98% of our customers rely on the interaction of ERP and CRM systems – and use therefore SMARTCRM.ERP, the connection of our CRM solution to the implemented ERP software. We offer a standard interface to many ERP systems that can be quickly and easily set up. This is how our customers benefit from the advantages of bundling their CRM and ERP data: for instance the extensive analysis and planning possibilities, the unveiling of cross-selling potentials as well as the central access to the ERP information for the field service staff. Which data from the ERP system are adopted to SMARTCRM depends on the requirements of our customers. The possibilities of data transfer are diverse. In addition, the reverse process, the export of data from SMARTCRM to the ERP solution, is possible.
For nearly all our customers, SMARTCRM takes over the information from the ERP system itself without the IT staff having to deploy it to the CRM system. This saves time and effort.
Quotation preparation and tracking in SMARTCRM
Whether SMARTCRM or the ERP solution is the leading system, depends entirely on the individual processes of our customers. For instance, SMARTCRM is often the leading system when the focus is on prospective customer data. Customers preparing their quotations in our CRM system capture the address of a prospective customer including the relevant contacts as well as the corresponding project file. A quotation is directly created out of the project file and stored there. Some of our customers do not use the standard products imported from the ERP system when making the quotations but instead they define products individually tailored to the offer in SMARTCRM. For instance, customers in the engineering use sleeves product per machine type, since the machine does not exist in this form yet. Other customers rely on this when offering products that are only added after the order has been placed in the ERP system.
If the order is placed, the prospective customer is transmitted as customer to the ERP system at the press of a button. With the transfer, the ERP solution takes over the leading role for all address-related information. For the contact data, SMARTCRM remains the leading system since these are updated by the field service staff on a regular basis. Thanks to the modules SMARTCRM.Offline and SMARTCRM.App, you can also do so using your notebook or mobile device. Field staff can call up forecast analyses in the CRM system when out of the office.
Quotation preparation in the ERP system – Quotation tracking in SMARTCRM
For some SMARTCRM customers that create their quotations in the ERP solutions, our CRM software also transfers prospective customers to the ERP system, where they are not automatically converted into customers. Using a bi-directional interface, all quotations written in the ERP system are imported in the CRM system and stored in the corresponding address or project file. This guarantees full tracking. SMARTCRM sends automatically a task after the import to the colleague in charge – for instance to follow up a quotation including deadlines and reminders – and ensures that no quotation gets lost. Current analyses of the forecast are provided by our CRM solution. For many customers, we have configured overviews in which all open or due quotations are directly displayed on their CRM start screen.
In the event of an order being placed, the ERP system converts the quotation into an order and therefore the prospective customer into a customer.
