What is the difference between an ERP and CRM? 3a

An ERP is an enterprise resource planning system. This system is used to help manage the day to day business processes. This includes operations across departments such as finance, HR, procurement, distribution, etc. The system is critical to running a smooth operation as it integrates with all of the processes necessary to keep the business running. A CRM is a customer relationship management system. This system helps to manage the interaction and relationship a company has with their current or potential customers. The system helps to store all relevant information and can report on this data for analytic purposes. What makes these two things similar? Both systems enable a company to streamline their processes and gather their information in one place. This will naturally result in the organization being more efficient. However, these two systems are quite different. CRMs are typically used by sales and support organizations. With these organizations being customer facing, they do not participate as in-depth with the internal distribution process. On the other hand, ERPs are typically used by internally facing and supply related individuals. In these departments, they handle the distribution process of the product, but are usually not integrated into the customer facing process. Recently, I have learned a lot about CRMs between our learning of Salesforce, and my girlfriend’s job at a software company that is also a CRM, but in the nonprofit space. Below is a link to the company she works for! Ultimately, both of these systems are built with the goal of efficiency in mind, and can be a great asset to a company if used properly.