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How to Create a CRM Migration Plan That Includes ERP Integration
What happens if you’ve successfully integrated your CRM with your ERP, but then for whatever reason decide to migrate your CRM to another system? An example of this would be a business that is using SYSPRO CRM and SYSPRO ERP but wants to migrate to Dynamics 365 CRM while maintaining the SYSPRO ERP integration. SYSPRO CRM + SYSPRO ERP -> Migrate to -> Dynamics 365 + SYSPRO ERP In a situation like this, you must take a two-pronged approach: 1) migrating your CRM data to the new system and 2) ensuring the new CRM system integrates with your ERP. Next, we’ll look at how to do this, step-by-step. Key steps to implement a CRM migration and simultaneous ERP integration Internal Buy-In Make sure you have your team on board with the upcoming CRM migration, especially the teams that will need to use it every day. Set Goals What would your ideal CRM be able to accomplish? Imagine what success would look like and set goals for the upcoming migration. Find the Right Partner A vendor can help you choose the right CRM to meet your goals. The vendor should also have migration experience for the specific CRM you choose. 360 CRM Assessment With a vendor on board, it’s time to assess what’s under the hood. What types of data, file attachments, third-party integrations and customizations need to be mapped out? Data Mapping The data mapping stage is essential for matching data from your old system to your new system in the right format, with the right automation and the necessary customizations. If you need to migrate your CRM data and integrate the new system with your ERP, this should also be considered in the data mapping phase. Migration This is where the magic happens. Your CRM migration partner might use different strategies for the CRM Migration, depending on your goals. For example, they might do a custom migration or use a pre-built tool to streamline the process. Integration With the data safely in its new CRM environment, your partner can now connect it back to your ERP to synchronize this data. Team Onboarding Once your new CRM is ready to use and loaded with data, it’s time to get your team familiar with the new system to ensure CRM success. This involves training, motivating and potentially even personal CRM customizing. You want your team to not only use the system but love it. Fully Customized Integration vs. Using a Pre-Built Tool While the steps above can be completely customized and implemented on a project-by-project basis, another more efficient option is to use a tool that has been pre-built to handle migrations and integrations for your CRM/ERP combination. A pre-built tool will have the data mapping, migration and integration phases ready out of the box to configure to your specific data. Pre-Built Tool Example: Connector for SYSPRO® An example of a pre-built CRM migration tool is our proprietary Connector for SYSPRO® that is designed to fit a wide range of migration scenarios for moving from SYSPRO CRM to Dynamics 365 and then integrating this data with SYSPRO ERP. Our CRM Migration package includes drivers and mappings (DTS) for all the necessary integration points that also utilizes a variety of “Reference Table” integration points for ancillary SYSPRO Tables (like customer classes, price lists, tax tables and more). A pre-built tool like Connector for SYSPRO® can save a lot of time and cost for your CRM migration project. Do you have an upcoming CRM Migration? Check out our CRM Migration Services, including fully customizable CRM migrations and our SYSPRO CRM standard migration package, using our proprietary Connector for SYSPRO® tool.
What to Expect When You Migrate from SYSPRO CRM to Microsoft Dynamics 365
Are you looking to migrate from SYSPRO CRM to a best-of-breed full CRM system like Microsoft Dynamics 365? Be prepared to embrace Microsoft Dynamics 365 and have all your CRM pain points melt away. But, before you make this transition, we understand your team probably has a number of questions about how to get started; this informational blog is here to provide some answers! What data can you migrate from SYSPRO to Dynamics 365? You can migrate all your important CRM data directly into Dynamics 365. SYSPRO CRM data is stored in a readily accessible SQL database. Dynamics 365 can support a wide variety of specific processes: Sales Customer Service Warranties Returns Quoting Quote Configurator Field Staffing/Remote Users What integration points should you have between your CRM and SYSPRO? In order to have a successful CRM setup, your CRM and ERP data must be able to communicate. Here are some of the key integration points: Sales Orders / Order fulfillment RMA’S New Customers Customer Updates Customer Account Status and History Inventory Queries Pricing Rules And more – ask us how easy it is to configure the migration to your specific business processes. The best part is that we can completely automate the integration between CRM and SYSPRO ERP (and vice versa)! Do you need to provide your customers or third parties with a portal? Dynamics 365 supports the following actions: Account inquiries Order inquiries Quote Requests Online Ordering Return Requests Warranty Claims Is it time-consuming to set up the SYSPRO CRM Migration? It depends if you do it manually (which can be both time and cost-intensive) or via a pre-built tool like our Dynamics 365 Connector for SYSPRO. Are You Ready to Fully Utilize Microsoft Dynamics 365 Power? With our Connector for SYSPRO pre-built integration tool, you can create custom CRM integrations that fit your unique business processes. This entire process can be automated, saving time and cost for your company. Dominic Systems acts as a trusted advisor and provides ongoing user coaching and support after the implementation process. Learn more about previous customer success stories. If you are looking to migrate from the SYSPRO CRM to Dynamics 365 CRM system, support your implementation with our highly qualified CRM consultants. Learn More About CRM Migration
Four Reasons to Integrate Your CRM and ERP
Quickly and accurately predicting when you can deliver your product is critical to customer supply chains, and there is little room for stocking errors. But you can’t gather the necessary customer and inventory information from your CRM alone. This blog post will review why your CRM needs information from your ERP to help your sales team answer key customer and product questions. Estimating when you can supply critical products How confidently can your salespeople respond “I can get you x units today and the rest in y days”? Your salespeople can sell more efficiently and effectively if they can give prospects and customers immediate and concrete information on current and future availability. This is why they need access to key ERP information, such as: quantity on hand, quantity allocated and quantity on backorder, and more. Quickly turning around price quotes and RFQs To turn around quotes, your sales team needs an up-to-date list of product types, units of measure available, and prices. By integrating your CRM and your ERP, you can put all this product and pricing information directly in the hands of your sales team. Proactively notifying your customers in the event of a supply chain disruption Your CRM should be able to gather and display the latest information about product orders. By integrating your CRM and ERP, you give your sales team an important window into the manufacturing process to better inform customers about their order status. Determining how to prioritize or score the customer When you can identify your best customers, you can allocate scarce inventory and attention to those most deserving and profitable for you. You might even ask whether you should be focusing on this particular customer or prospect at all. Are they in good standing? Are they an “A” customer or a “C” customer? What items do they normally buy? How quickly do they pay?Effective sales involves looking for customers that have bought a particular product before, that have a high sales volume with your company, that have a good payment history, and more—all details you can find in your ERP. CRM Customization is Key To gather and display very specific information regarding your products, your CRM must be highly configurable so that it can store and display whatever information is relevant to your products AND it must have the capability of integrating with your ERP and/or Supply Chain Management system to retrieve the most accurate and timely data. Learn More About Integrating Your CRM and ERP At Dominic Systems, we help companies integrate their CRM with the ERP and Supply Chain management systems they have in place. Since many manufacturers use the SYSPRO ERP system, we have developed a proprietary tool that includes a suite of integration points between SYSPRO and CRM called the Dynamics 365 Connector for SYSPRO. We can also provide custom integration solutions. Contact us or download the eBook “Three Methods for Integrating Your CRM and ERP” to learn more.
How to Protect Your CRM From Data Loss and Corruption With OwnBackup
If you think your SaaS CRM provider is protecting your CRM data, you might be surprised to learn that you’re the one in charge. What are you doing to protect this valuable company data, including your customers’ personal information, deal values, and your entire history of correspondence? If the answer is ‘nothing,’ you should consider a solution like OwnBackup, which is built to integrate with SaaS like your CRM and keep this data safe and compliant. What is OwnBackup? OwnBackup is a SaaS Data Protection service that can be implemented with CRM systems such as Dynamics 365. OwnBackup protects data in the cloud from loss and corruption that may be caused by: Human error Bad code Integration error Migration error Malicious intent Protecting over 4,000 businesses, OwnBackup is becoming one of the largest recovery and data protection solutions in the marketplace. Following a motto of ‘Zero downtime, never lose data in the cloud,’ there are several ways OwnBackup protects your data: Automated backups: OwnBackup provides automated backups of company data. Data is backed up over 250 times a month and is retained for up to 99 years. Rapid recovery: If data loss or corruption were to occur, most non-customers will experience a 7+ delay to recover their data. However, OwnBackup customers recover their data in less than a day Cutting-edge R&D: OwnBackup has invested $1 billion in security research and development Key Features of OwnBackup Here are just a few of the reasons you should choose OwnBackup to protect your CRM data: Quickly search data history: You can search data history in order to save time instead of having to try and manually uncover records. Find an account you know was deleted and restore just that account and its associated child records. Stay informed with smart alerts: OwnBackup sends the user intelligent alerts which reminds and assures them that an automated daily backup is occurring. Throw a red flag if too many records are deleted or changed at once. Monitor sensitive data fields to make sure they are not overwritten accidentally. Compare data to identify changes: Another beneficial feature of OwnBackup is the quick compare feature which allows the user to compare data within different environments and can even get down to a specific field or entity. Quickly identify what has changed and whether something needs to be restored. Carefully restore granular data: One more highlighting benefit of OwnBackup is the feature of granular restore which restores just a selected subset of columns, rows, tables, and attachments to the backup environment directly. No more wiping everything out just to recover some records a user accidentally deleted! Keep Your Data in Compliance OwnBackup is compliant with SOC2 and HIPAA, so all data is encrypted when in transit and at rest, it is made a primary initiative that the user fully trusts the cloud and what happens with their data. Canadian users can rest assured that their backups are stored in Canada and never leave the country. It’s Easy to Protect Your CRM Data with OwnBackup OwnBackup focuses heavily on the simplicity and ease of the user experience. The implementation process is efficient and easy to learn, install, and delegate. The user is guaranteed access to a 24/7 on-call support system if needed. Implemented with Dynamics 365, OwnBackup is able to handle any amount of data and ensure successful integration. Protect Your CRM Data! Implement OwnBackup with Your Own CRM Dominic Systems provides expert advice on how to best protect your CRM data with OwnBackup and can also help you implement this data protection solution. To make sure your CRM data is protected, schedule a consultation with one of our CRM experts today. OwnBackup customers say they feel 3x more prepared to deal with a situation of data loss and corruption in comparison with a non-customer.View Site Schedule Free Consultation
How to Integrate Mapping and Geospatial Data Into Your CRM With Maptaskr | Dominic Systems
What would you do if you could combine satellite and aerial data with your CRM data? Maptaskr users find that they can quickly identify opportunities near their sales leaders, efficiently plan sales trips, improve territory coverage, and optimize field service routes. When you integrate Maptaskr with your CRM, like Dynamics 365, you can give your users the ability to connect geospatial intelligence and location intelligence information with all other data from customers and prospects. What is Maptaskr? Maptaskr is a CRM integration that pulls in information from geospatial and location intelligence, such as ESRI ArcGIS data, and automatically correlates it with the customer, operational, and field data in your CRM. Maptaskr is a Microsoft Preferred Solution built to enhance your business processes by enriching customer information with location data and allowing you to trigger actionable processes from within the map. Here are just a few of the ways Maptaskr enhances your productivity with location data: Route optimization: For a faster journey to customer locations, Maptaskr offers route optimization Accounts near me: The “accounts near me” feature shows customers near you and helps you efficiently make a plan to serve them. User-friendly UI: Users can optimize their CRM by quickly colour coding data sets and generate custom workflows with just one click Automatic triggers: Automate trigger actions from the data A Maptaskr implementation can help you enhance the way you work with location data: Map CRM Data: Reduce cost and time by accurately planning a journey Territory Management: Optimize territory coverage by creating, managing, and reassigning territories Automate manual processes: For more efficient planning, geocoding CRM data automates many of the manual processes associated with territory and route planning. Optimized routing: Maptaskr uses intelligent mapping to automatically optimize routes and schedules Add detail with third-party maps: Users can import 3rd party excel files and OGC-compliant mapping layers to create detailed maps. Geofenced Zones: Share maps with colleagues and customers to increase time productivity “We blend your data with location intelligence and artificial intelligence to bring you insights and actions that will make your business better organized, more productive, and more profitable.” Satellite and Aerial data help gather detailed insights regarding your customers, view the high-resolution aerial imagery provided in this metromap. To further enhance the user experience of Maptaskr in Dynamics 365, users are able to connect with your Canvas apps to create base maps, search custom endpoints, add enterprise layers, and more. If you’re interested in learning how Maptaskr combines customer data with geospatial information, check out this video that shows the results in Dynamics 365. Enhance Your CRM Data with Mapping and Geospatial Data Dominic Systems is one of Maptaskrs main integration partners, with deep expertise in enhancing the Dynamics 365 CRM use experience with rich location data. Book a consultation to see how we can help streamline your business processes by combining mapping data with your Dynamics 365 CRM. Did you know? Maptaskr is the only approved way to integrate Dynamics 365 data with ESRI ArcGIS data. Schedule Free Consultation
Charity Golf Tournament in Chilliwack to Benefit Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada
Chilliwack, BC: The Chilliwack MS Golf Tournament is back for its fifth year at the Cheam Mountain Golf Course on September 12, hosted by Dominic Systems and Manulife Securities. The event hopes to raise $15,000 to support the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada; last year the event raised $10,000 for this cause. Ray Murrell from Dominic Systems was inspired to host this charity golf tournament to support his wife, Patricia Murrell, who has been living with an MS diagnosis for the past 20 years and now uses a wheelchair to help manage her symptoms.“The MS Society not only contributes to the long-term goal of finding a cure for Multiple Sclerosis, but they are also a lifeline for thousands of Canadians living with this devilish disease. Every dollar really helps someone in need!”- Ray Murrell, CEO, Dominic Systems On average, every day around 12 Canadians are diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, a chronic autoimmune disease of the central nervous system, including the brain, spinal cord and optic nerve, MS can affect vision, memory, balance, and mobility. In fact, Canada as a country has one of the highest incidences of Multiple Sclerosis in the world: over 100,000 Canadians currently live with MS. Events like the Chilliwack MS Golf Tournament help the MS Society come closer to answering questions about MS by providing funds for research and resources for those affected. Funds raised at these kinds of events have provided wheelchairs and other equipment, care, education and counselling for MS Patients and their families.“The MS Society’s mission to empower the MS community to create positive change is made possible through community-led events like the Chilliwack MS Golf Challenge. Your fundraising will support MS research, advocacy efforts, and programs and services essential to changing the lives of Canadians affected by MS. We are grateful for the support of the entire Chilliwack Golf community and together we move one step closer to realizing our vision of a world free of MS.” – Meredith Bongers, Senior Director, Community – Western Canada Register for the Chilliwack MS Golf Tournament to support this important cause while enjoying a fun day of golf and a meal together. Where: Cheam Mountain Golf Course When: September 12, 2022, at 9am – 6pm PST For more information about how to register and prices, please visit the Chilliwack MS Golf Challenge website: https://www.chilliwackmsgolf.com/ Please share this event with friends, family, co-workers, as well any golf enthusiasts that want to spend a great day on the golf course in Chilliwack while supporting MS. If you have a business or know a business interested in sponsoring or supporting this event, please reach out for more information about sponsorship opportunities. View Sponsorship Packages About Dominic Systems: Dominic Systems is a Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement (CRM) Implementation and Services company with a specialization in SYSPRO ERP Integration https://www.dominicsystems.com/ About Manulife Securities: Manulife Securities Incorporated is one of Canada’s foremost independent investment dealers and provides clients with choices tailored to fit their financial goals and advanced investment needs https://www.manulifesecurities.ca/clients.html Press Contact: Ray Murrell, CEO of Dominic Systems Phone: 604-617-3704 Email: rmurrell@dominicsystems.com
Discover How Powell Embraced Dynamics 365 As A Customizable CRM
Introduction to Powell Founded in 1964 and based in Saint Louis, Powell Solutions provides custom chemical manufacturing equipment to users across the entire globe. Specializing in Sodium Hypochlorite (NAOCI) production and Chlorine (CI2) processing equipment, Powell also offers services to chemical processors, toll blenders, distributors, contract packages, and end-users. Powell is able to offer customers custom production equipment for chemicals covering a wide range of industrial, municipal, and consumer uses. There are a large variety of chemical systems offered to customers, as well as custom process designs to meet specific consumer system needs such as air treatment systems, filter systems, scrubbing systems, and more. Challenge Powell was in need of a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system to manage its customer interactions, as their clients are offered a wide variety of customizable chemical products, equipment, and services. Their products are custom-engineered solutions that involve complex installation and commissioning, as well as long-term support and maintenance. Dynamics 365 is designed to manage all the communications around installation and support issues. Powell needed a CRM solution that could manage all communications around installation and support issues. CRM Integrations When first introduced to Dominic Systems, Powell had purchased and implemented Microsoft Dynamics CRM (On-Premises). To begin the collaboration, Dominic Systems first implemented an early version of the Dynamics 365 Connector for SYSPRO. For an example of the new integration, Powell was finally able to pass data from ERP to CRM, like creating RMA’s in SYSPRO from cases in CRM. CRM User Coaching Dominic Systems worked with Powell employees to ensure they were fully educated and engaged with the new system of Dynamics 365. Dominic placed and continues to place heavy emphasis on this step of CRM implementation, as sufficient user coaching makes certain that Powell gets the most success and use of Dynamics 365. More recently, as Powell’s business began to evolve, their CRM system developed to Dynamics 365 (Online) and Dominic Systems fully supported the migration and applied all necessary changes required to the integration setup for a successful transition. The Outcome of CRM Design, Integration, and User Coaching Powell is now fully equipped and trained to use Dynamics 365 as their CRM. By embracing Dynamics 365, Powell has successfully been able to manage all customer interactions and custom orders in a CRM that provides all their customer information and orders. Dominic Systems is Powell’s primary Dynamics 365 partner and provides continuous support for the entire system. Dominic also provides additional support for any enhancements and upgraded features for their CRM system. Powell is extremely satisfied and pleased with their CRM implementation and continuous support, sharing that “Dominic Systems met our deadlines. Their ERP/CRM integration package is thorough. Their people are personable and professional.” Learn more about how we can expertly tailor a CRM to your custom products! Schedule Consultation
See How Lee Spring Optimized Their CRM for Highly Custom Manufactured Parts
Introduction to Lee Spring Lee Spring is a manufacturer of stock and custom springs and has developed its company to serve countless different businesses and customers. Their sales and operations cover the globe in countries such as the United States, Mexico, China, India, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Lee Springs has over 25,000 stock products and each of which has 25 quantity-break price levels in multiple currencies in each jurisdiction. Customers also have the customizable option to order springs that specifically meet their needs. Lee Spring is heavily customer-oriented and therefore requires a smart and efficient system that is able to maintain its customer engagements. Challenge Prior to hiring Dominic Systems as a trusted advisor, Lee Spring required a strategic systems plan for efficiently managing all of its customer interactions. Lee Spring needed a system that would help its team excel in customer interactions while maintaining a smooth and efficient flow of operations. The system also needed to keep track of a large variety of projects. Dominic Systems was ready to help with a strategic plan centred around Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement, a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system. CRM Solution Design To begin this collaboration, Dominic implemented Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement and integrated it with SYSPRO so that all the product information could be tracked alongside customer information. Since Lee Spring offers customers the ability to order their own customized springs, it was important that there would be a solution that covered all the product variations; for an example, each Stock Spring has 50+ specifications such as diameter, length, max twist, etc. Dynamics 365 was able to keep track of all the product variations, and even had features for measuring in imperial or metric units, along with a price breakdown of the springs by quantity. Dynamics 365 also supports multiple different languages and currencies within the system and even meets important regulatory requirements such as ITAR. CRM Integrations To fit in with Lee Spring’s various customer touchpoints, the CRM also required extensive integrations with Gatekeeper, eCommerce websites, Lee Design, and other in-house systems. The Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement implementation would now be a central repository for all the data, essentially ‘one version of the truth.’ CRM User Coaching To begin the journey of Dominic Systems as Lee Spring’s trusted advisor, the user of the CRM system was primarily the Customer Service Team. As time went on, the usage extended to the Marketing Team as well. To be noted, there were also several acquisitions of other spring manufacturers. The Outcome of CRM Integration and User Coaching Dominic Systems continues to act as a trusted advisor to Lee Spring to this day, after years of a successful relationship. Dynamics 365 is now a mission-critical core component that helps Lee Spring process customer orders with little to no human involvement regarding stock orders—business processes have been efficiently automated! Lee Spring is very happy with the CRM implementation, telling us “The Dynamics 365 Connector for SYSPRO has allowed us to share critical data across all departments. Accurate data improved our customer service quality and increased sales.” Learn more about how we can effectively tailor a CRM to your custom product inventory!
What will happen after the COVID-19 crisis?
What will happen after the COVID-19 crisis? Right now, we are all (understandably!) focused on protecting our loved ones, fighting the spread of the virus, and dealing with the immediate fallout in our jobs, businesses, and communities. BUT when life starts to return to normal, what will this new “normal” look like and how are we going to have to adapt? I do not have a crystal ball (ah… if only…), but there are a couple of things that I am predicting… 1. Many of those employees and contractors that were told to work from home will find they LIKE it. 2. Many of those employers that were forced to have their staff work remotely will find that (sometimes to their surprise), their people were more responsible, efficient and productive (oh… and they did not have to provide space, coffee, power etc, reducing overhead costs). In other words, some of those people forced to work off site will probably stay there! As we get our heads above water and start looking beyond immediate survival, we should plan for this potential (accelerated) shift in mindset – a mindset that has already seen a gradual change over the past 10 or 20 years but could now show a sudden larger surge in popularity. Being techies, we naturally focus on the technology that can enable remote workers to communicate, collaborate, be accountable, and be productive without being chained to a traditional work environment. Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Office 365 are two of the strongest toolsets that we feel can really help keep us all efficient and connected (not to mention somewhat sane!). What other tools does your manufacturing company recommend? Please add your comments and tell us how technology was/is/will be helping you and your team in this new paradigm.