CRM Module

Customer Relationship Management with business partners, contacts, and opportunities in iDempiere

The CRM (Customer Relationship Management) module in iDempiere helps you manage relationships with customers, vendors, and prospects throughout the entire business lifecycle.

Overview

iDempiere’s CRM capabilities are deeply integrated with the entire business suite, providing a 360-degree view of customer interactions, sales opportunities, and business partner information. The system tracks all touchpoints from initial contact through sales, service, and ongoing relationship management.

Business Partners

Manage customers, vendors, and prospects with complete profiles

Contacts & Communication

Track contact information and communication history

Opportunities

Manage sales pipeline and opportunity tracking

Marketing Campaigns

Execute targeted marketing campaigns and track results

Business Partners

Business Partners are central to iDempiere’s CRM and represent any organization or individual you do business with.

Partner Types

iDempiere supports multiple partner relationships:

• Customers - Organizations or individuals who purchase from you
• Vendors - Suppliers and service providers
• Employees - Internal staff members
• Prospects - Potential customers in your sales pipeline
• Combined Roles - Partners can have multiple roles (e.g., both customer and vendor)

Creating Business Partners

1. Navigate to Business Partner

   Go to Partner Relations > Business Partner and click New

2. Enter Basic Information

   Provide the business partner name, search key, and tax ID. The value (search key) is used for quick lookups throughout the system

3. Configure Partner Roles

   Enable Customer, Vendor, or Employee checkboxes based on the partner’s relationship with your organization

4. Add Locations

   Create one or more locations with addresses, marking appropriate locations for billing and shipping

5. Set Up Users

   Add contacts and users who can access the web portal or receive communications

6. Configure Financial Settings

   Set credit limits, payment terms, price lists, and other business rules

Business Partner Groups

Organize partners into groups for consistent management:

• Default Settings - Apply standard payment terms, price lists, and credit limits
• Default Accounts - Assign accounting defaults by partner group
• Segmentation - Group customers by industry, size, region, or other criteria
• Reporting - Analyze performance by partner group

Use business partner groups to standardize settings for similar customers. For example, create a “Retail Customers” group with standard retail terms and pricing.

Partner Information Management

Multiple Locations

Each business partner can have multiple locations for different purposes:

• Bill To Locations - Where invoices are sent
• Ship To Locations - Delivery addresses for goods
• Pay From Locations - Where payments originate (for customers)
• Remit To Locations - Where to send payments (for vendors)

Partner Attributes

Capture detailed partner information:

• Tax ID / VAT Registration - Tax identification numbers
• DUNS Number - Dun & Bradstreet identifier
• NAICS Code - Industry classification
• URL - Company website
• Reference Number - External system identifiers
• Custom Attributes - Extend with custom fields for your specific needs

Partner Banking

Store banking information for electronic payments:

• Bank Accounts - Account numbers and routing information
• ACH/Wire Details - Electronic payment routing
• Direct Debit - Authorization for automated payments
• Multiple Accounts - Support for different accounts by currency or purpose

Contacts & Communication

Manage individual contacts within business partner organizations.

Contact Management

Each business partner can have unlimited contacts:

1. Access Partner Contacts

   Open a business partner record and navigate to the User/Contact tab

2. Create New Contact

   Click New and enter contact details including name, title, and department

3. Add Communication Details

   Enter email addresses, phone numbers, and other communication preferences

4. Set Contact Roles

   Mark contacts for specific purposes: billing notifications, purchase order approval, shipping notifications

5. Portal Access

   Enable web portal access to allow contacts to view orders, invoices, and place orders online

Communication Tracking

iDempiere tracks all partner communications:

• Email History - Automated tracking of system-generated emails
• Requests - Customer service tickets and support issues
• Notes - Manual comments and observations
• Document History - Complete audit trail of orders, invoices, and transactions

Request Management

Handle customer inquiries and support issues:

• Request Types - Categorize requests (support, inquiry, complaint, suggestion)
• Priority Levels - Urgent, high, medium, low prioritization
• Assignment - Route requests to appropriate departments or users
• SLA Tracking - Monitor response and resolution times
• Status Workflow - Track from open through resolution and close

All requests are automatically linked to the business partner record, providing complete service history visibility.

Sales Opportunities

Manage your sales pipeline with opportunity tracking and forecasting.

Opportunity Lifecycle

Track opportunities through your sales process:

1. Lead Generation

   Create opportunities from marketing campaigns, referrals, or direct inquiries

2. Qualification

   Assess opportunity fit, budget, authority, need, and timeline

3. Needs Analysis

   Document customer requirements and proposed solutions

4. Proposal

   Generate quotes and proposals based on opportunity details

5. Negotiation

   Track proposal revisions and negotiation progress

6. Close Won/Lost

   Convert successful opportunities to orders or mark as lost with reason

Opportunity Management

Create and track sales opportunities:

• Expected Revenue - Forecast amount and currency
• Probability - Win likelihood percentage
• Expected Close Date - Target closure timeline
• Sales Stage - Current position in sales cycle
• Sales Representative - Assigned salesperson
• Competitors - Competitive landscape
• Source Campaign - Marketing campaign attribution

Pipeline Reporting

Analyze and forecast sales performance:

• Pipeline Value - Total value of open opportunities
• Weighted Pipeline - Value adjusted by win probability
• Stage Analysis - Opportunity distribution by sales stage
• Win/Loss Analysis - Conversion rates and loss reasons
• Sales Forecasting - Projected revenue by period

Regularly review lost opportunities and their reasons to identify process improvements and competitive weaknesses.

Marketing Campaigns

Plan, execute, and measure marketing campaigns.

Campaign Management

Create targeted marketing initiatives:

• Campaign Type - Email, direct mail, telemarketing, event, advertising
• Target Audience - Select business partners by groups, regions, or custom criteria
• Budget Tracking - Plan and track campaign costs
• Channel Mix - Multi-channel campaign coordination
• Schedule - Campaign start and end dates

Campaign Execution

1. Define Campaign

   Create a new campaign with name, type, budget, and dates

2. Build Target List

   Select business partners using filters or manual selection

3. Create Content

   Prepare email templates, mail merge documents, or call scripts

4. Execute Campaign

   Send communications or schedule activities for the sales team

5. Track Responses

   Monitor opens, clicks, responses, and conversions

6. Analyze Results

   Review ROI, response rates, and opportunity generation

Campaign Metrics

Measure campaign effectiveness:

• Response Rate - Percentage of recipients who responded
• Conversion Rate - Responses that became opportunities or sales
• Cost per Lead - Campaign costs divided by leads generated
• ROI - Return on investment from campaign-sourced revenue
• Revenue Attribution - Orders and revenue linked to campaigns

Partner Analytics

Gain insights into partner relationships and business performance.

Customer Value Metrics

iDempiere tracks important customer value indicators:

• Actual Lifetime Value - Total historical revenue from customer
• Potential Lifetime Value - Projected future value
• Acquisition Cost - Cost to acquire the customer
• Share of Customer - Percentage of customer’s wallet
• First Sale Date - Customer relationship start

Partner Financials

Monitor financial aspects of partner relationships:

• Open Balance - Current outstanding receivables or payables
• Credit Limit - Maximum allowed outstanding amount
• Credit Used - Current credit utilization
• Credit Status - OK, hold, over limit status
• Payment Performance - Average days to pay, discount capture rate

Sales Analysis

Analyze partner purchasing patterns:

• Sales History - Historical orders and invoices by period
• Product Mix - Products and categories purchased
• Order Frequency - Purchase cycle and seasonality
• Average Order Value - Typical transaction size
• Margin Analysis - Profitability by customer

Top Customers Report

Identify best customers by revenue, margin, or growth

Customer Aging

Outstanding receivables by aging bucket

Lost Customer Analysis

Customers who haven’t ordered in specified timeframe

Credit Status Report

Customers over credit limit or on hold

Price Lists and Discounts

Manage customer-specific pricing strategies.

Price List Management

Create multiple price lists for different market segments:

• Base Price Lists - Standard pricing for products
• Customer-Specific Lists - Special pricing for individual customers
• Volume Discounts - Quantity-based pricing breaks
• Promotional Pricing - Time-limited special prices
• Multi-Currency - Prices in multiple currencies

Discount Schemas

Automate complex discount calculations:

• Flat Discounts - Fixed percentage or amount off
• Volume Breaks - Increasing discounts by quantity
• Product Category Discounts - Category-level pricing rules
• Business Partner Discounts - Customer-specific discount percentages
• Cumulative Discounts - Combine multiple discount types

Price lists are associated with business partners to automatically apply correct pricing on orders and quotes.

Partner Integration

Connect CRM data with other business processes.

Sales Integration

• Quote to Order - Convert opportunities to sales quotes and orders
• Order History - View complete order history from partner record
• Credit Checking - Automatic credit verification on order entry
• Special Pricing - Apply partner-specific pricing automatically

Service Integration

• Request Tracking - Link service requests to business partners
• Asset Management - Track customer-owned assets and equipment
• Service Contracts - Manage warranty and service agreements
• RMA Processing - Handle returns and repairs

Accounting Integration

• Receivables/Payables - Real-time financial position
• Payment History - Complete payment and credit memo history
• Statement Generation - Customer account statements
• Collections Management - Overdue invoice tracking and dunning

Partner Portal

Enable customer self-service through the web portal.

Portal Features

• Order Entry - Customers can place orders online
• Order Status - Real-time order and shipment tracking
• Invoice Access - Download invoices and statements
• Payment Options - Make online payments
• Product Catalog - Browse products with pricing
• Request Submission - Submit support tickets

Portal Configuration

1. Enable Portal Access

   Configure the web portal settings in System Configurator

2. Create Portal Users

   In the business partner contact tab, enable web access and set passwords

3. Assign Roles

   Grant appropriate portal roles and permissions

4. Configure Branding

   Customize portal appearance with your logo and colors

5. Test Access

   Verify users can log in and access their information

The web portal reduces customer service workload by enabling customers to check order status, download invoices, and submit requests without contacting your team.

Best Practices

Data Quality

• Establish naming conventions for partner values and search keys
• Require complete address information including postal codes
• Validate tax IDs and registration numbers
• Regularly clean up duplicate partner records
• Use partner groups consistently for similar customers

Credit Management

• Review and update credit limits quarterly
• Monitor credit utilization and adjust limits proactively
• Configure automatic credit holds for over-limit situations
• Run aging reports weekly to identify collection issues
• Document credit decisions and supporting rationale

Sales Process

• Define clear sales stages aligned with your sales methodology
• Update opportunity probabilities based on actual win rates
• Require loss reasons for closed-lost opportunities
• Review pipeline regularly with sales team
• Track opportunity age to identify stalled deals

Communication

• Document all significant partner interactions in requests or notes
• Assign clear ownership for partner relationships
• Set up automated email notifications for key events
• Use request categories to track common issues
• Monitor and respond to portal submissions promptly

Related Modules

Sales

Convert opportunities to quotes and sales orders

Purchasing

Manage vendor relationships and procurement

Accounting

Partner financial transactions and balances

Workflow

Automate partner-related business processes