With customer data becoming the key to effective consumer engagement tactics in the business world, enterprise resource planning (ERP) is essential for successfully managing your company’s customer focus.
However, you need to know when ERP on its own needs to be integrated with other software for full effectiveness. Here are seven signs that indicate you should seek an ERP integration service:
#1. Worried About Synchronization
The more separate components you have running in your business, the more you have to work there is to keep everything functioning.
It isn’t as big of an issue at first when there are many independent systems and said systems are not overly large yet. However, once things get complicated, you’ll be running back and forth, worrying that something is going wrong somewhere.
That’s when you need to integrate the ERP and other systems together (Quickbooks integration, Netsuite, Marcola, etc.); that way, you just need to focus your attention in one place.
#2. Need Quick Access to Your Data
Just having the data collected from customers isn’t enough for your business to flow smoothly.
Marketing decisions must be made at a rapid pace to keep up with the changing tides of the marketplace, and you can’t wait to find the particular data you’re after.
Under those circumstances, ERP integration speeds up the whole process by streamlining your data under one comprehensive system.
#3. Want Better Mobility
Along with speedy data, you need mobility as well.
Employees should be able to fluidly shift between different areas of your company in real time, even as they are working with customers.
ERP integration gives workers greater mobility by letting them track the various systems under one roof while providing easier access so they don’t stumble moving from one area to the next.
#4. Want to Improve Overall Management
By allowing for more speedy and mobile data access, the management of your company’s vital systems becomes much easier and effective.
For instance, you can use the reduced time constraints to apply proposal generation to the creation of orders without having to shift between CRM and ERP. With integrated systems, your inventory, quote, and other management needs will vastly improve.
#5. Tired of Entering and Copying Data
Enter data, copy that data elsewhere, enter some more data…
After a while, data entry can become tedious. Much of the trouble comes when you have the ERP and other systems like customer relationship management (CRM) as separate systems, forcing you to enter the data individually even when it’s the same stuff over and over. Integrating the systems together saves you that extra hassle.
#6. Think IT and Training is Too Costly
Information technology (IT) and employee training are irreplaceable parts of a business, but unfortunately, they are also often quite expensive both in terms of money and in terms of time spent.
Fortunately, ERP integration can cut down on some of those overheads. With one overall system, you won’t have to spend extra time and money for specialized training and maintenance on individual and separated components.
#7. Want a Full View of Customers
Most of all, the point of ERP is to understand how your consumer base feels and use the data to engage them in your products and services.
The effectiveness of your marketing strategy depends on how much you know about your customers. Data integration tools help ensures that you will have a full, 360-degree vision of customer data by combining all the separate data focus areas into one overall layout.
Take a Step Forward with Integrated Data
It’s not always necessary to integrate your ERP and other systems, but when it becomes apparent that you need to shift your approach to data collection, don’t be afraid to change with the help of data integration tools.
ERP integration offers many benefits that will help your business flourish and grow. If you’re are dealing with one of the issues listed above, integrate your ERP today.
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