The above paragraph is from the new Microsoft Dynamics CRM v2016 (also called v8.x.x) Preview Guide. It is important to dive deeper into what this really means, because it can make a huge individual and corporate difference.
Why do we use CRM? In the traditional thought process ..
We use it
- to document and keep track of all of the people that we interact with
- to keep track of the companies that those people are associated with
- to individually keep track of the hundreds and thousands of interactions that we might have through e-mail, phone calls, face to face meetings and social interactions
- to keep track of promises we made to follow-up or send material
- to track sales opportunities and their status
- to track tickets/cases and the associated tasks and information to these cases
- and to support the companies we work for with information and statuses on deliverables.
In a less traditional sense we also use it to
- Document standard processes and embed those in the way people work
- automate processes to reduce the need for a person to do redundant work (which the system can do)
- Organize information under any given contact or account or defined thing
- Pull together silo'ed information from many different systems
- manage compliance and auditing of efforts within business
- support field resources with information
- manage complex scheduling needs
- drip feed our relationships so they don't forget us
- organize events, survey people, track dollars spent
- and so much more ....
Why do we keep track of these interactions?
We keep track so that we can remember, we can grow, we can offer services, solutions, and opportunities to those that we have met.
We keep track so that we can meet our goals.
So how does productivity play into this? Why is productivity so very important and emphasized in the cutting edge, just about to be released, Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2016 system?
It is all about how any given individual works on any given day. We write letters in Microsoft Word, we do analysis in Microsoft Excel, we read and respond to e-mail in Microsoft Outlook. We might even have hundreds of libraries of documents and files in SharePoint.
And we work with CRM, BUT what is important to realize is that for those super shined up, and refined businesses! They work with all of these tools seamlessly as if they were one application and they do this by leveraging the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Glue that Office 365 and CRMOnline offer.
It doesn't matter if you are in the CRM Interface or the Outlook interface or your mobile device all of your data is available.
Your contacts are organized against accounts and your documents for that account are available easily. Any sales opportunities are visible as are all of the account specific support cases.
Your client critical e-mails can be stored with one button click or other e-mails that are not worth saving can just remain in the noisy world of your personal Outlook.
WE work in our individual silos, BUT we also work on teams and information needs to be shared. MS CRM adds this duality of shared e-mail and private e-mail. The 360 degree view into the client. It does it by it's deep integration to the Office products.
You love Microsoft Excel! You want to do your data entry in Microsoft Excel. Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2016 offers Immersive Excel where you can enter data into this beloved tool and have it update the centralized system of records.
You love writing letters in Microsoft Word! Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2016 supports creating Microsoft Word documents with data pulled from your CRM System. This data is not limited to client name and address. This data can be any data you want to include in your Microsoft Word document that you have access to in your MS CRM System.
Outlook: Ah yes Microsoft Outlook offers so many choices. Do you like using Outlook tasks, well these can be tracked as CRM contact activities with a single click the work you are doing in Outlook updates the client activity record in CRM that was pending completion. This also applies to appointments so valued in your calendar. Others need to know about many of these even if they are not invited.
Now let's talk about Microsoft Office 365, which is flying out of the gate and disrupting the calm world of Microsoft Office. Why ? Because Office 365 is so very much more than just Microsoft Word, Excel, and Outlook E-mail. O365 offers more and more APPS to office users. Products like SWAY, DELVE, POWERBI, PLANNER and even a new Microsoft Dynamics CRM Client Application for e-mail management. It is also disrupting with features such as GROUPS and all work tightly with Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online.
So productivity is huge, but Microsoft also continues to offer choice. So many choices and so many ways to work, with one consistent experience, the experience of one application with many, many features.
SO How do firms really become super refined and polished with this software? They work with consultants who specialize in helping you to make the right choices from the hundreds of choices to fit your business needs.
As canned as the triangle sounds : PEOPLE, PROCESS, PRODUCT/Technology it really is true. To get the most out of your investment in technology, invest in a partnership with a company who provides the product, and commit to working with people who can provide the experienced services, and refine and document and consult on your processes.