Most people don’t generally start out looking for and ERP solution—they start by considering accounting solutions or CRM solutions. As they learn more about the benefits and the functionality available from the Cloud, they begin to realize the effects of integrating their ERP and CRM and incorporating their operational systems. The ability to have anywhere, anytime access to the information they need to run their organization starts to stand out as a significant benefit. Usually, it isn’t until they have their arms around all this that they begin to think about extending their ERP to external parties and how that can add value to customer and vendor relationships. Let’s think about how giving access to your Cloud ERP to customers through a customer portal can heighten the client’s experience.
First, gives your customers self-service access to the data they need. No waiting in queues, no need for someone to email the customer information, no need for them to contact you between 8:00 am and 5:00 pm, Monday through Friday. Your clients can assess the status of an order or a payment or check on a payment due date on their own through a customer portal to your Cloud ERP. They can review their order history. Depending on what information you collect and give them access to, they could ascertain project completion status, product availability, and customer service tickets. Or they can examine a knowledge base for answers to questions they may have. They can get all of the information they need, when they need it.
Second, provide customer facing, value-added metrics and measures. Provide industry benchmarks, averages, and trends across the business or across the industry so your customers can look at their data in context. For example, if your company provides insurance, your homeowners’ insurance patrons could log in to see a dashboard that displays their monthly premium compared to the average monthly premium for clients in the same geographic region with similar home prices, along with discounts that other customers gain from. Customers who look at this might be tempted to call their agent and ask for additional or altered services and policies so they could qualify for discounts. This same dashboard could also show the trends in payout values, numbers of catastrophic storms in the customers’ region, and even a range of rates charged by competitors. Think of the value your clients can acquire from these facts as well as the added services and the superb client relationships you will garner.
Third, use your Cloud ERP consulting expertise to collaborate with your customers. If you notice that a client is ordering more frequently, you may want to suggest a larger, more cost-effective order quantity. You may want to inform your customer of additional value-added services linked to their purchase history, suggest a process improvement, and work out a payment plan. Share documents such as marketing material, educational material, or frequently asked questions. Your customer portal gives you a direct line to your customers and, if used correctly, your customers will look at it as a valuable communications and workflow channel, differentiating you from your competition.
Providing a customer portal is just one way to monetize your ERP and the data you collect in the course of your business. That monetization will drop to the bottom line in the form of more happy and loyal clients and more up-sell and cross-sell opportunities. And equally important, customers service will be more efficient for both you and your customer. To drive adoption, you’ll need to provide customer-driven information and training—not just some data you happen to have—in a secure environment. You’ll need to ascertain what that data is by talking to your clients and listening to their needs, speaking to your sales force, your valued ERP Cloud Consultants, and customer service reps.
Acumatica is a Cloud-based ERP that will fit your needs and those of your customers and partners. The customer portal comes as part of the Customer Management Suite and is complete with sales, marketing, service, and reporting tools to manage the complete customer experience through your portal.
Cloud ERP solutions not only save money, they can make your company actually operate more efficiently and effectively resulting in better decisions, faster delivery of products, and improved profit margins.
NexVue is 100% committed to your success. For more information and to get started on your ERP initiative, call NexVue at 203.327.0800 or email us at info@nexvue.com.
For more information about how an enterprise resource planning system can help your business, call NexVue at 203.327.0800 or email us at info@nexvue.com or simply click here for a Contact Us form.
Click here to see a short video about Acumatica Cloud-based ERP.
Watch more brief vieos HERE to learn more about cloud ERP and Acumatica
Join us for a complimentary webinar to learn about Acumatica—A Single Platform for your ERP, CRM, and More.
By Sandi Richards Forman, NexVue Information Systems, sforman@nexvue.com
Another version of this article was previously posted on NexVue's blog on October 15, 2014 by Sandi Richards Forman "Cloud ERP–Monetize Your ERP by Providing a Customer Portal"