Service And Supply Issues Solved Through CRM And ERP Platforms

11 September 2018
 Categories: , Blog


When you are looking for ways to better manage your field service business, you may be considering investing in an enterprise resource planning platform (ERP) or a customer relationship management program (CRM). There are even platforms that provide both. If you're wondering what an ERP platform can contribute to your business management, you may be surprised. Here are a few of the problems that can be solved by investing in a platform like this.

Long Customer Call Times

If the call times in your customer call center are getting longer because your representatives are having a hard time finding information and need further explanations from the customers, a CRM and ERP platform can help. When all of your customer information is in one place, along with your field service schedules and more, it is easier for your customer service representatives to handle calls quickly. This also reduces your customer hold times, which can result in greater customer satisfaction.

Long Order Fulfillment Times

When your customer orders aren't being delivered on time, it results in unhappy customers. This can hinder your ongoing order sustainability, and it can also lead to negative reviews, which can cost you ongoing business. When you have an ERP and a CRM, you'll be able to monitor your production operation at a glance and identify where the delivery schedule is going awry.

Technician Time Accounting Issues

Whether it's inaccuracies of time reporting from your technicians when they are on a customer site or trouble with tracking where your technicians are and when they are free, having an ERP allows you to maintain all of your technician schedules and availability in one place. It also provides a platform where they can check in when they arrive onsite and check out when they leave. It allows you real-time monitoring of your technicians as well as simple reporting for payroll and time-on-site tracking.

Revenue Recognition Trouble

There are several different things that can contribute to problems with revenue recognition. Whether it's problems with getting your invoices out in a timely manner or failure to spot when customers aren't paying within the invoice terms, these things can disrupt your cash flow.

A CRM and ERP platform will allow you to eliminate these problems. Not only will these platforms allow you to easily access aging reports for your customer invoices, buy they also allow you to monitor paperwork throughout the process to ensure that customers are being invoiced in a timely manner.

Payables And Purchase Problems

Few things can hinder your company's production and delivery like not having the materials that you purchased. When you don't have an easy way to track your entire supply line, you don't always know when things are slipping through the cracks. With a system like this, you'll be able to see at a glance when things weren't delivered by their estimated date. You will even get alerts when things aren't meeting their deadlines.

In addition, you'll have simple tracking for your payables. This will allow you to ensure that things get paid on time, allowing you to take advantage of invoice discounts. This can save your company a lot of money in needless expenses just because you are keeping better track of payables and enjoying early-payment discounts.

These are only a few of the many things that your company can solve by investing in a CRM and ERP platform. If you don't want to have to integrate two separate platforms together, consider investing in something that has both of those platforms already incorporated. Platforms like Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Field Service can help you do just that, especially when field service calls are the biggest part of your business. Talk with a local support tech today to find out about how a platform like this could help you.


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