CRM Insights Part 3: Accurate Reports for Effective Management - Blog: CRM Solutions & Industry News | AspenTech CRM - Picture2(2)


Is your customer relationship management (CRM) software generating accurate sales and financial data? Or does the report package it generates leave you scratching your head – and your staff scrambling to check and correct the numbers? In this third part of our four-part series, we’ll look at how your CRM reporting structure can enhance the overall efficiency of your business management. (Parts 1 on Automation and two on Sales Efficiency may be viewed here and here, respectively.)

There are two general categories of management reports that involve numerical data; one is financial and the other is statistical reporting about your client or audience. The former covers your business’s accounting, and the latter includes marketing and sales data. 

These two types of reports are inextricably linked. Consider your financials, including general ledger, revenue recognition, fixed assets, invoicing, accounts payable, and accounts receivable. A smooth-running CRM will integrate all of these critical accounting processes and link directly to actual sales that are logged into the system. When the sales data is accurate, your financial data will be also.

With properly implemented CRM automation, complex financial processes can be simplified: 
  • A single source of accounting data that is integrated with actual sales data
  • Automated sales and financial reports streamline operations 
  • Complex tax and revenue recognition standards are constantly updated
Did you notice the key phrase above? “Properly implemented.” Your CRM may have all the capabilities in the world, but if it is not properly implemented, nothing will work the way it should. 

As an executive or senior manager, you rely on numbers to assess your business. How are sales? What is your profitability? Where does your cash flow stand? Is your number of customers increasing? Are you retaining customers – or spending lots of money finding new ones to replace the ones you are losing? 

You must be able to answer these questions reliably and consistently – or you will have a very difficult time managing your department or company. A CRM is not a magical application – they are simply database systems that can be magical, if the type and quantity of information they are given is correct.

If you are frustrated with the reporting coming from your current CRM … if your latest financial reports make no sense when compared to your sales reports … then you need to take a close look at what data is being fed into your system, and how.

AspenTech CRM thoroughly examines your system and processes, step by step, following the information that goes in and assessing the information that comes out, and then makes specific recommendations to get you on track. Let’s get you the accurate reports you need, starting today, call us at 866-880-4228.

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