CRM for Associations is a new concept that’s taking hold within the NFP marketplace.  It’s CRM, but CRM that is tailored to meet the requirements and speak the language of today’s associations.  As a membership-based organization, you have members, events, campaigns, sponsors, and other sources of revenue.  Your challenge is to manage and interact with all of your constituencies and audiences more effectively.   A CRM for Associations solution helps you do that while also boosting revenue.

Most AMS systems are lacking in sales, marketing, and service automation.  They do just fine with operational management such as event registrations and dues management, but many of the sales and marketing features and functions they offer are either afterthoughts, bolt-ons, or poorly integrated into the overall AMS system.  They fall well short for organizations with more sophisticated requirements.

With a CRM system that is designed and built for associations, you can break out of the limitations imposed by traditional AMS.  A CRM solution offers many sales, marketing, and service best practices:

• Constructing your membership team more like a traditional sales team.
• Developing ongoing nurture marketing programs to capture new revenue.
• Establishing a measureable lead management process.
• Utilizing integrated case management to establish a high-end membership service program.

Where a CRM for Associations solution shines is in centralizing your sales, marketing, and service efforts for your membership.  You can manage the details of recruiting and retaining sponsors, donors, supporters, and members.  Plan and manage marketing campaigns of any size and complexity including direct mail and email marketing.  When a revenue opportunity is identified, you can track and manage it through the revenue capture process.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM is the foundation for our CRM for Associations offering.  We have taken the base functionality and customized it to meet the specific needs of membership-based organizations.  It retains all of the extensive features found in the base product but is extended and tailored to work for associations.   Here is just a brief list of its features:

• Access the system from within Microsoft Outlook or use it from a web-browser.
• Use the solution as a stand-alone application or as an integrated component to your current AMS solution.
• Create and automate marketing campaigns.
• Deliver personalized campaigns for specific members.
• Develop nurture email marketing campaigns for training, newsletters, and events.
• Track and report on marketing and revenue generation activities.
• Manage comprehensive buying and demographic profiles for all important constituencies.
• Provide top-flight service to members through integrated case management.
• Easily deploy the solution either on premise or “in the cloud”.

A CRM for Associations solution is a great alternative for any membership-based organization looking to grow its revenue. This new concept is being adopted by many leading organizations today and forms the foundation for better, more effective sales, marketing, and service management.  And the best part is that organizations are seeing improved success in generating non-dues revenue.  You can too.

Contact Steve Kane (skane@broadpoint.net and 301-634-2404) at BroadPoint Technologies, the mid-Atlantic’s largest Dynamics reseller, for more information on our CRM offerings.

by BroadPoint

CRM for Associations: A New Era in Member Engagement and Revenue Generation is a post from: CRM Software Blog

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Outlook Integration

Microsoft Dynamics CRM’s seamless integration with Outlook has been one of the major drivers behind implementing CRM and IPM in construction environments. As so much of project management relies on email communication, most project managers spend the majority of their working day in Outlook. The integration means they don’t have to leave this familiar environment to manage their projects and access critical project information. Microsoft CRM’s emailing tracking and filing is also unlike anything currently available to other project management solutions, giving concise and easily traceable logs according to the transaction, not the whole Job – very handy in the event of a dispute or claim.

Excel Import

One of the battles many companies come up against when changing to a new project management software solution is that many project managers just can’t let go of their spreadsheets. Excel spreadsheets have been an important tool in project management for many years, but can also result in a fragmented and disorganized project team as they are often not easily shared between team members. The Excel Import tool in Microsoft CRM 2011 means spreadsheet data can be quickly and easily uploaded to a main database – meaning all team members have access to the most current information, but the ability to utilize some of the features of Excel is not lost.

Customizable lists, dashboards, and workflows

Finally, Microsoft CRM’s customization options mean the software can be tweaked to fit almost any industry. This means CRM is by no means confined only to CRM functions. The customizable lists and dashboards introduced in CRM 2011 work incredibly well in a project management sense, where someone overseeing a project can see, at a glance, all the information they choose about the project. This way they can easily see RFI’s that haven’t been answered, where the budget may be off track or whether the schedule is lagging behind. Workflows have also always been an impressive feature and mean that users can create automatic step by step procedures, according to how they want the software to act – particularly useful for managing the RFI to change order process on a Job.

These three main features of Microsoft Dynamics CRM prove that CRM is not just about managing customer relationships; it can also be adapted to many different environments and become something more. To find out more about how your project management needs can benefit from a CRM based project management solution, please contact Scott Drushella at IPM Global USA.

By Reef Fielding, IPM Global: the creators of IPM – a Project Management Solution Certified for Microsoft Dynamics CRM

Three Reasons Why Microsoft Dynamics CRM Isn’t Just a CRM Tool is a post from: CRM Software Blog

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• Marketing- Their marketing department was using an Excel spreadsheet that listed all the districts and contacts within those districts and theycreated detailed notes in the Excel file during every call they made. The problem with this was that no other department could see these notes. The marketing department also ran into a few instances where there had been previous contact made, but they didn’t have insight into what those conversations touched on. They had  to start at “phase one” every time they reached out to new prospects and/or existing districts.
• Contracts- The contracting department had to keep close track of what contracts they had sent out to what districts as well as what date the contract went out and what date it came back in. By tracking this in a spreadsheet, follow up was tedious and often confusing. It really limited them from a growth standpoint.
• Billing and Invoicing- They did invoicing in another system, but it didn’t provide a lot of functionality that they needed; so they added another Excel spreadsheet to the mix of information that included what district had been invoiced, and whether that payment had gone through or not. This information was never real-time, therefore skewing the financial information they had insight to.
• Events- Once our client gets approved in each state they are required to go through mandatory meetings to continue serving that particular district. These meetings were another thing they had to track closely so as to meet each district’s requirements. This required yet another spreadsheet  tracked separately from all the rest.

As you can imagine, this many spreadsheets within a company can cause major confusion. Each spreadsheet was segmented in different ways and made it nearly impossible to compare data in order to capture a true picture of their operation. For example, billing would call district contacts about invoices and also have an overall conversation about how things are going. Then marketing would call the very next day to see how things are going, not realizing they had already spoken to billing the day before. This miscommunication put their customer satisfaction at risk and wasted time within every department.

In addition to keeping track of contact information, district name, address, superintendent, upcoming school information, students in district, as well as how many they can serve inside that district, they also had to keep track of all-up information for each school year. They needed the information in a standardized view so they could easily see where each district stood in terms of services they could offer.

As a Certified Microsoft Dynamics Partner with dual Gold competencies in ERP and CRM based out of Michigan, The TM Group extended the functionality of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 through XRM customizations and workflows specific to ATS’s unique educational services provider needs. Their solution included the implementation of the major components of CRM including accounts, contacts, and marketing, but also went further with key enhancements. By simply re-purposing the information CRM already captures, we made it possible for our client to see all the different records for all the different schools in an all-up dashboard view. In addition to current information about contracts, invoices, and number of students, they can also see previous school years and make easy comparisons for optimal business intelligence.

By simply putting all their information into one system, our client is reaping benefits left and right:

1. Event Tracking: In their weekly meetings, they can now quickly report on how many events were attended and for which districts. They can also view how many more events are required for a particular school year.  Dashboard views help here so they don’t need to conduct manual counts or cross-check multiple documents.
2. Streamlined and Effective Marketing: The marketing department is now on the same page as everyone else in the company AND everyone else can see the notes they make while communicating with prospects and existing districts. They can easily keep track of how many phone calls they made on a weekly basis and can also share this information easily in weekly meetings.
3. Collaboration Made Possible: Now that everything is recorded in Microsoft Dynamics CRM, they have insight into all departments. Contracting department can see into invoices. Marketing can see into contracts. It has made collaboration possible and growth, limitless.

This is an extreme case of the over utilization of Excel spreadsheets by multiple users within an organization to run the daily operations of their business.  Excel wasn’t designed for this, but Microsoft Dynamics CRM was designed to help organizations collaborate and perform at optimum levels. If you feel your company manages one too many spreadsheets, causing confusion instead of helping, contact us at The TM Group to learn how Microsoft Dynamics CRM can help.

Also, we’ll be spotlighting some  key add-on solutions for Microsoft Dynamics CRM at our upcoming Microsoft Dynamics Conference called Vision 2011.  Vision 2011 takes place on October 11, 2011 at the Michigan State University (MSU) Management Education Center in Troy, Michigan.  It is open to organizations considering new  CRM or ERP solutions and provides an excellent in-depth view of Microsoft Dynamics.  No cost to attend, but reservations are required. For more information, call Andree Dolan at 888.482.2864 or email andreed@tmgroupinc.com.

By The TM Group, Michigan  Dual Gold Certified Microsoft Dynamics ERP and CRM Partner for Microsoft Dynamics GP, Microsoft Dynamics SL, Microsoft Dynamics NAV, Microsoft Dynamics CRM and SharePoint

When One More Spreadsheet is One Too Many: Connecting Fragmented Departments with Microsoft Dynamics CRM is a post from: CRM Software Blog

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Enjoyment aside, how can consumers choose which CRM solution is right for them? Let’s take a look at some of the differences between the two products and then you can decide which product is right for you. Keep in mind, this is only round one of the CRM showdown, and each provider will get a second round to really square off.

Power of choice – Microsoft’s CRM offering supports all deployment models, on-premise Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011, partner-hosted Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011, CRM Online (hosted by Microsoft), shared or dedicated servers, and hybrids, and you can switch models when you need to. Salesforce.com is only available in one model, hosted by Salesforce.com.

Dashboards – CRM Online 2011 dashboards feature several graphs, charts, reports, and lists that update dynamically in real-time, while Salesforce.com only offers reports and lists. Salesforce.com dashboards also do not update dynamically the same way CRM Online 2011 dashboards do. You are given a limited amount of refreshes in a time span depending on the edition you subscribe to, and these refreshes still experience a waiting period of 30-60 minutes.

Security –While I mentioned earlier that the showdown between CRM Online 2011 and Salesforce.com has been entertaining to watch, a not-so-funny story broke a few years ago by the Washington Post. Hackers successfully broke into Saleforce.com’s hosted system database and retrieved customer records which were subsequently used for spamming and phishing attacks (read the full story at The Washington Post, “Should email addresses be considered private data?”). Microsoft has been active in pre-emptively securing their CRM Online 2011 databases, keeping them safe from rogue hackers since launching their cloud based model.

Databases – Speaking of databases, CRM Online 2011 features dedicated databases for subscribers. In the very unlikely event that a hacker does break into a company’s CRM Online 2011 organization, they will only have broken into that company’s database. Salesforce.com does not offer dedicated databases.

Data Storage – CRM Online 2011 subscribers receive 5GB of storage. Salesforce.com users receive at max, 1GB of storage per user. That’s right, despite the three times price disparity between their “Professional Edition”, and their “Unlimited Edition”, users do not experience any increase in data storage without paying an additional fee on top of their subscription fee.

Service level agreement (SLA) – CRM Online 2011 is financially backed by an SLA of 99.9% uptime for all customers. Salesforce.com does not offer any kind of SLA, although they do offer a Salesforce.com system status webpage that allows you to view the availability of all current services.

Microsoft Office Outlook integration – Microsoft is still the only CRM provider that can offer native Outlook plug-in integration; the CRM Online 2011 plug-in runs entirely contained in Microsoft Outlook. Salesforce.com functions as a limited plugin with a limited feature set and requires that you load an extra application, no matter what. In fact, Salesforce.com has repealed some of the features available in the past with their Outlook plugin; you can no longer manage Opportunities or Leads inside of Outlook using their plugin.

Microsoft SharePoint integration – CRM Online 2011 features robust SharePoint integration. If you are a SharePoint subscriber, you can connect your document repository to CRM Online 2011, and upload or view documents directly in CRM Online 2011. This integration is a two-way street, allowing SharePoint users to upload documents to SharePoint which will subsequently appear in the CRM Online 2011 system. Salesforce.com does not currently offer any form of SharePoint integration.

Microsoft Office Excel integration – CRM Online 2011 users familiar with Excel’s powerful bulk-editing capabilities will benefit productively from the easy moving of records between the two programs. CRM Online 2011 data can be exported to Excel, where users can manipulate it and then import it again. New data can also be generated in an Excel spreadsheet, for example a list of leads from a trade show, and then imported to create new records automatically in CRM Online. Salesforce.com does not currently offer any form of Excel integration.

Microsoft Lync integration – Lync is the latest massive update to Microsoft’s wildly successful voice-over-IP (VOIP), conferencing, and messaging client, Microsoft Office Communicator. If you are a Lync subscriber, Contacts and Users in CRM Online 2011 that subscribe to Lync will show presence icons, indicating their availability for communication or conferencing. Salesforce.com does not offer any form of Microsoft Lync integration.

After round 1, things are quickly looking bleak for Salesforce.com. Will they be able to step back into the ring and knock CRM Online 2011 out? Find out in round 2!

xRM.com provides Customer Relationship Management Consulting for Microsoft CRM in addition to Partner Hosted Application Hosting. Learn more about Microsoft CRM Online or What We Do at xRM.com.

by xRM, California Microsoft Dynamics CRM Partner

CRM Showdown, Round 1! Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online 2011 Vs. Salesforce.com is a post from: CRM Software Blog

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 When deciding which of the two approaches to proceed with, it’s important to understand the terminology and pros and cons of each strategy. Below, I’ve laid out the pros and cons of the traditional options and the unique strategy behind the xRM platform.

 Pros:

• Solution will promote business process reengineering
• No customization makes for easier upgrade path
• Timeline and budget won’t fluctuate dramatically due to xRM being out of the box

 Cons:

• Requires modification of business processes in order to meet your desired goals
• Significant initial software investment, in addition to software maintenance costs
• If the out of the box functionality doesn’t meet the evolving needs, organizations are faced with product maintenance and expensive customization to meet the requirements

 COTS solutions work well  for departmental applications like accounting, human resources etc. Yet, their use and effectiveness can diminish as it is spread across your entire company apparatus. Enterprise applications that utilize COTS typically will require organizations to adjust their business processes to meet the confines of the solution. Purchasing a solution with complex capabilities that your company won’t utilize will just increase your financial cost in both the near and long term.

 Additionally, if the out of the box functionality isn’t up to par for your organization, you’ll have a product that will require ongoing maintenance and expensive customization. This can significantly increase the project budget and/or limit the organization’s strategic initiatives.

 Custom Development:

Companies that identify their unique characteristics often see the value in custom development.  It’s meant to foster the organization’s strategic advantage and conform to the business processes, not vice versa as is required with COTS.

 In theory, custom development will align your strategic objectives with your newfound technological capabilities. Unfortunately, the unpredictable nature of the timeline and budget, limited upgrade path, and reliance on specific programmers creates a level of uncertainty that few organizations are willing to undertake. Custom development has proven to be such a painful process for so many organizations that the word ’custom’ has become a four letter word.

 Microsoft xRM:

Microsoft xRM is not a product; rather it is a strategy or concept. The ‘x’ denotes that you can utilize this strategy to develop anything-any relationship, process or data element. xRM is an application platform that offers the best of both worlds between commercial off the shelf solutions such as Microsoft Dynamics CRM and custom development. The xRM platform provides core business features, security, authentication, business process modeling and business intelligence based on both on-premise and in the cloud offerings. This platform is an excellent foundation for organizations to facilitate business their way without the risk and cost of custom development. Organizations realize the benefits of an out of the box portfolio toolkit that can be supported by non-technical staff and maintained through a consistent upgrade path. xRM provides low upfront costs, low maintenance and ultimately a more strategic solution to drive the business.

 Contact Steve Kane at 301-634-2404 or skane@broadpoint.net to find out how BroadPoint Technologies, the mid-Atlantic’s largest Microsoft Dynamics CRM partner, can help you determine the best solution for your organization.

 by BroadPoint Technologies, Virginia, Maryland, DC  Microsoft Dynamics CRM Partner

xRM: Your Guidebook to Finding the Right CRM Solution is a post from: CRM Software Blog

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The main concerns CIOs have about the cloud are security, privacy, maturity, and data sovereignty. But while these concerns can be addressed by knowledgeable salespersons and consultants, it’s the lack of legacy compatibility that gives companies the slight hesitation about not switching to the cloud.

Nowadays, companies aren’t investing enough in upgrading their future IT capabilities. Instead, most of their IT money is invested in maintaining their current systems. Luckily, one key advantage of cloud computing is that it costs less because of the multi-tenancy efficiency it allows for; this can be particularly helpful for Dynamics CRM users.

There are two types of clouds: public clouds and private clouds. In simple terms, the distinguishing feature is whether the IT resources are collectively shared by multiple organizations or instead dedicated to a single entity. When you compare both clouds to a traditional virtual datacenter, the benefits are clearly evident. Both public and private clouds benefit from automated management and homogenous hardware. Additionally, both public and private clouds are economically advantageous due to the fact that they come with much lower labor costs than the current model in use.

Additionally, when organizations make a cloud purchase, they’re basically purchasing an insurance policy since they won’t exceed the cloud’s capacity. Yet, throughout the tenure of a company’s hardware, peak usage occurs on an infrequent basis. Companies will only use about 5-15% of their server capacity at any given time. Often, this results in a massive overcapacity in processing power. The cloud can solve many of these issues due to having capacity buffers built in, pooling resources and factoring in industry-specific variability.

Regarding industry-specific variability, certain industries will be at peak capacity during specific times of the year. For instance, in the weeks leading up to April 15th, tax companies will be at full capacity. Therefore, if combined in the cloud, variability can be diversified away. Ultimately, this will level out usage patterns.

A useful benefit that’s often overshadowed is that if clients decide to transition to the cloud, they’re able to access their applications and data from anywhere at any given time. All you would need is access to an Internet connection instead of a connection to your company’s internal network. Depending on how mobile your employees are, this can significantly increase employee productivity.

Contact Steve Kane at 301-634-2404 or skane@broadpoint.net to find out how BroadPoint Technologies, the mid-Atlantic’s largest Dynamics CRM partner, can bring the cloud to your organization.

by BroadPoint Technologies, a Virginia/Maryland/DC  Microsoft Dynamics CRM Partner

Dynamics CRM: Bringing the Cloud to You is a post from: CRM Software Blog

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Design Comes First
The design phase of a project involves determining the best way to use the application to meet your company’s needs. With accounting systems, federal regulations often dictate the structure and end result. The process variations between companies usually require making a choice between several configuration options. On the other hand, the processes companies support with CRM vary widely and the decisions are less about options and more about envisioning the future.

Development Phase
During the development phase, accounting systems generally follow a more traditional waterfall development model, where the system is more or less constructed and tested as a whole system. Microsoft Dynamic CRM lends itself to the Agile software development model. Dynamics CRM allows for quick, iterative development working in conjunction with your company’s project team to help visualize processes that may be ‘under construction’.

Going Live
The largest discrepancy between implementations comes during the Go-Live phase. Accounting systems are usually implemented for a smaller group of users, performing similar functions and interact with management for reporting purposes. In contrast, CRM systems may span multiple functional departments, be accessed worldwide and used by almost every person at the company, including management. The CRM system may need to be accessed in multiple languages and by multiple methods including mobile devices and over the Internet.

A CRM implementation will have many more ‘people’ variables to deal with. Change management will play an important part in user adoption, much more so than with an accounting implementation. Keeping these things in mind, as well as the other differences mentioned may help you with planning your implementation.

Contact Steve Kane at 301-634-2404 (skane@broadpoint.net) to find out how BroadPoint Technologies, the premier Dynamics CRM reseller in Virginia, can help your organization efficiently evaluate and implement Dynamics CRM.

Agile Thoughts for the Dynamic CRM Implementation is a post from: CRM Software Blog

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Microsoft Dynamics CRM continues to be a leader in customer relationship management tools as indicated by independent research from Gartner and Forrester.  Not only is it powerful and user-friendly, it is also flexible.  That’s where xRM (Anything Relationship Management or eXtended Relationship Management) comes into the picture. Organizations can leverage the flexibility, features, and functionality of Microsoft CRM to extend the application and support their businesses in new ways they might not have thought possible.

How might you extend CRM?  Consider managing your HR relationships with employees and job candidates.  A builder could use CRM to manage relationships with contractors, sub-contractors, and material suppliers.  A restaurant chain could use CRM to manage the relationships with its franchisees and restaurant locations. The options are limited only by the limits of your imagination.  And in each scenario, the built-in features of Microsoft Dynamics CRM such as workflow processing, activity tracking, charting, reporting, and integration with Outlook can be utilized and extended with no additional software fees!

What is the benefit of using Microsoft CRM for xRM?  Can’t you buy another software package specifically for that extended purpose?  The answer in some cases is “yes”.  The question then becomes “Why?  Why spend the money for another package when your existing tool can do it for you?”  As you discuss your CRM implementation plans with your Microsoft gold partner, you should consider how else you might leverage your software investment to meet your needs.   Much of the efforts to develop a custom xRM application using Microsoft CRM can be done by a proficient user.  The CRM toolset utilizes point and click, drag and drop functionality making it easy to create new fields and design new forms or views.  Your xRM application can be extended even further with the help of a developer using the Microsoft .Net platform and JavaScript.  Either way, your organization can benefit from using the same basic knowledge of the CRM platform to extend its functionality to other parts of your business. 

When considering how Microsoft Dynamics CRM can help support your business, it’s important to think outside the box; beyond the usual limits of traditional CRM functionality.  Talk with your CRM consultants about the possibilities.  You might just find that you’re getting more for your money than you thought!

By Ledgeview Partners – Wisconsin based Microsoft Dynamics CRM Partner serving the Midwest and Heartland regions

Microsoft Dynamics CRM – Beyond Managing Customer Relationships is a post from: CRM Software Blog

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They way to change this is to engage on small design and proof of concept projects.  The beauty of a tool like Dynamics CRM is that you can procure it online and very quickly build out a functioning application that allows people to see their business processes in the application.  Whether it is taking advantage of the free 30 day trial offering online, or doing something a bit more in depth with a CRM partner, you have options that allow you to reduce the risk of committing to the wrong technology.

However, doing a pilot or proof of concept project correctly is important.  Before we begin, we like to have an agreed upon vision of our clients future with CRM.  What are the outcomes they hope to achieve once they are using a CRM application.  We then work with them to understand exactly what needs to be included in the proof of concept.  Enough to prove to them the capability of the tool, but not so much that it becomes difficult to manage or get done in a reasonable period of time.  We are not creating the end application.  Do not try and solve every business issue during the pilot.  Usually, we have 3 or 4 well defined proof points that we need to show.  Everyone needs to agree on the criteria that will be used to review the proof of concept, the period of time and who will be involved.  It is also important to use an organizations real data in the proof of concept.  It just makes it easier for them to visualize the solution.  Along with the proof of concept or pilot project, you want to gather enough requirements to understand what type of investment will be needed to address the needs of the organization during the implementation.  Upon completion of a proof of concept, your partner should be able to provide you a detailed project plan and estimate for the implementation.

Committing to a proof of concept and requirements gathering prior to making your investment in CRM allows you to get accurate investment information, generate project enthusiasm and prove out the technology platform.  The result is a less risky project and a better understanding of the commitment and investment it will take to achieve your results.  When stuck in your selection of a CRM application, consider making the investment in a proof of concept and requirements gathering project. 

By:  Mike Nafziger, McGladrey – Minnesota Dynamics CRM Partner

With Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Seeing is Believing! is a post from: CRM Software Blog

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When we include this point, the 4 steps are easier to understand:

1. Defining the Lead Management ProcessA basic yet frequently forgotten step, defining your lead process is the first way you can open up communication between your teams. A strong process sees all leads (not just hot leads) through the ‘tunnel.’ A defined process like this helps both Sales and Marketing teams stay focused on all leads, maximizing revenue generation. By defining your process, you can then better utilize customer relationship management tools such as Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

2. Developing the Lead Process through Communication Passing leads through this ‘tunnel’ requires strong communication between Sales and Marketing, and another step in opening up that communication is having the teams agree on common terms and definitions:
• Do both teams agree on the definition of a lead?
• What are the criteria for a qualified lead?
• What are the common metrics set in place?
Agreeing on common terms leads to a greater issue — agreeing on a common goal. Sales and Marketing need to align their goals, the most important being revenue generation. The goal is not to generate leads, but to generate revenue, also known as a “Lead to Revenue Management” mindset (a term borrowed from Forrester Research). When both teams are aligned with this goal, they can better view each other as integral parts to the process, rather than separate entities.

3. Measure Each Part of Your Process If your teams have successfully aligned on a common goal and terms, it’s time to start thinking about metrics in your lead management process. Metrics are key to understanding successes and losses in your process, and they enable teams to take an approach to lead management that is fact-based and unbiased.

The Blame Game between Sales and Marketing

Metrics provide proof of what’s working and what’s not working in terms of generating revenue. Without factual measurements, the tendency for Sales and Marketing to shift blame to one another is high.
Maybe you’ve heard things like, “Sales can’t close any of the leads I give them…” or “Marketing doesn’t hand me enough leads…”
The blame game is removed when metrics are set in place, and both teams can get over the biases to focus on the common goal: generating revenue.

4. Change Your Mindset I’ve mentioned this idea in the previous steps, but getting your teams to change their mindset about themselves and each other, and focus on the “Lead to Revenue Management” process is the most difficult step.
Making this change starts with ourselves and our expectations about our own position and job. We are not just sales people or marketers — we are part of a team with a common goal. And we can no longer complain about the “other” team not doing its job or complain about lead flow.
We need to take ownership of revenue generation as a collective team and let go of the bias. Doing so will allow for growth in a transformative way, not just for the teams, but the organization as a whole.
If what I’ve described here sounds like your Sales and Marketing teams, please watch the full webinar for a more in-depth understanding of how you can align your teams using the 4 steps.

For more information on utilizing Dynamics CRM as an integral part of you lead management process, contact Steve Kane (301-634-2404 or skane@broadpoint.net) to find out how BroadPoint Technologies, the premier Dynamics CRM reseller in Virginia, can help you develop thorough, sensible solutions for your sales and marketing organizations.

by BroadPoint Technologies, A Virginia Microsoft Dynamics CRM Partner

Maximize Revenue by Aligning your Sales and Marketing Teams Through Dynamics CRM is a post from: CRM Software Blog

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