General Information about CRM and SRM

The chapter about CRM and SRM describes what the CRM (Customer Relationship Management) and SRM (Supplier Relationship Management) are and a few ways of using these features in MONITOR. It will also describe the different main settings and configurations that must be performed in the system, before the CRM and SRM functions can be used.

Everybody who has contact with customers and suppliers must keep track of a large amount of information.

Why Is a CRM Feature Needed in MONITOR?

The notion of a good customer dialog and sales support is established in a concept that is referred to as Customer Relationship Management (CRM) which has become increasingly common in different contexts.

To your aid and in order to save all information in one place, a company can use a so called CRM system which provides a complete review of the company's business connections and customers. However, CRM is not only a sales support but also a strategy that in order to become fully efficient should impregnate the entire organization.

When the demands from the customers increase it gets harder for the companies to internally manage and keep all contacts. Good customer care and efficient CRM require that you have access to an easily worked and lucid information system.

MONITOR's CRM feature is based in a customer register with increased CRM functionality such as planned activities and tasks for all business events where each contact has been involved. But to include and provide a collected view of the entire business, several other functions in MONITOR are used, such as:

• Quote management, for registration, monitoring and follow-ups of quotes to our business contacts.
• Sales statistics and order inflow statistics, in order to show order inflow and all customer orders on hand. CM The contribution margin - CM - is the difference between the standard price and the invoice amount. and CR The contribution ratio - CR - is the portion of the invoice amount that the contribution margin represents. The CR is entered as a percentage. analyses.
• Forecast management, registration of expected sales to be able to "pre-produce" before actual order.
• Pre-calculations and post-calculations, to calculate and then follow-up time and costs for products. Are we making money or losing money on the products...?
• Price Management. There are several types of price lists in the system that must be maintained. This can include registering of new prices and adjustments of existing prices, both when concerning purchase prices, standard prices and sales prices.
• Follow-up of delivery period, are we keeping the promised delivery period to our customers...? Have we had any delayed deliveries, what caused the delay and for how long was it delayed?
• Can we provide the customers with quick and reliable delivery notices? By for example using the Check Delivery Times function (CDT) we can control and get suggestions regarding the best possible delivery period with the opportunity to consider available material, loading and delays, if any, in the manufacturing.
• E-mail sending to customers directly from the system with different selection options. You can for example make a send out to all potential customers.

By an interaction of several CRM functions in MONITOR we can create conditions for a better control and review of the entire business, which in its turn creates opportunities for long-term and successful customer relationships.

In the chapter Using CRM a few possible scenarios are described and also how certain CRM functions can be used.

Before you start using MONITOR's CRM feature, you should configure a number of basic settings in certain procedures. These settings are described in the Basic CRM and SRM Settings section.

Why Is a SRM Feature Needed in MONITOR?

To your aid and in order to save all information in one place, a company can use a so called SRM system which provides a complete review of the company's business connections and suppliers.

MONITOR's SRM feature is based in a supplier register with increased SRM functionality such as planned activities and tasks for all business events where each contact has been involved. But to include and provide a collected view of the entire business, several other functions in MONITOR are used, such as:

• Inquiry, for registration and follow-up of inquiries to our suppliers.
• Supplier rating, is the supplier keeping the promised delivery periods? Is the supplier upholding the promised quality?

By an interaction of several SRM functions in MONITOR we can create conditions for a better control and review of the entire business, which in its turn creates opportunities for long-term and successful supplier relationships.

In the chapter Using SRM a few possible scenarios are described and also how certain SRM functions can be used.

Before you start using MONITOR's SRM feature, you should configure a number of basic settings in certain procedures. These settings are described in the Basic CRM and SRM Settings section.