®
TGI
Software That Drives Business Performance.SMTechnology Group International
Extending CRM Concepts in ERP Systems
®
TGI
Software That Drives Business Performance.SMExtending CRM Concepts in ERP Systems
Introduction
Customer relationship management (CRM), as a stand alone software application, can provide sales representatives and account managers with an easy to use contact management system for storing email addresses, phone numbers, fax numbers, etc. It can also provide a means for improved customer contact tracking, scheduling follow up activities, recording notes from conversations with customers, and directly emailing customers from a single application.
When a manufacturer or distributor considers selecting an ERP software solution with a fully-integrated CRM application, however, the business’s ERP selection team should ask itself to what extent the concept of “customer relationship management” applies to other functions and applications within the ERP system, such as customer order order and invoicing requirements, and on-time delivery for customer shipments. Why? Because when the concept of “customer relationship management” is applied to other functional areas within an ERP system, businesses can see improvements not only in customer and prospect tracking but improved levels of customer satisfaction, faster order entry, and improved visibility to real-time customer order status as well.
Criteria for Identifying Applied CRM Concepts in ERP
Systems
product?
By tracking customer order frequency on a product-by-product basis, organizations can minimize instances in which a customer stops purchasing a product without
2. Does the ERP system track customer buying habits and recommend the customer’s most frequently ordered items to the sales or customer service representative at the time a customer places an order?
for a customer, the system can automatically generate a list of the customer’s most frequently ordered items, allowing for fast order entry and reducing the amount of time it takes for a customer to place an order. This also reduces the amount of time it takes a customer service or sales representative to enter a customer order, giving the representative the ability to process more orders or other tasks on a daily basis. Going one step further, the ERP system must also be able to notify the customer service representative, at the time of order entry, which items the customer orders most If a customer has not ordered a particular item within their usual frequency, the customer service representative can ask the customer if they would like to order that item along opportunity to gain incremental sales with each customer order.
3. Does the distribution or manufacturing software solution have the ability to
orders in full directly from inventory or make-to-order processing while meeting the customer’s requested delivery date can result in an increased likelihood of repeat management, warehouse management, and business intelligence capabilities can inventory and associated carrying costs. Using the ERP system’s business intelligence
customer-by-customer and customer-product combination basis. The organization can then use this information to see those customers and/or products in which their service level is lacking and implement new internal business processes to improve its service levels in these areas. The end result, again, will be improved overall levels of customer service and satisfaction.
4. Does the ERP system allow for the management of guaranteed minimum shelf
Many businesses require that certain products shipped to them have a guaranteed minimum shelf life. For manufacturers and distributors who sell items with expiration dates, an ERP solution that provides the ability to establish minimum shelf life
in which they are to receive a guaranteed minimum shelf life, the ERP system can automatically override the default inventory management methodologies for that product and specify those items in inventory that are to be picked, packed, and shipped to the customer that meet the customer’s shelf life requirements. The system will generate pick tickets that specify the exact location of those products in the warehouse and the associated lot number(s) of the products to be picked that meet the customer’s shelf life requirements. In this case, warehouse workers will know the exact items to pick for a given product for each customer order in which the customer is to receive product that meets its shelf life requirements.
improving customer service and on-time delivery performance for customer shipments processing considers existing material on hand for both purchased and manufactured items, capable-to-promise functionality also accounts for inbound purchase receipts, supplier lead times, alternative sourcing options, and raw material, production, and labor availability. During the order entry process, capable-to-promise evaluates these factors at a line-item level to calculate an accurate customer delivery date and offer alternative supplier options for raw materials or distributed items. In other words, CTP concurrently sourcing options, vendor lead times, and production and labor availability to calculate a more accurate shipping date. Using both available-to-promise and capable-to-promise software functionality can enable sales and customer service representatives to communicate accurate shipping and delivery information to the customer for each order line item that accounts for material and product availability throughout the supply chain and production process.
6. Does the ERP solution allow for a variety of order types, payment terms, and payment methods?
Sophisticated ERP systems can provide sales and customer service representatives with the ability to enter a variety of order types depending on the customer and/or product. Common order types an ERP solution should be able to accommodate include regular sales orders, blanket orders, recurring orders, group orders, drop shipped orders, and counter sales. The system should also be able to process e-Commerce orders as well as incoming and outgoing order-related EDI transactions.
Similarly, the system should be able to accommodate a variety of customer payment item basis for a single order. The system should also allow for payment terms to be
customer payment methods, including credit cards, e-checks, EFT, cash, etc.
requirements for order acknowledgements, packing slips, and invoicing?
interaction with customers on a customer-by-customer basis. The system can allow users to specify customers’ desired order acknowledgement receipt method (print, fax, email, or EDI) and customers’ desired packing slip format for each customer order. Furthermore, the system can allow the organization to specify customers’ desired invoice receipt method (print, fax, email, or EDI) on a customer-by-customer basis.
real time order status?
Should a customer call or email sales or customer service personnel to inquire about the status of an order, sales and customer service personnel need to be able to use the organization’s ERP system to determine the real-time status of the order without needing to communicate with warehousing or shipping personnel. Using a fully-integrated ERP solution, sales and customer service personnel can see when a given customer order has been allocated, picked, packed, shipped, or invoiced directly on the order entry screen. This feature can minimize the amount of time spent by customer service attempting to locate the true status of a customer order and allow customer service personnel to communicate an accurate order status to the customer.
Customer relationship management software functionality is a key requirement when selecting an ERP solution. That being said, the proposed ERP solution’s CRM features must extend well beyond those of basic contact management; the concept of customer relationship management must be applied to other functions within the ERP system to improve the organization’s overall level of customer service and give the organization a competitive advantage in the market.
About Technology Group International, Ltd.
Founded in Toledo, Ohio in 1990, TGI is an industry-leading enterprise software solution provider to small and mid-market manufacturers and distributors. TGI’s exclusive focus is on the development, implementation, and support of Enterprise 21, the company’s fully-integrated business management software solution. TGI is a privately-held organi-zation with one of the highest revenue per employee ratios in the ERP software industry. For additional information, please visit http://www.tgiltd.com.
