8 ways ERP software can improve customer service

1. Rapid fulfillment and real-time tracking of customer orders

Retail industry leaders have redefined consumer expectations, establishing two- to three-day delivery times as a new baseline and, in some cases, bringing about same-day delivery.

By integrating sales, inventory and shipping data, ERP software helps companies avoid delays and stockouts, which could damage customer trust. The data integration also enables customer service representatives to provide accurate information about product availability and alternatives.

Once an order has been shipped, customer service representatives can use the ERP data to relay updates about the status of shipments, which can improve customer service.

2. Faster response to customer inquiries

Customer response times suffer when consumer information is fragmented across departments. ERP software consolidates customer history, order records, billing details and communications in one platform.

This unified view enables representatives to resolve issues quickly without needing to send customers back and forth between departments.

3. Improved inventory control

Every stockout represents a missed revenue opportunity and could cause customers to buy from the competition.

ERP software offers visibility into inventory across multiple locations, enabling sales and service representatives to confirm product availability, anticipate upcoming delivery dates and suggest alternative products if needed.

4. Personalized customer experiences

ERP platforms often integrate with CRM systems, enabling teams to deliver tailored experiences to customers.

Customer service representatives can use ERP data about past orders, individual preferences, demographic details and communication history to deliver customized recommendations and offers.

5. Streamlined returns and post-sales support

ERP systems can potentially simplify returns because of their capabilities for tracking products, warranties and service agreements within a single system.

These tracking capabilities can help customer service teams manage returns more efficiently, provide status updates for customers and uphold service-level agreements. The access to each customer's order history can help customer service representatives better tailor their interactions to meet individual needs.

6. Improved internal coordination

ERP software enables the customer service, sales, logistics and finance departments to all work from the same data, which can help reduce miscommunications and improve collaboration.

ERP software enables cross-functional teams to all have access to details such as delivery timelines, pricing and customer commitments. That can also help bring a more consistent experience to customers.

7. Customer insights for continuous improvement

ERP systems provide a repository of information for customer analytics.

The ERP data can enable companies to identify patterns in consumer behavior, unmet needs, service bottlenecks and customer satisfaction issues. Improving these aspects of operations can improve company performance overall.

8. Empowering customer self-service

Self-service capabilities are increasingly popular with both consumers and business buyers. While many still prefer traditional channels, a growing number of customers prefer to resolve issues themselves whenever possible.

Most modern ERP systems support online self-service portals where customers can view order history, check delivery status and initiate support requests. Availability of these tools can help improve the customer experience and reduce the volume of customer inquiries.

James Kofalt spent 16 years at SAP working with SME business applications and was a product manager for integration technology at Microsoft's Business Solutions division. He is currently the president of DX4 Research, a technology advisory practice specializing in ERP and digital transformation.