As a business grows, operating with multiple systems can create a variety of challenges. We are experienced in integrating systems in line with your business strategy.
4 Key Benefits of Integration
Rekeying information into various systems may have been fine when you had 5 customers, but once you have 1000 it is both prone to error and time consuming. By effectively integrating systems your team can be freed from spending too much time on mundane data tasks, increasing their productivity and reducing operating costs. As a business grows, removal of manual rekeying tasks can remove or reduce the need to continually add staff.
Integrated systems mean business processes can run from end-to-end without users having to switch between applications or from online to manual activities. This makes it possible to enforce processes through your systems. Without integration, processes cannot be enforced through your CRM and therefore will not be followed consistently. This generally leads to poor customer experience as tasks can easily "slip through the net".
Integration is often the first step to automation of key tasks within a business. Automation delivers considerable efficiencies by cutting costs, saving time and allowing businesses to employ their workforce to solve more intelligent problems. Task automation lets machines do the repetitive work, while eliminating the chances of human error. The benefits of automation are described in more detail here.
When data is spread across various systems becomes inconsistent. Performance Reporting cannot give you the full picture. Furthermore, reports are not instantaneous due to the time required to compile data from several sources. Pulling data together from disparate systems is laborious and the resulting report can but out of date by the time is has been compiled. Fully integrated systems allow for accurate, real-time reports to be produced.
Typical Scenarios
Retain Systems and Improve Integration
Existing systems remain in place however interconnections are to be improved and automated. For example, we define CRM as the “master” system for address and contacts, these will be created automatically within accounts and prospecting databases and a summary of accounting information fed back to the CRM platform. Perhaps online credit checks are to be automated.
Introduce New System(s) and Integrate
A decision has been made to add a new system, however, it is to integrate fully with existing. For example, a new eCommerce website must pass order data into CRM and receive order status data back for the customer.
Reduce Number of Systems
It may be that all systems are to be consolidated or a subset are to be improved or replaced. For example, replace all systems with a single CRM (usually done in phases) or replace all manual spreadsheets with a bespoke module which is fully integrated with CRM.