ERP & CRM, understand the difference

What is an ERP?

In order to understand the difference between ERP and CRM, we should start by defining what an ERP is. An Enterprise Resource Planning deals with:

• Increase revenues, reduce expenses
• Optimise productivity
• Ensure processes efficiency

An ERP such as Sage X3 is at the heart of a company’s processes and makes it possible to refer to a single database, optimise services, automate activity flows, manage the company etc.

ERP frees yourself from the most-time consuming tasks in order to automate certain processes and thus to devote your human resources to high value-added missions. This solution makes it possible to create something customised to the company’s needs. We can then compare it to CRM to understand the difference.

What is a CRM?

We can then look at CRM in order to better understand the difference between ERP and CRM. A Customer Relationship Management is very different from an ERP. It does not deal with current processes optimization or the automation of certain tasks. It focuses on sales, marketing, and customer service. It is basically, a customer relationship manager.

A CRM enables the registration of each customer through a dedicated file, support the acquisition of new customers, automate tasks dedicated to salespeople, ensure an efficient customer service, benefit from a complete customer database etc. Whether it is a question of reading the last exchanges carefully with a customer or sending a newsletter to a list with a common point, the CRM handles the customer relationship on the whole. The difference between these two tools is therefore very important because it is not the same objective as with an ERP.

Which one to choose?

If we understand the difference between ERP and CRM, you know that there is no real choice to make. The ERP takes care of the production part of the company and the CRM of the customer part. They are perfectly complementary. You will not necessary need both of them. It depends on your company, its size, and your real needs. Understanding the difference between ERP and CRM is important, but it is also vital to identify your needs to choose the most adapted solution.

If there are still doubts about the difference between ERP and CRM or if you only want a support, it is recommended to contact an ERP and CRM integrator. This two software package can be designed to work together, although you can also choose one solution for the time being. Indeed, a professional will adapt the software solution. This means that it will be tailored to your business and will be perfectly suited to your daily needs and your future plans.