Why Combine ERP and CRM Systems?

Providing outstanding customer experiences at every stage of the customer journey is now expected by customers rather than only a differentiation. Customer satisfaction is more likely when every customer encounter or touchpoint is optimized. However, businesses find it difficult to maintain satisfied clients without access to integrated data.
Creating smooth customer journeys requires the integration of enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM) technologies. Earlier, we covered CRM integration and ERP integration in different sections. Let's now examine the advantages of integrating CRM with ERP software for your company.

CRM versus ERP :-

The core technology for customer involvement is a CRM. Its responsibility is to oversee customer interactions and customer lifecycle business processes. Salesforce, Adobe, Microsoft Dynamics, and SugarCRM are just a few of the several CRM systems available.
Sales, marketing, supply chain management (SCM), and other revenue-related business operations are all made more efficient by an ERP system. ERP and the financial system (accounting, invoicing, and financial reporting) are frequently used interchangeably. Business intelligence (BI), CRM, material needs planning (MRP), and human resource planning are some of the other modules it can offer, though. Workday Financials, SAP S/4HANA, Oracle NetSuite, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Epicor, and Sage are a few examples of ERP systems
Data essential to a company's expansion and success is stored in both CRM and ERP systems. Each application's data has historically stayed in silos, meaning it is not readily available or automatically shared with other apps.
Each and every organization needs data. Faster, better, and more individualized customer experiences are made possible by the strategic competitive edge that comes from integrating CRM and ERP systems. Salespeople who have instant access to the inventory, for example, may fulfill sales orders more quickly and give customers a better shopping experience.

Points of Integration for CRM ERP :-

Your business processes can be automated and streamlined with the use of a CRM ERP integration architecture that synchronizes common points of data. Typical integration points include the following:

• ERP account data and customer contact information stored in CRM

• Quotes from ERP systems that are linked to the CRM that your sales team wants

• ERP-stored client sales data that is synchronized with a CRM to forecast customer requirements

• Sales teams can check account payment statuses by connecting CRM and ERP, and they can get integrated ERP data on pricing and inventory.

Sync CRM and ERP contact and account data :-

While the ERP contains customer and account information connected to invoicing, shipping, and payment, the CRM contains lead and customer contact information relevant to sales orders. By synchronizing these points, you may avoid redundancy and maintain accurate contact and account information.

Access order and quote data from CRM and ERP systems :-

Although sales personnel need access to the quotations and prefer to work from a single system, the CRM, sales quotes typically originate in the ERP system. Sales staff typically enter sales orders into the CRM, while the ERP is in charge of managing the orders, creating invoices, completing orders, and shipping goods. Accurate bids and orders are maintained by integrating data between your CRM and ERP systems.

Use your ERP's sales order history in a CRM :-

Businesses utilize artificial intelligence (AI) to forecast future purchases, and sales order history is a useful source of information. The ERP often contains the history of booked invoices, thus in order for sales people to access the data, those records need to be synchronized with the CRM. Check the status of account payments from both the ERP and CRM.
The process of converting a sales quote into cash is known as payment. The ERP contains payment information. A sales associate can assist with collections if the CRM has access to your payment information.

Give product, quote, pricing, and inventory information to sales teams :-

An ERP frequently contains product quotations, prices, and inventory. Salespeople must have access to the data for a variety of purposes, including customer proposals and product availability. Integrating product data in your ERP with the CRM facilitates the sales process because they must also notify customers of order status.

Major obstacles to CRM and ERP integration :-

Is it possible to connect CRM with ERP? Indeed. Achieving a smooth CRM and ERP connection, however, is frequently difficult because CRM and ERP were created to accomplish different tasks. These are only a handful of them.

Lack of IT resources :-

Large projects needing IT resources and tools are frequently created by the intricacies and distinctions between ERP and CRM systems. Slow implementations may result from this. CRM and ERP systems' complexity
The complexity of ERP and CRM integration derives from the sheer number of systems involved. Generally speaking, an ERP ecosystem consists of various integration tools, cloud apps, SaaS solutions, and legacy on-premises ERPs. CRMs have their own ecosystem of apps, most of which are cloud-based. To integrate outside of its ecology, each calls for specialized knowledge.

Lack of data consistency and data silos :-

You can't get the most out of your systems because of data silos. Due to factors including data duplication from human data entry, a lack of data standardization, or mergers and acquisitions, data from several systems frequently lacks consistency. Custom-coded legacy integrations.
Some businesses use bespoke code to build legacy point-to-point interfaces. It might have been the quickest and least expensive method of handling integrations at the time. But over time, proprietary coding limits scalability and extensibility.

How ERP and CRM Systems Can Be Integrated :-

The difficulties of integrating CRM and ERP can be overcome with the aid of an integration platform as a service (iPaaS). The cloud-based iPaaS solutions of today are utilized for a variety of purposes, including API publication, on-premises integration, data integration, B2B ecosystem integration, and application integration.
An API integration platform that offers connectivity, workflow design, data mapping and transformation, and an integration lifecycle is typically the foundation of these systems. Most link to widely used CRMs and ERPs.
Enterprise-class iPaaS systems can offer the high availability, disaster recovery, security, and other features that businesses need, and they facilitate connectors that let businesses create and maintain their own integrations without requiring costly expert services.