If you are running a business, you may face various challenges in different departments, such as sales, human resources, and manufacturing. For example, you may struggle to find and retain skilled workers, deal with supply chain disruptions, manage cost increases, and satisfy customer demands. These problems can affect your productivity, profitability, and reputation. So how can you overcome these challenges and run your business more efficiently and effectively?
There is a reason that over 7 million people worldwide use Odoo. The reasons increased exponentially after the release of Odoo 17, which now reigns as the latest Odoo version that integrates and automates various business processes and functions. Its features provide easy, integrated, and affordable solutions for businesses of any size, especially improvement across various business departments.
Let us explore how Odoo 17 can improve the performance and efficiency of various business departments in sales and marketing, human resource management, and manufacturing.
Easier marketing and sales strategies
Odoo 17 latest features streamline the sales and marketing processes by enabling businesses to reach out to a large audience while maintaining a personalized touch to communicate event updates, promotions, or any other relevant information to their customers and prospects. Here is how:
1. Bulk texting and emailing for marketing
In the latest Odoo version, the well-known ERP offers a powerful feature that allows users to create and send personalized emails and SMS messages to customers and prospects using templates and variables from the Events app.
With Odoo 17, users can easily create and send professional and engaging email and SMS marketing campaigns to their contacts, using the Odoo Email Marketing and SMS Marketing apps, respectively. These apps allow you to create templates, send mass emails and SMS, track the performance and results of your campaigns, and integrate with the CRM app to manage your leads and customers. The latest Odoo features enable you to perform A/B tests, segment your audience, and use social marketing campaigns to boost your online reach.
2. Leads generations through social media
Capture, nurture, and convert leads from your social media channels with Odoo. With the seamless integration between social media platforms and the Odoo system, Odoo 17 benefits your business by connecting your multiple social media accounts, such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, to the Odoo Social Marketing module.
Marketers can define their target audience, create multiple social media campaigns, and track performance metrics (reach, engagement, clicks, conversions, and more) on a single platform, which helps increase the effectiveness of lead-generation efforts.
The highlight is here. A new Odoo 17 feature in the Social Marketing app enables you to monitor all viewers' reactions to social posts (like, share, comment), create leads, and record all their information automatically in CRM. Thanks to that, your sales and marketing team can boost performance and increase customer satisfaction with a deeper understanding of customer behavior.
3. Various templates for new page creation
The latest Odoo version benefits anyone who wants to build a website with no coding experience. Odoo 17 Website Builder offers a wide range of templates for each new page creation, making it easy for users like you to create professional and visually appealing websites. You can choose from a variety of pre-designed templates that cater to different industries, styles, and purposes.
These drag-and-drop-powered templates provide a starting point for users, saving them time and effort in designing a page from scratch. But templates in Odoo 17 Website Builder are also customizable. Users can modify the layout, colors, fonts, and images to match their brand identity and preferences. Easily add or remove sections, rearrange elements, and personalize the content to create a unique and engaging web page.
4. Enhanced marketing strategies integration
With the latest Odoo version benefits, you can gain deeper insights into your marketing efforts and make data-driven decisions to optimize your business strategies.
- Email Marketing: The latest Odoo version integrates with popular email marketing platforms such as Mailchimp, allowing businesses to synchronize their email lists, campaigns, and analytics. Now that you have the resources, don’t forget to pick up the skill to create a great email marketing campaign to gain customers.
- Marketing Automation: Boost your sales with marketing automation. Odoo 17 benefits businesses by connecting with popular marketing automation tools such as HubSpot or Marketo. This integration enables businesses to automate their marketing workflows, nurture leads, and track customer interactions across multiple channels.
- Analytics and Reporting: The latest Odoo version is compatible with analytics and reporting tools such as Google Analytics 4 and Google Search Console. Now, businesses can activate either GA4 or GSC without coding and start tracking and analyzing website traffic and performance, campaign performance, and customer behavior.
5. Automated text generation in sales
Odoo 17 latest benefits highlight the integration of ChatGPT, an AI-powered chatbot, which empowers users to enhance the sales team's ability to communicate and engage with prospects and customers. ChatGPT will provide your team with suggestions and alternatives that are more persuasive, engaging, and tailored to the specific needs of their prospects or customers.
The integration allows the generation of alternative text across not only one but also various Odoo modules and apps. By leveraging the AI-powered chatbot, sales representatives can generate alternative text for various sales-related activities such as drafting emails, creating sales proposals, or responding to customer inquiries.
Read more on how to utilize Odoo 17 latest features, like ChatGPT integration, for your service business.
Level up your marketing and sales strategy with Odoo. Contact us now.
Level up your Human Resource Management
Human resource management (HRM) is a vital function of any organization, as it involves planning, organizing, and managing the most valuable asset of a business: its employees. However, HRM can also be challenging and time-consuming, especially when dealing with complex and diverse tasks such as recruiting, onboarding, training, and payroll. Pay attention to how Odoo 17 latest features can help your HR department work more efficiently.
1. Odoo Employee App enhancement
With the improved Employee module, businesses can easily create and maintain comprehensive employee profiles, including personal information, job details, skills, and performance records. The app also allows for efficient management of employee contracts, enabling businesses to generate, store, and track contract documents with ease.
There is also a centralized repository for managing various employee-related documents, such as resumes, certifications, and training records. The streamlined approach to employee profile management improves HR, enhances data accuracy, and ensures compliance with your local legal requirements.
2. Department hierarchy
The latest Odoo 17 benefits allow users to visualize the hierarchical structure of departments within the organization easily, including reporting lines and team members. Having a visual representation of the department hierarchy aids in providing a clear understanding of the chain of command, roles, and responsibilities within each department. This feature also assists decision-making processes, by helping you identify appropriate channels for communication and escalation.
3. Employee evaluation
Generally, Odoo Appraisal module can help decision-makers identify areas for improvement and recognize top performers. Not to mention, it can help you make informed decisions regarding promotions, training, and career development of your employees. Here is how: the Appraisal module can be used to facilitate ongoing performance discussions and coaching.
Opinions matter. This app also keeps your employee feedback organized so you can always go back to their suggestions to improve your business. This way, the human resources personnel or managers can provide timely feedback and support for employee development, and business owners can hear what their employees have to say - all from one app.
4. Online meetings
The Meeting Rooms app in Odoo 17 allows you to easily schedule and join meetings directly from your favorite video conferencing app. The new online meeting features in The Meeting Rooms app include seamless integration with popular video conferencing platforms like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Google Meet. It also introduces the raise hand feature, so no interruption is needed to pass on an opinion in your online meeting.
The latest Odoo 17 features of Meeting Rooms also allow you to easily schedule meetings, send invitations, and customize details such as date, time, duration, and participants. Plus, you can collaborate in real-time through screen sharing, document sharing, and presentations, enhancing communication and teamwork. Additionally, meetings can now be recorded for future reference and training purposes. Odoo also records your meeting analytics to provide insights into attendance, duration, and participant engagement.
5. Printing resumes for hiring purposes (and more)
Odoo 17 benefits allow the hiring department to print out resumes. You can find this feature in the Odoo Recruitment module. This feature eliminates the need for manual data entry or the use of external tools, saving time and reducing the risk of errors. Now, when HR professionals access the printing feature to generate and print resumes directly from the system, they can have easier access to candidate information for an efficient hiring process.
Secret advantage: Having a standardized resume not only benefits the HR department, but also makes it easy for communication purposes. This is especially true when dealing with external collaborators. For instance, if you need to introduce your team to a project tender to prospective clients.
Advanced manufacturing processes
Odoo 17 optimizes and integrates manufacturing operations by providing a comprehensive suite of modules that streamline planning, production, quality, and maintenance processes. Odoo Manufacturing module allows for efficient production planning and scheduling, ensuring optimal resource allocation and minimizing downtime. The latest Odoo version benefits for the Manufacturing Department are as follows:
1. Manufacturing Execution System (MES) feature
Odoo 17 version introduces the new Manufacturing Execution System (MES) feature, which provides the ability to manage and monitor the production process effectively from your Shop Floor module. The feature allows for real-time tracking of production activities such as work orders, routing, and resource allocation.
The MES feature enables shop floor operators to record their work progress, update the status of tasks, or even report any issues or delays. Then, the recorded data is instantly synchronized with the central system. This is how managers and supervisors have real-time visibility of the production process.
The latest Odoo features benefit managers because they can monitor key performance indicators (KPIs), track production efficiency, and identify bottlenecks or areas for improvement. Further, the app itself can also facilitate quality control checks, allowing operators to record quality data and perform inspections during the production process.
2. Control your inventory levels
We know that by accurately forecasting inventory needs, companies can avoid stockouts, reduce excess inventory, and optimize cash flow. The benefit ranges from improving operational efficiency to minimizing costs associated with carrying excess inventory or missing out on potential sales.
In Odoo 17, you can find the new Inventory Forecast feature, which enables manufacturing companies to effectively control and adjust inventory levels. The feature utilizes advanced forecasting algorithms and historical data to predict future demand and recommend optimal inventory levels. This allows manufacturers to proactively plan their production and procurement activities, so you can be sure that you have the right amount of raw materials and finished goods at any given time.
3. Handle complex and custom products
The new Product Configurator feature, one of the latest Odoo 17 benefits, provides the ability to handle complex and customized products. Manufacturers can now define and configure product variants, options, and attributes. So customers can customize their orders based on their specific requirements. To do this, don’t forget to add the product to your product list, set the route to manufacturing, and create the Bill of Materials as shown in the GIF. Then you are all set to choose the product when you start a new order for manufacturing.
The process of creating and managing complex product configurations with accurate pricing, bill of materials, and routing generation - no less, is now unified in one place. The latest Odoo feature benefits manufacturing processes by reducing errors, improving order accuracy, and enhancing customer satisfaction.
4. Quality check
Maintain a strong reputation, comply with regulatory requirements, and drive continuous improvement in your manufacturing operation with the latest Odoo 17 module, like Quality. The Quality Control feature allows the Manufacturing Department to define quality control checks, set up inspection criteria, and track non-conformities.
It enables real-time monitoring of quality control activities, which ensures that products meet the required standards and specifications. By implementing robust quality control measures, manufacturers can identify and address any issues or defects early in the production process. By default, it also reduces the risk of producing faulty or unsafe products. Hence, it won’t only improve customer satisfaction but also minimizes the costs associated with rework, returns, and recalls.
Final thoughts on Odoo 17 latest features
Without a doubt, Odoo 17 tops its predecessors by offering a range of new features and improvements that enhance the user experience, performance, security, and integration of the business management software.
The latest Odoo version provides a range of solutions for different industries and departments. From simplifying and streamlining the sales and marketing processes to automating the human resource management functions and optimizing the manufacturing operations - Odoo has them all. This article is too short to list all the new features and improvements in this Odoo version. For UX-specific improvements, check out our article on Odoo 17 improved user experience.
With Odoo 17, we now have a lot of add-on apps to try on and fun features within the core modules. Utilize the new features with wisdom, and your businesses will improve their performance and gain a competitive edge in the market. If you have any questions about some of the apps or features you are unfamiliar with, contact our team today.