A CRM (customer relationship management) system manages interactions with customers and prospects: enquiries, contacts, opportunities and follow-ups. An ERP (enterprise resource planning) system manages internal operations and finance: orders, inventory, purchasing, accounting. Most growing businesses need both, connected so that a won deal flows into operations without re-entry.
What each system owns
- CRM: leads, contacts, companies, opportunities, activities, pipeline
- ERP: products, inventory, orders, purchasing, invoices, general ledger
Where they meet
The hand-off from sale to delivery is where the two meet. When a deal is won in the CRM, customer and order details should flow into the ERP. Invoice and payment status can flow back so that account managers see it.
Example
A distributor tracks quotes in its CRM and fulfils orders in its ERP. Without integration, staff re-type accepted quotes as orders, introducing errors. With integration, an accepted quote creates the order automatically, and the salesperson sees fulfilment status in the CRM.
Limitations and considerations
- Some products combine CRM and ERP features; the right choice depends on your processes, not on labels.