Should CRM and ERP systems be integrated
This question arises on the agenda in almost all companies that have implemented a CRM system.
To talk about the feasibility of the introduction of CRM-systems, as such, I will not here. Especially since I have a separate post on my account. We will proceed from the fact that you have already implemented a CRM system.
After a very short period of time that has passed since the end of a successful implementation of a CRM system, the company’s management begins to understand not that the uselessness of introducing this very CRM system, but rather to feel that “the suit is too small.” That is, the company, after the introduction of the CRM system, gets into a situation where you are on a decent (and sometimes not very) car start driving on asphalt and, very quickly, the road rests against the forest and it’s unclear where to go next.
')
Indeed, in essence, CRM is only the very beginning of the business chain. Getting started with the client. What to do next? After all, the chain has just begun. Well, well, you brought a client, well, formed an order, well, let's say even an invoice was issued. What's next? Further payment, money, purchases, warehouse, delivery, God forbid production, etc. I'm not talking about all sorts of agreements, acts, invoices and other important documents and processes.
The company quickly comes to understand that it is impossible to work like this. It's one thing when the company has not only a CRM system, but no system at all, and everyone works in the usual (and, unfortunately, familiar) informational mess and chaos, no matter how ridiculous it may look. And it is quite another thing when you have a small piece of business processes all the same decently automated by the very CRM system. Terribly annoying when the part is well resolved, and then again chaos. Terribly, I don’t want to use so many familiar products for informational support of business processes, called “excitemaylokordoskaipotelefonokurilka”.
And here you come to understand that you need to move on and make sure that all business processes, and not just their beginning, are somehow “laid out”. What to do is understandable. Implement some product that can do it. Let's call these products ERP-systems. There is no sense in deciphering an abbreviation, not so much because everyone already knows, but because this abbreviation has become just a common name and does not need decoding at all. As a copier (Xerox) in Russia. Everyone knows that this is the machine that makes the copies.
After the choice of the ERP system is made, a new headache comprehends you - what to do with the CRM system, to which you are so reverent. After all, several months were spent on its implementation (and sometimes not only months). You can’t just throw it out (although I personally recommend this when it comes to ERP implementation). Therefore, you are asking ERP implementers to integrate their product with your CRM system. Some who are more intelligent refuse, and some who are afraid of losing a client agree.
And here begin dances with tambourines and attempts to cross a crocodile with a hippopotamus. I'm not saying that it’s impossible to cross a crocodile with a hippo, but this is simply due to "some" difficulties.
The difficulties will be not only technical, but also ideological.
Well, here are the simplest examples:
You brought in the client's CRM system. Now this entry should “go” to ERP. But what a nuisance it is necessary - when a customer enters a certain field in the ERP system, it is mandatory to fill in, and there is simply no similar field in the CRM system. But this is not even a problem, but a minor nuisance.
Solving the problem of multi-format data is much more difficult. When in one system the field is numeric, and in the other the field is text. Or, for example, with addresses. For example, in the CRM system, the client's address is entered in plain text into one field. And in the ERP system, the addresses are strictly structured, where the street, city, and country are selected from reference books. You can of course agree with the managers so that they enter the address in the CRM system in the following order: first an index, then a comma, then a space, then a city, then again a comma, etc. But I do not believe in such a discipline of managers. So you have to rake this comment in search of the street, the city and the country. And, of course, reap the benefits of various "interpretations" of city names and weights.
What will turn some of the directories in the ERP-system as a result of the joint work of these two products, also easy to assume. For example, a directory of posts. If in the CRM-system the position of a contact person is not chosen from the directory, then in the ERP system, soon even a plunger will not help you to clean the directories.
And if the client changed in the ERP-system? This, after all, should now be reflected in the CRM system, right? This means that integration should be full-fledged, two-way. And close to on-line. You will not wait until tomorrow until the name changes.
You called the client, you brought him to the CRM-system. And you need him to deliver his cargo right now. You “spud” this client for half a year. And it is necessary such a nuisance to happen that integration, unfortunately, broke today because of the installation of a new version of the CRM system yesterday. This new version, unfortunately, turned out to be incompatible with the place responsible for integration. No, of course, they will fix it the other day. But the client will not wait. It is just that the CRM system and the ERP system are produced by completely different companies, which will never coordinate their actions.
In addition, you will need to get used to the fact that some data you bring in one system, and others in another. But the worse thing is that you will also have to watch some data in one system, and others in another. So you will switch between applications endlessly.
I'm not talking about the complexity of support. If you have a question on the CRM system, then we ask here, and if on the ERP system, then here. I do not even know how long you will stretch.
Uncle Fedor from Prostokvashin uttered the wisest phrase: “In order to sell something unnecessary, you must first buy something unnecessary.” I'm not saying that the CRM-system is absolutely “unnecessary”, but then you cannot sell it. So, before introducing a CRM system, keep in mind that it may turn out that you will find yourself in an even more difficult situation than the heroes of Prostokvashin.
I would like to hear the comments of those who personally "drank" such a scheme of work.
To talk about the feasibility of the introduction of CRM-systems, as such, I will not here. Especially since I have a separate post on my account. We will proceed from the fact that you have already implemented a CRM system.
After a very short period of time that has passed since the end of a successful implementation of a CRM system, the company’s management begins to understand not that the uselessness of introducing this very CRM system, but rather to feel that “the suit is too small.” That is, the company, after the introduction of the CRM system, gets into a situation where you are on a decent (and sometimes not very) car start driving on asphalt and, very quickly, the road rests against the forest and it’s unclear where to go next.
')
Indeed, in essence, CRM is only the very beginning of the business chain. Getting started with the client. What to do next? After all, the chain has just begun. Well, well, you brought a client, well, formed an order, well, let's say even an invoice was issued. What's next? Further payment, money, purchases, warehouse, delivery, God forbid production, etc. I'm not talking about all sorts of agreements, acts, invoices and other important documents and processes.
The company quickly comes to understand that it is impossible to work like this. It's one thing when the company has not only a CRM system, but no system at all, and everyone works in the usual (and, unfortunately, familiar) informational mess and chaos, no matter how ridiculous it may look. And it is quite another thing when you have a small piece of business processes all the same decently automated by the very CRM system. Terribly annoying when the part is well resolved, and then again chaos. Terribly, I don’t want to use so many familiar products for informational support of business processes, called “excitemaylokordoskaipotelefonokurilka”.
And here you come to understand that you need to move on and make sure that all business processes, and not just their beginning, are somehow “laid out”. What to do is understandable. Implement some product that can do it. Let's call these products ERP-systems. There is no sense in deciphering an abbreviation, not so much because everyone already knows, but because this abbreviation has become just a common name and does not need decoding at all. As a copier (Xerox) in Russia. Everyone knows that this is the machine that makes the copies.
After the choice of the ERP system is made, a new headache comprehends you - what to do with the CRM system, to which you are so reverent. After all, several months were spent on its implementation (and sometimes not only months). You can’t just throw it out (although I personally recommend this when it comes to ERP implementation). Therefore, you are asking ERP implementers to integrate their product with your CRM system. Some who are more intelligent refuse, and some who are afraid of losing a client agree.
And here begin dances with tambourines and attempts to cross a crocodile with a hippopotamus. I'm not saying that it’s impossible to cross a crocodile with a hippo, but this is simply due to "some" difficulties.
The difficulties will be not only technical, but also ideological.
Well, here are the simplest examples:
You brought in the client's CRM system. Now this entry should “go” to ERP. But what a nuisance it is necessary - when a customer enters a certain field in the ERP system, it is mandatory to fill in, and there is simply no similar field in the CRM system. But this is not even a problem, but a minor nuisance.
Solving the problem of multi-format data is much more difficult. When in one system the field is numeric, and in the other the field is text. Or, for example, with addresses. For example, in the CRM system, the client's address is entered in plain text into one field. And in the ERP system, the addresses are strictly structured, where the street, city, and country are selected from reference books. You can of course agree with the managers so that they enter the address in the CRM system in the following order: first an index, then a comma, then a space, then a city, then again a comma, etc. But I do not believe in such a discipline of managers. So you have to rake this comment in search of the street, the city and the country. And, of course, reap the benefits of various "interpretations" of city names and weights.
What will turn some of the directories in the ERP-system as a result of the joint work of these two products, also easy to assume. For example, a directory of posts. If in the CRM-system the position of a contact person is not chosen from the directory, then in the ERP system, soon even a plunger will not help you to clean the directories.
And if the client changed in the ERP-system? This, after all, should now be reflected in the CRM system, right? This means that integration should be full-fledged, two-way. And close to on-line. You will not wait until tomorrow until the name changes.
You called the client, you brought him to the CRM-system. And you need him to deliver his cargo right now. You “spud” this client for half a year. And it is necessary such a nuisance to happen that integration, unfortunately, broke today because of the installation of a new version of the CRM system yesterday. This new version, unfortunately, turned out to be incompatible with the place responsible for integration. No, of course, they will fix it the other day. But the client will not wait. It is just that the CRM system and the ERP system are produced by completely different companies, which will never coordinate their actions.
In addition, you will need to get used to the fact that some data you bring in one system, and others in another. But the worse thing is that you will also have to watch some data in one system, and others in another. So you will switch between applications endlessly.
I'm not talking about the complexity of support. If you have a question on the CRM system, then we ask here, and if on the ERP system, then here. I do not even know how long you will stretch.
Uncle Fedor from Prostokvashin uttered the wisest phrase: “In order to sell something unnecessary, you must first buy something unnecessary.” I'm not saying that the CRM-system is absolutely “unnecessary”, but then you cannot sell it. So, before introducing a CRM system, keep in mind that it may turn out that you will find yourself in an even more difficult situation than the heroes of Prostokvashin.
I would like to hear the comments of those who personally "drank" such a scheme of work.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/119854/
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