CRM vs ERP: What’s the difference?

Sept. 12, 2025

CRM vs ERP: What growing companies really need

Your company is growing faster than ever. Customers keep coming in, but suddenly you notice that keeping track of interactions is becoming increasingly difficult. Projects and internal processes seem to be fragmenting, and you feel that you are starting to lose control. Is this the moment to invest in software that can bring structure — a CRM system or an ERP system? Many entrepreneurs wonder about this, but the truth is surprising: it is not about making a strict choice. It is about what your business needs most right now.

What is CRM?

Now that you know something needs to be arranged, it is useful to understand what the options actually do. CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management. It helps you organize all your customer interactions, leads, and sales processes in a clear way. For a growing company, a CRM system can make an immediate difference: it ensures you do not miss opportunities, serve your customers better, and enable your sales team to work more effectively.

What is ERP?

ERP, or Enterprise Resource Planning, looks beyond just customers. It integrates all of your company’s core processes: finance, inventory, manufacturing, HR and more. ERP becomes especially interesting when your business becomes more complex and you want internal processes to run efficiently and coherently.

CRM and ERP: not a choice, but a path

In practice, most companies start with CRM because it has the direct impact on customers and revenue. As the business grows and internal processes become more complex, an ERP system may be a logical next step. Sometimes an ERP system even offers integrated CRM functionality, so you can cover both needs in one solution.

ERP with communication capabilities

Although Maki is officially an ERP system, it offers something special: customer contact can be linked directly to projects, tickets and tasks via a communication feed. This feed works like a kind of WhatsApp view, where you see conversations with customers that are directly related to a specific project, ticket or task.

This allows you to keep track of everything going on with your customers, without the need for a full CRM system. You combine effective project management and customer communication in one platform, keeping your growing business organized and no valuable information lost.

Want to experience how Maki can contribute to a more efficient way of working and better overview? Then try the 30-day free trial and see for yourself what Maki can do for your organization.