I’ve been seeing quite a bit of hash-slinging between the two major players in the CRM market – Microsoft Dynamics CRM and Salesforce.com.  With the release of Dynamics CRM 2011, Microsoft has positioned itself in direct competition with salesforce.com.  An article from www.cloudcomputing.internet.com included a comment accusing Microsoft of releasing “…inferior product, with no innovation, resorted to competing on price…”  I’m paraphrasing Scott Holden, Salesforce senior director of product marketing. And you know what?   Up to now, I would have agreed with them.  (My boss is probably shaking his head right now).  But I believe that these conversations we’re having in the blogosphere are supposed to be real – and honest.  So here it is folks. 

Microsoft hasn’t always been an innovator, it’s true. They’ve come along after the fact and thrown a ton of money at catching up to what the market wants.  Some good things came out of it, some not-so-good (think Windows Vista).  However, CRM 2011 is truly something that I can wholeheartedly recommend to my clients, friends, family; something that I’m using earlier than any other software release in my 15-year career.  Why?  Microsoft, although maybe a bit late to the party, has listened to their users and tailored the product to do what it should have done a long time ago. 

And they made it easy. 

So even if you ignore the cost-savings, and the commitment to R&D, and the fact that Microsoft is probably going to be around for a good long time supporting CRM, you are still looking at a sleek, powerful, simple-to-use CRM system. 

I’ve written about my favorite features before, but here are a few highlights that I’m still enjoying every day:

1. The one-page wonderful web-page-type feel of the screens. I just love it.
2. Dashboards.  Out of the box. 
3. Simple, simple, simple importing, escalating, and appending.
4. One-click actions.
5. Extensibility – even for someone who isn’t a developer or code-junkie.
6. Total record count from advanced finds/searches.
7. Audit trails – who last edited, entered information here.
8. Custom activities – no longer are we tied to what someone else thinks we do all day.
9. Field level security – I can’t tell you how many of my clients have wanted this. Now they have it.

Not to mention that you have your choice of on-premise or fully hosted, or any combination. So I don’t have to have Exchange servers and climate control and redundant systems, freeing me up to worry about the ten thousand other things that I need to get to!

If you’ve already invested in Dynamics CRM, you’re going to love the new features.  If you’re still making your decision, definitely review your options.  There’s a lot out there, and salesforce.com is worth reviewing.  However, I know if I were choosing today, I would choose Dynamics CRM, and I wouldn’t have said that a year ago.

Feel free to contact me with any questions you may have: Donna Krizik, Feterick & Associates, Inc  847-795-8200 x202 or dkrizik@feterick.com.

Submitted by Feterick & Associates, Inc –Microsoft Dynamics CRM Partner in Illinois.

Is Dynamics CRM 2011 Really Better Than Salesforce.com? is a post from: CRM Software Blog

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• This company is saving $300,000 annually after switching to Dynamics CRM 2011.
• The switch from Salesforce.com took only 2 weeks.
• The company became so efficient they tripled their number of sales agents
• The system is so flexible the customer is going to use it to support other areas of their business

The extensibility of Microsoft Dynamics CRM has long been touted, but now a steady stream of real-world examples are coming in that showcase just how efficient and flexible the system is.  From a medical supplier that uses CRM 2011 to simplify sales-follow up after trade shows, to tracking compliance of their medical devices, to unifying marketing efforts from location to location, the opportunities for cost-savings go on and on.

I’m usually quite cautious about new Dynamics releases, and the hype that often follows them. I’m not quick to jump on the Microsoft “promotion” bandwagon. But I’ll tell you, CRM 2011 makes it tough to be a skeptic.

So if you’re looking for reasons to adopt a new CRM system, Dynamics CRM 2011 is well worth a look.

Feel free to contact me with any questions you may have: Donna Krizik, Feterick & Associates, Inc  847-795-8200 x202 or dkrizik@feterick.com.

Submitted by Feterick & Associates, Inc –an Illinois Dynamics CRM 2011 Partner.

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4.       Audit Trail (or, what was in this field yesterday/last month/last year?).  How many times has someone asked you, or have you wondered yourself, what was the billing rate last year, or any other key piece of information that has changed a few times (maybe a password) and now what you’ve got in that field just doesn’t work or make sense?   Now there is a way to track the history of changes to your fields. 

5.       One-click export to Excel.  Should I say it again.  ONE.  CLICK.  They’re figuring out we don’t like a million steps just to get what we need.  CRM 2011 allows you to export your data to Excel, manipulate, change, append, etc., and then pop it right back in to CRM. Voila. That Christmas card list that you need all your sales reps to update—Done!

6.       Custom “Activities”.  In other versions of CRM, you were limited to a set of pre-defined activities. So what if you were doing something not on the list? Not very descriptive to pick something “close to” what your activity is like.  Now you’re free to create your own.  Call it what you like. My favorite new activity (you can probably guess)—blogging.    

Stay tuned for my next post which will include 3 more great CRM 2011 features (sneak peek –Conditional Formatting). And don’t forget to take a look at those beautiful pre-built CRM dashboards. I can’t get enough of them.

 Feel free to contact me with any questions you may have: Donna Krizik, Feterick & Associates, Inc  847-795-8200 x202 or dkrizik@feterick.com.

Submitted by Feterick & Associates, Inc –Microsoft Dynamics CRM Partner in Illinois.

15 Features to Love About Dynamics CRM 2011 – Part II is a post from: CRM Software Blog

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I’ll be honest, Dynamics CRM was tough to use at times. It felt like you had to go through so many clicks to get where you needed.  Modifying fields was a bear.  Remembering where to go for this and that was also difficult, unless you were modifying things every week (which I wasn’t). So I can’t tell you how happy I am that it seems Microsoft sat down with users and developers and had a real-life conversation.  I think they might even have looked at competitors’ products.  All with the goal of giving us the best of breed.  Here are my first three faves:

1. The Look and Feel (or User Interface for you techies).  You know how I mentioned all those clicks?  Well goodbye layers and layers of screens, hello one-page wonderful.  CRM 2011 has a significantly improved window – set up more like a web page with links to content on the sides, and an option to “freeze panes” or have key data stay at the top of your window. Brilliant.
2. Dashboards made EASY.  Gone is the language that you can “easily create your own dashboards using webparts and sharepoint”.  Sure, if you are an experience developer or have one on staff. Guess what? I’m not and  I don’t.  So no dashboards for me. Until now.  Pre-built dashboard come out of the box and you can see sample data in them to give you the idea of what your data will look like. How cool is that?
3. Field-Level Security.  Many of our customers have requested this feature.  Microsoft must have been listening.  Not only can you specify which fields a user sees based on his role (its super simple to do), but you can do it to both standard and custom fields.  Whoo-hoo!  My customers are excited, and while it’s not the most glamorous thing in the world, it’s USEFUL.  I haven’t seen this much buzz over a feature in a long time.    

Stay tuned for my next post which will include 3 more great features (what’s next? – Audit Trails and One- Click exporting!)

Happy Valentines’ Day early. In lieu of flowers, please send your CRM 2011 comments! Donna Krizik  dkrizik@feterick.com.

Submitted by Feterick & Associates, Inc –Microsoft Dynamics CRM Partner in Illinois.

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1. A key feature was missing from the Bulk Email functionality — the ability to add attachments.
2. Something else that I could really have used?  A way to use email templates when distributing Campaign Activities and Quick Campaigns. I have to admit, this missing feature drove me NUTS.
3. And the best one – make my email template “remember” that I have sent an attachment out with it previously, so that every time I use that template, attachments are sent out automatically.    

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 addresses all of these missing features, and not only that, they make it EASY to use them. 

-Adding attachments to email templates in Microsoft Dynamics CRM is as easy as adding an attachment to any email. The email template form now comes with an attachment section embedded.

-And using a template in a Quick Campaign?  There is a neat little check box that says, “Use Template”.  Easy-Peasy.

-And of course, with the last feature, having the template remember to include an attachment – I don’t have to do ANYTHING.  It’s automatic. 

I love it when they listen.

Happy New Year.

Feel free to contact me with any questions you may have: Donna Krizik, Feterick & Associates, Inc  847-795-8200 x202 or dkrizik@feterick.com.

Submitted by Feterick & Associates, Inc –Microsoft Dynamics CRM Partner in Illinois.

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The key to a successful implementation is to obtain involvement from the executive level. CRM is a business tool which combined with technology can greatly improve an organizations ability to improve customer acquisition and retention.

Traditionally, CRM has been regarded as a tool for sales management, specifically to track the activities of the sales force. As such, it has often been overlooked as a tool that can aid in forecasting production, purchasing and cash flow analysis

Before beginning an implementation, or indeed even an evaluation, an organization should determine its corporate goals and evaluate whether its current tools are able to support its efforts to reach its targets. For example, if the company strategy is to grow market share; can it track customer buying habits and does it understand how they stack up against the competition?

In the current economic environment, companies have grown lean in order to survive. Leaner staff and leaner inventories often mean slower response times. As we enter a recovery, organizations who can respond quickly to increased demand will gain market share. Customers will demand a fast response and for organizations which cannot meet their demands, the opportunity may be lost forever. As we recover, we need to alert the entire supply chain of changing circumstances. Organizations have relied upon their financial systems to provide data to predict the future. Since these systems are providing lagging indicators, they are not effective in a fast changing environment.

Successful organizations need to start to plan and put the tools in place to anticipate a period of pent-up demand which will accompany the recovery.

CRM supports the flow of information throughout an organization. As sales orders are booked, or anticipated, purchasing, manufacturing, and finance can be alerted of changes as they are occurring. Customer service can provide current information to quality assurance and problems can be addressed quickly.

Microsoft CRM 2011 addresses the needs of the entire organization. Via the use of business alerts, KPI’s, dashboards, and integration with financial data, Microsoft CRM 2011 makes a very timely appearance on the CRM landscape. Contact us here at Sikich to learn more about how Microsoft Dynamics CRM can help you adapt to a quickly changing business environment.

By Carol Hammer with Sikich, Chicago IL Microsoft Dynamics CRM partner serving IL and MO

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Because associations have members, events, sponsors, publications, inventory, and many unique types of revenue, they need to manage not only companies and individuals, but vendors, prospects, and other organizations as well.  These can be maintained as Accounts in Microsoft Dynamics CRM with different classifications.

Traditional Association Membership Software systems (AMS) do not have all the flexibility of a CRM system.  They handle operations such as registration and dues very well, but add-ons may be required for handling e-mail campaigns or social networking updates.  Microsoft Dynamics CRM add-ons such as SalesFUSION can track web analytics such as who opened your newsletter and clicked through to the website.  It can track who started to fill out an application along with the user’s domain name.   More and more products are being developed by Microsoft partners to add functionality to Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

What specifically can your association do with Microsoft Dynamics CRM?

• Manage your membership team just like a traditional sales team with sales leads and pipelines.
• Deploy focused marketing campaigns for your existing membership as well as set up on-going nurture marketing campaigns to gather new members.
• Track all revenue from the marketing campaigns with integrated quote and order capabilities.
• Use built-in Microsoft SQL Reporting Services reports and Advanced Finds to report on sales, marketing, and service activities and records.
• Work within Microsoft Outlook, using the web browser, or from your mobile device.
• Use Microsoft Dynamics CRM stand-alone or integrate Microsoft Dynamics CRM to your current AMS solution.
• The software can easily be deployed either on premise or “in the cloud”.

By Mary Lenehan, Client Education Manager, at Crestwood Associates, your Chicago, Illinois area Microsoft Gold Certified partner.

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As you may know, Dynamics CRM 2011 will be a major enhancement to an already strong solution.  Expect significant improvements in functionality, flexibility, integration, and ease of use.   Some of the new features that have grabbed my attention today include:

• Dashboards – a huge improvement in power, customizability, and interactivity (drilldown).
• Custom Activities – create your own customer specific activities for tracking with CRM.
• Role based Forms and Views – now users, depending on what they do, will see different forms and information.
• Field Level Security – limit what fields people can or cannot see and update, based on their role.
• Customer Service – almost a complete rewrite with improvements in many of the component processes.

Are you excited yet?  We are.  As if that weren’t enough, there are tons of Independent Software Vendors here hawking their wares, and a few to take note of:  

• Hoovers – Integration with CRM that improves your insight into your customers and prospects, cleanses your data, improves your overall marketing and sales efforts.
• ExperLogix – Provides guided definition of product configuration process to accelerate quoting and sales process.
• TenDigits – Mobile solution with deep functionality that works on the Blackberry, Windows Mobile, and iPhone / iPad devices.

Bottom line – the future is extremely bright for Microsoft Dynamics CRM.  If you’ve got it, be thrilled at what’s around the corner.  If you’re considering it, take a good look at what it currently brings to the table and all that you can look forward to.

by Rick Feterick, Feterick & Associates, Inc. – an Illinois CRM Partner.

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Based on the functionality included within the system, Dynamics CRM could be seen as a strong fit for businesses selling a standard or stock product. A good example might be a stocking distributor.

Why? Because the product includes most of the functionality  distributors would need to effectively sell their products included within the application. And because it is a CRM system, complete customer visibility and integrated promotional functionality for targeted marketing purposes would provide a differential advantage in this intensely competitive industry.

What do a distributors need to sell their products? Let’s start with pricing management.

Dynamics CRM includes a complete product catalog, so all products can be easily imported right into the Dynamics CRM system.  From there, Dynamics CRM includes a multi-level pricing schedule matrix.

First, units of measure can be defined by how the goods are packaged when received and sold.  For example, a product can be purchased by the gross, then sold in gross, carton, box or individually, with the quantities of each type defined and costs tracked through to the sale.  Each quantity level would have different pricing depending how it is packaged.

Products can also have different price structures based on customer, for example, a retailer or wholesaler.  Products can then be priced by actual quantity sold using a pricing schedule. They can also be discounted for promotions or other purposes.

Once the product price schedules have been set up, there are quote, sales order, and invoice forms built into Dynamics CRM.

Creating a quote using the pricing data that has been entered is simple. Selecting the product and entering the unit of measure, customer and quantity will automatically pull all the pricing information into the quote. The quote can then be adjusted at the item level or in total by percentage or by dollar amount. After the draft quote is complete, the quote is “activated” and presented to the customer.

Quotes can be automatically tracked with open Opportunities showing total dollar amounts, likelihood of the sale, and expected close dates to manage the sales pipeline.

Once the quote is accepted, clicking one button converts the quote to a sales order. At this point, there are a couple of options of how to proceed.

Dynamics CRM includes sales order fulfillment to track when the order was shipped and if it was complete or only partially filled.  An invoice can also be generated automatically from within Dynamics CRM and sent to the customer. The invoice would need to be entered and tracked in the accounting system.  A cash receipt would need to be created in the accounting system to receive payment.

Dynamics CRM has integration with the Microsoft Dynamics GP ERP system.  At the time of the sales order entry, it will automatically be sent to the ERP system to generate a work order or pick ticket and adjust inventory. The Dynamics CRM/GP adapter is available at no charge for customers using Dynamics GP. The order fulfillment status and payment status can be integrated back to Dynamics CRM.  The more information that is collected and recorded in Dynamics CRM, the more complete the customer view is to the sales and customer service people using the system.

Another function that is likely to be important that Microsoft CRM does not include is inventory availability. For most distributors, this functionality would need to be an integration point that brings this data into Dynamics CRM using another integration tool such as Scribe or eOne’s SmartConnect.

But for a company selling a product that needs to manage pricing schedules in order to generate fast and accurate customer quotes, Microsoft CRM is ready to go right out of the box.

If you are a company in the Illinois area and you want to schedule a meeting to answer these questions please contact us at Crestwood Associates.

By John Fischer, Crestwood Account Executive, Illinois Microsoft Dynamics GP Partner.

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SalesFUSION has built enhanced integration directly into the Microsoft Dynamics CRM platform for both premise-based and hosted versions of Dynamics CRM 4.0. 

Key features of MS Dynamics Integration

• SalesFUSION automatically replicates the custom fields and data in your Dynamics CRM Account, Contact and Lead tables.  This allows you to create segmentations on your database for direct e-mails with personalized content.
• SalesFusion will pull the Opportunities from Microsoft CRM for integration with our Multi-Channel Marketing component.  This allows you to track the ROI of all your marketing activities including email, registration forms, landing pages from search engines, Google keywords, Personal URLs (PURL), and other events like radio and T.V. placements.
• SalesFUSION will pull the users allocated to Microsoft CRM to allow for tight integration with Salesperson alerts.  A salesperson that is assigned to a lead or contact will be instantly notified when a person enters and leaves the website.  In addition, the Email Subscriptions component allows a salesperson to see instant activity on his registration forms and surveys.
• Lead Scoring – SalesFUSION’s Lead Analyzer can score contacts and leads based on user-defined variables.  These variables include web history, email campaign actions, database attributes, and results to forms and surveys.  This information can be pushed back into Microsoft CRM to create hot lead reports.
• Campaign History – Shows campaign and email response history in the lead/contact/account record in MS CRM
• Unsubscribe Integration – leads that unsubscribe in either system are automatically updated
• Nurturing Campaigns – When adding  Contacts or Leads, they can then be enrolled in drip/nurture marketing campaigns.
• Web Activity History – SalesFUSION will push all web activity for a given contact or lead into the contact’s activity history giving you a complete history of the contact’s activities.

By Mary Lenehan, Client Education Manager, at Crestwood Associates, your Chicago, Illinois area Microsoft Gold Certified partner.

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