Make ERP upgrades easier with KlaroCPQ’s quote configurator. Upgrading or deploying ERP systems is always a huge project requiring several months at the minimum and eating up both investment and manhours, not to mention patience. It is also crucial to ensure that business and related processes can continue as normal during major system overhauls. Below you’ll find my tips for orchestrating ERP upgrades while avoiding a negative impact on customer experience or competitiveness.
Before initiating an ERP upgrade project, it’s important to identify the biggest bottlenecks within the supply chain. If for example the quote stage becomes a bottleneck during the ERP upgrade, you must – for the sake of competitiveness alone – ensure that the customer experience won’t suffer.
The most agile way to maintain customer experience and competitiveness levels is to use a quote configurator to ease the ERP upgrade. When the sales process has been modelled from the ERP into a separate quote configurator, the upgrade can take place in the background without disrupting sales.
My expert tip: Start your ERP upgrade by deploying a quote configurator.
Here’s an example from real life. Clients of Business X were used to a certain level of service, such as individually tailored discounts. Then the ERP system was changed. When it was time to start using it, sales personnel were no longer able to provide the clients with the accustomed discounts, as the new ERP system did not allow for employee- or client-specific discounts. Deliveries began to stall, and sales personnel were unable to serve their customers in the same way as before. This was nearly the end of the entire business.
Business X did not use a quote configurator, as the old ERP system was “good enough”. However, moving the quoting process – a critical part of the supply chain – into a quote configurator would have allowed them to mitigate their risks and perform the ERP system upgrade in the background, avoiding issues with their clients. A quote configurator would have complemented the ERP and made the customer experience richer.
Customer service can’t suffer as a result of ERP upgrades. So, when considering an upgrade project, ask yourself whether you’re treating your customer as an individual or within the limits set by the system you use – now and in the future?
Read how Outotec made their quoting more efficient using KlaroCPQ >>
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