I was reading through RSM’s latest and one of the questions really intrigued me. We asked companies what processes they were looking to improve in 2010. The top five responses were Supplier Relationship Management (76%), Customer Relationship Management (64%), Manufacturing Flow (53%), Order Fulfillment (51%), and Customer Service Management (51%). Right behind these five was Sales Process Management! can help address at least 3 of the top five process improvements and can play a role in order fulfillment and of course Sales Process Management.
Every week I meet with manufacturers and distributors to discuss technology needs. In the past, the most common pain was reporting and planning. Now organizations are recognizing that in today’s economy, they need to make dramatic changes to their internal processes. They are trying to do more with less and as business rebounds, are looking to utilize technology and improved processes instead of hiring more employees. They also understand that supplier relations, customer relations, and customer service are key to beating the competition. Of course technology is not a panacea to improving these processes, but it is a critical component. I think about a client of ours who changed their entire business from using store fronts, throughout the west to set appointments to using the web and call centers to make home appointments with their sales force. This change had incredible cost savings, but also required new technology to track inquiries, set appointments, and track service/installation activities. There is no way our client would have been successful in this endeavor without a flexible CRM application that could manage sales, service, and suppliers. Using one tool across all of these processes is cost effective, but more importantly it is critical to seeing a 360 degree view of customers and suppliers.
Given the ability to be configured easily and with multiple deployment options, Dynamics CRM can be utilized by MWD organizations to improve MULTIPLE business processes. The thing to remember is that these projects and the use of a tool like Dynamics CRM NEEDS to be tied to . Projects will be challenged if the project does not take into account process redesign as part of the effort. These are not, and should not be, technology only projects. Dynamics CRM is simply a tool to enable the improvements in processes. Given the data from our last MWD survey, it appears MWD companies should be looking more closely at how Dynamics CRM can help them improve Supplier Management, Customer Management, Customer Service, and Sales Process Management!
By: Mike Nafziger, RSM -
I stumbled upon this article when doing a google search for SAP implementation cost and I must say you have included the most crucial points. I also agree to what Annie says above. Even when your at move this do not cause any loss by just log in through any internet connection and you get connected where in you don’t miss on communication. Getting all the information in real-time. I am definitely going to push this url to my future clients. By the way does a great job in the cost effective custom ERP and CRM application using free open source.
Keep up the good work
Cheers!
This is most useful and helpful to all of us.
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Jennifer
I am amazed how many folks still don’t realize that you don’t need to pay thousands of dollars anymore for any business solution that can help you do more with less. We all have been using online solutions such as hotmail and gmail for ages now – do you know that you can do the same with an affordable online solution for your business – track your contact, sales, marketing and customer service issues all in one place and all online – no software, no hardware, no IT person – just log in from any internet connection and you have access to your information. You can also try it for free. You can learn more at
Anne Miller