In what usually is a rather uneventful month for challenging projects the world over, December proved to be pretty challenging for my team. We had to help a firm overcome a number of pain points they experienced with the SAP CRM, particularly those associated with the Service Equipment and Install Base functionalities. While helping the customer out, I thought I could list down these pain points and how we countered them, as I believe they could work as a crystal ball for other firms as we make all the difference in 2020. So, here goes!

The market around us has changed a lot. Customers don't want to extensively search for answers to their questions, nor do they want to wait days for companies to answer a question. If they can't easily find the answer and can't ask the question easily, they start researching alternatives. If this happens, the chance of successful sales is drastically reduced. For a company it, therefore, becomes increasingly relevant to engage with potential customers directly through the channel of their choice.

The rules of engagement have changed: technology is changing the game and customers are changing the rules. Today’s customer is digitally connected, better informed, and has higher expectations. To win these empowered customers, your salesforce needs to have access to real-time data. From an organizational standpoint, we have entered into a digital whirlpool, and to get the best out of it, we need to empower our employees with tools that can provide them with a competitive advantage in the market.

In today’s world of competition, most businesses spend a lot of time and money in attracting new customers. But, as long as a business is unable to retain its existing customers, it cannot attain success in the long run. The existing customers of a company are always the target market for its competitors. Therefore, it is very important to provide customers with the best possible service by being more responsive to their needs and expectations.

Nowadays, an effective ERP strategy is largely dependent on the timeliness and quality of information that you receive from suppliers, trading partners, and clients. An even bigger challenge is faced by organizations attempting to create a holistic, real-time view of all their enterprise information by combining multiple ERP systems and instances domestically and/or globally. Your ability to effectively integrate your business solutions and systems is critical to implementing business strategies.

SAP continues to lead the market for e-commerce platforms for both B2B and B2C companies. With every new version come robust enhancements that make the suite’s core commerce capabilities even better equipped to ensure customer engagement and improve dialog between business and customer. With these kinds of innovations, consumers and clients are empowered to manage their own purchases, orders, and subscriptions with definite visibility of each stage of the fulfillment process. Below are just some of the functionalities and features you are missing out on by not getting SAP:

As more customers use multiple channels to engage your business, you will need an omnichannel solution that will make it easier for you to reach them. SAP E-Commerce offers a reliable commerce platform that can help you target your customers and engage them regardless of the device they use. You can address the challenges associated with managing and running an omnichannel business using the SAP E-Commerce platform, as it provides a meaningful and consistent shopping experience to customers. The solution integrates all physical and digital customer touch points into one platform, including social media, online, point-of-sale, and mobile. Here are three important benefits of SAP E-Commerce for your business: