Consider an illustrative scenario at a machine-parts manufacturer in Bursa. A customer asks for a new price, but the sales engineer must ask several colleagues which drawing was quoted and why the delivery date changed. The problem is not producing a quotation; it is keeping its history understandable. That everyday task is a useful starting point for choosing CRM.
Start with quotation history, not just a customer card
The buyer, technical contact and payment contact may be different people. Their roles, the quotation owner, the last conversation and the next action should be understandable from a shared record.
Decide where technical documents belong. A controlled document link with a revision reference may be more appropriate than copying every drawing into CRM. The aim is to avoid pricing the wrong version.
Bring a working example to the demo
Use an approved or anonymised enquiry. Record an initial quotation, then change the quantity and delivery date. Check whether a colleague can answer the customer correctly when the quotation owner is absent.
Record any missing rejection reasons, steps that remain buried in email and fields that create unnecessary entry work. An attractive interface is useful only if the actual quotation process remains traceable.
Separate CRM and ERP responsibilities
CRM can own enquiries and sales conversations; ERP can remain the source for products, orders and operations. Creating separate customer records in both systems introduces matching problems.
Ask which system creates each record, who approves prices and how failed transfers are handled. “ERP integration included” is not a sufficient description of these responsibilities.
Choose through a manageable pilot
Pilot one sales team and one quotation workflow. Acceptance checks can include finding open quotations, distinguishing revisions and seeing the next assigned action.
Compare a standard CRM, customisation and individual development against those checks. Include maintenance, data export and overall costs rather than assuming custom development is always necessary.
For a CRM discussion about your Bursa business, bring sample quotations, customer records and integration requirements. We can first establish where information is being lost, then define an appropriate scope.
