self-serve customer service

Wednesdays With Will: Self-Serve Customer Service

By William Marchesano, Technology Advisor & Evangelist
It’s amazing how an innovation such as the internet has had such a drastic effect on society. The two major impacts can be simplified to how we communicate with each other and how we seek and consume information. Just think about daily usage in your own life. If you don’t have an answer to a question it’s likely your first instinct is to look it up through an online search vs asking someone. This change in habit did not occur overnight but was definitely accelerated with accessibility to mobile internet devices (e.g. smartphones, tablets, etc.). Since this has become the new “normal” so why not nurture this behavior and augment its capabilities even further?
About a month ago, we discussed how using a knowledgebase system within your organization empowers your employees to accomplish tasks above their own capabilities. Having the answers they need at their fingertips is a time saver and greatly improves their efficiency. This is especially important for your service staff (e.g. customer service reps, field technicians, etc.) who are working directly with customers. The ability to dramatically cut resolution time directly affects potential profitability as well as customer satisfaction.   The case examples given last time were more focused on internal use. This week we are going to take it a step further and explore the benefits of a customer facing knowledgebase system.
We’ve established a shift is occurring in how your customers are seeking customer support for the products and services your company provides. Self-serve customer service is becoming the preferred method by your customers for answering a question or resolving a challenge. This is great for the organizations that have a customer facing knowledge base system in place. It gives the business a “first line of defense” for providing answers to questions that may be repetitive and fairly simple to answer but time consuming. Look at it as a pre-Tier 1 level of support or possibly a replacement for your current Tier 1 support. This increases the chances for first contact resolution and improved customer satisfaction.
From the customer’s perspective they are now able to receive consistent service across their preferred channel of communication (email, ticket, knowledgebase, chat, social, mobile, etc.). The customer service rep will have a single view of the customer across these channels. This is important for understanding the journey your customer has already gone through and what they have already tried themselves to resolve their challenge. Knowing this reduces the chance of customer frustration from having to repeat their information or current challenge multiple times. I’m sure we’ve all experienced this one time or another.
If your organization is using a customer relationship management (CRM) system, you should most definitely pair it with a knowledge base system. A little over 2 years ago, Microsoft acquired on of their partners, Parature, to integrate their knowledge base and customer services software (CSS) into their Microsoft Dynamics CRM platform. Doing so has enhanced the capabilities of both platforms for their clients. Are you ready to provide the next generation of customer service?  Here’s a short video about how it integrates and an example of how it works:
As always, I encourage you to reach out to me to discuss these topics in deeper detail. I hope you enjoyed and found this week’s article informative. If you’re interested in some how-to related CRM material, check out blogs by my colleague Ben Ward here. Till next time…
About the author:
Will has over 16 years of experience in business development, team management, and project management. Will has worked at Managed Solution for over four years and is currently advising businesses on best CRM practices and implementations. Will’s focus is on process improvement and analytics specializing in Customer Relationship Management (CRM). Will is a Microsoft Certified Professional, with certifications in Presales Technical Specialist – Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013, Sales Specialist- Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013, Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015 Application, Sales Specialist- Office 365, Sales Specialist- SMB Infrastructure and Sales Specialist- Datacenter.
For information on deploying Microsoft Dynamics CRM in your organization, please call us at 800-257-0691.
To sign up to receive emails when new Wednesdays with Will Blogs are posted, complete the form below.
Other articles by Will Marchesano:
By William Marchesano, Technology Advisor & Evangelist
The sales world we once knew is disintegrating as the way your customers once bought has changed.  There’s no reason for concern though, just awareness.  In one of our earlier articles we discussed how marketing is driving sales as buying habits continue to evolve.  Your customers are doing more research prior to engaging with a sales person now than they ever have before.  This means, in most cases, the sales cycle has started before you are even aware of it.  This may be a shift for your sales team whom had become accustomed to being the driving force for initial customer engagement in the past.  They may have lost a great deal of power in what had been their traditional sales process.  But just like their customers, the sales person must evolve as well.
Businesses are investing more in their marketing departments today so they can keep ahead of their competition.  Since the sales cycle is now starting with customers doing their research, it makes sense to increase budgets for creating educational content about how your products or services can address a need.  You’ll also focus on “getting found” so that the great content you created can be consumed.  Though these are two important components for effective marketing, they can be very time consuming and are just the start.  Understanding how your customers are interacting with your content is crucial for guiding them down their purchasing journey.
One of the best ways an organization can set their marketing and sales departments up for success is providing them marketing automation tools.  Years ago, marketing automation almost exclusively dealt with direct mail or email marketing automation.  The rise of the social media channel added a new complexity and opportunity for how you are able to nurture a prospective customer into a client.  With it also came additional tasks and manual processes to take advantage of this new channel.
Using a Customer relationship management (CRM) system such as Microsoft Dynamics CRM can help simplify these processes and improve your marketing effectiveness.  Dynamics CRM lays the foundation for connecting your marketing, sales, and services team, providing them transparency, and ultimately a higher level of collaboration.  It also delivers your client a complete engagement experience from marketing to sales to services.  Though there is a lot that you can do with the native Dynamics CRM platform from a marketing perspective, sometimes you can use additional functionality.
To augment our marketing automation capabilities, Managed Solution leverages an add-on solution from one of Microsoft’s top marketing partners, ClickDimensions.  Our organization relies heavily on our marketing to drive new business leads to our sales team.  Email campaigns, creating forms for our webpages, creating web content, and designing nurture programs are just a few of the ways we use ClickDimensions to simplify our marketing efforts on a day to day basis.  Since it sits right inside Dynamics CRM it keeps everything in a single pane of glass which makes it much more intuitive than other email marketing and marketing automation systems.  If you are already using Dynamics CRM in your organization and are looking to enhance your marketing experience even further, I’d suggest looking at ClickDimensions.  Here’s a short video highlighting some of the latest features:
Please Embed:
As always, I encourage you to reach out to me to discuss these topics in deeper detail. I hope you enjoyed and found this week’s article informative. If you’re interested in some how-to related CRM material, check out blogs by my colleague Ben Ward here. Till next time…
About the author:
Will has over 16 years of experience in business development, team management, and project management. Will has worked at Managed Solution for over four years and is currently advising businesses on best CRM practices and implementations. Will’s focus is on process improvement and analytics specializing in Customer Relationship Management (CRM). Will is a Microsoft Certified Professional, with certifications in Presales Technical Specialist – Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013, Sales Specialist- Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013, Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015 Application, Sales Specialist- Office 365, Sales Specialist- SMB Infrastructure and Sales Specialist- Datacenter.
For information on deploying Microsoft Dynamics CRM in your organization, please call us at 800-257-0691.
To sign up to receive emails when new Wednesdays with Will Blogs are posted, complete the form below.
Other articles by Will Marchesano:

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]how to turn your computer into a wifi-hi hot

CRM 2016 - Online vs on-premises features FAQ

Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online 2015 Update 1 was an online-only release. Most of the features introduced in that release are now available for on-premises customers in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2016.
The following table provides a list of features available in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2016 and whether they're for CRM Online only or for both CRM Online and CRM (on-premises). Details about Office integration features are listed later in this topic.
Feature CRM Online/CRM on-premises
Navigation - Move around CRM using the new navigation bar and menu system Both
Performance - Forms load much faster with the new form rendering engine Both
Analytics - Power Query connector streamlines connections to CRM Online CRM Online only
Administration
Switch or delete an instance of CRM Online CRM Online only
Manage CRM Online updates (customer-driven updates) CRM Online only
Customization
Add a logo or change the color scheme using themes Both
Define business rules based on business process flows Both
Move back to the previous stage of a business process flow on a different entity Both
Call custom actions from workflows or dialogs Both
Define rules for creating or updating CRM records from incoming activities Both
Calculated field enhancements Both
Clear field values with business rules Both
Use solution segmentation for tighter control of solutions exports and patches Both
Mobile
Email a link to a page from CRM for phones and tablets Both
Enjoy the same mobile experience whether you’re using a phone or tablet Both
Provide modern UI with the new visual controls in CRM for phones and tablets Both
Export data to Excel from CRM for phones and tablets Both
Use iFrames and web resources in CRM for tablets Both
Manage devices with Intune device management Both
Use mobile apps with Windows 10 and iOS 9 Both
Preview mobile forms and dashboards before deploying to CRM for phones and tablets Both
Secure your mobile data with Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Good Both
View SharePoint documents in CRM for phones and tablets Both
Create a task flow in CRM for phones and tablets (Preview feature) CRM Online only
Service
Customize interactive service hub dashboards and forms Both
Enable service level agreements (SLAs) on demand Both
Prioritize workloads with new interactive service hub dashboards and forms Both
Reduce case call-handling time with rich knowledge management articles Both
Share the knowledge base with Parature CRM Online only
Speed up customer service with default entitlements Both
Use surveys to collect feedback from customers CRM Online only
New, improved Unified Service Desk Both
SDK
Change tracking API Both
Control.getShowTime method for Date controls Both
Create alternate keys for referencing records in CRM Both
Custom actions in workflows or dialogs Both
Custom claim mapping for SharePoint server-based integration Both
Enhanced capabilities for sub-grid controls in forms Both
Form script support for the new Knowledge Management (KM) integration with Parature CRM Online only
Integrate CRM data with external systems more easily Both
Integration with Parature CRM Online only
Multiple message execution Both
New form script capabilities Both
Optimistic concurrency Both
Record creation and update rules Both
Rollup field enhancements Both
Specify custom price lists for opportunities, quotes, orders, and invoices Both
Support for additional “older than” clauses for date and time fields in FetchXML and QueryExpression Both
Support for new behavior of date and time values in CRM Both
Tracing Both
Track emails at the folder level Both
Update message for specialized operations Both
Upsert for updating CRM with external data Both

 

Office integration

The following table shows the availability of Microsoft Office and email features, depending on whether Microsoft Office or Exchange is deployed online or on-premises.

Feature CRM Online/CRM on-premises
Email - Dynamics CRM App for Outlook for Exchange Online CRM Online only
Email - Dynamics CRM App for Outlook for Exchange on-premises Not applicable
Email - Dynamics CRM for Outlook (aka Outlook client) for Exchange Online Both
Email - Dynamics CRM for Outlook (aka Outlook client) for Exchange on-premises Both
Email - Monitor mailbox health using the improved server-side synchronization performance dashboard Both
Email - Server-side synchronization Test connection to Exchange on-premises and setup guide CRM Online only
Email - Server-side synchronization - connect CRM Online with Exchange on-premises CRM Online only
Email - Server-side synchronization - connect CRM Online to Exchange Online CRM Online only
Email - Server-side synchronization - connect CRM on-premises to Exchange on-premises CRM on-premises only
Email - Track Exchange email activities automatically with folder tracking Both
Delve (Exchange Online optional for attachments). SharePoint Online license required CRM Online only
Delve (Exchange on-premises) Not applicable
Export to Excel completely redesigned Both
Immersive experience, Excel Online CRM Online only
Office 365 Groups (Exchange Online) CRM Online only
Office 365 Groups (Exchange on-premises) Not applicable
OneDrive for Business (online) Both
OneDrive for Business (on-premises) Not applicable
OneNote (online) CRM Online only
OneNote (on-premises) Not applicable
SharePoint Online Both
SharePoint (on-premises) Both
Skype for Business (online) Both
Skype for Business (on-premises) Both
Excel templates Both
Word templates Both
Yammer (online) CRM Online only
Yammer (on-premises) Not applicable

 

Managed Solution will partner with your organization, align goals, and deploy Dynamics CRM hand-in-hand, ensuring we create a solution specific to your unique business needs. We have developed a proven deployment and migration strategy for our clients deploying Dynamics CRM to make sure that your transition is simple, smooth, and stable. For information on deploying Microsoft Dynamics CRM in your organization, please call us at 800-257-0691 or fill out the contact form below and an expert will contact you shortly.


[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Knowledge Is Power

Wednesdays With Will: Knowledge Is Power

By William Marchesano, Technology Advisor & Evangelist
Knowledge is power.  This is a saying that you’ve most likely heard at some point in your life.  The reason it rings true is because knowledge allows you to maneuver through the different obstacles life throws your way.  Knowing how to overcome a particular challenge allows you to keep moving toward your goal.  Since we have a finite lifespan, there is only so much knowledge we can individually obtain within that time.  One of the reasons we’ve been able to progress as a society has been because of collaboration and sharing knowledge with others.  Instead of having to start from scratch each time, we are able to build off of what has been established by our predecessors.  All of the advancements in civilization and technology would not be possible if we didn’t share our knowledge and experiences with each other and continue to build from there.  The same can be said in the business setting.
Shared knowledge empowers your employees to do things above their individual capabilities.  Whether their role is in sales, marketing, or customer service, having the answers they need at their fingertips makes them more efficient internally.  When customer facing, having the right answers allows you to establish trust quickly and increase ease of use to do business with your clients.  A big challenge for most organizations when hiring a new employee is getting them up to speed as quickly possible.  Having a knowledge base available to them can help accelerate this process so they can become a valuable resource sooner than later.  This also helps strengthen business continuity and allows your employees to build off of the lessons of their colleagues and predecessors.
There are many ways to go about implementing a knowledge base system within your organization but it can seem a little daunting to start.  Like all data, it has very little use unless you know where to find it (stored location), how to pull the information you need from within it (search/query), and a way to properly manage it (governance/updating).  It was only logical that Microsoft incorporated a knowledge base system into their Dynamics CRM platform that addresses all of these needs.  The same customer relationship management (CRM) system your sales, marketing, and services team uses each day has a customized library where they can store product white sheets, industry specific articles, marketing materials, frequently asked questions (FAQ), or any other information regarding customers, partners, and/or competitors.
Creating new articles for the knowledge base and finding them when you need them has been made easy as well.  Colleagues within your organization can collaborate on creating these documents and submit them to a manager for review and approval.  If approved, they can then be published by the manager or sent back for revision.  Once an article has been published it can then be searched by the individuals or departments within the organization with the proper permissions.  Searching for what you’re looking for is very flexible as well.  You can find an article by keyword, title, text from within the document or the article number if you happen to know it.  Having this many options to find the answer you are looking for improves resolution time and customer engagement.

 

 

As always, I encourage you to reach out to me to discuss these topics in deeper detail. I hope you enjoyed and found this week’s article informative. If you’re interested in some how-to related CRM material, check out blogs by my colleague Ben Ward here. Till next time…
About the author:
Will has over 16 years of experience in business development, team management, and project management. Will has worked at Managed Solution for over four years and is currently advising businesses on best CRM practices and implementations. Will’s focus is on process improvement and analytics specializing in Customer Relationship Management (CRM). Will is a Microsoft Certified Professional, with certifications in Presales Technical Specialist – Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013, Sales Specialist- Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013, Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015 Application, Sales Specialist- Office 365, Sales Specialist- SMB Infrastructure and Sales Specialist- Datacenter.
For information on deploying Microsoft Dynamics CRM in your organization, please call us at 800-257-0691.

To sign up to receive our industry newsletters, complete the form below.


Other articles by Will Marchesano:

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Sales Pipeline Management
By William Marchesano, Technology Advisor & Evangelist

Welcome back! Today we are going to take a step into the exciting world of sales pipeline management. At first glance you may not think it’s an exciting topic but once you realize how much of an impact it has on the entirety of your business, it becomes much more exhilarating. The obvious connection made between a sales pipeline and your business is sales. It goes much deeper than that though. We are going to cover how properly managing your sales pipeline can also affect product inventory, hiring, operations, and of course…sales.
Like most businesses, chances are you currently have a sales process in place. Depending on the complexity and size of your business, your sales process may exist as a loose idea or a well-defined process. Either way, it’s the journey your business takes from the point of acquiring a lead to converting them into a customer. Your sales pipeline represents the stages in which your current opportunities exist. The number of stages you use is dependent on your sales process but 6-7 stages is the most commonly recommended number. Understanding your opportunity life cycle, or amount of time it takes to complete each stage, should be the next level of importance considered.
Now that we have these areas defined let’s discuss how they will affect the seemingly different areas of your business. If your company sells a product, ideally, you like to verify your supply meets customer demand. Oversupply leads to increased costs such as warehousing and undersupply can lead to missed sales. Maybe your business also manufactures the product. That can amplify these costs even further. If it’s your company goal to operate on a just-in-time (JIT) model, understanding when and how much supply you’ll need to meet demand can be predicted through proper sales pipeline management.
Much like in our product example, a services company has much to gain with sales pipeline management. In this instance, your staff are your product. Depending on the type of service your company offers its clients, different skill sets can be required from different employees. Let’s say your business specializes in Service A, Service B, and Service C. You currently have 50 employees that are qualified to do Service A, 20 employees that are qualified to do Service B, and 10 employees qualified to do Service C. Over the past 6 month market trends have changing and your business started getting more requests for Service C. These deals are now being won and you find yourself understaffed to deliver what was sold. By using sales pipeline management and knowing the life cycle of each type of opportunity you would then be able to recognize new potential business in the early stages and then decide whether to hire more staff that can do Service C. On the flipside, you may also identify a reduction in demand for Service A. In this scenario, it may make sense to start training your Service A specialists to learn Service C instead of hiring new staff.
Using sales pipeline management helps your sales team become better at selling. Time management is often cited as one of the top reasons a sales person fails. Understanding what stage an opportunity is truly in allows you to dedicate your time more efficiently. As we mentioned earlier, a key component of sales pipeline management is understanding the opportunity life cycle. This is important to a sales person because it gives them an idea of how long an opportunity should take in a given stage. If it’s sitting in the same stage noticeably longer than it typically should, it may mean something was missed and has stalled the progress. It could also possibly mean the salesperson is not properly guiding the opportunity through the sales process. If management can identify this shortcoming, they can help their salesperson fix it and improve.
As a manager or business owner, you have company goals to hit to “keep the lights on” and grow your business. Using sales pipeline management allows you to see where you are currently from a sales perspective and helps you forecast to make sure you are hitting quarterly and annual goals. This is also part of the business intelligence and analytics for your organization. One of the best tools used for sales pipeline management is a CRM. Microsoft Dynamics CRM has done a really nice job developing the opportunity and sales pipeline components of their solution. If your organization is already using Microsoft Office 365 and you are looking for a pipeline management tool, Microsoft Dynamics CRM can be a tremendous solution for you.

 

 

As always, I encourage you to reach out to me to discuss these topics in deeper detail. I hope you enjoyed and found this week’s article informative. If you’re interested in some how-to related CRM material, check out blogs by my colleague Ben Ward here. Till next time…

About the author:

Will has over 16 years of experience in business development, team management, and project management. Will has worked at Managed Solution for over four years and is currently advising businesses on best CRM practices and implementations. Will’s focus is on process improvement and analytics specializing in Customer Relationship Management (CRM). Will is a Microsoft Certified Professional, with certifications in Presales Technical Specialist – Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013, Sales Specialist- Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013, Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015 Application, Sales Specialist- Office 365, Sales Specialist- SMB Infrastructure and Sales Specialist- Datacenter.
Other articles by Will Marchesano:

For information on deploying Microsoft Dynamics CRM in your organization, please call us at 800-257-0691 or complete the form below and we will contact you shortly.


[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]CRM

4 Ways Real Companies Sell Smarter with Sales Analytics

By Stephanie Dart, Director of Product Marketing with Microsoft Dynamics as written on community.dynamics.com
All sales managers want better numbers from their teams, but many are ignoring the obvious solution. A paltry 15 percent of organizations use analytics to drive objectives. Investing in analytics isn’t just a nice idea if you have the time and money to make it work. A sales team backed by superior data analysis is an unbeatable force. Sales analytics is a time-tested way to get more from the employees and customers you already have and uncover opportunities you may have missed.
Analytics helps sales teams:
• Identify overlooked opportunities
• Find ways to turn existing customers into repeat customers
• Track individual customer trends
• Develop new offerings to satisfy customer need
• And more

Identify overlooked opportunities

Your reps can’t spend all day trolling the Internet for hot tips. That’s where intelligent business software comes in. Kennametal, a leading material science and manufacturing company, uses Microsoft Dynamics CRM to track customers in the news. Whenever client-specific content appears in sources such as The Wall Street Journal or NPR, the CRM software aggregates the headlines and delivers them to sales and marketing teams. That way, the sales team can act right away when opportunities arise. And up-to-the-minute knowledge of their customers’ competitive landscape helps sales reps generate new leads and engage in productive conversations with current clients.

Find ways to turn existing customers into repeat customers

Marketing and sales go hand in hand when it comes to customer retention and have for a long time. Analytics can turn traditional methods into sure-fire outreach. Mike McMinn, Group IT Director for the English pub chain Marston’s, links his company’s enthusiasm about data analytics to the trackability of ROI. “In the UK, companies have a tendency to just give out offers. We want to provide a better experience by knowing customers better—and knowing which of our efforts are paying off. If we can understand our customers better, [using] campaigns that encourage them to buy just one more pint we can increase our profit by several millions of pounds per year.”
Analytics can also reveal how and when your customers need you the most, so you’re able to prepare for a rainy day. When bridge repairs shut down a transit route, Transport for London prepared by studying commuter behavior. The data told a very clear story, so the transportation authority developed strategies—a temporary interchange, increased bus service in the area, personalized commuter notifications—that would keep riders using public transit despite the closure.

Track individual customer trends

On a sales team, you’re going to get good data only if your whole team is invested in tracking it all the time. Reporting software that’s easy to use makes sales teams more agile and increases the quality of the output.
Kennametal finds that visual reporting (like what Microsoft Dynamics CRM offers) helps surface spikes and trends, and this reporting provides insight into profitability and allows for detailed drilling down to the customer-detail level. Better still, reporting can be automated to provide regular updates on how the company is performing against projections. And anyone can access these tools across the organization at any time. No special analytics background required.

Develop new offerings to satisfy customer need

At accounting firm Grant Thornton, analytics is also indispensable in the discovery and development of new sales offerings. Data uncovers demands and desires that customers can’t even clearly articulate. Insights gathered according to line of service, type of service, revenue, and other factors can reveal an untapped opportunity—so the accounting firm can capitalize on it and satisfy a customer need.
We’ve highlighted four advantages here, but there are countless ways analytics can bolster your sales organization. The insights that data analysis can provide a sales team make very smart people even smarter. Since deploying Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Grant Thornton has experienced a 450 percent jump in the number of opportunities it is tracking, a 36 percent increase in average win value, and a 700 percent rise in the number of contacts in its system. Numbers don’t lie. Let them help your team reach the next level.

For information on deploying Microsoft Dynamics CRM in your organization, please call us at 800-257-0691 or fill out the contact form below and an expert will contact you shortly.


[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Wednesdays With Will - Your Mobile Workforce

Wednesdays With Will: Your Mobile Workforce

By William Marchesano, Technology Advisor & Evangelist

Over the past 10 or so years, the mobile workforce is a term that has been heralded as the “modern” way of doing business. I always found this amusing because as long as there’s been commerce, the mobile workforce has been around in some form or another. The first example that comes to mind would probably be the door-to-door salesperson. A case can be made that the way we approach the mobile workforce has evolved though. This was typically dictated by the technology of the time.
Many of you may remember when the PalmPilot and Blackberry devices started popping up in the late 90’s. They were innovative for their day but comparing those devices to modern day smartphones makes their capabilities seem very limited. If you think about it though, it set the stage for “business productivity in real life”. No longer were you tethered to a desk or office to perform certain business tasks such as sending and receiving emails or scheduling appointments in your calendar. The technology expanded what we were capable of accomplishing outside of that setting. But it wasn’t about employees becoming more “mobile”. It was about having the ability to interact and collaborate with your colleagues and clients regardless of your location.
The performance of mobile phones in the past 5 year have surpassed these earlier devices in leaps and bounds. Tablets have expanded the mobile platform even further. As mobile devices became more prevalent and, more importantly, the preferred method of accomplishing tasks, solutions are created to accommodate this behavior.
The ability for your Sales, Marketing and Services teams to effectively communicate in real time is imperative for business today. More and more business owners are asking for ways to improve operational transparency. A great way to accomplish this is to leverage a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool such as Microsoft Dynamics CRM. It’s a great platform for collaboration in the office but more importantly, it’s optimized for mobile use (smartphone, tablet, etc.) when on the go. Two examples would be a salesperson that spends most of their time out of the office talking with potential clients or your professional services team that is usually at a job site. As we discussed earlier, the mobile workforce isn’t a new concept. The most important part is how you empower your employees when they are outside of the office.

 

 

As always, I encourage you to reach out to me to discuss these topics in deeper detail. I hope you enjoyed and found this week’s article informative. If you’re interested in some how-to related CRM material, check out blogs by my colleague Ben Ward here. Till next time…

About the author:

Will has over 16 years of experience in business development, team management, and project management. Will has worked at Managed Solution for over four years and is currently advising businesses on best CRM practices and implementations. Will’s focus is on process improvement and analytics specializing in Customer Relationship Management (CRM). Will is a Microsoft Certified Professional, with certifications in Presales Technical Specialist – Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013, Sales Specialist- Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013, Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015 Application, Sales Specialist- Office 365, Sales Specialist- SMB Infrastructure and Sales Specialist- Datacenter.
Other articles by Will Marchesano:
For information on deploying Microsoft Dynamics CRM in your organization, please call us at 800-257-0691.

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]WIN13_Yara_04

The importance of collaboration in today’s sale process

In today’s world, where buyers are more informed when they engage with your company, salespeople need to be able to answer tough questions. They need instant access to the collective knowledge of the organization – which may be held by people or documents.

Sharing the knowledge of the organization

Organizations that are able to put the knowledge of the organization in their sales team’s hands will ultimately position themselves to outsmart and outpace the competition. By creating compelling content – as a team – they will improve customer interactions to build relationships and close deals faster.

Through Microsoft Dynamics CRM and cloud-based technology, sales teams can have the tools to be prepared and insightful from the moment they engage with buyers.

Find out more about connecting your people to social channels, inside and outside the organization. Help your salespeople to respond in the new age of selling with the full support of the organization behind them.


image002


Managed Solution will partner with your organization, align goals, and deploy Microsoft Dynamics CRM hand-in-hand, ensuring we create a solution specific to your unique business needs. We have developed a proven deployment and migration strategy for our clients deploying Microsoft Dynamics CRM to make sure that your transition is simple, smooth, and stable.

For information on deploying Microsoft Dynamics CRM in your organization, please call us at 800-257-0691 or fill out the contact form below and an expert will contact you shortly.

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Contact us Today!

Chat with an expert about your business’s technology needs.