One of my traditions at Thanksgiving is to reflect on what I am thankful for during the year. This year will be easy. I am thankful to have a job. With businesses having staff reductions, many people are asked to do more with less, be more efficient and deliver . It can be a daunting task but with the right tools in place, there is hope that all will be achieved. As someone who was a part of a staff reduction and starting a new job, I recently had my first experience using CRM.
Here are five reasons I’m thankful that we are using at DFC Consultants:
1. It looks like Outlook and other Microsoft applications so I naturally go to the correct menu option based on my past experiences. To my delight, it is the right option! It’s a new system to me yet it feels like I’ve used it. As a new employee, it can be overwhelming learning a new job, understanding how the business works and which systems do what. It is such a relief when you feel like you can quickly ramp up on using a new system because it is user intuitive. You feel smart and it’s one less thing to stress over.
2. It’s easily adaptable and customizable. When I have been working with customer accounts, I’ve questioned the arrangement of fields or whether a field should be required. In a matter of minutes, this can be adjusted so it makes sense for our business needs.
3. My customer contacts sync with Outlook. Keeping track of all the people you work with can be a full time job. I could track them in my email, cell phone, address book, sticky notes etc. but if I add them in CRM I can sync them with my outlook and phone so contact information is easily accessible no matter where I am. I no longer need to update two or more systems to keep track of contact information and I can save the sticky notes for passing messages to the cute guy around the corner.
4. There is a history of activities. As I make calls to customers about an upcoming promotion, I can look in my history of activities and confirm that yes, I did call Joe at ABC Company. Joe isn’t interested at the moment due to budget concerns but he said perhaps in six months they would be in a better position to buy. I can set up an activity for six months from now to make that call and it is reflected in the history so anyone in my company can see that when reviewing his account. I don’t have to rely on my memory or hope the glue on my sticky note holds out for six months. Any activities related to my customer are all in one place and just a key stroke away.
5. Everyone in my office uses CRM. In past experiences, people have tracked their activities in excel while others keep track in a day planner and no one else had access to their information if they were out of the office. When we all use CRM; we are sharing information with each other. We know what is going on with a particular customer if someone should be gone. There isn’t a gap in service for my customer.
When selecting a software package for your business, are you thinking about how a new employee could easily acclimate to the business? Microsoft Dynamics CRM is a software system that provides a 360 degree view of your customers. You can see all marketing, sales, and service activities. Take a look at Microsoft Dynamics CRM; your employees will thank you!
By Vanessa Veflin, DFC Consultants, Ltd - .
V...good write up. But I'm becoming a SFDC power user here at my new company and I've got to say aside from the adjustment of the user interface and price, SFDC is a pretty powerful and fast product. It's strange what happens when you start drinking other Kool-Aid. Sometimes it tastes just as good, if not better than the old stuff. CRM is CRM though, its all good stuff and improves customer engagement, etc... take care. Hope things are well at DFC.