Sage ERP Africa, a leading provider of business management software and services to small and medium-sized businesses, has announced integration between Sage CRM and Sage ERP X3. This integration provides mid-market enterprises with a single, customer-centric view across the organisation, offering greater business insights and more opportunities for growth.

Connecting Sage ERP X3 and Sage CRM provides companies with greater visibility into their business. It enables their accounting, operations, sales, marketing and customer service teams to have a single consistent view into their customer relationships so they can deliver a great customer experience.

Integration streamlines processes and eliminates the need for duplicate entry with synchronised data. Sales teams can create accurate quotes quickly, better forecast customer demand and place new orders with speed and confidence, while marketing automation, social media monitoring, and campaign measurement and analysis ensure a strong flow of leads to the sales team.

Using Sage CRM with Sage ERP X3 also provides businesses with the tools they need to better service their customers. Employees can view real-time order status, past service call notes and credit status so they are well-informed of a customer’s history whenever they interact with them. Businesses can also offer a self-service web portal to provide customers with quicker access to the information that they need such as viewing their account profile, order history and available inventory.

Says Jeremy Waterman, Managing Director of Sage ERP Africa and Middle East: “We have long promoted closer integration of CRM and the ERP systems. For several years, we’ve enjoyed excellent attach rates for Sage CRM integrated to Sage 300 ERP (formerly Accpac) in South Africa. Now, our enterprise product, Sage ERP X3, also has an integration framework that connects it to Sage CRM.

"By achieving integration between Sage ERP X3 and Sage CRM, we enable our clients to enjoy the next level of CRM functionality and achieve benefits that go far beyond efficiencies in sales, marketing and client care. The CRM system becomes the customer-facing interface to the core ERP platform.”

The benefits of an integrated system provide a company with more opportunity for growth. Aberdeen Group’s 2014 Business Management and ERP Benchmark Survey found that best-in-class (top 20% of respondents based on performance) organisations are 79% more likely to have integrated ERP and CRM systems.