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Category: Dynamics 365

  • Breaking Down Organisational Silos with CRM

    Breaking Down Organisational Silos with CRM

    Despite the availability of technology, like CRM, in modern business to assist with process, communication and efficiency, many organisations still operate in organisational silos. Sales, marketing, finance, operations, and customer service, operate as separate entities.

    While this structure may seem manageable, it creates bottlenecks, inefficiencies, and missed opportunities.

    These departmental silos lead to fragmented customer experiences, duplicated efforts, and poor decision-making because data isn’t shared effectively. When teams lack visibility into each other’s work, they operate in a vacuum, often at the expense of business efficiency and profitability.

    This is where CRM, particularly Dynamics 365, can be transformative. By integrating data, streamlining workflows, and fostering collaboration, CRM eliminates silos and creates a unified, high-performing business environment.

    The Cost of Organisational Silos

    Siloed businesses suffer in multiple ways, often without realising how much it’s holding them back. Silos can exist for good reason – like a desire to protect company information. But there is an element of ignorance here as utilising tools like Dynamics 365 to streamline processes. That doesn’t mean every piece of information will be accessible to every employee. It simply makes it easier for the information to end up where it’s meant to.

    Unfortunately, it’s all too common for department heads to see tools like CRM as a threat to their job or those of their team. Automation and streamlining – they fear – will result in a reduced headcount. In reality freeing up team members from mundane, repetitive tasks allows them to focus on more meaningful output or innovate and deliver value in other areas of their roles. Here are some of the biggest challenges organisational silos create:

    Poor Cross-Team Communication

    The proverbial left-hand not knowing what the right hand is doing. Consolidating data so there is a single customer record makes it easier to deliver great customer service. If customer service is dealing with a complaint and has added all the information against that customer record. With that visibility, marketing can choose to either suspend marketing to them or, working with customer service, do something special to win back their loyalty.

    Silos make inter-department communication and collaboration significantly harder. Moreover, opacity breeds resentment. When one department can’t see what the other is doing, especially when results aren’t always obvious or tangible, resentment can set in.

    This fosters negativity and an obstructive way of working, making it less likely that data is shared or shared in a timely manner. Departments begin to make unreasonable demands or assume every demand made of them is unreasonable. Without a transparent approach, silos can slow the flow of business and undermine the company culture.

    Duplication of Work & Inefficiency

    Duplication of work costs money, wastes time and creates a lousy customer experience. This is compounded when departments aren’t collaborating and sharing data.

    The result can be customers receiving two very similar offers from the same company which can be confusing and undermine trust. Simply put, why would a company trust you with their money and their time if you can’t get your communications aligned?

    On an operational level, inefficient ways of working result in multiple customer records, duplicate notes or conflicting notes. It can result in inaccurate quotes or incorrect pricing being applied.

    A single source of truth is essential to managing the flow of information across the business, without it time is wasted chasing information and informed decision-making is hampered. Moreover, de-duplication is a lengthy process that takes resources away from the important work, sucks up employee morale and ultimately wastes money.

    Limited Data Insights and Decision-Making

    Organisational silos have a significant impact on your ability to make informed decisions. Assuming the data is obtainable, the need to manually collate and analyse the information is incredibly time-consuming and fraught with human error and inconsistencies.

    But, crucially, by the time any manual report is fully compiled, it’s obsolete. The ingestion rate of new data into the business means that manual reports are effectively useless.

    Things get more complicated when data doesn’t marry up, or you don’t have access to the data at all If multiple departments are producing their own reports, using their own solutions or approaches, the act of consolidating that information into a meaningful, digestible, format is insurmountable with the time available. And all the while that data is being collected, collated and analysed, the business isn’t moving forward. Simply because decisions aren’t being made.

    A CRM like Dynamics 365 allows you to integrate all those disparate data sources and create a single source of truth. A single repository where all your company’s information can be accessed. So you can see how well sales are performing while getting insight into which clients aren’t paying their bills.

    Better still the data automatically compiles and with AI-generated insights to save time with analysis.

    Having the data readily available, in the format you need it accelerates the decision-making process while also helping you to make better, more informed, decisions.

    The alternative is decisions that don’t align with identified objectives and cost the business money.

    people working in organisational silos

    How Dynamics 365 CRM Breaks Down Silos

    A properly implemented CRM transforms how businesses function by connecting data, people, and processes across the entire organisation. But, not all CRMs are created equal. Here’s how Dynamics 365 tackles the silo problem head-on:

    A Unified Data Hub for All Teams

    Instead of scattered data across spreadsheets, email threads, and separate systems, Dynamics 365 centralises all business information. This means:

    • Sales, marketing, finance, and service teams access the same customer records.
    • Automated updates ensure information is always accurate and up to date. 
    • Decision-makers see real-time reports rather than waiting for manual data collection. 

    When everyone has access to the same data, they can collaborate seamlessly.

    Automated Workflows and Process Alignment

    Dynamics 365 allows businesses to automate and integrate processes, ensuring information flows effortlessly across departments. 

    • Leads generated by marketing are automatically visible to sales. 
    • Customer service requests trigger updates for sales and account managers. 
    • Finance receives real-time updates when deals are closed or invoices are due. 

    This eliminates manual handovers, reduces errors, and improves efficiency.

    Seamless System Integration

    Organisations rely on multiple tools from finances to HR, leading to complex tech stacks and disconnected data. Dynamics 365 integrates with:

    • ERP systems.
    • Marketing automation tools.
    • Customer service platforms. 

    By consolidating tools and reducing fragmented software, businesses save money and simplify operations. Dynamics also has these tools available as part of its configuration so it can consolidate as well as integrate your tech stack.

    Real-Time Visibility & Reporting

    One of the biggest advantages of Dynamics 365 is its powerful reporting and analytics including:

    • Live dashboards give leadership real-time insights. 
    • AI-powered analytics predict trends and customer behaviour. 
    • KPI tracking ensures every team understands their impact on business goals. 

    Rather than working in silos, teams can collaborate based on real, actionable data.

    Improved Collaboration & Transparency

    This is key. The lack of collaboration and opaqueness of processes is the root cause of inefficiencies and bad practices. How Dynamics helps:

    • Sales teams know which leads have interacted with marketing campaigns. 
    • Customer service teams have full visibility into customer history. 
    • Finance teams can track invoices and forecast revenue without chasing updates. 

    When teams are aligned, trust increases, and the workplace becomes more collaborative and efficient.

    The Business Benefits of Breaking Down Silos with Dynamics 365 CRM

    Eliminating silos with Dynamics 365 has a transformational impact on business efficiency, cost reduction, customer experience, and overall growth. By streamlining workflows and ensuring data is entered once and shared across teams, businesses eliminate duplicate work, freeing employees to focus on high-value tasks rather than navigating disconnected systems. Automated processes save time, while fewer standalone tools reduce IT and licensing costs, ultimately lowering operational expenses. This efficiency extends to customer interactions, ensuring consistent communication, faster issue resolution, and more personalised experiences that boost satisfaction and loyalty. Internally, a clearer, more collaborative workflow reduces stress, enhances employee morale, and fosters a more engaged and motivated workforce. With real-time insights at their fingertips, leaders can make faster, data-driven decisions, allowing businesses to scale efficiently, stay agile, and maintain a competitive edge in an ever-evolving market.

    Breakdown your Business Silos

    If your teams are wasting time on duplicated work, struggling with fragmented data, or frustrated by inefficient processes, it’s time to rethink how you operate.

    Dynamics 365 isn’t just software—it’s a business transformation tool. 

    By unifying data, automating processes, and fostering collaboration, it eliminates silos and unlocks new levels of efficiency, profitability, and growth.

    Ready to break down the barriers in your business? Let’s talk about how Dynamics 365 can help.

    Let’s Talk

  • Enhancing Dynamics 365 with Copilot Studio

    Enhancing Dynamics 365 with Copilot Studio

    Copilot and Copilot Studio represents an exciting opportunity for businesses to enhance their operations and customer interactions. While chatbots and other AI assistants are nothing new, their use is limited to the task they were created to do. However, powerful, customisable, AIs like Copilot can enhance business processes and the customer experience.

    Copilot can offer staff deeper insights and enable faster, more informed decision-making, it enhances both efficiency and engagement. When paired with Copilot Studio, this technology becomes a powerful tool for customising AI to meet the unique needs of your business.

    With Copilot Studio, organisations can build smarter workflows, create advanced customer interactions, and tailor solutions to their goals, all within the familiar environment of Dynamics 365. It’s not just about adopting AI; it’s about empowering your teams to work smarter and engage more meaningfully with customers.

    However, without knowledge of Copilot Studio or its capabilities, organisations are missing out on insight and opportunity, both in terms of improving internal processes and missed revenue.

    microsoft copilot studio logo

    Internal Benefits: Enhancing Employee Productivity and Collaboration

    Internal processes often involve repetitive tasks that few employees enjoy but do so because it’s what’s required. And, more often than not, because that’s the way it’s always been done. This kind of thinking is dangerous in any business trying to grow. Maintaining the status quo because improving a process is too hard, too uncomfortable or there’s a fear of redundancy harms the entire organisation.

    Using AI to carry out mundane, competitive tasks such as data entry, updating CRM records, and generating reports eliminates inefficiencies and frees up staff for other tasks. Copilot Studio can be programmed to automate workflows, it’s simply just a case of identifying where it can be of most use and putting Copilot to work.

    How it can Help:

    • Automatically logs customer interactions into Dynamics 365 after calls or emails.
    • Sends follow-up reminders to team members based on pre-set triggers like an unresolved service request.
    • Generates custom reports from Dynamics 365 data without manual intervention.

    Configuration Insight:

    • Triggers and Actions: Use Power Automate alongside Copilot Studio to create workflows. For example, a trigger like a completed customer survey can prompt an automated action, such as logging feedback and notifying the account manager.
    • Custom Workflows: Configure specific actions based on business needs, such as automatically assigning leads to the right sales rep by training Copilot to recognise keywords in customer queries.

    1. Empowering Teams with Real-Time Assistance

    Employees often need immediate access to insights during customer interactions, particularly in a customer service setting. Copilot Studio can provide this support by analysing live data and delivering actionable recommendations directly within Dynamics 365.

    This augments the training team members receive and helps to onboard new employees getting them up to speed faster. By having a Copilot feeding information to team members they can provide a more responsive and relevant service to customers.

    In a service-focused business, Copilot can make recommendations based on the requirements recorded in Dynamics, providing prospects and clients with a solution that more accurately meets their needs.

    How It Helps:

    • Provides real-time product recommendations during customer calls.
    • Highlights cross-selling or upselling opportunities by analysing purchase history.

    Configuration Insight:

    • Knowledge Base Integration: Link Copilot Studio to Dynamics 365 Sales records to ensure employees have access to the latest customer information.
    • AI Training: Configure Copilot to process live sentiment analysis, offering sales reps real-time cues to guide conversations.

    2. Knowledge Management

    Accessing internal knowledge efficiently is a challenge for many organisations purely because of the size of the business and, therefore, the amount of data housed. Add in disparate systems, across multiple departments or even subsidiaries and data retrieval and knowledge management is a big job.

    A CRM, like Dynamics 365, allows you to consolidate those data sources into a single location. Or at the very least, allows you to access it via a single-entry point. However, the amount of information is still vast. Copilot Studio can serve as an AI-powered assistant, enabling employees to retrieve documents, policies, or training materials with natural language queries.

    How It Helps:

    • Copilot can find relevant policies or guides instantly when employees input questions.
    • It provides updates from internal knowledge repositories without manual searching.

    Configuration Insight:

    • Document Integration: Connect SharePoint, OneDrive, or Teams to Copilot Studio. Use indexing and tagging to ensure AI prioritises relevant results.
    • Intent Modelling: Train Copilot to understand specific terminology used within the organisation, ensuring employees receive accurate responses tailored to their roles.

    3. Data Accuracy and Governance

    Maintaining accurate and clean data in your Dynamics 365 CRM is essential. Without reliable data, the CRM ceases to function as a viable business tool. Customer data can’t be trusted, reports can be littered with errors and customers receive the wrong email communication. Data accuracy is everything.

    Copilot Studio can support your efforts in this area by automating validation, flagging errors, and preventing duplication. When you can trust your data, you can do more and go faster.

    How It Helps:

    • Alerts users to duplicate records when entering new customer data.
    • Validate required fields before allowing records to be saved.

    Configuration Insight:

    • Validation Rules: Set up custom validation rules in Dynamics 365, such as requiring email addresses for new leads. Copilot can be configured to enforce these rules.
    • Cross-Referencing: Link external databases or APIs to ensure data consistency and verify information in real time.
    ms copilot logo

    External Benefits: Transforming Customer Engagement

    Copilot Studio can also be put to use in improving communication and interaction with your customers. Increasing engagement increases the influx of data into your business, which further underscores the importance of being able to trust the data and, therefore, put it to good use.

    1. Personalised Chatbots for Customer Support

    Chatbots built with Copilot Studio go beyond standard FAQs by integrating with Dynamics 365 to deliver highly personalised customer interactions. Chatbots built in Copilot Studio are powerful because not only can you provide it with programmed responses to specific questions, but you can also govern where it goes looking for information.

    You can target specific websites or even just web pages. Or the whole of the internet. Naturally, the broader the knowledge base the greater the chance for errors simply because it won’t be able to determine if one source can be trusted over another.

    The sources you choose will directly impact on the success of your chatbot.

    How It Helps:

    • Resolves customer queries by pulling up order histories or account details.
    • Escalates complex issues to human agents with all relevant contexts included.

    Configuration Insight:

    • Custom Conversation Paths: Use Copilot Studio’s dialogue builder to design paths based on specific customer needs, like refund requests or order tracking.
    • Integration with Dynamics 365: Connect chatbots directly to customer data fields, ensuring real-time responses are accurate and contextually relevant.

    2. Sales Enablement

    AI-powered bots and assistants can simplify the sales journey by guiding prospects through product information or assisting with appointment scheduling. AI-powered chatbots now have the potential to manage purchases with the user never having to leave the page they were on. Combined this with personalised product recommendations based on order and search history and you have an immensely powerful customer engagement tool at your disposal.

    On the professional services side of things, Copilot can interact with prospects on your website and schedule a meeting with a member of your sales team. It speeds up the sales process and doesn’t require prospects to pick up the phone. Copilot can create a new record in the Dynamics 365 CRM, populate the relevant person’s calendar and send an alert email.

    How It Helps:

    • Provides tailored product suggestions based on browsing behaviour.
    • Automates appointment scheduling for prospective clients.

    Configuration Insight:

    • Recommendation Models: Train Copilot on historical sales data and customer preferences. Integrate with third-party recommendation engines for added precision.
    • Calendar Integration: Sync Copilot with Dynamics 365 and Outlook calendars to enable seamless scheduling directly from chatbot interactions.

    3. Customer Insights and Journey Mapping

    Understanding customer journeys is an integral part of any customer engagement strategy but insights aren’t always apparent and mapping every journey every customer made is impractical, despite its value. Copilot Studio offers tools to map interactions and highlight opportunities for improvement and can do so in moments.

    This level of insight and the time saved is incredibly powerful when utilised correctly.

    How It Helps:

    • Identifies patterns in customer drop-off points.
    • Maps multi-channel customer journeys for targeted interventions.

    Configuration Insight:

    • Data Analysis: Use Dynamics 365 Customer Insights to feed customer data into Copilot Studio. Train the AI to spot specific patterns, such as frequently abandoned carts.
    • Predictive Analytics: Configure machine learning models to forecast customer behaviour and suggest corrective actions.

    4. Self-Service Portals

    Self-service portals powered by AI give customers control over routine tasks like tracking orders or updating account details. This frees up staff from answering routine queries, allowing them to tackle in-depth or complicated tasks. Equally, it provides a more satisfying experience for customers who don’t want their emails sitting in an inbox that a team member will get to…at some point.

    Copilot Studio will help you to deliver a higher level of customer service without increasing the burden on your team.

    How It Helps:

    • Allows customers to update their profiles or check order statuses without human intervention.
    • Reduces the volume of low-complexity support queries.

    Configuration Insight:

    • Portal Integration: Build portals with Dynamics 365 and integrate Copilot to handle queries dynamically.
    • Real-Time Access: Configure Copilot to interact with live data, ensuring customers always have up-to-date information.

    Copilot Studio in Digital Transformation

    Microsoft Copilot Studio allows organisations to build, customise, and deploy AI-powered Copilots and chatbots. As a low-code platform, it democratises access to AI, enabling non-technical users to design intelligent solutions that streamline workflows, automate repetitive tasks, and enhance productivity.

    Working with Dynamics 365 and Power Platform, Copilot Studio ensures consistent, reliable outcomes across teams, empowering the user and driving operational efficiency.

    Furthermore, Copilot Studio provides scalability, flexibility, and robust security through its foundation on Microsoft Azure, ensuring enterprise-grade compliance and protection of sensitive data.

    By breaking down technical barriers, the platform fosters collaboration between teams, reduces reliance on IT resources, and empowers organisations to innovate faster. In essence, Copilot Studio serves as a strategic enabler for businesses looking to harness AI, optimise their processes, and adapt to the evolving demands of a digital-first world.

    1. Agility and Scalability

    As your business evolves, Copilot Studio’s customisation ensures it can scale with your needs, whether expanding chatbot functionality or introducing advanced AI-driven analytics.

    Configuration Insight:

    • Data Unification: Use Dataverse to centralise all data, enabling AI to scale efficiently across departments.

    2. Alignment with Business Goals

    AI tools must align with broader business objectives to deliver tangible ROI. Copilot Studio offers unparalleled customisation for specific use cases.

    Configuration Insight:

    • Custom Workflows: Regularly review AI workflows and adjust them to meet KPIs, such as response times or conversion rates.

    3. Building Customer Trust

    Transparent AI builds trust. With Copilot Studio, businesses can monitor AI responses and ensure compliance with data privacy standards.

    Configuration Insight:

    • Audit Trails: Configure Copilot to log all interactions, allowing you to refine its accuracy and meet regulatory requirements.

    Everyone Needs a Copilot

    Copilot Studio offers businesses a scalable, adaptable, low-code solution to many challenges that limit operational efficiency and waste time.

    Copilot Studio offers a viable and versatile tool to organisations using Dynamics 365. Whether streamlining workflows, enabling real-time customer support, or driving digital transformation, its adaptability and scalability make it a versatile tool for businesses of all sizes.

    Integrating AI into your Dynamics 365 environment can enhance productivity, improve customer engagement, and achieve long-term growth.

    Get in touch with QGate for more information about how you can utilise Copilot and Copilot Studio with your Dynamics 365 CRM.

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    Get in touch with us today to learn more about how we help businesses like yours navigate Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Copilot integrations.

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  • Strategies for Changing CRM Platform

    Strategies for Changing CRM Platform

    Changing CRM platforms is not a decision taken lightly. It’s usually the result of years of trying to make the incumbent system work with countless, patches, workarounds, and manual processes. The latter bypasses the CRM altogether.

    Inevitably, the cost and time involved in forcing a CRM to work with the business becomes prohibitive, so an alternative is required.

    On occasion, the business’ demands have outpaced the functionality making the CRM a hindrance to achieving business objectives.

    Either way, the threat of a poorly performing or unsuitable CRM can be severe – even existential. Despite this many organisations shy away from deciding to change. Cost is undoubtedly a concern, as is the time it takes to implement a new CRM. Those perceived pains associated with changing CRM platforms can seem overwhelming. Familiarity with the incumbent system, concerns about disrupting workflows, and resistance from staff are also common barriers. However, holding on to an outdated or ineffective CRM often hinders growth, stifles customer engagement, and prevents businesses from realising the benefits of digital transformation.

    Transitioning to a new CRM platform, like Dynamics 365, offers an opportunity to modernise operations, streamline processes, and deliver personalised customer experiences.

    However, hesitancy is natural so it’s important to understand where problems and resistance may arise and what you can do to overcome them to ensure a successful transition that benefits your entire organisation.

    Why Businesses Hesitate to Change Their CRM Platform

    For many organisations, their CRM is deeply embedded in their technology stack, integrating with systems such as ERP, marketing tools, and analytics platforms. Extracting the old CRM and ensuring system compatibility with the new one can seem like a massive task, with fears of data loss, errors, or extended downtime.

    Even when a CRM platform is outdated or inefficient, it often feels safe because employees know how to use it. Even if that means relying on workarounds for its shortcomings. Over time, these workarounds become habits, making the thought of change seem unnecessary or overly complicated.

    The problem is compounded by team members training new starters with these unhealthy habits and workarounds. As information becomes second or third-hand, further workarounds and by-passes arise, gradually corrupting the CRM’s data over time.

    The staff themselves can be one of the biggest causes for concern. Some employees may like the current CRM and be unduly negative about the alternative, spreading discontent throughout the team.

    Others may fear the learning curve associated with a new system, worried it they won’t be able to adapt. Or they simply see a new system as disruptive to their productivity. Without clear communication and training, this fear can lead to reluctance or outright rejection of the new platform.

    Reduced productivity is a legitimate concern, especially if the new CRM is drastically different from the old one or offers unfamiliar features.

    It takes time to get up to speed with any new system, especially something as vast as a CRM like Dynamics 365. Businesses need to set expectations around output with the new CRM. Make it clear the business has planned for lower output and give the team both detailed training and a roadmap to getting up to speed.

    A representation of a team changing CRM by building a rocket
    Team works together on a project launch

    Reframing CRM Migration as Part of Digital Transformation

    Rather than viewing CRM migration as a disruptive change, it’s essential to frame it as a step toward broader digital transformation. A new CRM isn’t just a replacement system—it’s a tool that can revolutionise your business processes and customer engagement strategies. When approaching a new CRM whether it’s part of a wider digital transformation or not, planning is key.

    Define What Success Looks Like

    Before embarking on a CRM migration, businesses need a clear understanding of what they want to achieve. Whether it’s improving processes or streamlining customer engagement, there needs to be a clear output in terms of productivity, efficiency and what that could equate to in terms of money saved or revenue generated.

    Providing CRM improves how your business operates and makes it more profitable; it isn’t a cost to the business. That is a true measure of success for a CRM system.

    A good place to start with any CRM project is to understand what you need a CRM to do and objectively critique that against your current solution.

    Some solutions, like Dynamics 365 are highly customisable so just because it doesn’t do what you need it to now, doesn’t mean it can’t. Similarly, sometimes a CRM is underperforming because it hasn’t been configured correctly. So, a new CRM platform isn’t required at all, but rather a specialist to support you through a CRM recovery project.

    Once you’ve established the requirements and what success means for your business – be it enhanced reporting for streamlined workflows – you’re in a much stronger position to move forward.

    Recognise the Strategic Value of your CRM Platform

    By positioning the new CRM as a catalyst for growth, businesses can generate excitement and buy-in across the organisation. This is especially important for organisations that are new to CRM. An integrated system that records every communication or interaction about a customer or contact can seem like ‘Big Brother’ is watching. Although there is greater accountability with CRM, it’s far more about working transparently and making it easier for everyone to gain insight and learn. So, all the information doesn’t just sit with one person as that represents a huge risk to the business.

    However, the right CRM, such as Dynamics 365, provides more than just consolidated data. CRM is meant to function as the nervous system for your entire business. It facilitates efficient movement of data, automates repetitive tasks, and can serve as a sophisticated means of communication to your customers.

    A correctly deployed CRM will drive data-driven insights and allow your organisation to make better, more informed decisions, faster. This makes the business more agile, more competitive, and more profitable.

    Engage Cross-Functional Teams

    Depending on the size of your organisation, your CRM system could interact with every department. This means you should make every effort to include those departments when assessing what your CRM needs to do. A solution that makes IT, marketing, and sales happy but frustrates finance is not the right solution.

    This can eliminate CRM platforms with compelling features, but half a solution is no solution at all. Especially when platforms like Dynamics allow you to create automation that forwards invoices and even authorises payments for recurring set amounts.

    Including departments from across the business in early discussions may feel like you are moving slower than you’d like, it will prevent problems and additional development costs further down the road.

    These departments will also bring with them procedural insight and understanding that sales, marketing, and IT are unlikely to have. This can result in a better brief and more robust CRM strategy.

    Engaging these teams early in the process ensures the new system meets the organisation’s diverse needs while fostering a sense of shared ownership.

    Plan for Scalability

    A key part of a digital transformation strategy should be scalability. CRMs don’t just help your business grow but grow with your business. This can take the form of extra functionality that smaller businesses may not require at the outset but, the technology is there to set you up for success.

    All CRMs should be built for scalability to meet future business needs. Dynamics 365, for example, offers flexibility and integrations that grow with your organisation, ensuring long-term value and reducing the risk of needing another migration down the line.

    Many businesses opt for free or cheap CRMs, often to test the waters but it quickly becomes apparent the tool isn’t up to the task as demand grows. At least not without significant investment. Even then it’s a case of making the business fit around the CRM rather than making the CRM work with what you already have.

    Microsoft Dynamics 365’s highly customisable nature means businesses can shape it to your specific needs, as well as integrate it with your existing systems.

    Strategies to Overcome Resistance

    Team resistance is common when changing the CRM platform. It’s understandable, especially when the incumbent system has been in place for a long time. And team members are comfortable with its workings – or the workarounds. Anxiety around job performance is also perfectly natural as well. Transitioning from one system to another might mean a brief drop in insights and reporting.

    Whatever the concerns it’s important for the business not to trivialise them and bring everyone on the journey.

    They need to see that the new CRM platform will be a help, not a hindrance.

    Prioritise Training and Onboarding

    One of the most effective ways to address resistance is to provide comprehensive training. Building confidence in the new solution is the most effective way to reduce anxiety.

    Tailored training sessions help employees understand how the new CRM will make their jobs easier. Hands-on workshops, live demonstrations, and ongoing support ensure staff feel confident and capable.

    Appoint Change Champions

    Identify capable individuals within each team who can act as advocates for the new CRM. These champions can help address concerns, share best practices, and encourage adoption by demonstrating the system’s value in day-to-day operations.

    Communicate the Benefits

    Clear communication is vital. Highlight the tangible benefits of the new CRM platform, such as improved efficiency, better customer insights, and streamlined processes. Sharing success stories from similar businesses can also help build enthusiasm and alleviate concerns.

    Leverage Incentives

    Encouraging early adoption through incentives, such as recognition programs or small rewards, can motivate employees to engage with the new system. Gamification techniques, such as progress tracking or friendly competition, can also make learning the CRM more enjoyable.

    A Collaborative Approach to CRM Adoption

    One of the biggest obstructions to a successful CRM migration is a lack of engagement from company leadership. Either through indifference to the decision-making or a detachment from team members, it’s incredibly damaging.

    Not least because the CRM platform should be something everyone uses to understand the business better. A lack of engagement from the top could mean the wrong solution gets selected. It could also mean that leadership won’t use it properly which creates the very problems you’re trying to stamp out.

    Involve Leadership

    If they are not involved in the process currently, they should be. Leadership buy-in is critical to the success of any CRM project. When leaders actively support the transition, it sends a strong message to employees about the importance of the change. It should also dispel some of the

    Develop a Roadmap

    A clear roadmap that outlines timelines, responsibilities, and milestones ensures everyone understands their role in the transition. This roadmap should include plans for data migration, integration testing, user training, and post-launch support.

    Test and Iterate

    Before rolling out the new CRM platform across the organisation, conduct a pilot phase with a small group of users. Use their feedback to address any issues and refine the implementation process. This iterative approach reduces the likelihood of major disruptions during the full rollout.

    CRM Migration as Part of a Bigger Picture

    Transitioning to a new CRM is rarely a standalone initiative. It’s part of a broader effort to modernise operations and improve customer engagement. Businesses that approach CRM migration with this mindset are more likely to see it as an opportunity rather than a challenge.

    Align with Business Goals

    Ensure the new CRM supports broader business objectives, such as increasing customer retention, reducing operational costs, or expanding into new markets. This alignment ensures the system delivers measurable value.

    Foster a Culture of Continuous Improvement

    CRM adoption isn’t a one-time event, it’s an ongoing journey. Regularly review how the system is used, gather feedback from teams, and adjust to ensure it continues to meet the organisation’s needs.

    Migrating your CRM Platform to Dynamics 365

    Changing CRM platforms is a complex process, but it can deliver transformative benefits when approached strategically. By addressing hesitations, engaging stakeholders, and framing the change as part of a larger digital transformation journey, businesses can ensure a smooth transition and long-term success.

    With the right CRM strategy and tools like Dynamics 365, organisations can overcome the challenges of migration and unlock new opportunities for growth and efficiency.

    To assess how well your CRM platform is working, why not take our free CRM Health Assessment and gain some valuable insights? Or, if you’d like to learn how we could help you transform your business with Dynamics 365, get in touch to speak to a member of the team.

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    Let’s Talk

    Get in touch with us today to learn more about how we help businesses like yours navigate Microsoft Dynamics 365 recovery and deployments.

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  • How to use your MS Dynamics CRM for marketing

    How to use your MS Dynamics CRM for marketing

    MS Dynamics is an established and powerful CRM that helps businesses manage customer data. Dynamics was designed to be the backbone of your data-gathering efforts and a means for you to understand the level of engagement accurately.

    By integrating with other systems and applications, replaces data silos with a complete 360-degree view of your customer data.

    Dynamics 365 can give you one source of truth for each customer record, seeing every interaction you’ve had with them since their initial enquiry or response to your outreach.

    Aside from making it easier to understand your client or prospect’s requirements, it eliminates confusion and duplication of work.

    Importantly it makes it relatively easy for anyone to pick up a client account should the need arise. With every quote, order, email, phone call and record in one place.

    But effective and accurate data collection isn’t the end of the journey with MS Dynamics, it’s the beginning.

    MS Dynamics 365 has powerful marketing functionality in the form of Customer Insights Journeys (formerly Dynamics 365 Marketing).

    Customer Insights Journeys takes the wealth of customer data you’ve collected and puts it to work delivering a personalised experience for your customers.

    The more personalised you can make the experience, the more likely your customers are to transition from repeat customer to loyal customers. And from there become an advocate.

    The effectiveness of your marketing with MS Dynamics comes down to how well you manage your data and how well you can leverage that data in Customer Insights Journeys.

    Data Ingestion and Segmentation

    Data is the fuel for most modern businesses and, as with any engine, the better the fuel the smoother the engine. Your ability to gather, cleanse and ingest data into your Dynamics 365 CRM will have a direct impact on its performance.

    The old adage of garbage in, garbage has never been truer.

    Dynamics 365 integrates with a wide range of platforms allowing a free flow of data into your CRM without any manual intervention. This is powerful from both a labour perspective but also from an efficiency standpoint. Having the data ready to use allows your business to go much faster. And respond to potential issues as well.

    Equally, the more data sources and touchpoints you can link your MS Dynamics to, the more insightful and valuable that customer data becomes.

    It’s the difference between knowing a customer buys women’s skirts and tops and knowing what colours, sizes, styles and brands they choose.

    The first instance is useful, but the second instance is powerful. That level of granularity gives you enough data to engage with that customer in a personalised, meaningful way.

    Integrating Multiple Data Sources

    One of the most powerful features of Microsoft Dynamics 365 is its capability to integrate data from a wide range of sources, creating a unified and comprehensive view of each customer. By pulling in data from various channels, including customer interactions, social media activity, purchase history and website behaviour, MS Dynamics enables businesses to build a detailed and nuanced profile of their customers.

    By capturing as many touchpoints as possible, businesses develop insights into customer preferences and sentiment, while analysing purchase history can reveal buying patterns and product affinities.

    Combining these data points in MS Dynamics 365 gives you the ability to segment your audience more accurately, leading to more targeted and effective marketing campaigns.

    Moreover, integrating multiple data sources enriches your customer data and ensures that your marketing strategies utilise the most relevant and up-to-date information.

    Ensuring Data Quality

    Integrations alone don’t ensure data quality, the data itself has to have been well maintained or, at the very least, gone through a cleansing process before integrating with your CRM.
    Bad data can lead to ineffective marketing campaigns, miscommunication, and ultimately, a loss of customer trust. To maximise the value of your data in Dynamics 365, it’s crucial to maintain clean and accurate records through regular data quality management practices.

    Deduplication and standardisation of your data, preferably before it enters Dynamics 365, are key. Identifying and merging duplicate records prevents the very kind of mistakes and duplication of work a CRM can help you to avoid.

    Fragmented customer profiles can result in an inconsistent customer experience at best or losing the customer at worst. So, managing your data properly is key.

    Similarly, standardising your data means your data is consistent. Consistent data is manageable data. Ensure that all data entering Dynamics 365 follows a consistent format. Standardisation helps prevent errors during data analysis and ensures that all marketing communications are accurate and professional.

    In addition to deduplication and standardisation, it’s also important to regularly audit and cleanse your data. This means periodically reviewing your data for accuracy, removing outdated information, and updating records as necessary. By keeping your data clean, you enhance the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns and improve the overall customer experience.

    Segmentation within MS Dynamics

    Dynamics 365 can segment your data by almost any data point you care to use. If the data exists, it can be used for segmentation. This gives your marketing team a substantial number of options to engage your audience with.

    Demographical, transactional, behavioural and search data can all exist within your Dynamics CRM. So not only can you send a campaign to that customer who buys tops and skirts, but you can recommend products that match both their purchase history and their search history.

    The value of that email vastly outstrips anything generic hitting inboxes from your competitors.

    Just be careful; the more you segment your data, the more you have to keep track of it. Carefully plan your segments before you add them to Dynamics 365 so you know exactly what you can do with your marketing campaigns.

    It doesn’t preclude you from adding further segments in the future, it’s about making the process as manageable as possible early on.

    As you get more experienced using Customer Insights Journeys, you can start to use advanced functionality like predictive modelling and AI-driven segmentation.

    Predictive modelling can help you to identify changes in customer behaviour and allow you to take action. Churn analysis, purchase propensity and lead scoring can be predictively modelled so your team can put their energies where they will yield the best results.

    Trigger-based campaigns are highly effective when used in conjunction with predictive modelling. You can engage with your audiences at just the right moment which can result in higher customer retention or increased sales. Or both.

    The Impact of Data on Segmentation

    The more data sources you can draw upon, the richer the data available becomes. Again, it’s knowing a customer likes to buy clothes and knowing specifically which clothes in brand, size and colour. And, actually going a step further and recognising the difference when a customer is buying for themselves or buying for someone else.

    The more data you can integrate with Dynamics 365 from across your business, the more precise their segments become.

    While this may seem a lot of busy work to some, be under no illusions, your audience expects personalised communication. Not least because, fundamentally, the people who spend money with you want to feel seen and they want to feel valued.

    This has been a marked shift from traditional transactional relationships, especially in eCommerce. Goods at a low price with free delivery aren’t enough anymore.

    According to a study by Evergage, 88% of marketers report a measurable improvement due to personalisation, with more personalised content leading to better customer engagement.

    Better customer engagement usually equates to sales.

    illustration of a marketer creating an email campaign in ms dynamics

    Segmentation and Customer Insights Journeys

    Once you have the data, you can put it to use with Customer Insight Journeys. This tool, within MS Dynamics 365, allows you to go through a strategic process of mapping out and understanding the various stages a customer goes through when interacting with your brand. From initial awareness all the way through to post-purchase engagement. These journeys allow you to tailor communications and interactions to meet the specific needs and behaviours of each customer segment at every touchpoint.

    In Microsoft Dynamics 365, Customer Insight Journeys is enhanced by the CRM, allowing you to create highly personalised and automated marketing strategies. By leveraging the data ingested and segmented within Dynamics 365, companies can craft detailed customer journeys.

    Each journey can reflect the individual preferences and behaviours of each segment and adapt in real-time as customers progress through the different stages.

    Personalised Communication Strategies

    The ability to segment customers effectively within Dynamics 365 enables marketers to develop communication strategies that are not just personalised but also contextually relevant. Segmentation allows for the creation of dynamic customer journeys, where each communication is tailored to the specific interests and behaviours of the individual, leading to more meaningful interactions.

    Providing you have the segmentation in place, you can create campaigns based on their behaviour and interests, as well as special offers (including individualised offers), and relevant content.

    Similarly, customers who have abandoned a shopping cart can be automatically sent reminders or incentives to complete their purchases. These tailored and timed messages, driven by the segmentation within MS Dynamics 365, help to build stronger relationships with customers by delivering content that resonates with them.

    Statistical Insight

    According to research by Epsilon, 90% of consumers find personalised content appealing, and 80% are more likely to make a purchase when brands offer personalised experiences. This underscores the importance of using segmentation to drive personalised communications.

    Automation and Customer Journeys

    One of the standout features of Dynamics 365 is its ability to automate customer journeys based on the data-driven insights gained from segmentation. This means you can set up automated workflows that trigger specific actions, such as sending emails, notifications, or SMS messages, at the optimal time for each customer segment.

    MS Dynamics 365 can automate the nurturing of leads by sending targeted content based on a prospect’s behaviour, such as downloading a whitepaper or attending a webinar. As the customer progresses through the journey, the system can automatically adjust the messaging to reflect their changing needs and preferences, ensuring that each interaction is timely and relevant.

    This level of automation enhances the efficiency of marketing campaigns but also ensures that customers receive a seamless and consistent experience across all touchpoints. It reduces the manual effort required to manage complex customer journeys, allowing marketers to focus on strategy and creative development.

    Measuring Success

    To ensure that the segmented and automated customer journeys are achieving their desired outcomes, Dynamics 365 provides analytics and reporting tools. Marketers can track key performance indicators such as open and click-through rates, conversion rates, and overall engagement across segments and campaigns.

    By continuously monitoring these metrics, you can refine their segmentation strategies and optimise their customer journeys to improve results. This iterative process of analysis and optimisation ensures that customer journeys remain effective and aligned with business goals.

    Maximising your MS Dynamics for Marketing

    Dynamics 365’s marketing functionality allows you to engage with your customers in a hyper-personalised way, and without the need for a third-party tool to do it.

    You can create your campaigns in Dynamics and see all the reporting come through, along with ever-enriching customer profiles.

    The more data-driven campaigns you send, the more refined they become based on customer interaction. And, by extension, the more insight you gain about your customers, clients or prospects.

    However, your ability to effectively market to your audiences is dependent on the data you’re using and how it exists within Dynamics 365.

    Without proper configuration, integration and segmentation your ability to create personalised journeys will be severely impaired.

    To learn more about how Dynamics 365 can be configured to your precise business needs, or how to utilise Customer Insights Journeys to better engage with your audience, speak to a member of the team today.

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  • Dynamics 365 Project Recovery

    Dynamics 365 Project Recovery

    Dynamics 365 is one of the most powerful and versatile CRM and customer engagement platforms available. Its level of customisation means it can be tailored to any industry and function.

    That means Dynamics can evolve with your business, rather than requiring a new solution or a separate solution to accommodate a new area of interest.

    It takes specialist Dynamics 365 developers with in-depth knowledge; to get the platform working the way you want it to.

    While Dynamics can be deployed as an out-of-the-box solution, you would lose out on a huge amount of functionality. And have the added headache of trying to make a closed CRM system fit with your existing tech stack.

    The level of customisation offered by Dynamics, while complex, allows for a CRM solution customised to your business needs. This frees you to focus on your work without worrying if your CRM captures data correctly.

    That is unless something goes wrong.

    Mistakes happen and most of the time they are easy to fix. However, there are times when Dynamics 365 projects fail. It’s more common than you might think and is usually down to a combination of, or all, of the same 10 factors:

    • No clear vision and/or objectives
    • Lack of planning
    • Technical issues with existing or legacy platforms or data warehousing
    • Mismanaged data migration
    • Poor user adoption
    • Poor communication
    • Insufficient resources
    • Inadequate change management
    • Scalability issues
    • Vendor Management

    But often these challenges aren’t identified until the project is already off the rails.

    Signs you need Dynamics 365 Recovery

    While it may not be easy to identify the challenges listed above, there are some telltale signs that your Dynamics 365 project is in trouble. The most obvious sign all is not well is your Dynamics project is missing more deadlines than it’s hitting. Missed deadlines mean things are not going to plan, whether that’s problems with configuration, integrations, migrations or whatever.

    Something, somewhere in the process is struggling to deliver and there’s a good chance at least one of the problems listed above is behind it.

    A knock-on of missed deadlines is budget overruns. This shouldn’t be a surprise as the team working on the deployment still want to be paid. Therefore, if the project overruns, the budget will explode along with your hopes of delivering the CRM anything close to on time.

    Budget overruns however have wider implications and can kill you Dynamics 365 project before it’s ever finished. This is simply because the more money something costs the harder it needs to work to generate a meaningful ROI for the business.

    This is problematic for CRMs as the ROI isn’t always immediately obvious so when the project becomes a money pit. It’s at this point an out-of-the-box solution that the business can make do with starts to seem like the easier option.

    Tied to both missed deadlines and budget are technical issues. Unforeseen technical issues can plague any project but when it comes to something as large as a Dynamics CRM deployment, it’s usually down to poor scoping and planning.

    Bugs, crashes and shoddy integrations are signs that something is badly wrong. This could be because the team deploying the CRM are out of their depth, lacking specialist knowledge. Or it could be the groundwork wasn’t done before the project began.

    Which leads us to scope creep. It’s hard to avoid scope creep in its entirety as inspiration can strike at any time. However, it becomes a problem when the scope and requirements change regularly. It’s impossible to run a project like that, let alone something that will sit at the heart of your organisation.

    illustration of a dynamics 365 recovery project

    The cause of Dynamics 365 recovery projects

    Whether your project has experienced all or some of the problems outlined above, the root causes are the same and centre around a lack of understanding or bad planning.

    All other issues stem from these two original sins of Dynamics 365 CRM deployment.

    Poor communication, inadequate training or problematic integration with systems and processes all start with bad planning.

    Before you can deploy a CRM, you need to understand the objectives and what the platform needs to do to achieve them. And no, ‘because everyone else has one’ doesn’t count.

    A tool like Dynamics 365 is immensely powerful when used correctly. Not least because modules like Customer Journeys Insights (formally Dynamics Marketing) allow you to interact with your audience in highly personalised ways. Providing you’ve got your Dynamics configured correctly.

    But this ties back to the planning. You need to know what you want to do with Dynamics on a functional level to take that feature into account.

    This can be easier said than done because you don’t know what you don’t know. If you do not know the potential of the tool you’re deploying, it’s impossible to take full advantage of it.

    This is where collaborating with specialist developers can prove beneficial as they possess the knowledge and insight to come up with suggestions and use cases you may not have considered.

    But only if you know what your objectives are.

    All roads lead back to these two points.

    • Define your objectives – what do you want your CRM to do and how will the benefit the business in terms of:
      • Efficiency
      • Process streamlining
      • Cost savings
      • Profitability
      • Increased capacity
      • Utilisation of skills
      • Worker morale
      • Customer engagement
      • Marketing and outreach
      • Sales and the sales cycle
    • Create a detailed plan including:
      • Stakeholders – who do you need to get involved?
      • Existing solution
      • Current tech stack
      • Legacy tools that need sunsetting
      • Data warehousing
      • Data migration – how it would work and any issues.
      • Required integrations.
      • Budget
      • A realistic assessment of internal resources
      • Potential external resource
      • Potential deployment partners/vendors
      • Internal communication strategy
      • Training programme
      • Current processes (and what you want to streamline)
      • New processes
      • Documentation

    These are not exhaustive lists but a starting point for your internal conversations to carefully plan a successful Microsoft Dynamics 365 deployment.

    How to Recover your Dynamics 365 project

    The extent to which your project has gone awry will determine the level of intervention needed to put things right. It’s also time to be honest with yourself and your business about the resources you currently have at your disposal.

    If you’ve been trying to deploy Dynamics internally, it may be worth looking at outside help. Similarly, if your external consultants have dropped the ball, don’t throw good money after bad; look for an alternative supplier.

    Regardless, it’s time to get a handle on things starting with a ‘warts and all’ assessment of where you are. Note that this isn’t a witch hunt or a blame exercise, it’s not helpful to look for fault as it doesn’t allow for solution-based thinking.

    While accountability is important, for now, let’s focus on getting you out of the hole you’ve found yourself in.

    Assessment and Diagnosis

    To understand the scale of the problem you need to carry out a comprehensive project audit. This includes reviewing emails, scoping documents, project plans, agreements with third parties and any other material you have about the project.

    This process can be difficult, especially if you aren’t clear on what you really wanted in the first place. A third-party consultant can be useful in these situations as they will know what questions to ask. This will help you to crystalise what your Dynamics CRM needs to do for your business.

    With that objective in mind, it becomes much easier to identify where the gaps in your planning and execution lie.

    Stakeholder Re-engagement

    Once you’ve identified the critical issues and started to redefine the scope of the project, it’s important to re-engage with stakeholders. Transparency is key, especially if things haven’t gone to plan. No one benefits from obfuscation.

    Collaborate with stakeholders to ensure:

    • Potential problems are recorded.
    • There is a complete understanding of the current tech stack and configuration.
    • Any potential integration issues have been highlighted.
    • The redefined objectives are both correct and clearly defined.
    • Roles and responsibilities are clear.
    • A revised timeline is deliverable.
    • The skills exist within the project team (both internally and externally) to deliver.

    Revise the Plan and Allocate Resources

    Once you have gone through both information-gathering stages you will need to create a new project plan factoring in the areas of the CRM that require attention.

    Triaging the project will help you to identify the worst affected elements and give you direction on what needs to be fixed first.

    Equally, your consultations with team members may have highlighted new functionality that will need to be added to the plan.

    At this stage, any plans must be realistic and achievable. There is no point in over-promising to save time and save face. The focus needs to be on delivering a successful Dynamics 365 recovery project.

    Similarly, as part of your planning, make sure that any milestones and deliverables set out are relevant and provide a genuine measure of the project’s progress. Recognise that some stakeholders are likely to feel frustrated so it’s important to recover their confidence in the project and the value it can add to the business.

    As part of this stage, you should also be looking at resources in terms of capacity and the skills you need to get this project over the line.

    Improved Communications

    Correct any communication issues and streamline communication processes. Create dedicated communication channels and a mechanism for regular and concise updates.

    Where collaboration has been lacking, address these issues through regular inter-team meetings or even an offset so the teams can get to know each other better.

    Testing

    Establish testing protocols for each milestone of the project. No part of the project should progress beyond the testing stage unless it passes the testing stage. This may seem obvious but the desire to deliver a project on time, especially when there is an incentive, can mean projects deploy with errors.

    You will also need to establish a bug reporting and resolution process, so snags are raised and resolved quickly.

    Training

    Even a fully functioning Dynamics 365 project can fall flat if no one uses it. Implement a comprehensive training programme for all users. But don’t wait until the CRM is ready. Develop the training programme in advance so you have the time to produce something of real value.

    Understand, that regardless of how excited the business may be about adopting Dynamics 365, learning a new solution is hard.

    Make sure that the training is as much about taking them on a journey as it is about showing them how to use it. Dynamics is there to make your business operate faster and smoother and, hopefully, take some of the heavy lifting off peoples’ shoulders.

    Approach the training with energy rather than a perfunctory box-ticking exercise. Furthermore, training should be an ongoing activity as there will be new features and changes rolled out by Microsoft and internally regularly. By helping the business to stay up to date you will sustain long-term user engagement.

    Best Practices for Dynamics 365 Projects

    No project is perfect, no matter how well planned out it might be. There will always be issues of one form or another. However, the more rigorous you are in your planning, the more successful you will be in your execution. Here are some things to consider when planning a Dynamics 365 project or recovery:

    • Set Clear Objectives: Define the project scope and goals from the outset.
    • Engage Stakeholders Early: Involve all stakeholders early and throughout the project.
    • Comprehensive Planning: Invest time in detailed project planning.
    • Ongoing Training: Provide continuous training and support to users.
    • Regular Reviews: Conduct regular project reviews and audits.

    If you can get these elements right, then your chances of successfully deploying your Dynamics CRM significantly increase.

    Dynamics 365 Recovery

    Dynamics 365 is an immensely powerful and customisable CRM platform which, some could argue, is the best and worst thing about it. Setting up Customer Journeys Insights can take hours, purely because Microsoft went to incredible lengths to make the tool as comprehensive as possible. Because that’s what Microsoft do.

    With so many features and functions available, careful planning and expert knowledge are essential when building and deploying a Dynamics CRM. Without it, mistakes will naturally occur, or reoccur.

    If you’re concerned your Dynamics 365 project may require recovery, we can help.

    Talk to a member of the team today to discover how QGate can help you through your Dynamics 365 recovery project.

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  • Elevating Customer Experiences through CRM Personalisation

    Elevating Customer Experiences through CRM Personalisation

    Personalisation is the key to customer engagement. It’s how you build trust, deliver value, and ultimately convince customers to spend their money with you. Without personalisation, marketing is frustrating for both sides. Customers are tired of receiving generic communications from the companies they choose to engage with. Whether it’s from a department store or professional services, generic communications guarantee that only a small proportion of the email that individual receives will be relevant to them.

    Meanwhile, businesses achieve minimal returns on marketing campaigns and customer relationships fail to get off the ground.

    Fundamentally, without personalisation, messages can only ever be generic which makes them either irrelevant or annoying. Let’s not forget, that while a 25% open rate for an email may seem good, 75% chose to ignore you.

    The absence of reliable data makes it next to impossible for a marketing function to improve its odds of success. For prospects and customers, generic messaging makes them feel ignored or unseen, which undermines trust and harms the working relationship.

    The absence of reliable data makes it next to impossible for a marketing function to improve its odds of success. A CRM that houses a single source of truth for each prospect and customer enables you to create personalised experiences. What’s more, you can personalise communications at scale.

    How personalisation transforms customer experience

    Personalisation cuts to the heart of what’s important to the customer. In that sense, it’s an extension of customer-centric marketing – where you focus not on your offer, but on the customer’s need. Take, for example, a customer who has been browsing wallpaper designs on a DIY superstore’s website. With that data to hand, the store could email them offers on relevant products. The wallpaper. The paste. The tools. They could send ‘how to’ guides or direct them to relevant social media content. In short, they can make the journey from decision-making to buying to enjoying much simpler for them. Compare this to the DIY superstore that highlights whichever products are the flavour of the month – a lawnmower, perhaps, or taps. Generic, impersonal marketing doesn’t help the customer progress their purchase. And if you can’t help them, they will go to a seller that can.

    Personalisation doesn’t need to be complicated to be effective. For example, event planners might target return customers – particularly if they’ve conducted feedback surveys and received positive results. Those customers will appreciate the opportunity to return. Gyms might note which classes members usually attend and reach out if they haven’t been in a while. Done well, this signals to members that their gym cares about them and wants them to succeed. Overcoming the generic barrier is transformative. Consider the effect an email with generic summer lines would perform compared to one that features products that match a customer’s purchase history, right down to size and colour choices. Not every product will be right but the relevance of that email is powerful.

    When personalisation makes a customer feel valued, the result is a strengthening of the relationship between buyer and seller. A stronger relationship leads to shorter sales cycles, repeat business and a greater likelihood that your customer crosses the line to a loyal customer. Then, in time, an advocate.

    illustration-of-a-personalisation-engagement-campaign

    How to personalise communications

    The key to a personalised CRM approach is collecting and storing relevant information about every customer. Some of this data can be gathered during discovery, while some will only come out through interactions with the customer. However, without a CRM within which to centralise your data, aggregating this information can be tricky.

    Customers can range from industrial scale or enterprise size to SMEs. While the products they purchase might be the same, the size of the order and their requirements will be fundamentally different. For example, delivery times, frequency of orders and payment terms may all change. Understanding the basic needs of each customer and categorising them accordingly will enable you to present each customer with the most relevant information. Relevance keeps customers engaged and reduces churn.

    Every data point can be used to create a personalised and engaging customer experience. Something as simple as market segmentation allows you to focus on the kind of content you share. Another critical area of understanding is your customers’ pain points. Understanding and codifying specific issues allows you to provide solutions – a far more effective approach than the hit-and-hope hard sell.

    The more data you have at your disposal and the deeper the segmentation, the easier it is to become a relied-upon and trusted supplier to your customers.

    Personalised emails are a mainstay of most CRM tools; however, this goes beyond just using the customer’s name. Anyone with a database and free email tool can achieve this. Personalisation requires a deeper level of understanding and the processes to capture that crucial data.  

    With a good CRM, your options for recording relevant information are vast and no information should be considered extraneous. The focus is on building a long-lasting, trusting relationship.  

    Use the data you have to engage with your audiences in the way that matters most to them. If a company has a big sports culture, tailor your communications to ‘speak their language’. There’s nothing to stop you from creating a fun fact campaign to drop every day of a tournament if you think it will get you the outcomes you want.

    Strategies for effective CRM personalisation

    Building out this data can be challenging, especially if your organisation has data scattered across disparate systems. Data consolidation is key to both successful CRM deployment and personalised customer engagement. You also need robust processes in place, so your account managers or salespeople know what information to collect and how to record it.  

    These systems rely on your people having those key discovery conversations and building the rapport so that information can be gathered. This in turn relies on a business-wide approach to sales that is highly customer-centric and detail oriented.

    Collect and analyse customer data

    When you’re adding a new customer to your CRM, do your due diligence. You need the basics: the right name, contact details, industry segment, etc. All of this is foundation-level personalisation. Once you start having conversations with that customer, you can assign categories according to their needs and pain points. Capture data where you can, including how your audience interacts with your emails. You need to know how often they opened the email, what they clicked on and whether they converted off the back of that click.

    Segment customers to tailor communications

    The more data you have the deeper you can segment your audiences. Remember, your customers can sit in multiple buckets, which means they can be in multiple campaigns. And when it comes to data segmentation almost nothing is off limits. Record everything, you never know when it might come in handy. Once you know what your customer is interested in, you can – and should – tailor your communications.

    But segmentation is only part of the process; you need to adopt a customer-centric mindset to go with it. That means sending them the content, offers and products they’re interested in. Not the ones you want to sell.

    Automate communications based on customer actions or milestones

    If you’re able to track a customer’s engagement with specific resources from across your digital estate, you could follow up with a personalised message. This could be a straightforward ‘I see you’re interested in X, would you like to know more?’ or you could look at ways to add value by anticipating their needs. ‘As you read XYZ, you might also be interested in ABC’. Remember to keep these automated messages personal – no one wants to feel like a cog in a machine.

    Measure and refine

    Customers, businesses, challenges – none of these are static. Circumstances change, and your personalised approach needs to keep up or you risk once again making that customer feel unseen. Use the analytics at your disposal to evaluate whether customer behaviours align with the data you have. Simple things like average order value, products purchased and order frequency. This is in addition to channel performance like email open and click-through rates. Analysing these behaviours can show where interests have shifted or if the customer is at risk of churning. We’d also suggest that you use the time freed up by business process automation to connect with customers one-to-one. Give them a call and have a conversation about their business, their needs, etc. Think of it as rediscovery. The effort you put in around your personalised communications allows you to move the relationship away from purely transactional.

    CRM tools for personalisation

    There are many ways that an advanced CRM like Microsoft Dynamics 365 can enable you to personalise your relationship with your customers. Here are just a few:

    Name check – You can automate emails from your CRM to include things like your contact’s name, their business name, a reference to your last communication or their last purchase. All of these details can be completed automatically, and you can also select customers by market segment, region, past purchases, etc.

    Power Automate Flow – This Microsoft tool can be integrated with Dynamics 365 to automate a customer journey based on conditional logic. For example, if a customer clicks on a resource on your website, automations can be triggered, such as a popup or a customer email, or an email to a salesperson suggesting they call the customer to follow up. Each action has a pre-programmed reaction, reducing missed opportunities and increasing sales and marketing efficiency.

    Copilot – Another Microsoft tool, Copilot is an AI assistant that sits within the Microsoft ecosystem and can draw on your CRM, emails, documents, etc. to provide insights that help you develop a highly personalised approach to every interaction.

    Integration – One of the best ways to maximise personalisation within a CRM (and increase user adoption) is to ensure it integrates with your existing platforms. That way, it’s easier to copy information from one place to another – sometimes as simple as one or two clicks – and requires far less effort on the user’s part to reap maximum reward.

    When choosing a CRM, these are the kinds of capabilities you should be looking for. Add to this, the potential to add more as they are developed. If you’re already using an advanced CRM and don’t have all these tools, talk to your CRM partner. You should be able to enhance your system to create more potential for personalisation.

    Don’t get left behind

    Personalisation is a way to differentiate yourself from the competition and provide a superior customer experience. Significantly, it’s what your customers expect. From a sales perspective, it’s the difference between a trial-and-error approach and a data-driven, customer-centric strategy. You’re specifically targeting customers with information that is relevant to them. The result will be more sales, happier customers, and fewer missed opportunities.

    Strategies like these are only possible now because of advances in digital technologies and AI-driven tools. The more these take off, the more customers will expect a personalised approach, and the more your business will suffer if you’re not personalising the customer experience.

    If you feel like you’re barely scratching the surface of your CRM strategy, we can help. Speak to a member of the team to assess your current CRM usage and develop strategies to improve personalisation.

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  • What is Data Integrity and Why does it Matter?

    What is Data Integrity and Why does it Matter?

    Data integrity refers to the consistency and accuracy of the data in your organisation. Within the context of a CRM system, maintaining robust data integrity ensures your customer records are current, accurate and free from duplication. The greater the number of errors that exist within a CRM, the less effective it is as a business tool and ROI starts to decline.

    Maintaining data integrity ensures all departments has access to the same up-to-date information, allowing for better decision-making and project coordination. It makes it easier to create timely, relevant and personalised interactions between you and your audiences, fostering trust.

    Accurate data enables businesses to segment that data to better understand their audiences and create tailored solutions to meet their needs.

    Inaccurate data could mean that communications go awry or don’t get through. It could also mean that your personalised customer experience is based on a false understanding of who that customer is. Reliable data helps to get the messages to the right people at the right time. Maintaining data integrity should therefore be a focus for every business.

    illustration of a woman sat working with lots of different types of data to maintain data integrity

    Defining data integrity in a sales context

    The purpose of a CRM system like Microsoft Dynamics 365 is to record all the critical details for every customer. This includes (but is not limited to):

    • Business name
    • Contact names
    • Website
    • Email addresses
    • Phone numbers
    • Business address(es)
    • Market vertical
    • Contact history
    • Purchase history

    You might also categorise them by pain points. You could even include personal details that support your relationship with that customer. But if any of that data is inaccurate, the entire entry becomes unreliable.

    If emails bounce your ability to communicate has been significantly reduced – especially if the rapport with that contact would make a phone call unlikely.  

    Similarly, if your contact has changed position within the company you may have to start building a relationship with someone entirely different. Who, significantly, may not see your product or service as the best option.

    Small details can equally have big consequences. A single incorrect digit on a postal or zip code can mean a piece of direct mail never arrives. Or, worse still, the client refuses to pay an invoice because the details are incorrect. Cash is king and when clients refuse to pay because you’ve made mistakes with paperwork, that king is little more than a hostage.

    Fundamentally, bad data leads to bad outcomes, resulting in wasted time, effort and lost revenue. On the other hand, strong data integrity strengthens customer relationships and empowers your sellers to maximise the potential of the CRM.

    Managing data integrity

    The truth is, it’s all too easy for mistakes to be made that reduce data integrity. Especially as often fields are populated manually. Combine that with a fast-paced environment or a team member who doesn’t see the value in maintaining data integrity and your business is on a slippery slope.

    Manual errors

    If users are inputting data manually, errors will naturally start to creep in. Manually double checking will catch some mistakes but not all, and that is assuming users can be bothered. Data entry in a CRM rarely feels like an important part of the job, right up until it stops working.

    To reduce manual errors, automate as much as possible. CRMs like Microsoft Dynamics 365 have integrations allowing data to move seamlessly between tools. It also frees up time. Where integrations aren’t available or manual entry is unavoidable, dropdowns, tick boxes and other pre-populated fields can help to offset errors.

    Duplicate records

    Associated with manual errors are duplicate records. This usually occurs when a name is entered incorrectly, the wrong title is added, or they have an alternative email address. Automation can help to offset this by linking your email tools with your CRM. This can help to reduce duplications, but your CRM should have de-dupe functionality.

    Platforms like Dynamics 365 have de-duplication detection rules baked in as standard. This should catch most duplicates, but you should still practice good data discipline to minimise potential errors.

    Keeping accurate records

    If you’re fortunate enough to have the kind of rapport with your clients that they notify you of internal changes, your data becomes much easier to manage.

    However, that won’t always be the case and personnel changes can often catch team members off guard. This is understandable; however, everyone needs to be clear on the procedure when a contact moves on.

    • Confirm who the new point of contact is
    • Double-check the title and spelling
    • Capture email address
    • Capture phone number
    • Confirm if they are operating out of the same office

    This information needs to go into the CRM immediately. Both creating a new contact and ensuring it has attached to the business profile as well.

    Try to reach out to the new contact early on to understand what their objectives are moving forward. Or, if they’re not yet a client, if their requirements have changed. Establishing this early and giving the business time to pivot as needed will help to retain that opportunity. Because customers don’t always make you aware of a change in circumstances, it’s up to you to keep on top of them. That means making a habit of regularly checking contact details – for example, against email signatures – and having periodic conversations with the customer to ensure all the other information in your records is accurate.

    illustration of managing different data sources via a smart device

    How to sustain data integrity

    Maintaining data integrity is part of a wider philosophy around the free flow of information. It can’t be one person’s responsibility to look after the data the business runs on. It, along with any other aspect of business sustainability, is a shared responsibility.

    Culture

    Data integrity needs to be woven into the fabric of the business. The culture of your business needs to reflect the company’s attitude towards data integrity. If the senior leadership team does not take it seriously then chances are no one else will.

    The only way to maintain data integrity is for everyone to understand both the importance and need to proactively manage data. Rather than assuming it can wait or that someone else will do it.

    Without a shared ethos around data integrity the CRM can’t work properly. If the CRM isn’t working properly, sales suffer. Make data integrity part of your induction process for new starters and hold regular training sessions to ensure everyone is fully up to speed. Both in terms of the platform and what’s expected of them.

    This will also make it easier to spot anyone who is struggling with the CRM or has picked up bad habits.

    Audit and clean-up

    Task account managers with the job of auditing and cleaning up their accounts in the CRM. Depending on the state of your data integrity, you might need to do this monthly, quarterly or twice a year, but we wouldn’t recommend leaving it any longer than that. Check that the contact details are up-to-date and make sure you’ve acted on any new information that has been sent through. If the account managers are in regular contact with their clients, this information should be in a healthy state.

    Consistency is key

    Data consistency is an essential component of data management. That means standardising how fields are completed. Full country names rather than abbreviations or phone numbers with the country code or not, etc.

    Establish the status quo and enforce it. Have a process in place to fix errors as they arise, whether it’s the person who owns the relationship with the client/contact or the last person who accessed the record.

    You can also use your CRM to be specific about formatting, either using drop-down lists for things like regions or countries or insisting that mobile numbers all begin with a country code. Where customers are providing their own data, you can also take extra steps to secure data integrity by sending an email to confirm the information you hold on them is correct. You must be careful here as you can only contact an individual within an organisation about the data you hold for them, not anyone else. To do so could be a data protection breach.

    Data integrity matters because people matter

    We have established in other articles that people buy from people, and that the more personalised the customer experience, the more valued they feel. Data integrity is critical to personalisation and aids user adoption by making the CRM more reliable and more valuable to sellers. An advanced CRM system, data integrity and user adoption go hand-in-hand – just like the fire triangle, you need all three to create a flame. So, if you are in any doubt as to the integrity of your data, we would strongly advise you to audit and clean up your CRM and instil a culture of data quality as soon as possible. It’s in everyone’s interests to maximise data integrity, and with new tools and integrations, it doesn’t need to be a labour- or time-intensive task.

    If you need help implementing a new data integrity strategy, get in touch.

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  • The Role of User Adoption in Maximising CRM ROI

    The Role of User Adoption in Maximising CRM ROI

    Like any tool, the CRM can only provide value when it is well used. User adoption is integral to a CRM deployment’s success or failure. Low user adoption is almost always why CRMs don’t deliver the expected return on investment (ROI). Acknowledging this risk enables you to prepare accordingly and eliminate those issues that obstruct or dilute a successful CRM deployment.

    Equally, so is understanding the human factor behind low user adoption. Some team members may fear the technology, and others may fear for their jobs. In most cases, the reluctance to adopt any new solution usually comes from a lack of understanding.

    This is entirely forgivable considering how broad the term CRM has become and how complex a platform like Dynamics 365 can be.

    While it may seem straightforward to state the benefits of a CRM, the reality is getting to grips with Dynamics CRM takes time, support and training.

    However, before you can consider training you first need to establish what you hope to gain from deploying a CRM. Defining what success from your CRM project is fundamental to its success from the perspectives of user adoption and ROI.

    How to calculate the ROI of a CRM

    Return on investment, or ROI, is a simple measurement to evaluate how well an investment has performed. For something like an ad campaign, this is straightforward: the cost of the campaign versus the revenue it generated. Calculating the value of your CRM can be harder to quantify. It’s not easy to put a price on better customer service. Similarly, it’s not always apparent how many opportunities would be lost by team members not being able to collaborate via a single platform.

    As with other SaaS platforms, establishing a means of measuring performance will indicate how your CRM is performing.  For example:

    • Time to close – With a stronger customer relationship and a better-informed approach, it should be easier to close deals, reducing the time spent on each sale.
    • Increased deal size – As above, a CRM supports sales and should help increase the value of every deal.
    • More sales – With a smarter sales approach, you should also be able to increase the number of deals closed.
    • More repeat customers – Happy customers return for more, so if you’re using the CRM to strengthen the customer relationship you should see customers returning and referring.

    There are, of course, additional benefits that may be harder to monitor. Closer collaboration across departments results in an improved work environment. Happier staff stay in their jobs for longer, meaning your team gains experience. It must be said, though, that a good CRM tool alone cannot achieve all these things. It’s just a tool – designed to make the job easier, not to replace people or the relationships they form. So, the number one key to CRM success is user adoption.

    an isometric illustration of the evolution of business and product adoption with people interacting at the different stages.

    User adoption – the make or breaker

    The success of any software deployment hinges on both the rate and duration of user adoption. The faster your team picks it up and the longer they use it, the more successful that deployment is.

    In our experience, low user adoption is the main reason CRM systems fail to deliver the expected ROI.

    Despite the sophisticated capabilities of modern CRM systems, you have to think of them as a tool, just like any other. Any tool used incorrectly will, over time, degrade or even break.

    This is true whether you’re using a hammer, machinery or sophisticated software. But rather than blame our poor adoption or lack of training, we usually blame the tool, replace it and the whole thing starts again. The frequency and severity of the misuse will directly correlate to the speed at which it becomes unusable.  

    User adoption is a journey; it cannot be forced, although many try. In WalkMe’s annual report State of Digital Adoption 2022, 60% of decision-makers are concerned about whether digital projects will provide the expected ROI because end-users aren’t adopting the technology quickly enough.

    Low user uptake results in poor performance and poor performance results in lower user uptake. It becomes a vicious cycle that’s hard to break.  The key, therefore, is understanding what obstacles exist in your organisation that could hamper adoption.

    This is something of a hard look-in-the-mirror conversation, as those obstacles can be anything from capacity to budget to individuals.

    Failure to Adopt

    There are many reasons why users don’t engage with new software. The first and most obvious is resistance to change. People may not be entirely happy with the status quo, but at least they know where they stand. Introducing new software, especially something as vast as a CRM, can be intimidating. Not least because it can often mean a change in process, or a formalisation of processes when historically team members have been free to operate as they saw fit. Some may perceive the CRM deployment as an unnecessary change – especially if they haven’t understood the benefits.

    Be under no illusions, you need to get your deployment right. Bad software deployment can cost time and money to remedy or replace. In extreme cases, they can be an existential threat when you factor in the potential data loss that can ensue.

    To make your deployment successful, you must treat your team like customers. Take them on a journey of the new CRM and get their buy-in.

    Another common reason for low user adoption is poor communication around the new system. This encompasses both the ‘why’ – the reason for bringing in a new CRM – and the ‘how’. If users aren’t properly trained to use the CRM, they won’t understand how to maximise the benefits. It’s unreasonable to expect users to ‘have a play’ and ‘come back to us if you have any questions’. Especially with something so complex and feature-rich as a CRM like Microsoft Dynamics 365.  Take a user-centric approach to both CRM design and rollout to ensure maximum adoption.

    Anything that stands between your CRM and user adoption also stands between your CRM and ROI.

    It’s critical to think about CRM rollout and onboarding while you’re choosing which CRM to go with. Not only the functionality and how quickly it can be deployed but how quickly it can be adopted.

    How to improve user adoption

    The best way to improve CRM user adoption is to help users understand the WIIFM (what’s in it for me). Communication is key, and it must start before you introduce the new system.

    Involve users in the selection process

    Talk to users about what they like or don’t like about the current way of working. This will allow you to build a picture of what they need from a new CRM system. Make sure they understand the change is to benefit them, so you need their feedback on what ‘better’ looks like. Of course, they won’t necessarily know all the capabilities a CRM can offer and what those benefits could be. Take the time to introduce the options fully before making a decision.

    Talk up the benefits

    You know the pain points from both a business and user perspective. Use this information to communicate the benefits of the chosen CRM – and communicate them widely. Don’t rely on sporadic updates to get the message across. Think about what channels are available to you and how they can be used to get your message out. Put posters on the wall if that’s what it takes.

    Build a pilot team

    Often when new software is rolled out across a business, you start with a core team who are committed to the project and willing to be the guinea pigs. Starting small doesn’t enable you to get the full benefit of the CRM, but you can hope to develop an evangelical group of ‘experts’ who have familiarised themselves with the system enough to help communicate those benefits to the wider team. These evangelists will help boost adoption.

    Streamline and customise the CRM to meet user needs

    As a result of that earlier work liaising with and seeking feedback from users, you should have a good idea of what you want to achieve with your CRM and how you can tailor the system to meet your usage. Customising the interface to directly align with those needs demonstrates that you’ve listened to and understood your users’ WIIFM and ensures they can get maximum use out of the CRM.

    Provide comprehensive training and support

    If people don’t know how to use the CRM, they won’t use it. Or they’ll use it poorly, which amounts to the same thing – a low ROI. We would suggest training is offered on both a mandated, regular basis during rollout and on-demand long term. Easy-to-access resources allow users to solve issues as they arise. Long, information-heavy, webinars are unlikely to inspire anyone; you’re better off with a little-and-often approach, such as weekly ‘lunch and learns’ that break down the CRM’s capabilities piece by piece.

    Establish clear expectations The less people use a CRM, the less effective it is. Make it clear from the outset that this tool is not optional; it is mandatory – not just for the individual user’s benefit, but for the entire business. Be strategic about the rollout and set clear goals. Your CRM provider should be able to help define those with you and set out ways to measure progress so that you can assess how successful your rollout has been.

    Illustration of a user accessing support resources.

    Pulling the Trigger

    An advanced, customised CRM system can transform your business through effective management of customer relationships throughout the sales and after-sales process. But this is only made possible by people using it properly and often. Low user adoption is the number one reason CRM implementation fails, so getting users onboard from the outset is critical.

    Think about this as a sale – you’re selling users on the concept of CRM, so you need to pull out all the same tools you would ordinarily deploy to close a deal. Understanding their pain points; refining the solution; talking up the benefits and supporting them once the deal is done to ensure you end up with a happy customer. This is how you guarantee a good ROI.


    If you want to ensure a successful CRM implementation, talk to us about how we can help you maximise your ROI.

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  • Dynamics 365 vs Business Central – which one should you choose?

    Dynamics 365 vs Business Central – which one should you choose?

    Business Central vs Dynamics 365 – which one should you choose?

    Which is better – Business Central or Microsoft Dynamics 365? It’s a question that comes up a lot, and of course the answer is ‘It depends what you want it to do’. But let’s break that down a bit and explore what each system offers, and whether it’s possible to just use one.

    What’s the difference between Business Central and Dynamics 365?

    Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system designed to help you manage the supply chain needs of your organisation. It’s largely focused on things like logistics, inventory planning, and billing, but does have other capabilities too. Businesses use ERPs like Business Central to ensure that resource planning is aligned across the business, and that everyone has access to and can learn from the same information.

    Dynamics 365 is Microsoft’s Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system, which provides a full and comprehensive history of the relationship (i.e. interactions) with a customer, giving the insights needed to progress that relationship in the future. Like the ERP, the CRM aids alignment across the business, so that every department that has a touch point with the customer (e.g. marketing, sales and after sales) has access to the same information. The better your CRM, the less likely you are to miss sales opportunities. Like Business Central, Dynamics 365 has additional capabilities, but its core strength is in customer relationship management.

    Can you use Dynamics 365 as an ERP?

    Yes, to an extent. Dynamics 365 does have some capabilities that crossover with Business Central – it was originally formed from a combination of ERP and CRM systems, after all. But as Dynamics 365 has evolved, it has developed its CRM capabilities and Business Central has grown as the core ERP tool. Essentially, these are two separate systems built with different goals in mind.

    Can you use Business Central as a CRM?

    Yes, up to a point. But its capabilities are limited, so it depends what you want from your CRM. If you’re looking for basic functionality, Business Central has a Relationship Management tool that enables you to manage contact information, opportunity tracking, targeted campaigns, and so on. This information will be available across the organisation and will ensure everyone is on the same page when it comes to customer history. For more advanced capabilities, however, you’ll need a purpose-built CRM.

    What does Dynamics 365 offer that you can’t get from Business Central?

    (You can get these things from Business Central, but they offer a different functionality.)

    Customisation

    Dynamics 365 can be customized according to your sales process, enabling you to have a CRM that perfectly fits your market, your workflows, and your buyers’ journey. The more customized your CRM, the more you can make it work for you, using business and process automation, purpose-built templates, and more. CRMs for membership organisations are entirely different than CRMs for B2B service providers, for example, which will be different again to a retailer’s CRM. If you’re using a one-size-fits-all CRM system, you could be missing out on opportunities for more personalised interactions with your customers.

    Additional capabilities

    Microsoft Dynamics 365 is a modular solution, which means it offers many capabilities via different apps, which you can add on. These include things like customer behaviour modelling, self-service tools, marketing campaign management, and a sales module that provides insights regarding prospective customer sources and customer engagement data, as well as monitoring sales productivity and performance.

    This is advanced CRM stuff – the kind that goes beyond managing data and becomes a core tool in the sales process, helping companies grow and develop.

    Automation

    Business process automation and Robotic process automation reduce the admin burden on workers, giving them more ‘time on tools’ to get on with their actual jobs. Marketing automation tools similarly enable workers to achieve more with less, expanding their reach and their effectiveness by automating marketing campaigns. All these tools are available with Dynamics 365 and can be used to increase efficiency and performance. For example, you can use marketing automation tools to track the buyer’s journey, see how they engage with your content, and use that data to adjust your approach for maximum effect.

    What does Business Central offer that you can’t get from Dynamics 365?

    Enhanced data

    As a purpose-built ERP solution, Business Central provides centralised and real-time reporting of all connected data, such as customer service requests, cash flow, inventory, etc. so that you can easily identify trends and make decisions accordingly. You can also integrate Business Central with Power BI for enhanced data visualisation, which helps turn data into actionable insights.

    A different kind of automation

    Like Dynamics 365, Business Central also can use automation to make workflows more efficient and more effective. Integration with tools like Dynamics Copilot eases the burden of repetitive manual work and provides AI-based insights that help business decision-making.

    Advanced supply chain management

    The supply chain is where Business Central really comes into its own, providing unrivalled visibility on inventory, purchase orders, sales orders, and production orders, as well as warehouse management solutions that help optimise the way you structure your warehouse operations.

    How to make the most of Business Central and Dynamics 365

    The good news is – you don’t have to choose between Business Central and Microsoft Dynamics 365. They’re all part of the same ecosystem and can be integrated seamlessly to give you the best of both worlds. All the Microsoft 365 systems work on the same common data model, ensuring easy communication and alignment between tools.

    Integrating Dynamics 365 with Business Central, Teams, Outlook, Office, SharePoint, LinkedIn Sales Navigator, etc. enables you to work more efficiently, without wasting time switching between apps or repeatedly inputting information, which can lead to mistakes. Having a fully functioning ERP system and a customised CRM maximises your opportunities for efficiency across the business, providing end-to-end support for both your organisation and your customers.

    Get in touch with us today to find out how we can help you with your CRM and ERP systems. 

  • How CRM can help you to deliver agile customer service and improve the customer experience

    How CRM can help you to deliver agile customer service and improve the customer experience

    Delivering exceptional customer service is more important than ever. Poor customer service creates a negative impact on your organisation, resulting in the loss of customer loyalty, repeat business, profits, reputation and even good employees.

    Ensuring that your customer service is up to scratch is more challenging as the number of communication channels has expanded. Long gone are the days of just letters, telephone calls and face-to-face interactions. Companies must now be able to deliver omnichannel service across their customers preferred routes including email, live chat, and social media.

    As the number of contact channels has increased, the challenge of storing and organising of data has also increased. The details and purchase history of a single customer may now be spread among several channels and multiple employees.

    Increasingly, businesses are looking at how artificial intelligence (AI) can help to augment customer support. Chatbots and customer self-service can be used alongside service agents to streamline and automate your response to routine customer enquiries and frequently asked questions. The benefits are 24/7 availability to your customers, fast response times and the freeing up of customer service agents to work on more complex issues.

    Achieving all of this without an effective customer relationship management (CRM) system is impossible. CRM is a powerful software solution which offers a range of capabilities to help improve your customer experience:

    • Keep in touch with your customers with personalised communications across multiple channels
    • Deliver a consistent and high-level customer experience
    • Use data to help you to understand your customers better and build targeting marketing strategies
    • Send relevant information automatically through grouping of customers or triggered by specific events
    • Provide attentive customer support by utilising automation and AI to provide swift, focussed responses to customer issues

    Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM for Customer Service

    Microsoft Dynamics 365 provides an agile customer service solution that will increase productivity, reduce costs, identify sales opportunities and improve the customer experience.

    Deliver customer service across multiple channels
    • Provide Self-service Support – Offer your customers immediate access to the right content at the right time on the right channel
    • Personalise Customer Service Engagements – deliver consistent, connected experiences across multiple channels from a unified agent desktop
    • Empower service teams with tools for Increased Productivity – enable agents to resolve customers’ issues swiftly
    • Analyse and learn from comprehensive support insights – track success against KPIs and adapt quickly.
    Five Ingredients to Ignite Always-On Service

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    • Maintain quality of service when customer demand spikes
    • Improve efficiency and automation to reduce costs
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    • Deliver connected, valuable customer experiences

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