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4 Ways an ERP Helps Improve Customer Service and Business Operations

Written by Bill Craig | Oct 7, 2019 4:00:00 AM

Remaining competitive in today's business environment is a challenge facing every company in all industries. With the rise of technology and information, your customers have a plethora of options available in any market or niche.

Online search has made it possible for customers to compare your products and services to your competitors in seconds. This means that you need a strong online marketing strategy that drives conversions while also providing unmatched customer service to ensure your business can build customer loyalty. 

Image Source: https://beeketing.com/blog/future-ecommerce-2019/

ERP systems help asset-intensive businesses in industries such as distribution, manufacturing, and technology, manage their processes, and improve efficiencies.

Improving your business processes leads to an increase in customer service levels. By implementing an ERP system, you keep both your business operations and customers in the limelight. Here are four ways that an ERP system can boost your customer service levels.

1. Streamline Your Business Backend Processes

By implementing an ERP solution, your company can deliver the best products to your customers. This means that you can reduce the time and resources from picking to packing, and shipping products late or in the wrong quantity. 

Your company can avoid these negative impacts by building automated processes into your logistics results in enhanced productivity in your warehouses, better inventory control, as well as improved transportation times.

ERP systems also allow companies to track reliable leads and business opportunities while assisting with managing orders with your current customers. These factors add up to improved customer satisfaction and better customer communication.

2. Carry The Right Inventory Based On Supply and Demand

ERP systems connect sales orders to fulfillment departments while providing managers with better control over all processes in a systemic manner. 

Managers can assign inventory to sales orders and set service levels based on when customer demands increase throughout the year.

Leveraging ERP helps you quantify your customer relationships by assigning priority scores to your customers. This strategy allows you to always be on top of your order flow, and ensure that your top customers are never left waiting. 

Image Source: https://emergeapp.net/inventory-reports/inventory-management-techniques/ 

Statistics show that 80-percent of a company's sales come from between 10 to 20-percent of its customers. By prioritizing, you ensure that your best customers receive top service levels at all times, and this approach can help you limit overstocking or understocking at key times of the year.

ERP systems allow you to set service rules for your management and employees. By identifying a sales process, you ensure that you reduce incorrect packaging and delivery, and minimize any mistakes with logistics, saving your company time and money while retaining your customers.

With an ERPO system, you get an accurate overview of all of your sale locations. Keep track of sales targets, location performance, and inventory levels. Minimize the effort of stock transfers by automating and stocking procedures in your ERP system.

3. Improve The Experience Of Your Customers

When you streamline the backend processes of your business, it results in improved customer service levels. This is because your customers won’t have to wait on the phone with a customer service representative, and they will receive the right products in less time. 

Implementing an ERP solution helps you track all the data about your customer, giving you a holistic view of their current buying activity, as well as the lifetime value of the client. Professional JD Edwards Managed Services can keep your entire company operating efficiently without worrying about losing market share!

Understanding your customer history and current buying habits helps you to manage your customers better since you can look at patterns to understand when and how individual customers order products. 

This information can also help you accomplish other tasks like: 

  • Use the system to issue coupons or discount codes to your best customers. 
  • Utilize accurate shipping and tracking information to keep your customer informed during the delivery process using notifications. 
  • Reduce the effort your customer needs to go through when placing an order. Modern ERP systems integrate with online tools to connect warehouses with a user-friendly online ordering system.

With ERP, you get a holistic view of your customer interactions. You get to track every aspect of the customer process through the system, giving you insight with analytics that matter to your sales and logistics processes.

From the analysis of service fulfillment levels to invoicing and supplier performance, you get an understanding of your customer's perception of your value-add to their situation.

Improve Data to Understand Your Customers

Your company's data holds the key to improving both your internal operations, as well as your customer service. ERP systems allow you to distribute data across internal departments better. 

By implementing an ERP system, your company gets real-time information about every aspect of your business. The data is easy to access and comes in a user-friendly format, making sense to every department.

ERP systems provide you with improved integration of your warehouse and front-office operations. With information on hand, sales consultants have access to current inventory levels on products, as well as logistics information that helps them better plan for customer deliveries.

ERP systems help you manage your suppliers by issuing vendor scorecards. This system allows you to see which vendors are performing, and which ones are letting down you and your customers.

By increasing your customer satisfaction through implementing an ERP system, you get a higher lifetime value from your customers, as well as better retention of your best clients.

Improve Customer Satisfaction

Everything you can do to retain customers and improve customer satisfaction deserves your immediate attention. By implementing an ERP system, you get access to a wealth of data at your fingertips. 

This data helps you identify the working dynamics of your business and the performance of your management teams and employees in both warehousing and front-office departments.

It's critical that you get an accurate view of how your business dynamics affect customer interaction. Sales, marketing, and customer support are the trifecta that can make or break any company. With an ERP system, you get real-time data and analytics that help you improve efficiencies in each of these departments.

ERPs help businesses create useful self-service portals that offer cost-effective customer care while providing high-levels of customer satisfaction. Leverage the power of your infrastructure and get self-service automation going in your company with the use of ERP systems.

ERP processes help you create and build-out knowledge bases for customer interactions, without the need to speak to a real-life service agent. Chatbots and interactive service responses are a few examples of how ERP processes can help your customer satisfaction experience.

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