3 Reasons to Integrate Inventory Management and CRM Software

Businesses are all about the bottom line. No matter your industry or role in a company, you’re looking for ways to get things done. Sixty percent of U.S. retailers use a perpetual inventory management strategy and the majority of U.S. businesses use some kind of CRM solution – and those numbers are rising. It’s becoming clear how important these two types of systems are for a successful business. To create more streamlined business processes and improve customer service, consider integrating your inventory management and CRM (customer relationship management) systems. While having separate inventory management and CRM systems is a good start, businesses can do better. Integrate your two systems and see your business become great.

Better Customer Service

Better customer service means more loyal customers and better sales numbers. By integrating your inventory management and CRM software systems, the agents staffing your customer service call center will be able to provide better customer service to everyone who calls in. If an order is being placed over the phone, your employees will be able to provide the customer with correct information easily and without running down to the warehouse or sending an email to another department. As inventory numbers are updated in your integrated system, different departments will be able to update their areas of responsibility, from product availability online to other callers on different lines.

More Accurate Data

By integrating your two software solutions, you’ll gain more accurate information about your inventory and your customers. Each department can use the data that is stored to make your business more successful. Marketing could analyze the typical customer for a particular product and the rate at which the product is bought for more targeted and timely campaigns. You’ll be able to create reports with details about top-selling and bottom-selling products, who your customers are, what products need to be replenished, and whether or not you need to adjust prices for better sales. Real-time information leads to better knowledge across all departments, and it can help your employees adjust their strategies to target the right audiences.

Increase Efficiency

Too much inventory sitting on the shelves can cost businesses money. Small businesses often don’t have the budget. No business likes seeing products remaining stationary. The goal in integrating these two systems is to collect and analyze data so your business can intelligently order products, have enough to take care of anticipated needs for a given period of time, and not have an overstock. By having all the necessary data in one place, your business will increase efficiency because employees won’t have to cross-reference information across multiple systems. You also won’t have to worry about going into multiple systems to update the same information over and over again. With an integrated system, information only needs to be updated once. If your business has the resources to make it happen, consider integrating your inventory management and CRM software. Because staying current with regulatory and compliance requirements is essential in business, make sure your system is easily updated so your business can cross yet another worry off the list. When selecting software to integrate, it’s important to find one that handles workflow efficiently and allows your IT team to customize it for the best performance possible. You want to track products from the moment they are delivered until they’re sold, so your integrated system needs to do just that.