting the right tool
Small organisations, whether self-employed or SMEs (Small and Medium-sized Enterprises), often make do with tools that are ill-suited to their needs. ERP is generally adopted, but CRM is often overlooked. They make do with Excel, despite its static and non-collaborative features, or they opt for a cut-price CRM.
The profile of service providers
Fitnet Manager is a business solution aimed specifically at organisations such as communications or advertising agencies, design offices or consultancies. By combining a project management approach with ERP and CRM functionalities, the publisher is positioning its software at the heart of the issues faced by these players.
The need to optimise costs
When you're targeting small organisations, you need to adapt your offering accordingly. It would be inconceivable for a company with fifteen or so employees to pay a lot of money for software, however useful it may be. Fitnet Manager meets this expectation, by making its acquisition cost accessible: the prices, adjusted to the number of users, make the offer attractive.
Small and medium-sized organisations, particularly in the service sector, have incompressible needs in terms of ERP, project management and CRM. A solution like Fitnet Manager combines these three aspects to harmonise your internal processes, while enhancing the professionalism of your organisation.
Article translated from French