How to Quickly Pull Marketing Statistics from Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Your Next Sales Meeting

Less than 24 hours before a big sales meeting my boss told me he wanted me to report on our marketing statistics for the year to date.  Yikes - what is an overworked, overstressed, marketing manager like me to do! Two years ago I would have been up all night trying to come up with statistics I needed for the meeting.  Good thing we now use Microsoft Dynamics CRM!

With Microsoft CRM I was quickly able to get these reports ready in about an hour:

• # of leads received – total year to date, and broken out by month.
• # of leads received from each marketing activity – such as telemarketing, direct mail etc..
• % of leads that turned into opportunities and sales
• % of leads from each marketing activity that turned into opportunities and sales.

Plus I was able to compare all this information with the same time period from last year.

The information is tracked in CRM, then I can easily export it into Excel to do subtotals and analyze data.  Then I can make it easier to present in graphical charts. (My strategy in meetings has always been to dazzle people with the fancy pie charts).

Based on the statistics I pulled out of Dynamics CRM, our sales team could figure out helpful trends such as:

• Our average close rate when selling Microsoft Dynamics GP accounting software.
• What times of the year are our “slow seasons” for new sales. (so we can plan vacations)
• What marketing activities are generating not only the most leads but also the most closed deals. (so I know where to spend my marketing budget)

I truly believe that information is power. And having the information at my fingertips has not only empowered our organization and my marketing efforts – but now I can get much more sleep too!

By CAL Business Solutions, Connecticut Microsoft Dynamics GP Partner