By William Marchesano, Technology Advisor & Evangelist
Welcome back! In our last installment we discussed how you can better visualize your business with the use of dashboards to represent data. This week’s topic is going to touch on the same topic but from the other end…gathering the data. There are many ways to gather data but it’s important that the information collected is leading to what you’d like to know. One of the most tried and true ways to accomplish this is through surveys. Today we are going to discuss why the voice of the customer is a key component for meaningful business analytics and decision making.
The primary reason most businesses use surveys is to develop a go to market strategy for acquiring new business or to learn more about their existing clients. When crafting your go to market strategy it’s important to understand the market you will be servicing. You will need a clear grasp of your value proposition including how to position your product or service and the price it can be sold. This is all part of the research stage and surveys can be leveraged for acquiring this information. It can be very costly for an organization to launch a new product or expand their business without doing the proper research and having a proper understanding of their potential market.
When used for an existing customer, the goal may be to get a heartbeat on the business relationship between the client and your organization. This is important for understanding what your business does great and where there may be opportunity for improvement. It can be crucial for identifying gaps in current service. It also leads to an increase in customer satisfaction and retention. This is the first step in transforming your client from a customer to an advocate of your business.
Surveys can be used to increase sales with both new clients and existing customers. Since a survey gives your customers a voice, you are given a defined understanding of their need and possibly others in the same industry. This information can then be used in a targeted market campaign to let others with the same challenge know that your organization has a solution. We live in the age of the internet where most people will do their own research prior to engaging with a salesperson. Demonstrating an understanding of a challenge and a possible solution helps build trust in the early stages of the business relationship.
The focus of my previous articles has been about how leveraging a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool can assist with simplifying Sales, Marketing, and Services processes. The latest edition of Microsoft Dynamics CRM, 2016 and the Online version, has included a survey maker as a new preview feature. At the time, it can be tested and used in a non-production environment. The full release should be available in the next couple of months. If your organization is already using Dynamics CRM and contemplating the use of surveys to improve the customer experience? Now is a good opportunity to try it out and see how easy it is to create a custom survey with your company’s branding. To improve user accessibility, it’s been optimized so a survey can be taken on a phone, tablet, or computer. Your Services team will gain more customer insight because they will be able to view customer feedback history as they resolve a service case. As mentioned earlier, the survey information can be translated into dashboards for better visualization. Surveys are just another way of augmenting the capabilities of your Sales, Marketing, and Services teams.
Take this quick survey to let us know if you currently use surveys
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.
Wednesdays With Will: Analyzing Business Analytics
By William Marchesano, Technology Advisor & Evangelist
As a Business Owner, Director, or Manager, you know that having insight into your business allows you to make the right decisions for it. Not many people realize that the use of analytics has been a part of business for over 100 years. Henry Ford is probably one of the best known of the early adopters. Even though the concept of business analytics has been around in one form or another over the past century there have been some challenges with its use. The most common stumbling block has been gathering and maintaining the integrity of data. By definition, analytics is the information that you are able to pull from data. If you are trying to build a house (analytics) you must make sure the building blocks (data) are not of poor quality or you will not achieve the desired result. Typically the other challenges are pulling meaningful information from the analytics as well as sharing that inform between separate departments. This week we’ll discuss how to overcome some of these obstacles in your business.
Over the last couple of months, we discussed how you can effectively enhance the capabilities of your Sales, Marketing, and Services teams by leveraging a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system. There are many CRM systems out there but my posts were mainly focused on Microsoft Dynamics CRM. I have used a few other CRM systems over the years such as ACT!, SalesLogix, and of course SalesForce. In the past few years, my preference has leaned towards Dynamics CRM because of its improved ease of use, functionality, and cost. Its tight integration with Office 365 and other Microsoft products doesn’t hurt either. For the sake of this article and to tie everything back to my previous articles Dynamics CRM will be our point of reference once again.
Of the myriad types of widely used systems in businesses today, a CRM is probably the most common technology used to gather customer information for analytics. Yes, an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system can fall under this category as well but that is a different story for a different day. A CRM system such as Dynamics CRM gives you a place to input pertinent information about your customers and prospective clients. This information is then easily searchable and accessible by your Marketing, Sales, and Services teams. Each team will have a slightly different use of the information. Let’s touch on some basic scenarios for each.
From a marketing perspective, analytics provide insight to the effectiveness of different types of communications. There is huge value in understanding how campaigns perform so that budget and time can be best spent. Dynamics CRM powered by Power BI also provides you a visualization of how campaigns are reacting as well as sentiment from a geographical standpoint. Knowing and understanding where potential or existing clients are can help you when crafting your messaging. Being aware of when a prospect has reached a certain level of engagement is key as well. There is a certain level of timing involved when Marketing hands a lead over to Sales for contact. Too early can scare the prospect away and too late may mean the lead is cold again and has to be sent through the nurture process once more.
Once the Sales Team starts their engagement with the client it’s important to understand the journey the lead went through to reach them. The reason this is essential is because it allows you to have greater insight to their need and urgency. This in turn leads to a higher success rate of providing a solution and gaining a new client. The analytics produced by Marketing can provide the Sales Team this information. Throughout the sales process the Sales Team can leverage the analytics in Dynamics CRM to track touch point to conversation rates, pipeline and opportunity stages, and wins/loses over designated periods of time. It basically helps you become a smarter salesperson. Even better, management now has a better understanding of what is working and what is not so they can provide assistance in making you more successful.
The final example I would like to discuss is for the Services Team. With all the time, effort, and money required to gain a new client your number one priority should be to retain them. This is where a high level of customer service becomes crucial. By leveraging analytics through Dynamics CRM, you are able to recognize trends from similar support case instances. This allows you the opportunity to devise a resolution that will prevent similar cases from occurring. The goal is to increase customer satisfaction so they not only remain your client but become your advocate.
Trends are showing there will be a sharp increase in business intelligence usage over the next few years and a CRM system such as Microsoft Dynamics CRM is going to be a big part of that. 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.
Microsoft's multi-million-dollar Windows 10 ad and marketing campaign will be focused on 'upgrading the world' to the coming operating system release.
When Microsoft starts rolling out Windows 10 on July 29, it won't be holding a single news-focused centralized launch or a webcast chock full of PowerPoint slides.
Instead, Microsoft plans to play up "the newest generation of Windows fans," via a global advertising and online-marketing campaign, officials said on July 13.
On July 29, Microsoft will host a number of fan celebrations primarily for its 5 million Windows Insiders in 13 cities around the world, including Sydney, Beijing, Tokyo, Sao Paolo, London, Berlin, Madrid, Singapore, Johannesburg, Nairobi, New Delhi, Dubai and New York City. At these events, there will be hands-on opportunities, demos, entertainments and "opportunities to meet the Windows team," company officials said.
Microsoft also will kick off the launch of Windows 10 in more than 110 Microsoft Stores in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico on the 29th, with in-store events designed to help customers upgrade to Windows 10.
The company is working on programs to help consumers upgrade. Retail partners engaged with Microsoft on these efforts include Best Buy, Dixons, Jarrir, Croma, Media Markt, Yodobashi, Incredible Connection, Elkjøp and Wal-Mart. Partners will help provide data migration services for moving files from old PCs to new PCs, and experience stations where people can try out Windows 10.
"From the beginning, Windows 10 has been unique - built with feedback from our fans, delivered as a service and offered as a free upgrade. Our approach to launch is also unique - focused on a more aspirational goal, inspired by Windows 10," said Yusuf Mehdi, Corporate Vice President, Windows and Devices Group, in a blog post outlining Microsoft's launch plans.
The theme of Microsoft's multi-million-dollar global ad and marketing campaign for Windows 10 is to "celebrate those who make a difference." Microsoft will promote a new wave of TV and digital ads that will highlight Windows 10's features, including Windows Hello biometric security technology and Microsoft Edge browser.
Microsoft also will be using the "Upgrade Your World" theme in its launch campaign. "Upgrade Your World" is Microsoft's year-long initiative to partner with 10 global and 100 local nonprofits "to help them upgrade the world." Microsoft will be investing $10 million in cash to the participating partners, which include CARE, Code.org, Keep a Child Alive, The Global Poverty Project, The Malala Fund, The Nature Conservancy, Pencils of Promise, Save the Children and Special Olympics.
