Should Executives Use Their ERP Software System's CRM Functionality? Absolutely.

A few years ago, I heard a great story about former U.S. President George H. W. Bush. When President Bush was in office in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, the President kept a Rolodex on his desk in the oval office. This Rolodex contained some 200+ names of the President’s closest friends, business partners, executives of large corporations, important campaign contributors, etc. It is said the President would make it a point to call each and every one of these 200 or so people every six months, not to ask them for anything, but really just to say, “Hi,” check in, and see if there was anything he could do to be of service.

One could argue that this practice of routine follow-up with the use of a Rolodex was really just a primitive form of what we know today as customer relationship management. Political opinions aside, President Bush’s methods of keeping tabs on those whom he believed to be most important to his job should serve as an example to small business owners and executives everywhere that customer follow-up is not solely the responsibility of regional sales or customer service representatives; owners and executives should take advantage of their ERP software’s customer relationship management capabilities to schedule routine calls to their customers, suppliers, and business partners.

Executives who leverage their small business ERP system’s CRM software functionality can accomplish two things. First, CRM software provides an easy way to schedule routine follow up calls with customers, suppliers, and business partners, maintain a history of prior discussions with these individuals, and easily recall what was discussed in prior conversations by maintaining electronic contact notes. For the small business owner, using the company’s ERP software system can provide an organized view of customer contact history well beyond that of Microsoft Outlook, calendar reminders, paper notes, etc.

Secondly, a small business can achieve higher levels of customer satisfaction and increase the likelihood of repeat customer purchases when an owner or executive places a non-sales call to a customer. The business owner can listen to customer requests and come to realize new opportunities for both business process and customer service improvements. In addition, small business executives who make it a point to call their customers on a routine basis enable the business to further differentiate itself and its service offerings from its larger competitors. These distinctions, in turn, will ultimately lead to increased revenues and continued business growth.