A 2022 research by Harvard Business Review found that 92% of employees consider meetings costly and unproductive. The same study found that employee productivity was 71% higher when meetings were reduced by 40%. People felt valued, trusted, and engaged, subsequently working harder for their company.
One way to reduce the time spent in meetings is through better use of technology. By optimizing business systems, companies can cut redundancies, generate high-quality data, and automate manual tasks, saving time and reducing the need for meetings.
NetSuite ERP and CRM are built on a shared architecture and unified vision. They operate together seamlessly, facilitating end-to-end business processes without any friction. This is why most NetSuite ERP customers will benefit from using NetSuite CRM instead of Salesforce.
"Sales Performance" Dashboard Tile and "Sales Metrics" KPI Scorecard
The downsides of having an ERP and CRM in separate platforms are too significant to ignore. Let’s look into them more closely:
Direct Cost
NetSuite price includes both ERP and CRM. Using Salesforce instead of NetSuite CRM will incur extra costs.
Indirect Cost
Separate ERP and CRM would require additional integration, training, reporting, maintenance, auditing, compliance, and security costs.
Integration Complexity
Integrating ERP and CRM systems requires specialized tools and custom development. Ensuring seamless and bi-directional data flow would require significant time and effort.
User Experience
Users from Sales Operations and other departments might need to switch between systems to access necessary information. This can slow down processes, decrease user productivity, and lead to a disjointed user experience.
Customer Experience
Inconsistent or incomplete customer data may impact customer interactions. For example, account executives might not have complete visibility into customer's payment performance, inventory levels, or service engagement history, leading to a suboptimal customer experience.
Training and User Adoption
Employees might need to learn how to navigate and use NetSuite ERP and Salesforce CRM, which may increase training and onboarding time. This might be especially challenging for new employees or those working across different departments.
Compatibility and Upgrades
When one system undergoes updates or upgrades, it can affect the integration between the two systems. Extra time and effort would be required to minimize compatibility issues.
Scalability Challenges
As business grows, companies must customize and scale their systems. It will be harder to adapt to changing business needs efficiently if the ERP and CRM are separate.
Security and Compliance
Managing security and compliance across two systems is more complex than dealing with a unified solution. An extra effort will be required to ensure data privacy and regulatory adherence.
Limited Cross-Functional Collaboration
Having separate systems will hinder collaboration between departments. Sales, Marketing, Sales Operations, Finance, and other teams might have difficulties sharing information seamlessly.
Forecasting Challenges
With separate systems, inventory data will be stored in NetSuite ERP, and sales data in Salesforce CRM. Accurate demand forecasting and resource planning will become harder to achieve.
Implementation and ROI
Implementing and optimizing NetSuite ERP and Salesforce CRM will take more time and effort. Longer implementation cycles may impact employee morale, especially for smaller and high-growth companies.
Lack of Real-Time Insights
Combining data from separate ERP and CRM for reporting and analytics can be challenging. Real-time insights might be compromised due to delays in data synchronization.
Inefficient Workflows
Certain business processes may require seamless interaction between ERP and CRM functionalities. When these are separate, workflows that span both systems can become inefficient and cumbersome.
"Forecasting Accuracy by Manager" Analytics Workbook
From the functionality perspective, Salesforce is considered the industry leader. Salesforce came first in the 2022 edition of Gartner Magic Quadrant for Sales Force Automation Platforms. NetSuite CRM was in the Top 3.
Per Gartner Peer Reviews, users gave Salesforce CRM 4.4 out of 5, while NetSuite CRM received 4.3 out of 5.
When Monday compared NetSuite CRM with Salesforce, it noted, "The big difference is that NetSuite is an ERP which includes a CRM, whereas Salesforce is primarily a CRM system. Both are highly customizable, reputable cloud-based software solutions with a wide range of integration options.”
Choosing a CRM is a strategic decision that impacts almost every aspect of business. Leadership must approach it with the care, diligence, and thoroughness it deserves. The impact of this decision not only affects the immediate term but can also be a pivotal factor in the organization's long-term success.
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