The Sales Professional s Guide to: Microsoft Dynamics 365

Transcription

1 The Sales Professional s Guide to: Microsoft Dynamics 365

2 The Sales Professional s Guide to: Microsoft Dynamics 365 Executive Summary The perception of CRM amongst sales professionals is one of huge effort for little reward. Yet, it s an essential part of businesses engaging with customers across many departments and over many channels. Without CRM, the left hand can t know what the right hand is doing resulting in lost opportunities, miscommunication and a silo d workforce. Sales Professionals stand to gain a huge amount adopting Dynamics 365. For the first time, here is a CRM platform that makes their job easier, not harder. This guide will explain how Microsoft Dynamics 365 has brought new levels of actionable insight and job enriching tools to Sales Professionals, changing their views along the way. Contents 2. Executive Summary 3. The History of Sales v CRM 4. The Dynamics 365 Difference 5. Effciency and Effectiveness 6. The Dynamics 365 Family of Apps 7. Dynamics 365 Branchable Business Process Bar 8. Inside the Single View 9. Bringing External Information In 10. Prioritising Sales Effort 12. Dynamics 365 ROI 13. Recommendations 02 02

3 The History of Sales v CRM There are three main themes that emerge amongst sales professionals when you first mention CRM. Protecting Your Funnel: Sales are the ultimate measure of a company s success so it s understandable that those figures are essential boardroom discussion points. The downside is that the Sales team can be heroes one minute, and have their performance under scrutiny the next. It s human to want to protect your position, not to mention your contacts and CRM makes everything visible, without context or safeguards. Time Management: In the past, CRM systems have been a separate workflow - another thing to do. The sales team view it with the same disdain as filling in timesheets. With the information in the mind or notebook of a sales person, it can be a bind to remember to record an , a conversation, a new contact, a timetable update, proposal changes etc. It just feels like where data goes to be die no better than an open filing cabinet. Linear Assumptions: Many sales people say that the forecasting accuracy of old school CRM makes too many assumptions and doesn t allow for the nuances of human decision making. There is not a lot of room for qualifiers that explain the readiness or value of a particular milestone. What Microsoft offers here that even Salesforce can t is the ability to marry process and productivity.it s not just CRM data, but ERP data and the Offce productivity suite unified, enabling users to access just the data and functions they need be they from inventory, a customer record or to get work done TECHCRUNCH 03

4 The Dynamics 365 Difference Recognising the frustration of Sales Professionals, as well as the massive ineffciencies that still existed despite CRM systems in place, Microsoft spent time looking at how they could prevent important information and data falling into the gaps left between silo d systems. Dynamics 365 is the first of its kind to glue together the final silos of data and processes of ERP and CRM thanks to the Common Data Model. Every department can work from the same system and collaborate the insights from customer service, sales, marketing, field service, finance and operations together on one system. One big feedback loop means business owners and employees can see what is happening where in the business so that opportunities can be seized quickly and effectively. Everyone in the organisation has the collaboration and insight to improve customer acquisition and retention, making it much easier for the Sales team to provide more competitive quotes, to assure the best customer service and to benefit from recommendation. Data entry is suddenly more worthwhile and the effort is rewarded with tangible results. All of this makes it easier to see the context of any one piece of information giving the sales team an opportunity to shine brighter, more often with the ability to build deeper, stronger client and interdepartmental relationships. 04

5 The Power of CRM: 3 Reasons to Believe +27% CRM systems can increase revenue by a whopping 41% according to sales teams. 65% of Sales reps who have adopted mobile CRM have achieved their sales quotas while only 22% of reps using non-mobile CRM have reached the same targets. Customer retention is improved by as much as 27% when leveraging a CRM system. Effciency and Effectiveness There s a difference between effciency and effectiveness. Effciency is how quickly you can get something done without compromising on quality. Effectiveness is about how well something does the job. Any business system should make you and your employees more effcient and more effective. One of the first things any CRM partner should do is look at how you use your time and see where the system can automate some of that as well as making sure that you can find all relevant information for any given query quickly and easily. It must be surfaced in an immediately usable way, which takes us nicely onto effectiveness. If you have accurate information to hand in meetings or when you re preparing quick turnaround proposals, your customers will feel that they are dealing with a professional, responsive and switched on company. That customer service could be the difference between you and your competitors, and it s the difference between an effective Sales Rep and an ineffective one. 05

6 The Dynamics 365 Family of Apps So, we know that Dynamics 365 gives businesses a system that delivers real usable insight. But what does that insight look like? Dynamics 365 is made of different apps within Microsoft Sales, Customer Service, Operations, Financials, Project Service, Field Service and Marketing. They have always been there but they are now amalgamated and licensed in a way that gives visibility of other departments without paying for a full subscription for every app. When departments have visibility of activities within other areas, they can predict needs, have more meaningful conversations, improve processes and approaches, and move at pace. 06

7 Dynamics 365 Branchable Business Progress Bar Microsoft Dynamics 365 is process-driven. But what does that mean? The principles of Customer Relationship Management have not changed. Consistency and profitability can only come about when there are processes in place that are designed to make the most of every customer interaction and to guide the next one. For example, your organisation might have a business process to handle a new sales opportunity by first qualifying whether the person has the budget to buy, and then developing the opportunity by talking with a stakeholder. Next, you send a sales proposal, and finally you close the opportunity as won when the customer places the order. In this example, the business process bar for new opportunities shows you the four stages to follow (Qualify, Develop, Propose, and Close), where you are in the process, and what to do next, so there s no guesswork. Within any CRM system, you expect to be channeled through a process but with Dynamics 365, the business process bar is dynamic and can be changed as facts come to light. This is essential for businesses where additional steps or approval are required for different types of businesses or opportunities, such as perceived sale value. The business process isn t just a journey, it s an instantly visible marker at the top of your lead record that shows you where you re up to with that lead, and what comes next. 07

8 Introducing the Single View With Dynamics 365, different departments may use different apps and follow different processes for their area. Every user has a dashboard which they see every time they sign in which gives you easy-to-read charts and graphs that show key metrics (also known as key performance indicators, or KPIs). For example, on the Sales Activity Dashboard, you ll see the status of open opportunities in the pipeline, progress toward goals, open leads and opportunities, the Sales Leader board, and your activities. customer is sales gold dust. Using that knowledge in your sales interactions and in your ongoing relationships easily improves conversion and retention. Your core account page is your Launchpad with information coming in from customer services, project services, operations, accounts, field service and marketing. Sales reps can very quickly assess each customer s purchase patterns, product sets, open projects, likelihood of cross selling, likely new product interest, turnaround expectations, viability and profitability, previous issues or referrals and overall value to the business. Every new interaction is suddenly more informed and time is spent on turning fact into opportunity. The activity feed (under What s New on your dashboard) also gives you real time updates to stay current with customer projects, sales and marketing campaigns. The updates refresh automatically and you can choose to follow updates for up to 1,000 of the contacts, colleagues, and customer records you care most about. The Single Customer View is where all that information comes together and departments can see the full picture of every lead or customer. Knowing everything that is happening with the account of an existing or potential 08

9 Bring External Information In Another thorn in the side of many Sales Professionals is the painstaking process of researching a potential lead for critical information that will provide context for better quoting, meetings and decision making. With 3rd party app Inside View, you can very quickly build up a picture of a lead, getting key contacts, relevant news from all around the web, income statements, company tree to identify further opportunities, possible connections and similar accounts. It s all synchronised back into the lead record, opportunity, account and contact. Every piece of research that is gathered and considered relevant becomes attached to the lead bringing enhancing every process that the platform provides. External perceptions are everything as any Sales Professional will tell you. It s important to know what the current perception is of your business. Microsoft Social Engagement scours social networks like Facebook and Twitter to help you monitor what people are saying about you, and then analyses the data and presents it to you in easy-to-read charts and graphs. This is helpful for monitoring your clients businesses as well as your own. These visuals help you spot emerging trends in people s comments, respond to service issues before they escalate, track marketing campaigns, gain insights about your competitors, and more. Microsoft Dynamics 365 (online) users can add Microsoft Social Engagement charts and visuals to dashboards, or you can add them to account, contact, or competitor screens. You can also add Microsoft Social Engagement charts and visuals to other types of records. 09

10 Prioritising Sales Effort Within any CRM system, you expect to be channeled through a process but with Dynamics 365, the business process bar is dynamic and can be changed as facts come to light. This is essential for businesses where additional steps or approval are required for different types of businesses or opportunities, such as perceived sale value. The business process isn t just a journey, it s an instantly visible marker at the top of your lead record that shows you where you re up to with that lead, and what comes next. Your view of the sales pipelines with opportunities by team owners lets you assess lead distribution, activity levels and resource allocation. Deals lost/won Identify how rep opportunities are converting or being lost identifying CPA and possible reasons/support requirements. Pipeline by month Assess forecasts based on current pipeline status e.g. identifying that deals due to close this month are still in Qualify. You can go into the raw data for that chart and check if it s realistic. Work Prediction Easily drill into predicted sales and workload data to assess hot leads and identify opportunities to get them moving to even out the cash flow/business workload. 010

11 Prioritising Sales Effort Being able to identify where leads are coming from is essential for the whole organisation. Once you know that, you can identify patterns of source v lead potential. Drilling down even deeper, you can identify what is won and lost by source. So, where leads are coming from, how hot or cold are they by channel, and how those leads convert by source, telling you whether your rating of hot or cold are realistic. All this information really helps you focus on priorities, improve cost per acquisition and get a true picture of the sales pipeline. The advantage of Microsoft s approach is that it s not just CRM data, but ERP data and the Offce productivity suite unified, enabling users to access just the data and functions they need be they from inventory, a customer record or to get work done, Rebecca Wettemann, Vice President, Nucleus Research 011

12 Dynamics 365 ROI When Dynamics 365 launched, it was described in the industry press as a game changer. Every CRM system out there is looking at how AI infusion can ramp up customer insight and engagement but because of the integration of Dynamics 365, Microsoft s capabilities are more expansive, breaking down silos and making every piece of data count in ways that other platforms can only aspire to. That aside, no CRM will give you a ROI unless your users adopt it. Your team should see the benefit in it. Fortunately, Dynamics 365 has a head start. The familiar user interface of Microsoft and Offce 365 as well as the collaboration across the business make it an easy sell. The last thing the Sales team need is another set of handcuffs but Dynamics 365 lets them get the job done. Example: A business with a 10m annual turnover could see an increase of 10% in the following areas: Turnover: 10m 10% more efficient on new business + 250K 10% more effective on New Business + 250K 10% more retained business + 750K Potential First Year Increase of 1.25m New Business 25% Retained Business 75% Turnover Before Dynamics 365 Turnover After 1 Year Using Dynamics m 11.25m In terms of value, every organisation s cost will be different subject to staff and complexity but looking at a business turning over 10m with 25% new business and 75% retained business, and estimating 10% increased effciency, 10% improved effectiveness and 10% client retention gain; the ROI is already ten times a possible cost of between 50,000 and 100,000. The same principles apply to businesses turning over less. The improvements in effciency and effectiveness of the sales team will undoubtedly bring a positive ROI. 012

13 Recommendations Our view is to stop, take stock and talk to your teams. What are you currently doing manually that is slowing down your progress? How informed and effective are your client interactions? Are you turning information across the business into strategic opportunities and how are you currently going about that? Is there a better way? This isn t about dramatic action. It s about a considered approach marrying strategy with corporate goals. 1. Take some time aside with your team and consider your current effciency and effectiveness. 2. Get an outside view of your systems, processes and corporate objectives. 3. If you are looking at new systems, look at the bigger picture of integration of where you are now and where you plan to go. Scalability is crucial. The perception of Sales Professionals as lone sharks guarding their prey is outdated. The best companies understand the value of collaboration and the best Sales Professionals use that collaboration to increase their conversions. 013

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