Italian civil engineering and construction leader Impresa Pizzarotti & C. Spa has selected an Infor enterprise software suite based around Infor LN. Set up for 700 users, the suite incorporates enterprise resource planning (ERP), enterprise asset management (EAM) and analytics (Birst) capabilities, and will support Impresa Pizzarotti & C. Spa’s digital transformation strategy. The company will focus on process consolidation to increase visibility and better forecasting. The strategy will support expansion into new emerging markets and cement Impresa Pizzarotti & C. Spa’s position in existing territories. Impresa Pizzarotti & C. Spa chose Infor because of the capabilities of the software and its ability to scale for future growth. Additionally, Infor’s ability to facilitate best practices in corporate governance, risk management and reporting, as well as tight cost control across every customer project to support reporting and planning was exactly what the company was looking for.

 

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Arun Upadhyay, CEO and Founder of LionO360 shares an article on Forbes regarding what small-to-medium-sized businesses (SMBs) should consider when choosing an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. Upadhyay stresses that implementing the right technology makes a world of a difference and can impact your business.  ERPs are designed to connect the different areas and processes of a company that’s needed to run the business.  Deciding what ERP to implement is half the battle. Below are Upadhyay’s tips to consider before seeking an ERP solution.

• Figure Out Your Requirements – Start by identifying shortfalls, challenges, inconsistencies, processes or systems that are inefficient, waste money or slow productivity. Seek input from senior management, IT teams, end users and others who are engaged in specific areas of your business.
• Compare Offerings -After you’ve sorted out your requirements, look to see what features, functionalities and technologies different ERPs offer. Most have a dizzying array of options. To avoid being overwhelmed, take a big-picture approach.
• Appoint An Integration Manager – Many vendors will assign you a project manager. However, you should appoint an internal person or team that understands the ERP you’ve selected as well as your company’s systems. Ideally, this person will be involved in the ERP onboarding process from day one: They will help gather requirements and will become fully acclimated to the new ERP. They will work alongside the vendor on any data conversions, coding customization and application migration. They will coordinate all necessary training and will liaise between the vendor and internal staff.
• Decide On An Option – As with most technologies, it’s important to think long-term when you’re selecting ERP software and a vendor. By doing so, you’ll better position your company and the vendor as partners for mutual success.

 

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The future of customer relationship management (CRM) seems to be left in the helms of another technology of today: Artificial Intelligence (AI). AI has been talked about for a very long time and today it’s proved to be the game changer it truly is. Peter Kowalke at IT.ToolBox notes that the inclusion of AI in CRM systems is projected to deliver businesses roughly $394 billion in additional revenue in the United States by 2021, according to Statistica research. Not every CRM currently flows through AI, and while most do, it’s very likely they all eventually will. Below are 6 CRM trends to watch in the near future, with excerpts directly from Kowalke’s article on IT.Toolbox.com:

1. Automatic Automation – “AI and Machine learning capabilities have significantly evolved during the past few years, and AI can enhance CRM utilization thanks to automating mundane tasks that employees would otherwise waste time on,” says Katherine Kostereva, CEO and founder of CRM maker, bpm’online.
2. Voice-Based Access – “The integration of voice assistants into CRM systems will allow for dictation and fast access to data with the help of voice commands,” notes Illia Pinchuk, CEO of software development firm, Diceus.
3. Advanced Data Mining – “Today, with AI-based technology, big data can bring customer relations to a new level using different electronic devices, gadgets, wearables, social networks, etc.,” says Pinchuk.
4. Tighter Integration with Other Systems – “CRM has forgotten the ‘relationship’ part of its acronym, and has failed to adapt to businesses’ evolving needs and the modern workplace,” says Morgan Norman, chief marketing officer for Google-based CRM, Copper. “A major weakness of traditional CRM systems is that they aren’t integrated with digital workplace tools users prefer, like Slack and G Suite.” This is changing, however, as CRM makers such as Salesforce and others break CRM out of its silo and build around the cloud model where everything easily connects with everything else.
5. Social Media-Inspired User Interfaces – “Based on user experience preferences and design, the next evolution of CRM may resemble a social network or consumer-facing application so that users feel comfortable with its functionalities,” suggests Norman.
6. IoT Data – “IoT will connect with CRM significantly in the near future, particularly in service organizations,” says Robin Grochol, vice president of product management for the Salesforce Sales Cloud. “With IoT and CRM data integrated, customer service agents can provide better support to customers and provide a consistent and personalized experience.”

 

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Customer relationship management and marketing is continuously evolving and becoming more and more imperative to the way we do business. Brands today are focusing a lot of their time on customer data and ways to leverage customer relationships. They are constantly finding ways to engaging with customers through people-based marketing strategies. Marketing strategist Jose Cebrian recently surveyed 200 marketers on this subject.

Marketers are Seeking to Invest More in Data, Analytics, and Technology

Cebrian explains that “marketers are feeling more pressure to enhance the customer experience and deliver differentiation throughout the full life cycle from prospect to customer to loyalty and win-back. They need investment to deliver on the promise of modern CRM, which is to ingest and analyze data, surface insights, and serve decisions to the systems that need them, whether it be a mobile app, an email campaign, a call center, or even an ATM.”

 

Email Remains a Valued Channel for Personalization and Insights

“Commercial email has been around for many years; email platforms are fairly mature, as are the operational processes around them. The channel is inherently –data driven, and the relatively large format allows for personalization in many different areas, including subject lines, imagery, content blocks, and other pieces. But that may contribute to the problem. Low levels of personalization are pretty easy in email, but it allows people to “check a box” that they are personalizing. But it has to mean more. If we continue on the theme of modern CRM, email personalization should not be considered something as basic as inserting a name or loyalty balance into a merge tag – that’s JV personalization. Rather, it has to be powered by insights and impact not just the content people see in their email, but also when they receive an email, the imagery they see, the language they read, and the offers they see – and even whether they receive an email at all. In addition, we need to connect that logic with other media in channel-appropriate ways.”

 

Direct Mail is on the Decline. Can We Do More with Less?

“As a channel, direct mail still has an important seat at the table – it’s a great acquisition channel for some industries, including financial services, home services, nonprofit, and retail. And the laws surrounding direct mail in the US are simpler than other PII-based marketing tactics. But the reality is that direct mail is relatively expensive on a per-piece basis, so you have to know who you are targeting, why, what you are going to say, and what you expect the outcome to be. While those tenets should be true in any channel, the economics of direct mail enforce the discipline. So, like all channels and tactics, direct mail has its place in the marketing quiver for acquisition, renewal, and continuity programs. But also, like other channels, you shouldn’t use direct mail to target everyone on your list. Start with the audience. Understand the channels through which they respond and use those in a coordinated fashion.”

 

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