5 PRACTICAL USES OF A SALESFORCE – ERP INTEGRATION
Thursday, August 27, 2015Global Administrator
Useful Salesforce and ERP Integration Workflows
A few of the reasons why organizations implement a CRM application such as Salesforce are to store and organize data and to make it readily available for internal business processes and interaction with customers.
Implementing an Salesforce – ERP integration solution can take this a step further, delivering several incremental benefits.
With an integration solution in place, data is automatically exchanged and synced between the two systems, allowing you to eliminate time consuming and error-prone data entry processes. The result is an organized Salesforce application with company-wide access and visibility to key customer and product information.
Clearly, a Salesforce – ERP integration has many merits. But what data should you integrate? What will provide your organization with the greatest value or ROI? Listed below are 5 practical uses of this type of integration and some of the benefits that may result:
Opportunities / Orders
When an Opportunity is set to closed won in Salesforce, data from that record can be pushed into your ERP system as a new Sales Order. This integration helps to expedite the quote to cash process and eliminate data entry errors related to orders, translating into a better user experience for your customers.
Accounts / Customers
Data associated with your Accounts in Salesforce and Customers in your ERP can be synched bi-directionally to ensure that it is accurate for all departments. This results in one master record for each account/customer. Any additions or updates that are made, regardless of by whom or where they were entered, are quickly reflected in both systems.
Invoices
When your accounting department creates an Invoice for an order within your ERP system, that data can be moved into Salesforce to keep your sales and customer service teams equipped with up-to-date information. A few examples of how Invoice data can be integrated into Salesforce are a) custom fields within Opportunities, and b) custom objects tied to Accounts.
Products / Price Books
If you add or update a product and its pricing in your ERP system, those changes can be automatically reflected in Salesforce. This synchronization eliminates the potential for human error as well as removing duplicate data entries. It also will keep your front-line representatives aware of any product-related updates such as a description change or a sales price.
Inventory
Synchronizing Inventory quantities is another practical use of a Salesforce – ERP integration. Keeping track of Inventory can be accomplished in Salesforce customizations to Products or Opportunity Line Items or by using a custom object. This can help your sales team identify if product is currently in stock when creating an opportunity, allowing them to communicate approximate shipping dates to customers.
As mentioned above, there are multiple ways a Salesforce – ERP integration can increase operational efficiencies in your organization. When undertaking this type of project, first speak with all of the departments or members of your team to determine which uses of a CRM – ERP integration are most important. Secondly, with the inherent complexity of data integration, work with a trusted industry expert.
eBridge Connections has delivered numerous Salesforce integration solutions and can help you streamline your business processes, centralize your data, and lower your CRM / ERP total cost of ownership. For more information, visit our
Salesforce integration overview.