CRM vs. ERP: Which Data Platform Is Best For Your Business?

A plethora of software is available to help you streamline your operations and drive more revenue. Two such platforms are customer relationship management (CRM) software and enterprise resource planning (ERP) software.

CRM software helps you form strong relationships with your prospects and current customers to close more deals. While ERP software helps you collect and track data from across your business, including marketing analytics, product inventory, and more.

On this page, we’ll dive into the ins and outs of CRM vs. ERP software to outline their major differences and how they can benefit your business. Here’s a quick overview of some of the topics we’ll cover:

• What is CRM?
• What is ERP?
• What is the difference between CRMs and ERPs?
• Is a CRM or ERP the right fit for your business?

So, keep reading to learn more!

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CRM vs. ERP: A brief side-by-side comparison

Want a brief side-by-side comparison of the differences between CRM and ERP software?

Check out the table below:

CRM vs. ERP: What is CRM?

So, what is CRM? CRM stands for customer relationship management. A CRM database is a platform that helps you keep all of your customer’s information and data in one place.

CRM software enables you to maintain information about your company’s interactions with current and potential customers.

It helps you stay connected with your prospects and customers to build lasting relationships and personalized experiences that lead to more conversions and sales for your business.

CRM vs. ERP: What is ERP?

Now that you know more about CRM software, you might be asking yourself, “what is ERP?” ERP stands for enterprise resource planning. It’s software that helps you manage and centralize various data and processes.

ERP platforms enable you to collect and store information from across your company, like your sales records, product inventory, digital marketing analytics, and much more.

It can also help you streamline your marketing processes by automating simple and repetitive tasks, like order processing, budget management, and more.

CRM vs. ERP: What is the difference between CRMs and ERPs?

CRMs and ERPs are helpful platforms that can optimize your marketing operations to drive more sales and revenue for your company. But what is the difference between CRMs and ERPs?

If this question is currently on your mind, we’ve got you covered.

Here are a two key differences between ERPs and CRMs:

Use

One of the biggest differences between CRMs and ERPs is how and why businesses use them.

CRM

The primary goal of using CRM software is to help you collect, store, and analyze customer data and information, like:

• Phone numbers
• Email addresses
• Job titles
• And more

By using a CRM, you can stay connected with your prospects and personalize their experiences to encourage them to convert.

ERP

On the other hand, you can use ERP software to compile and centralize various business data and processes, like:

• Marketing analytics
• Product inventories
• Sales records
• And more

ERP platforms enable you to centralize all of your business data into one dashboard, including customer data, to see how your company progresses towards meeting your business goals.

Goal

Another difference between an ERP and CRM is their overall purpose and goal.

CRM

CRM platforms mainly focus on helping you close more sales for your business. You can collect valuable data about your current customers and prospects with a CRM platform.

You can also track the journey of your leads from awareness to conversion and analyze which customer journey stage your leads are currently in.

As a result, CRMs enable you to keep track of your current leads and customers to build long-lasting relationships that boost your sales and brand loyalty.

ERP

On the other hand, the primary purpose of ERP software is to help you centralize all of your business information and streamline your operations to save costs and earn a higher return on investment (ROI).

ERPs enable you to automate repetitive and time-consuming tasks to help you free up your to-do list so you can focus on other business tasks. It can also help you store all of your data, whether it’s from multiple store locations, your customers, or the results from your marketing campaigns.

As a result, you can easily view all the information you need to assess your company’s growth. This saves you time and helps you optimize your processes to drive better results in the future.

CRM vs. ERP: Which is the right fit for your business?

Are you trying to decide between investing in CRM or ERP software and not sure which is the best fit for your business? We’ve got you covered.

Let’s explore when you might consider investing in CRM and ERP software for your company below:

CRM

Your business will benefit from investing in CRM software if you:

• Need a centralized location to store and maintain customer and prospect data
• Have a large amount of customer data that’s challenging to track
• Want to analyze your customer data to better understand your customer’s journey from awareness to conversion
• Want to optimize your sales processes and productivity to drive more conversions and sales

If you want to improve your sales processes and encourage more prospects to convert into loyal clients and customers, investing in a CRM program is an excellent option.

ERP

Your business can benefit from investing in an ERP platform if you want to:

• Collect and analyze business data from multiple stores and locations
• Collect a variety of data, like marketing analytics, sales records, and more, in one place
• Centralize your data across multiple departments, like data from your sales and marketing teams
• Automate repetitive business tasks, like order processing, budget management, and more

If you want to optimize your business processes to increase your overall efficiency and revenue, investing in an ERP program is an excellent choice for your company.

The bottom line

Whether you choose to invest in an ERP or CRM platform, both provide significant benefits that help you drive more revenue for your business.

However, you can turn your sales and overall business operations into one efficient, revenue-driving process by investing in both platforms.

Your CRM software can help you maintain strong connections with your prospects to drive more sales.

In addition, your ERP program enables you to analyze your business data and marketing results to improve your strategies and user experiences to earn a higher ROI and grow your company.

So, if you want to maximize your revenue and ROI to take your business to new heights, investing in both an ERP and CRM platform is the way to go.

Get the most out of your CRM and ERP software with WebFX

Whether you’re currently using CRM or ERP software to streamline your marketing operations, WebFX can help you maximize your digital marketing results to help your company reach new heights.

Our industry-leading CRM platform, Nutshell, enables you to easily keep track of your customer information to build long-lasting relationships that turn into brand loyalty. Whether you’re using our software for the first time or are ready to get started with CRM migration to transfer your data to the best CRM platform, our team can help.

Our award-winning team of over 500 digital marketing experts knows how to help you get the most out of your CRM and ERP software to help your business grow.

Want to learn more about how our industry-leading platform, Nutshell, can drive revenue for your business? Give us a call at 888-601-5359 or contact us online! We can’t wait to hear from you!