Top 5 Benefits of Data Integration
Businesses of all sizes want to ride the high tide of digital transformation and disruptive tech. With this, the various departments within the business expand, and oftentimes they each have their own set of software requirements. This results in various software platforms for collecting and managing different data points within these departments.
It all looks good, initially, the new approach to data acquisition. Until it’s not.
Inefficiencies start to creep in.
Siloed data across systems is a problem for your business, and data integration across systems is a smart approach to turn the “boo” of dealing with disjointed systems into a “boom.”
Smart businesses are connected. They use the art of data integration to have a holistic view of the health of their business, top-notch customer satisfaction levels, and make data-driven decisions.
Let’s learn more about why your ERP (accounting and operations software) needs to be integrated with your CRM.
Top 5 Benefits of Data Integration
Saving Time, Effort, and Money
Time is money, and so is the effort invested in tasks that shouldn’t be done manually. How’s your team using time?
You don’t want your teams to waste countless (and billable) hours digging into different systems, trying to find information about a single customer. Manual data entry leaves room for outdated data and errors.
So much so, in a paper published by business professor Raymond R. Panko, he mentions that the probability of errors in manual data entry can be as high as 40%.
This is a massive problem for you and your employees! Integrating your ERP and CRM takes away the chances of errors, saves time and effort, and reduces your expenses.
Have a Single Source of Truth
Siloed data across multiple systems don’t allow the singular view of customer and business data as each system has its own interface and reporting. Hinging the chances of single customer view and real-time reporting: Two of the most important elements for effective business decisions.
Data shows that 64% of customers will jump to a new competitor following a poor customer experience.
By having a single source of truth for all your customer’s data, you can deliver higher customer satisfaction levels through personalization, quick responses, and solutions as your team have the needed information at hand.
And real-time reporting allows you to be proactive and prepare for the future.
As a result – integrating your ERP (Accounting and Operations) with your CRM using Commercient SYNC leads to improved brand image and data-driven decision-making.
Reduce Bottlenecks
Disparate systems lead to slowdowns and inefficiencies. When information is scattered, communication channels between departments are poor, things don’t get done, and more problems are created.
For instance, your finance department is responsible for allocating the budget to your marketing department but is unaware of the last quarter’s marketing budget allocation utilization. Result – the management-approved budget allocation is not optimal and is either less or more than required. Now both departments need to go back and forth – to get the new and accurate budget approved.
Another example: sales are down and salespeople need customer information to find out which customers haven’t placed orders in the last month or quarter, so they can call them and find out why. The problem: the sales department can’t access that data because it’s only in the ERP.
Such delays and unnecessary steps can be avoided if the ERP and CRM systems are connected in the first place. Making integration an important component…to reduce bottlenecks and make efforts in marketing, sales, and customer service departments more effective.
Make your Business Scalable
Integration unleashes the power of automation by removing labor-intensive tasks, like building API connectors, manually performing SQL queries and creating reports.
Data process automation takes away these burdensome tasks and increases scalability. For instance, the manual building of the API connectors takes months to build, leading to extensive delays. The plug and play functionality of integration platforms like the Commercient SYNC takes these away.
Additionally, integrating your systems automates tasks like transforming data for quicker reporting, removing bad or duplicate data, and fetching data from different systems.
Increase Revenue
A connected business means all your departments can work together to achieve more. This collaborative teamwork leads to improved channels of communication and reduces delays and duplication of efforts.
Additionally, the automation of tasks and streamlining of processes exponentially reduce costs by eliminating menial activities. Your sales and other teams can focus on their primary tasks.
And as mentioned above, an integrated system creates a solid brand image which indirectly improves sales. And this integration of your ERP software with your CRM software increases your revenue and profitability by reducing costs.
Integrate Your ERP Data with CRM, and Build a Robust Growth System
Considering these benefits of data integration, you might agree with us that it has a crucial role in smooth and seamless functioning of your business. And to stay ahead of your competitors, you need to stay ahead of the game: That’s what makes data integration important. And a successful integration can be achieved with a specialist like Commercient SYNC. Talk to us today to know more.
