Your CRM solution allows you to manage relationships with your customers, prospective customers, and to track all your interactions with them. The ERP solution, meanwhile, helps businesses to manage all their operational processes : procurement, sales, human resources, and so on. Odoo is a complete, highly modular product, and therefore, naturally comes with a CRM solution.
Nevertheless, some businesses have their own customer relationship management software in parallel with their ERP software. In that situation, what is the correct approach? Which data should be synchronized, and how should it be configured? Here are some answers that should guide you in the deployment of your solutions.
Which data should be synchronized ?
To create full synergy between the CRM and ERP software, it is essential to synchronize the core data: customer accounts, various user accounts, and information relating to contacts (customers and prospects). As such, you'll improve your efficiency, obtain better customer tracking, enhanced profitability, centralize all information, and administrative documents.
This convergence provides a 360° view of the customer: from the customer's order history to managed interactions, accounting data, and after-sales service. However, that's not all: this inter-connectivity also enables you to remove friction from the business's processes. As such, you can avoid re-entering information, reducing the risks of errors or duplication. That's why a good management of data synchronization is essential.
Which software holds the master data ?
Certainly, it is important to link the two tools and to synchronize their data sets. However, it is fundamental to bear in mind that each piece of software will retain control over its own data. All information relating to billing, stock management, and procurement will be managed by the ERP system, whereas sales and marketing data will be held in the CRM solution.
Any change must be entered into the correct software package. It will then be updated automatically in the other solution. As such, all employees will be able to enjoy a real time view of the business's activity.
In the event of any discrepancy between the data, simply refer to the "master" software package. For example, if a customer's phone number is not the same in both solutions, the number saved to the CRM software will serve as the reference data, and the ERP package will be synchronized and updated accordingly.
Which information should be fed from the ERP to the CRM Solution ?
While the ERP can be considered the backbone of the enterprise, it is not necessary to synchronize all its data with the CRM solution. The fundamental aim is to share and add value to the organization's data. Nevertheless, only information that relates to customers will be useful: orders and invoicing. It's up to you to decide whether to synchronize all invoices and orders automatically, or only a select few (over a specific period, for example).
What level of detail should be configured ?
This depends on what you want to get out of the data. If you wish to improve follow-ups with your customers, simply feeding back the amount and date of orders will be sufficient. However, if you would like to obtain more specific statistics and make use of that data for sales purposes, we recommend that you synchronize every line of each order and invoice. As such, you will be able to analyze your sales by product, line item, then adjust your management and even your production mix accordingly.
While there is no longer any doubt that ERP and CRM complement each other, success in achieving this remains a strategic question for businesses and requires a well-structured organization. The quality of the work undertaken in advance will determine the outcome of the project. Improved responsiveness and performance will be on the agenda once these two tools are successfully synchronized.
