Dynamics CRM Blog |
See your organization thrive! Improve the customer experience by keeping your sales, marketing
and customer service teams on the same page.
and customer service teams on the same page.
![]() Most software ROI calculations are built off of two tenets: sell more or cut costs. The problem that most organizations run into is that they have no solid numbers to address either; “sell how much more”, or “save how much time” can be elusive concepts. I suggest that there are three fundamental business objectives that sales, marketing, and service must focus on and can be used to justify a Dynamics CRM system: 1) find more customers like our best ones, 2) keep the ones we want, and 3) increase profitable transactions. No Longer Just a Sales System
CRM software (Customer Relationship Management) has evolved to support organizational business goals across the enterprise; sales, marketing, customer service, relationship building, field service and project management. For non-profits the utilization reaches beyond these areas to include membership management, fundraising, variance in quality, case worker scheduling and volunteer management. A well-implemented Dynamics CRM will focus users on achieving the business goals, both with processes and behaviors monitoring. While a poorly implemented deployment will waste time and money and cause needless frustration for your employees, partners and customers. Why the focus on implementation and not the software? ![]() There are three types of Microsoft Dynamics CRM failures that I have encountered:
Notice what I didn’t mention – Picking the wrong CRM system. Very seldom does a Dynamics 365 CRM project fail because the wrong CRM software was selected. Especially when that software is Microsoft Dynamics 365, one of the most modern and versatile CRM solutions on the market today. The problem I see most often is that Dynamics CRM has been implemented as a technology project and not as a change management effort. Bob, I need to flush out the details of our customer's sales process with their team, how do I get started? Jack, National Sales Manager Jack,
It is great that you are thinking about getting everyone rowing in the same direction. Establishing sales stages and writing out clear definitions of what is expected to happen in each stage provides everyone with a common language for discussing opportunities in the pipeline. It will cut down deals getting lost and account managers “blowing smoke” about closing statuses. You’ve heard that old saying “You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink”. I often hear managers complain that their CRM doesn’t work because they don’t have enough user acceptance. Well “leading a horse to water” is the same type of dilemma. Two basic principles must be in place to achieve user acceptance of a CRM system.
“What is in it for them” is all about giving the end-user what they need to be more productive. Dynamics 365 CRM can’t be laid on as more work. It must cut down work and make it easier for the end-user to do their job. You reduce their daily tasks and deliver in one place the information that they have been scrambling to collect from other sources. You achieve this first principle and you will have a CRM system that can’t be pried away from users in six months.
Most customers who have, or are looking to purchase a Dynamics CRM system are looking to achieve basic results which boil down to two frequently stated objectives: retain current customers and acquire new customers to power growth. Both of these objectives rely on extensive understanding of customer relationships grounded in business data such as account details, sales history, end use information, industry assessment, response to campaigns, etc. If the business does not win through the transformation of time-sensitive management of this data to systems that provide not more data, but useful information and insights, they will lose to competition who are leading in this strategic approach. If your customers are not moving to this new business reality, then they are falling behind.
Marketing Automation's False Start
At first sight, marketing automation is a very tempting and enticing tool. A platform that gives you the ability to reach your best prospects with the right message, at the right time, without manually having to kill yourself to do it! Seems like a no-brainer, so you sign up especially when linked to Dynamics 365 CRM. However, once the system gets installed and after a few email blasts are sent, a landing page is built, and the results come back mixed (and they often do), one of two things usually happens:
Accurate sales forecasting is essential to growing revenue and managing your business effectively. When you know the timing and amount of incoming revenue, you can plan and focus on the right business initiatives; budget and allocate resources appropriately; set organizational goals; and provide teams with priorities and guidelines for how they spend their time.
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