Why You Should Integrate ERP Data Into Your CRM | Salesforce Developer Guide
Sales and Finance teams are two sides of the same coin — a profitability coin, that is. Both are critical to a company’s ability to succeed, and both need accurate data to work effectively. Yet the standard practice, when a company reaches a certain level of growth, is to have both teams working in their own silos — Sales in a CRM, like Salesforce, and Finance in an ERP like NetSuite.
Having two stand-alone systems obviously makes it difficult for teams to align, and increases the risk of bad or inaccurate data in either platform. But, at the same time, a separation between Sales and Finance is useful for a number of reasons — both teams have their own concerns and priorities, and having them work in the same platform presents its own set of challenges.
The solution? Integration. But you need to do it smartly, and selectively. Because this is a concern for a lot of Strongpoint customers running Salesforce and NetSuite, we’re partnered with Breadwinner, a Salesforce integration expert, to put together a guide to the key objects in NetSuite that should be integrated into your CRM.
Don't forget to check out: Salesforce Tips and Tricks for Data Integration
What to Share and Why?
The key to making integration work for your team is to be strategic about what you share. NetSuite has a lot of data in it that isn’t useful for Sales teams; likewise, much of what’s in Salesforce isn’t relevant to Finance.
Sometimes, the challenge in identifying relevant data is one of terminology. As Breadwinner’s Senior Engineer, Brian Newbold, puts it, “How many times have you had inquisitive looks in a cross-department meeting when discussing Accounts and Companies? (hint.. they’re the same thing)”
Other times, the issues are more challenging, and can require manual syncing, or translating between different data models — both things that take time and effort that can easily offset the convenience of integration.
But if you are selective in what you integrate — if you focus exclusively on the NetSuite objects that will be most useful for Sales teams — you can reduce both work and risk associated with integration.
Check out an amazing Salesforce video tutorial here: Salesforce Integration Crash Course | The Ultimate Guide to Salesforce Integrations
Get the Guide
With the help of the experts at Breadwinner, we’ve created a short guide to integrating NetSuite data into your CRM. It starts with the bigger picture — the pros and cons of maintaining separate systems and the major pain points businesses have when moving data between them. Then, we look at the five NetSuite objects that offer the most benefit to Sales teams.
Download our Five NetSuite Objects That Should Be In Your Salesforce Org PDF and have the confidence of knowing you’re making the right moves between your CRM and ERP.
Remember, integrations may seem like a daunting task — but with the right partners and proper processes in place, sharing data safely should be a breeze. Check out Breadwinner on the Salesforce AppExchange for more information about how they can help.
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