End the Madness! One Single Source of Truth

There’s a time and place for secrets.  Your business isn’t one of them.

Of course, some matters legitimately require confidentiality. That’s a given of business ethics. Other than things like social security numbers, financial statements, and account passwords, however, business success is stymied when information is not shared internally.

Too often in our digital world, business data is scattered across platforms. In recent years, the number of digital tools needed for various departments’ processes has been multiplying like pesky rabbits. And let’s face it, what I just described is all too common –just start asking your colleagues and we’re willing to bet you’ll get sighs of recognition.

An app for every function = slivers of truth

Using email systems like Microsoft Outlook or Gmail that are not automatically integrated with CRM?

Take project management. Lots of companies use apps like Asana or Trello.

Then there’s email marketing. Are you using Mail Chimp, Constant Contact, or something else?

Using an accounting system like Quickbooks but your invoices, products sold and payments are not easily visible in your CRM?

Do you plan webinars and other events? Enter Eventbrite and Zoom.

And let’s not forget product management and inventory, operations, human resource management, appointment schedulers, and …. You get my drift.

Each of these tools creates its own repository of data. Your employees in each department pay attention to their own and don’t see the rest. How are they to understand their part in the mission of your business, and how are they to create excellent customer experiences, if their sources of information only offer a sliver of truth?

Benefits of a single source of truth

Many business development strategists recommend replacing these multiple apps with one single source of truth that informs shared objectives and the work it takes to achieve them.

With all your business knowledge aggregated and available in one place,

• Connections appear that might have gone unnoticed otherwise, yielding holistic insights.
• Teams work together instead of in siloes and efficiency increases.
• Customers consistently experience more personal interactions with your brand.
• Data-driven decisions come faster and easier.

Creatio’s single source of truth

Digital innovations have provided the means for a single source of truth. For instance, we have seen Creatio CRM utilized to replace marketing automation, project management, customer service, and many other types of software. Because Creatio’s customer relationship management is built on its powerful business process management – BPM – framework, it can handle data and processes related to production, customers, service, sales, marketing, and many back-office functions. Plus, Creatio’s low-code platform allows teams to customize its interface and all those procedures to dovetail with each business’s unique needs.

Creatio CRM with one SQL database, one foundation, one platform for marketing, sales, service and operations:

Technology + strategy

One source of truth in one location gets you halfway there. But technology is not the whole answer. The other half is an implementation and  integration strategy. You’ll need senior leadership to lead the way, a cross-departmental team to identify who needs what data and how to design the roll-out, and an experienced CRM partner who has walked through this process with a few dozen or even hundreds of small to midsized companies – which we have done, by the way.

The status quo with all those apps will relegate you to the past.  Having a single source of truth can propel your business into the future you envision. Creatio CRM will accelerate the transformation. We would love to tell you about our proven implementation process to create the reality that all your stakeholders are using the same data. Contact us with your questions and let’s talk about the possibilities. 

Call: 269-445-3001