The Limits of a Customer-Only Lens

In the last decade, Customer 360 has become the rallying cry of digital transformation. Companies aimed to unify sales, service, and marketing data into a single view of the customer. Salesforce led the movement, empowering organizations to track every interaction, anticipate needs, and personalize engagement.

Yet as powerful as Customer 360 is, it tells only half the story. Knowing who the customer is, what they want, and when they engage is vital — but incomplete. To fulfill a promise, a business must also know what it can deliver, when, and at what cost.

That requires ERP data: inventory, production capacity, supply chain status, and financial health. Without this operational backbone, Customer 360 risks becoming an elegant but disconnected view.

The next frontier is clear: Customer 360 must meet ERP 360. Salesforce, extended with Axolt ERP, enables exactly this — one platform that unites customer and operational truth.

Why CRM Data Alone Is Incomplete Without ERP

1. Sales Promises Without Fulfillment Reality

CRM data shows pipeline opportunities, but without ERP, sales reps don’t know if inventory is available or production capacity exists. The result: missed delivery dates, unhappy customers, and lost trust.

2. Customer Service Without Operational Context

Service agents can see past interactions, but not whether spare parts are in stock or replacements are in transit. Resolution slows down when ERP visibility is missing.

3. Revenue Forecasts Without Cost Visibility

CRM can project revenue, but without ERP integration, leaders lack visibility into costs, margins, and supply chain risks that affect profitability.

4. Customer Profiles Without Financial Health

A “high-value” customer in CRM may actually be unprofitable if their orders incur high fulfillment costs, frequent returns, or delayed payments. ERP data reveals the full financial context.

Customer 360 without ERP 360 is a map missing half the terrain.

What ERP 360 Adds to the Picture

ERP 360 captures the operational side of the business. Together with Customer 360, it creates a true end-to-end view.

Key Elements of ERP 360

Inventory: What products are available, in what locations, at what cost.

Supply Chain: Supplier performance, shipping lead times, and logistics bottlenecks.

Manufacturing: Capacity planning, work orders, and production schedules.

Finance: Accounts receivable, payables, and real-time cash flow.

Compliance: Audit trails, traceability, and regulatory reporting.

This operational data complements customer data, transforming interactions into commitments that can be executed with precision.

The Salesforce Advantage: One Platform, One Truth

Salesforce is uniquely positioned to unify Customer 360 and ERP 360 because of its:

Single Data Model

CRM and ERP data share the same foundation, eliminating silos.

Platform Extensibility

With native ERP apps like Axolt, Salesforce extends beyond customer engagement into full operational management.

AI and Automation

Salesforce Einstein and AI modules run across both CRM and ERP data, enabling predictive insights from demand forecasting to collections.

Ecosystem Power

The AppExchange provides extensions — payments, shipping, analytics — within the same platform.

This is more than integration; it is convergence.

How Axolt Creates a Unified View of Customers + Operations

Axolt builds ERP capabilities natively inside Salesforce, bridging Customer 360 with ERP 360.

1. Sales-to-Operations Alignment

Sales forecasts in Salesforce feed directly into Axolt’s Material Requirements Planning (MRP).

Operations teams see demand in real time, adjusting procurement and production.

2. Customer-Centric Inventory

Sales reps see stock availability before committing delivery dates.

Customers receive accurate promises backed by live operational data.

3. Finance in Context

Invoices, payments, and credit history are tied to customer records.

Leaders see not just revenue, but profitability per customer.

4. Service Empowerment

Service agents track shipments, replacements, and spare parts availability without leaving Salesforce.

Customers get faster, more accurate resolutions.

5. AI-Driven Insights

Predictive demand alerts flag potential shortages.

AI scores customer profitability by blending sales and cost data.

Collections reminders optimize working capital without straining relationships.

By combining CRM and ERP in one system, Axolt enables a holistic 360° view — not only of the customer, but of the business’s ability to serve them.

Case Example: The Power of Convergence

A global manufacturer of industrial equipment illustrates the impact.

Before Salesforce + Axolt ERP:

Sales teams closed deals without visibility into production lead times.

Customers received late deliveries, eroding trust.

Finance teams reconciled orders manually across CRM and ERP.

After Salesforce + Axolt ERP:

Sales forecasts automatically updated MRP in real time.

Inventory visibility ensured accurate delivery promises.

Finance tracked margins per customer, not just top-line revenue.

Service teams handled cases faster with full operational context.

Impact:

On-time delivery improved by 30%.

Customer satisfaction scores rose significantly.

Profitability per order was visible and optimized.

This convergence turned Customer 360 from a sales lens into an enterprise-wide compass.

Strategic Implications for Leaders

The unification of Customer 360 and ERP 360 reshapes leadership priorities:

CFOs: Gain real-time profitability analysis per customer.

COOs: Align production and logistics with sales forecasts instantly.

CIOs: Reduce IT complexity by eliminating integrations.

CMOs: Align campaigns with operational capacity, avoiding over-promises.

CEOs: Build resilience by ensuring the enterprise delivers what it sells.

This is not simply digital transformation. It is digital convergence.

From 360° Siloes to 360° Convergence

Customer 360 was a milestone, but it is incomplete without ERP 360. Sales, service, and marketing data tell only part of the story. Operational data completes it.

By embedding ERP natively in Salesforce with Axolt, companies unify both sides of the equation: the customer view and the operational backbone. Together, they create a single system where promises made by sales are matched by the capacity and efficiency of operations.

The future belongs to businesses that operate on one platform, with Customer 360 and ERP 360 converging into a single truth. Salesforce, extended by Axolt, makes that future possible today.