In order to maintain a successful business, the business must understand and maintain a positive relationship with its customers. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) & Customer Relationship Management (CRM) are the processes that bring the customer and the company closer together.

There are many different areas in which ERP & CRM can be implemented. The goal of ERP & CRM is to help a company maintain current customers, as well as gain new customers. Targeted Marketing Targeted marketing is accomplished through collecting information about the customer. This information can be buying habits or simply demographics. The idea behind this is that a business analyzes what a customer buys and then markets specific products to that customer based on his or her buying habits. Businesses track buying habits using discount cards, and special store credit cards.

Targeted marketing can also be implemented on the Internet. Customers can also be sent e-mails that market targeted products. Marketing the right products to the right customers can significantly increase a business’ sales with minimal associated costs. Call Centers and Customer Service Have you ever called a business to complain or ordered a product and encountered an automated call response (I.E. “please press 1 for questions, 2 for comments” etc.)? That’s CRM. Call centers that take calls and monitor customer/business interactions are often running on hosted ERP & CRM programs. ERP & CRM managers want to make call centers as efficient and customer-friendly as possible.

A customer who can easily navigate through an automated system is more likely to do business with the same company in the future. In the case of a complaint, a customer whose problems are responded to immediately is more likely to forgive and forget a company’s transgressions. Customer service is the backbone of all ERP & CRM processes and strategies. ERP & CRM Applications There are many different types of ERP & CRM applications. Some applications are Web-based so they can be accessed via a browser. Other applications have programs built in for integrating data entries and data management across several applications. ERP & CRM vendors also have specific strategies that are unique to every client. The goal of a vendor is to not only upgrade a company with the latest technology, but also to design the companies infrastructure in such a way that the customer/company relationship can flourish.