Still Not Integrated? Why 66% of Companies Fail to Deliver Seamless Experiences—and What It’s Costing Them
- gregmalacane
- Jul 15
- 3 min read
According to Salesforce, a staggering 66% of organizations still don't offer a connected user experience across their digital channels. Despite advances in CRM and ERP platforms, as well as the rise of cloud-native integration tools, companies continue to avoid integrating their systems.
The result? Customers see a fractured brand. Teams work in silos. Opportunities fall through the cracks. And businesses quietly bleed value every day.
Let's examine why so many companies continue to avoid this integration—and why that avoidance may be a costly mistake.
What These Excuses Are Costing
1. "It's Too Expensive Right Now, "We'll integrate when the budget allows."
What they miss: Not integrating costs more than integrating.
Example: A mid-sized electronics distributor quotes prices from CRM without real-time cost data from ERP. Over six months, they lose $85,000 due to under-quoted deals and delayed approvals. The integration would've paid for itself twice over.
Avoidance costs: margin erosion, quote delays, and lost deals.
2. "We Can't Risk Disrupting Operations. Integration sounds risky. What if something breaks?"
What they miss: Disconnected systems already cause daily disruptions.
Example: A medical device company manually copies sales orders from CRM to ERP. One missed entry leads to a critical shipment delay, costing them a six-figure account. The CFO later admits, "The manual process was more risky than automation."
Avoidance costs: customer churn, process breakdowns, and brand damage.
3. "Our Teams Aren't Ready. We're not aligned internally to make this change."
What they miss: Alignment doesn't come before integration—it comes from it.
Example: A consumer goods company avoided CRM–ERP integration because their departments "owned" their systems. When they finally did integrate, order cycle time dropped by 40%, and cross-team collaboration soared. Team satisfaction increased, not resistance.
Avoidance cost: Inefficiency, turf wars, poor customer handoffs.
4. "Our Data Isn't Clean Enough. We'll integrate after we clean up our data."
What they miss: Integration exposes—and fixes—data quality issues faster than avoiding them.
Example: A B2B services firm postponed integration for 18 months, trying to clean their customer records. A new CTO introduced an iPaaS solution (such as Endowance Solutions), and the automated sync flagged and corrected thousands of duplicate or outdated records within weeks.
Avoidance cost: time lost to manual cleanup, missed opportunities due to data gaps
5. "We're Worried About Security and Compliance. We can't risk noncompliance or exposing data."
What they miss: Manual workarounds are far more vulnerable.
Example: A financial services firm exported spreadsheets from Salesforce and emailed them to ERP users. A misaddressed email exposed sensitive client information. An integrated, permission-controlled sync would have prevented that entirely.
Avoidance costs: regulatory risk, fines, and reputational damage
What Integration Looks Like
Companies envision CRM–ERP integration as a painful, all-or-nothing overhaul. But modern platforms make it modular, secure, and scalable.
Common Integration Wins:
Real-time quoting with ERP pricing in CRM
Instant order creation in ERP from closed deals in CRM
Up-to-date inventory shown to sales reps in CRM
Customer data sync across service, sales, and finance
Fewer manual errors and faster deal cycles
Integration Isn't Just IT—it's Strategic
Avoidance stems from thinking of integration as "just an IT project." But it's not. It's a strategic enabler for:
Customer satisfaction
Employee productivity
Revenue growth
Regulatory confidence
"Our customer experience improved overnight," said the COO of a logistics firm that integrated Salesforce with their ERP. "We reduced quote-to-cash time by 30% and realigned resources to other important roles. The ROI was instant."
The Hidden Cost of Avoidance
Area | With Integration | Without Integration |
Sales Velocity | Quotes with real-time cost & availability | Delayed quotes, missed pricing updates. |
Customer Experience | Seamless ordering, billing, and service | Repeating details, miscommunication |
Team Efficiency | Automated handoffs and fewer errors | Manual entry, duplicate tasks |
Business Visibility | Unified dashboards and reporting | Siloed data, unclear pipeline, or inventory |
Risk & Compliance | Logged workflows and audit trails | Email chains, spreadsheets, and human error |
Time to Lead, Not Linger
66% of companies are still waiting. That means one-third already made the leap—and are gaining a competitive edge every day.
CRM–ERP integration isn't just about tech. It's about leadership. The companies that act now:
Serve customers better
Operate more efficiently
Spot risks earlier
Grow faster
Those who delay? They fall further behind—and rarely realize it until it's too late.
Ready to Start?
You don't need to do it all at once. Start with:
Quoting integration (ERP prices in CRM)
Order automation (deals in CRM trigger ERP orders)
Customer data sync
Or use solutions from an integration expert, such as Duet360 OneOffice from Endowance Solutions. Duet360 comes with prebuilt functionality to expand on what Salesforce offers out of the box, and integrates significant insights from ERP systems. You decide what to use and when.
Take the first step. Integrate with intention. Compete with confidence.
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