We all start small with the aspirations of going big. Throughout that journey, we make use of different systems and tools at different stages of the growth of our organisation. During the progress, we recognize the potential of our ERP and CRM systems and utilize them to their highest degree.
Handling the accounting part, streamlining the business contacts and keeping a track of an array of statistics take up all the time when managing an organisation. It is essential to know when to take the next step before we reach full utilization of the existing system.
First off, the thought that you might need to upgrade your system is a strong sign that you are right. Your organisation has witnessed success and has grown in size and complexity. Most small and medium-sized businesses use Sage, Quick Books, Zoho, etc. to handle their work. These are best suited for upcoming firms and start-ups when they are getting a hang of the activities associated with running an organisation. However, the outlook remains that one should move to larger and elaborate CRMs only when they are a large organisation themselves.
The truth is actually the other way around. Adapting a sophisticated CRM and ERP solution is the step to make your organisation large. Rather than reacting to the circumstances, it is better to plan ahead and make your organisation ready for the growth.
The business and accounting solution an organisation upgrades to should enhance its productivity. It should be simple and intuitive to be used by the people. At the same time, it should be powerful and capable enough to handle all the cogs of the organisation’s clockwork and establish a synergy between its different sections. The solution should be able to do more than handling your balance sheets and books, maintaining the inventory, formulating your annual budget along with other activities. When growing up, we should evidently grow out of the spreadsheets and use proper alternatives.
Some factors that need to be taken into account, while elevating your CRM or ERP system, are:
- If the employee strength of your organisation is beyond 50 employees or is poised at crossing that milestone, that is an appropriate moment to take a decision to let go of smaller ERP solutions and choose a advanced one.
- The solution should be able to integrate with your existing IT system. This enables you to save on unnecessary infrastructure costs. A cloud-based solution can also be a winner in such a case.
- The CRM or ERP solution should be flexible enough to be customized and scaled as per your requirements. The features and capabilities should have the allowance of tweaking them to get the best from it.
- Understand your current database. The size of the database governs the speed and accessibility of the solution. Also, the lifetime of your database ought to be checked. Certain dated databases can have data stored in varying formats and patterns which needs to be streamlined.
- Have a meeting with your employees and gauge their opinions about the current scenario. Is there a vibe of a need for better tools and more options for them to work with? That can help you choose the right solution in a better manner.
- Even after making the right choice, it is of paramount importance that the solution be implemented in the appropriate manner. A proper administrator trained for that solution is essential for installing and maintaining the system.
CRM and ERP solutions such as Microsoft Dynamics are very well suited for most scenarios. Though it is a solution, it is not a singular product. It links to a multitude of similar products giving a good level of integration including Office, Outlook and even SharePoint.
Microsoft Dynamics GP is used by around 47,000 companies and Microsoft Dynamics CRM is used by around 40,000 companies. There are common communities that discuss how best to use these solutions since they are widely used. Support for mobile and tablet devices coupled with the trust and support of a Microsoft product makes Microsoft Dynamics a solid contender for your attention.
An organisation depends on its people to take it ahead. The people depend on the tools they are given. When the tools are tailored to their specific roles, it makes them more focused and increases the productivity on a larger scale. Give them better tools, they will perform better.
If the prospect of upgrading your CRM or ERP solution seems overwhelming and confounding, getting a consultation is recommended. An opinion and guidance from experts in that field can be significant in making a decision. Armed with this knowledge, you can step your company into its future phase with a successful start.
In case you are looking for a CRM or ERP consultation, do reach out to us.