A world between CRM and ERP
03 February 2012
Countless organizations have been working with both an ERP and a CRM system for many years. Companies that offer customer-specific products and services in particular tend to experience a gap between CRM and ERP. CRM systems focus on prospects, customers, contacts and activities, while ERP targets product logistics and production. Everything in-between is neglected, from needs analysis and product configuration to calculation & pricing and document generation.
Guided Selling
Sofon has addressed this gap in the market with its Guided Selling Software. The gap between CRM and ERP can be bridged by offering companies a sales supporting system that stores business knowledge and makes it available to all users. Sales representatives can take advantage of their co-workers’ knowledge stored in the system and configure products using a question-and-answer method. Once all questions have been answered, an error-free quotation is created and bills-of-material can be forwarded to ERP.
Standard software, not customized
The added value of Sofon is not only found in the complementary solutions Sofon offers for CRM and ERP, but especially in the fact that Sofon provides standard software. In this instance, standard means suitable for any company and without any customization – which is exactly what companies are looking for nowadays. They are no longer interested in customized software, viewing it as little more than a dead-end street that offers little adaptability or flexibility.
Software implemented and managed by the company
Companies want a solution that can be easily implemented and managed by the company itself – without the need to call in the help of IT or external consultants. They no longer want to spend three to four times more on consulting than on the software itself. Once they understand the Guided Selling concept, they realize how much money can be saved in the sales and quotation process. This concept is becoming increasingly adopted.
Otto van der Tang is Managing Director at Sofon - supplier of sales support software. As Otto has a lot of contact with clients, he has a clear insight into how companies that deliver customer-specific products and services can realize improvements within their sales and quotation process.
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