Häufig gestellte Fragen
What is the difference between CRM and ERP?
CRM (customer relationship management) focuses on the relationship with the customer — that is, sales, marketing and service — and is therefore regarded as a front-office system for customer-related interactions. ERP (enterprise resource planning), by contrast, controls the entire commercial and logistical value chain, such as finance, purchasing, production and warehousing, and is therefore assigned to the back office. Both systems typically access shared customer master data and, in mid-sized companies, are often coupled via interfaces so that a sales opportunity recorded in the CRM transitions seamlessly into ERP processing once the order comes in. Some ERP suites include their own CRM module, while other companies connect a specialised CRM separately.
What types of CRM are there?
Traditionally, three variants are distinguished, which in practice often occur in combination. Operational CRM supports day-to-day business in sales, marketing and service, for example through lead and pipeline management, campaigns or ticket handling. Analytical CRM evaluates the collected data, for instance for customer segmentation or assessing customer profitability, often via connected business intelligence tools. Collaborative CRM, finally, coordinates communication across multiple channels such as telephone, email, web and social media so that all departments share the same level of knowledge.
What does a CRM system cost for SMEs?
Costs depend heavily on the scope of functions, number of users and operating model, and cloud solutions are usually billed per user per month. For small and medium-sized enterprises, licence prices frequently range from around 15 to 150 euros per user per month depending on the vendor and edition, and individual vendors such as HubSpot also provide a functionally limited free entry-level version. When budgeting, implementation, data migration, interfaces and training should be factored in alongside pure licence costs, as these accompanying costs can make up a substantial share of total expenditure. A reliable figure therefore only emerges from a specific quotation for the requirements in question.
Is Salesforce worthwhile for SMEs?
Measured by global market share, Salesforce is the largest CRM vendor and offers a very broad scope of functions and customisation options, whose strengths come into play above all in complex sales organisations. For small companies with manageable requirements, however, this wealth of functions can cause more effort and cost than the use case justifies. Leaner or cheaper platforms such as Pipedrive or HubSpot often cover simple to mid-level use cases just as well, and integrated mid-market suites such as weclapp additionally combine CRM directly with ERP processing in one system. Suitability follows from the specific processes, the desired customising depth and the ERP integration, not from the prominence of a name.
What must a CRM system observe regarding data protection under the GDPR?
Since personal data is processed in the CRM, every processing operation requires a legal basis, such as consent, contract performance or a documented legitimate interest. If the system is operated as a cloud service by an external provider, a data processing agreement must be concluded under Article 28 GDPR, and the CRM must be listed as a processing activity in the record of processing activities under Article 30 GDPR. In addition, the principles of data minimisation and purpose limitation apply, along with defined deletion periods, so data may not be stored permanently without a purpose. Differentiated access control and the storage location of the data should therefore be part of the implementation concept from the outset.
How are CRM data quality and user adoption connected?
A CRM only delivers its value when the data is maintained completely and kept current, because missing or outdated entries lead to incorrect analyses and duplicated work. Data maintenance depends directly on adoption within the sales team, which is why the system should be easy to use and offer a recognisable benefit in day-to-day business. Recurring routines can be supported by workflow automation such as follow-up reminders, escalation rules or notifications, which reduces manual upkeep. Clean master data and a reliable interface to the ERP are the prerequisite for ensuring the two systems do not diverge.