How to Automate Workflows With a CRM And ERP Integration

In order to get the most out of your ERP and CRM’s, automating workflows would work best through the seamless integration of data between your ERP and CRM. To be able to elaborate on this, we need to discuss and gain a better understanding of what ERP and CRM’s have to offer your business, by providing examples of ERP and CRM data integration, and how to automate workflows.

Let’s define what is an ERP and CRM Software:

ERP stands for enterprise resource planning, ERP systems deal with financial data, supply chain management, and payroll. Businesses need an ERP system to assist in lowering costs and increasing revenue by having their communications and business functions consolidated. ERP systems are there to prevent repetition, arrange pricings, and assist teams in speaking to each other. To summarise, the ERP system looks at all aspects of a company. 

Examples of ERP systems in action:

• It updates accounts and processes orders;
• Manages employees on payrolls that deal with benefits, income, and stores personal information about employees;
• You can track any manufacturing processes and create alerts for every phase of the process;
• Supply chain management that consists of manufacturing, distribution and purchasing; and
• You are able to track processes in and across departments.

There are about 85+ ERP’s and some examples are, Sage, Quickbooks, Acumatica and Netsuite to name a few.

On the other hand, you have CRM systems – customer relationship management systems deal with the interaction between potential and current customers, ensuring they enjoy their experience. It’s all about delivering a service that is timely, reliable, and consistent because if that can be delivered, the business will have more of a chance of having customers that are loyal, and that will increase sales. Therefore, CRM systems are mainly used for customer service, sales, and marketing departments. 

To illustrate CRM systems in action:

• Assist in high-quality customer support;
• Streamlining the process for sales;
• The response time will be more efficient;
• Leads and opportunities can be pursued more effectively; and
• You can draw up reports to analyze how the customer interacts with the business and their purchasing pattern. 

Some examples of leading CRM systems Salesforce, Hubspot, Sugar CRM, Zoho, and Microsoft Dynamics 365.

Data Integration and workflow automation

Every business would like to streamline their data, in order for day-to-day processes to be more efficient so they can deliver expedited service to customers. If you have a separate ERP and CRM system without them being integrated into one system, it becomes tedious and hard to manage, and not only that, you will have to keep track of when to synchronize all the data. The workflow of data will become slower and there are more risks of running into numerous errors.

Data integration between your ERP and CRM has numerous advantages, as your business will be able to share one database between all employees, which means the following: 

• 360-degree view of customers and products;
• Employees can access information at a faster rate;
• Avoid manual data entry and the risk of duplications;
• There will be better inventory, order, and quote management;
• Better quality control; and
• Better mobility meaning employees can collaborate easier and faster.

But, now how does ERP and CRM integration play a role in automating workflows?

Well, workflow automation is a logical method of automating any manual task or work for an employee or worker and consists of knowing what tasks employees or workers do and automating them through technology. By integrating your ERP and CRM data, you have already created a ground for workflow automation. It is ideal for any business because it helps with;

• Data accuracy;
• Avoidance of manual data entry by employees;
• Productivity; and
• Efficiency. 

But how can one integrate their data to automate workflows?

Commercient SYNC makes data integration simple and user-friendly. Information is made available on a platform accessible to all employees. Through SYNC, data is transferred from your ERP to your CRM and from your CRM to your ERP and stored according to the business needs. Through this, Commercient assists in automating workflow because once the two platforms have been SYNC’ed, there will be a streamlined workflow that eliminates unnecessary work and your employee’s productivity will increase. Unlike traditional data integration tools such as an ETL, there is no coding, mapping, or server required through Commercient. Here is a video to prove it.

Contact us today and get your department’s workflows automated with SYNC!