CRMs track customers, but can they track the true cost of your custom builds?
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems do an excellent job of organizing customer information, managing sales, pipelines, and tracking opportunities. However, within ETO and MTO manufacturing, CRM tools lack the key features for accurate costing and quoting or BOM (Bill of Materials) in complex environments. They involve configurable products, which are customized by the customer, with product characteristics that require functions that CRM software generally does not offer.
CRM System Prioritize Sales Over Technical Estimation
CRM platforms are built mainly to support sales-driven functions, including:
- Tracking leads and opportunities
- Handling customer interactions and follow-ups
- Sales forecasting
ETO/MTO environments require engineering BOM creation, labor hours, supplier quotes, and parametric modeling functions that are outside the scope of CRM software.
CRM Limitations in BOM and Product Structure Management
ETO and MTO processes rely on multiple BOM types:
- Concept BOMs for initial design
- Engineering BOMs that specify the product
- Quote BOMs for presenting pricing
Because CRM systems cannot handle multi-level BOM hierarchies or assembly-level intelligence, they fail to deliver the accuracy needed for cost estimation and quoting in ETO/MTO environments.
CRM Limitations in Managing Engineering Iterations
ETO/MTO products require repeated design changes involving:
- Collaboration with engineering teams
- Design iteration control and validation workflows
- CAD/PLM data integration
Since CRM systems do not provide facilitation of workflows and technical version control, this can lead to quoting errors.
CRM systems do not have a Dynamic Costing Engine
CRM tools do not have dynamic costing capability, unlike tools that are targeted for engineering purposes. The following capabilities are typically unavailable in a CRM system:
- Material and labor cost rollups
- Supplier pricing integration
- Parametric and what-if costing simulations
CRM systems usually hold static price lists and are not able to dynamically compute variable project-specific costs.
CRM Systems Cannot Model Configuration or Custom Products
Where quoting for ETO/MTO can involve complex configurable options and unique requests from customers, CRM tools typically only support standard product quoting with pre-defined SKUs; therefore, they lack any ability to model custom products based on engineering discussions or findings.
Minimal Integration with Engineering and Operations
To quote ETO/MTO successfully, collaboration across the departments is essential:
- Engineering (for the design and BOM data)
- Procurement (for supplier quotes and lead times)
- Operations (for capacity and scheduling)
CRM systems typically do not deeply integrate with enterprise engineering (PLM) and ERP, and manufacturing type systems, thereby allowing the quoting to be disconnected and unreliable.
Prioritize Customer Interaction rather than Technical Validation
CRM systems are effective at tracking sales conversations, tasks, or communications; however, they are not designed for:
Technical feasibility analysis
- Engineering validation checks
- Resource availability and capacity assessments
These important steps are needed to develop viable ETO/MTO quotes.
Conclusion
While CRM systems play an important role in managing customer relationships, they are not designed to meet the complex technical challenges of ETO and MTO costing and quoting. Without BOM intelligence, engineering workflows, dynamic costing engines, and sales tool integration with production systems, a CRM does not have the capability to manage the sale of highly configurable engineered products. To be successful, ETO and MTO companies will rely on industry-specific tools such as CPQ platforms, Engineering Costing Systems that can be used across business units, and PLM integrations that link together sales, engineering, and manufacturing that enabling accurate, fast, and feasible quotes.
Stop quoting with incomplete data. Discover how engineering-driven CPQ can give your team accurate, fast, and buildable ETO/MTO quotes.
With nearly two decades of experience in engineering, I bring deep expertise across both EPC (Engineering, Procurement, and Construction) and product-based OEM environments. My core strengths lie in engineering standardization, process optimization, and technical leadership. I have consistently driven excellence through the development and implementation of robust engineering frameworks, delivering value across global industrial projects and complex product lifecycles.
