One customer opportunity, several teams to bring it to life
This supply-chain business serves customers through operating sites across multiple regions and business groups. Its work depends on sales and operations agreeing what the customer needs and which sites will deliver it.
A new customer request starts a journey. The sales team records an opportunity: potential work, the services required and the revenue expected if it goes ahead. The relevant sites review the proposal, and operations prepares to take responsibility for delivery. All the opportunities being pursued together form the sales pipeline.
There is a second story after the sale: how the business performs against its targets. The ERP, the system holding financial and operational records, provides actual revenue data. CRM tracks customers and sales activity. Senior management needs both perspectives to understand performance across the business.
A sales opportunity needed more than a sales decision
For this business, pursuing an opportunity meant coordinating the operating sites that would deliver the work. Sales needed to capture the proposed services, identify the sites involved and obtain the necessary reviews before progressing. Operations needed enough detail to assess the opportunity and prepare for the eventual handover.
The business also needed a fuller view of commercial performance. CRM held information about opportunities and sales activity. The ERP held financial data. A pipeline report could show potential business, but reviewing it alongside recorded revenue required information from both systems.
The business needed to connect three questions: Which opportunities can we deliver? What needs attention before they progress? How does sales activity relate to actual revenue?
That called for both a defined workflow and connected data. Reporting alone would not manage site approvals. A sales workflow alone would not bring ERP figures into management reports.
A connected workflow from opportunity review to reporting
Site approvals inside Zoho CRM
Zolution configured opportunities to include the operating sites involved in the proposed work. Reviewers can approve, delegate or reject requests. Deal owners can see review status and comments in CRM, with approval decisions linked to the relevant opportunity and sites.
The workflow also captures the information needed for handover, including site responsibilities and delivery details. Sales qualification and operational preparation therefore form part of the same opportunity record.
A daily ERP sync through Zoho DataPrep
Zolution connected the existing ERP to Zoho CRM through Zoho DataPrep. ERP data syncs into CRM daily, establishing a scheduled flow of information between the systems. The business continues using its ERP while making that information available in the connected Zoho setup.
A consolidated dashboard for top management
Users generate reports in Zoho Analytics that combine CRM and ERP data. Top management now has a consolidated dashboard to monitor actual performance against plan across multiple regions and business groups. Here, actual means recorded performance and plan means the targets the business set.
Leaders can review the overall position and compare the performance of different parts of the business. Pipeline information adds context to those results, connecting what has been achieved with the opportunities still being pursued.
Give users control of everyday reporting
Previously, the IT team was responsible for creating analytics reports for users. With Zoho Analytics, users can now create reports themselves. Routine reporting work shifts to the people who need the information, reducing the report-creation workload on IT.
Keep sales reporting separate from direct ERP access
Sales teams use the data made available through CRM and Analytics without direct access to the ERP. The integration keeps the ERP environment separate from sales reporting, so access to business information does not require opening the source system to the sales team.
Give each team the information needed for its next action
Sales and operations
A deal owner can check the review status for the sites involved and read the associated comments. Operations can work from the site and delivery information captured against the opportunity. The record connects the commercial discussion with the people responsible for delivery.
Management and reporting
Senior leaders can monitor actual performance against plan in one consolidated dashboard across regions and business groups. They can compare results, identify areas that need attention and use the pipeline to inform the next discussion with sales and operations.
In a sales review
Separate the revenue question from the next action
During a management review, leaders can compare actual results against plan across regions and business groups. Where performance needs attention, pipeline information helps frame the discussion about future business. For an opportunity awaiting site approval, the owner can check review status and comments in CRM and follow up on the outstanding decision.
The reports support the performance discussion; the opportunity record supports the action that follows.
Daily updates, connected reports and visible decisions
Data availability
ERP data reaches CRM every day
The scheduled DataPrep sync gives users a regular feed of ERP information in CRM. Moving this data between the systems is part of the configured process.
Management oversight
One view of actual performance against plan
Top management has a consolidated dashboard spanning multiple regions and business groups. Leaders can see the overall position and identify which parts of the business need attention.
Coordination
Approval status is available against the deal
Owners can identify pending decisions and read review comments in CRM. Follow-up can start with the specific site or decision that needs attention.
Self-service reporting
Users create reports without routine IT requests
Business users can build their own reports in Zoho Analytics. This reduces the IT team's report-creation workload and gives users more control over the information they need.
ERP access
Sales reporting stays outside the ERP
Sales teams work with the data made available in CRM and Analytics without direct ERP access. The source system remains separate from their reporting work.
Operational continuity
The existing ERP stays in place
The business gains connected CRM reporting while retaining its ERP. Site responsibilities and delivery information also remain attached to the sales workflow for handover.
From individual opportunities to a group-wide view of performance
The project connected the work of pursuing business with the information needed to manage it. Sales and operations gained a shared record of opportunities and site decisions. Daily ERP sync brought financial data into CRM, and the consolidated dashboard gave top management visibility of actual performance against plan across regions and business groups.
Leaders can identify where performance needs attention, and business users can create the reports they need with less dependence on IT. Sales teams gain useful business information without direct ERP access. The result is a connected management view, more independent reporting and a clear separation between sales reporting and the source ERP.