This week we discussed selling process in ERP system. When it mentioned selling process, the first IT system that came to mind is customer relationship management system. What the difference between ERP and CRM in selling process?
The first difference is that ERP focuses on improving business process and efficiency but CRM focuses on increasing sales revenue. Second, CRM mainly manages company’s sales, marketing, and customer support. It helps the company to simplify and standardize the interactions with current and potential customers. Moreover, it offers marketing and sales person information. For example, it calculates the time of closing deal, the revenue from different marketing tools, and historical sales data. All information can help marketing and sales department know the priority and make decisions. However, ERP system integrates the information passing through different departments and facilitates the business process.
Recently, one of biggest CRM providers, Microsoft completes its acquisition of LinkedIn. This news triggers the disturbance among CRM system providers. The reason is that today salespeople rely heavily on LinkedIn to help them find prospects and make cold call emails. CRM with LinkedIn’s users data is a powerful tool for the company to look for prospects and manage customer relationship.