Scoping an ERP or CRM project from how people really work
An integration project’s specifications are only as good as its requirements gathering. TellMeHow interviews each key user about how they work, with their screen shared, and extracts the processes, re-keying, and business rules to carry over.
By type of firm
The scoping phase of an integration project
Before configuring an ERP or CRM, the integrator has to understand the current state: order-to-invoice flows, exceptions, and the rules applied day to day. Workshops bring managers together, and they describe how the old system is supposed to work. Workarounds, side files, and rules only one person knows tend to surface during user acceptance testing, when fixing them is expensive. More complete scoping means fewer change orders and fewer surprises at go-live.
What scoping workshops miss
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Re-keying between tools
An order number copied from the CRM into the ERP, an export reworked in a spreadsheet before import: these manual bridges are interface requirements nobody thinks to mention.
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Implicit business rules
Discounts by product family, approval above a threshold, priority for certain customers: many rules live in users’ heads rather than in the current configuration.
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Key users with little time
The people who know the current system best are also the busiest. Booking a half-day workshop takes negotiation, and the project schedule slips.
From requirements gathering to specifications
The interviews feed straight into the raw material for your specifications, with evidence the client can check.
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1
Prepare the scoping guide
You set the project scope, the software in place, and the client’s vocabulary. For each population, you define topics and expected demonstrations, such as entering an order or running the month-end close.
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Walk through the current system on screen
Each key user does the interview when their schedule allows, over several sessions if needed. The AI interviewer asks to see each task, notes fields copied from one screen to another, and asks about edge cases.
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Reconstruct processes and rules
The analysis produces step-by-step processes with the actor, tool, input, and output, plus variants and the business rules identified. Differences between departments become contradictions to resolve before specifications are written.
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Deliver and export
You review and publish a navigable deliverable for the client. Each process exports as BPMN 2.0 for your modeling tools, and findings export as CSV or JSON for your tracking tools.
Example: a 140-person equipment manufacturer
Illustrative example, not a client case.- Audited company
- Material handling equipment manufacturer, 140 employees, one production site, replacing its ERP and rolling out a CRM.
- Populations interviewed
- Sales administration Production planning Purchasing and supply Accounting
- Guide topics
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- From sales quote to order
- Bills of materials and product options
- Releasing production orders
- Invoicing and credit notes
- Files and tools outside the ERP
- Show me
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Show me how you enter an order with options
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Show me how you prepare the workload plan
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Example findings
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Re-keying
Every confirmed order is re-entered in the ERP from the quote PDF, options included, because the pricing tool and the ERP are not linked.
Pinned screenshot, sales admin 2 · 09:26 -
Business rule
A discount above 12% on a standard machine requires the sales director’s approval, which sales administration checks by hand.
Audio clip, sales admin 1 · 31:05 -
Tool
The shop floor workload plan is kept in a spreadsheet that recalculates promised delivery dates, and it was not in the project’s initial scope.
Uploaded artifact, planning 1 · workload_plan_W41.xlsx
What the integrator delivers
- Current processes, modeled and exportable as BPMN 2.0 to your tools.
- An inventory of re-keying and manual bridges, each one an interface requirement to specify.
- The business rules identified, each linked to the clip or screenshot behind it.
- A specification baseline shared with the client, who can check every point before sign-off.
Common questions from integrators
Can the processes be imported into our modeling tools?
Yes. TellMeHow exports each process in BPMN 2.0 format, and findings and opportunities as CSV or JSON. The navigable deliverable stays available to the client alongside the exports.
Does TellMeHow connect to the client’s current ERP?
No. TellMeHow works from interviews, uploaded artifacts (exports, files, procedures), and structured imports, without connecting directly to client tools.
Does it replace design workshops?
No. TellMeHow handles gathering the current state, one role at a time. Design workshops for the future system are still run by the integrator, on a more complete and verifiable foundation.
What happens when two departments describe the same flow differently?
The TellMeHow analysis creates a contradiction that shows both versions with their evidence and proposes a short follow-up. The consultant decides, sends the follow-up, or keeps the contradiction as a finding, for example two practices that coexist depending on the order type.
The features involved
- Screen sharing The AI interviewer asks “show me” and sees the shared screen, where the work actually happens.
- Process map Processes rebuilt step by step, with actors, tools, volumes, and pain points, each one sourced.
- Interview guide Your method, tailored by engagement, team, and person: the AI runs your audit, not its own.
Other use cases
- Automation agencies Spot repetitive tasks, estimate their volumes with sources, and back every proposal with facts.
- Quality and compliance The gap between written procedure and actual practice, documented with time-stamped evidence.
- IT and internal teams The same tool, for internal audits: real application usage, pain points, and shadow applications.
See a complete audit in thirty minutes.
A voice interview with screen sharing, the process map it produces, the deliverable the sponsor reads: on a demo engagement, with your questions.