What Is CRM Integration? How It Works and Benefits (2024)

In the past, managing the relationship between a business and its clients often relied on face-to-face interaction and manually recording information such as contacts, sales, and order history.

But the rise of the internet provided a digital alternative. Known as customer relationship management (CRM) technologies, these CRM integrations offer businesses user-friendly tools to centralize, track, and manage the interactions and relationships between themselves and existing or prospective customers.

CRM tools help companies expand or streamline sales, find new markets, monitor customer data via help desk tickets, improve profitability, and ultimately enhance the customer experience and brand loyalty. Below, explore how to get the most efficient, effective use out of all your business apps through a centralized CRM integration.

What is CRM integration?

CRM integration refers to combining multiple software systems used to manage a company’s customer service, sales, and marketing functions into a single, centralized CRM (customer relationship management) system.

By doing this, CRM system integration ensures a business has a streamlined process for handling tasks for sales, marketing, and customer service, while also ensuring the organization makes the most efficient use of the CRM software itself by inputting up-to-date, accurate information into your customer database.

CRM can be integrated across a variety of business functions and tools, including but not limited to:

Marketing
IT and technology
Communication
Legal
Social media
Email
Point-of-sale (POS)
Website analytics

According to a report from MuleSoft, the average organization uses nearly 1,000 separate applications, ranging from content management systems (CMS) and payment applications to marketing tools and enterprise resource planning (ERP) software. Plus, those software tools exist in a variety of mediums, such as on-premise hardware or software, or as cloud-based apps. By investing in one central CRM integration, you can save time and money otherwise spent on juggling data management across those multiple applications.

Benefits of CRM integration

Improved data accessibility and quality

Integrating CRM with other areas of the business can eliminate data silos. Essentially, data that was once anonymous or unattached to any customer segment is now closely integrated with individual customer profiles and accounts or groups.

This also makes your data more accessible—you can see a breakdown of all relevant metrics in a single place, rather than having to jump from dashboard to dashboard. For example, if you want to know which products sell the most for a particular customer segment, you can use your CRM integration to generate that data for you. Tag each customer for the respective segment and pull from your integrated sales and CRM data to see which items sold the most.

Increased sales

CRM integrations allow you to tailor and personalize your marketing efforts and communications more effectively. Rather than treating every customer the same, you can adjust your interactions with each customer based on their history with your business.

For example, if you sell 10 signature scents for your candle brand, you can use your CRM integration to create groups of customers based on the scent they purchased. Then, you can set up an automated low stock email to trigger and send to those customers each time that scent hits a certain threshold in your inventory. Rather than bothering your entire email list every time it’s low in stock, you can send the emails only to those who you know like the scent.

Increased customer satisfaction

The ability to take email and messaging platforms and cross-pollinate them into CRM solutions is one of the biggest benefits of CRM integration. Once integrated, you can send emails and manage contacts directly from the CRM and use it for things like sending automated marketing messages. So just like personalizing your marketing efforts, you can personalize your customer service interactions as well.

Plus, a CRM user can set communications based on thresholds, such as response rate, helping businesses increase customer satisfaction and get the most out of existing relationships through email marketing software.

Higher levels of efficiency

CRM integration offers a way to streamline countless aspects of business operations. Pairing CRM software with ERP applications, for instance, allows you to view important customer data such as demographics and contact information, along with account history, all in one place.

Moreover, integrating apps like calendars, internal communications, marketing, and even sales with CRM not only centralizes information but also provides organizations with key customer insights that can help increase productivity.

Automation opportunities

In addition to the ability to perform scheduled marketing email blasts through marketing automation software, CRM integration can help automatically evaluate the relationship between a business and customers based on predetermined metrics.

For example, CRM software can assign a score based on whether a customer responds to or interacts with communications from a business, giving the company a better understanding of customer value. It also offers a quick and easy solution for automating repetitive tasks, such as scheduling, billing, or logging hours.

CRM integration: a step-by-step guide

1. Define your goals

As with most initiatives in business, you’ll want to start out by defining your goals. What do you hope to achieve by integrating a CRM into your business? This will guide your approach.

Some potential goals for CRM integration might include:

Increase customer retention
Boost customer lifetime value
Drive more sales
Improve customer data quality
Create higher customer satisfaction

Once you have your goals, benchmark the data so you can track your progress over time. It will be helpful to look at your analytics both pre- and post-CRM integration to track patterns and draw useful insights about the transition.

2. Select your business apps for integration

Identify the business applications you plan to integrate with your CRM. These can include email platforms, marketing automation tools, ERP systems, billing software, and ecommerce builders.

Then determine how each tool will work with your CRM. Always make sure this aligns with your original objectives for CRM integration in the first place. You’ll also need to ensure all the tools are compatible with the CRM you plan to integrate.

3. Finalize your CRM integration approach

There are a few ways you can approach your CRM integration. Choose the integration approach that best suits your business needs. This could involve using pre-built connectors provided by your CRM vendor, leveraging third-party integration tools, or developing custom integrations. Consider factors such as ease of use, scalability, and the level of technical expertise required.

Use applications that work together

The first, and perhaps simplest, is to use platforms from the same provider. This generally means they’ll easily communicate with one another. However, this approach may be unrealistic, because providers don’t tend to have all the application solutions a business might want or need. In that case, you might check your ecommerce platform’s library of integration options.

The Shopify App Store, for example, has plenty of CRM integration options that work seamlessly with the Shopify ecosystem.

Write your own code to integrate your CRM

The second approach is to work in-house and write technical code that allows applications to communicate with one another, as well as the CRM. This approach is less common, because the code can be difficult to maintain, and many companies lack the necessary in-house IT resources.

Use APIs to integrate your CRM

The final approach is to use an application programming interface (API). An API allows applications to talk to one another. One example of this is a rideshare app. Programs like Uber or Lyft connect to outside mapping services, like Google Maps, to show you a map on their own app of where you are in relation to your ride. APIs are ubiquitous in the world of technology and critical to the functioning of everything from your website to your smartwatch.

APIs can be used to integrate your various systems into your CRM (and to connect information from your CRM into your other systems). The strategy of using APIs for CRM integration is common because APIs are readily available, cost-effective, and easy to use. With an API, a company can take its various applications and feed its valuable data directly into a third-party CRM.

4. Execute the technical work

Once you know the implementation route you’ll take, it’s time to make the connection. The specific steps vary here depending on your approach. If you’re using an app or integration directly from your ecommerce platform, you can likely do this yourself. But if you’re writing custom code or connecting using an open API, you may need some technical help.

After the CRM is connected, configure it and the other applications accordingly. Check the data mapping is accurate to facilitate smooth and error-free data flow between systems.You might need to set up and test API connections and ensure data security protocols are in place.

5. Test and go live

Before you push your CRM integration live, test it. Identify and resolve any issues before going live. This process involves testing scenarios that cover all possible use cases to ensure the integration works seamlessly. Make fake purchases, sign up for all the forms on your website, and take other actions that are integrated into your CRM workflows. Once you’ve passed all the tests, you’re ready to deploy the integrated CRM system.

6. Measure your success

You don’t want to set your CRM integration live and then forget all about it. It’s important to monitor the integration and see how your store is performing over time. Are you making progress toward your goals?

Use other key performance indicators (KPIs) like customer satisfaction scores, sales growth, and data accuracy to get a holistic view of how your business is performing.

CRM integration challenges

Data migration headaches

Moving data from old systems to a new CRM can be tricky. It's like trying to fit square pegs into round holes. Companies often struggle with messy, incomplete, or outdated information.

To solve this, clean and organize your data before migration. Using data mapping tools and conducting thorough testing can also help ensure a smoother transition.

Getting different systems to talk

Many businesses use various tools that need to work with their CRM. Making these different systems communicate smoothly is often a big hurdle.

Without proper integration, important information can get lost or duplicated. The solution lies in using integration platforms or APIs that act as translators between systems.

User adoption struggles

Introducing a new CRM system can be met with resistance from employees. People get used to their old ways of doing things and may not see the value in changing. This can slow down the whole process and make it hard to get the most out of your new CRM.

To overcome this, invest in training programs and clearly communicate the benefits of the new system. Appointing CRM champions within teams can also help encourage adoption and provide support.

Customization complexities

Every business is unique, and off-the-shelf CRM solutions often need tweaking to fit specific needs. However, customizing a CRM system can be complex and time-consuming.

Start with a clear understanding of your CRM requirements and processes. Working with experienced consultants or developers to smooth out the customization process and ensure the system truly meets your organization's needs.

CRM integration tools

There are both paid and free CRM software options available depending on your needs.

Here are some of the top CRM integration platform picks for Shopify merchants:

Salesforce Sync

Salesforce Sync is a CRM integration that automatically sends Shopify order and customer data to the Salesforce CRM platform. Salesforce and Hubspot are two of the most popular CRM options, and Salesforce’s Shopify app makes it easy to connect the two platforms. You can create customer accounts, send historical Shopify data to Salesforce, and receive notifications for any syncing errors.

Salesforce CRM is available for a recurring subscription fee, with plans starting at $19 per month.

HubSpot CRM

HubSpot CRM is a comprehensive and free CRM platform made for sales professionals—and it also has a Shopify app. In addition to CRM, HubSpot offers features for marketing automation and customer service management. With the Hubspot integration, you can sync and segment your Shopify customer data, personalize and automate customer interactions, and tap into data collection and reporting.

HubSpot has a free option and paid plans starting at $30 per month.

Reamaze Live Chat Helpdesk CRM

Reamaze Live Chat Helpdesk CRM is a platform with a Shopify app that allows merchants to tap into the power of AI to enhance the customer experience. It includes features for customer support and live chat in addition to CRM, and also integrates data from email, social, SMS, and even phone calls.

Reamaze offers a few different subscription plans, starting at $29 per month.

Endear CRM and Clienteling

Endear CRM and Clienteling is a CRM integration made specifically for retail businesses. It allows you to manage customer data, personalize email and SMS marketing campaigns, and track outreach efforts across all channels. It also includes features for live chat sales and support.

Endear has three subscription plans, the first of which starts at $60 per month.

Unlocking growth with CRM integration

CRM systems can streamline the process of managing customer relationships by automating data entry, reducing the need for face-to-face interactions, and improving data quality.

Effective CRM integration turns disparate applications into a cohesive system, providing valuable insights and operational efficiencies. This allows you to better understand and serve customers, streamline business processes, and ultimately achieve sustainable growth.

To unlock growth through CRM integration, start by defining clear goals for what you want to achieve with CRM integration. Keeping these objectives in mind will set you up for CRM integration success.

CRM integration FAQ

Why is CRM integration important?

Fully integrated CRM systems rationalize an organization’s operations, allowing its various customer-relations tools to interface with one another. This ability to aggregate client data then provides opportunities for time savings, targeted marketing, increased organization, and the expansion of the customer base.

What should a CRM integrate with?

The more applications a business can integrate with its CRM, the better. A CRM system can be integrated with your marketing tools, customer service tools, and payment applications. When integrated data fits under a single umbrella, companies can find necessary information in one place, rather than wasting time and energy pulling it from multiple departments or sources.

What is some basic CRM functionality?

In general, CRM deals with customer information, such as contact or demographic data, sales history, marketing response, or customer service tickets. But it is also valuable for improving lead generation and general customer experience through targeted marketing automation, as well as sales analytics or even internal communications.