"Perserverance is a great element of success. If you only knock long enough and loud enough at the gate, you are sure to wake up somebody." - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
The last thing you want to hear before walking into your customer’s office is, “Your Company’s service is getting worse and worse by the day. Yesterday’s shipment arrived late and on top of that … included the wrong items.” Prior to this feedback, you were looking forward to your well planned sixty minutes of precious fact-to-face time with a customer who is a perfect prospect for a new product or service that your organization now offers. Given the customer’s history and relationship with your organization, you were confident that you could cross-sell to this account and make a big impact on your quota. You meticulously planned your meeting and couldn’t wait to execute your strategy for a successful call.
Now all of your plans for the meeting are up in smoke. You spend the next grueling hour trying to figure out what happened on an unplanned and uncomfortable conference call with your service department - from your customer’s office. You attempt to chase down information and develop an on-the-fly plan to keep your customer happy. If you only knew about these issues beforehand, you could have minimized the impact to your customer sooner and had a more productive meeting as planned.
Having access to everything about your customer or prospect’s relationship with your organization is what Microsoft calls a “holistic view”. A holistic view assures that every team member is informed about all interactions between your organization and your customer, which is one of the most impactful benefits Microsoft Dynamics CRM offers.
The challenge for sales people is having access to that holistic view when and where they need it. Compiling information is great, but its value is greatly diminished if salespeople can only access it from their office, or if getting to the data remotely is too slow and cumbersome. Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 includes significant enhancements around “mobility”. Now customer-facing team members can be better prepared and have convenient remote access to critical information wherever they need it. Empowered with information, they can plan a strategy for each meeting and stick to it, rather than being blown off course and losing control.
Enhanced mobility features to Microsoft Dynamics CRM will be released in stages over Q1 and Q2 in 2013. The following features described here are based on current information and are subject to change.
Microsoft has incorporated cross-browser functionality in Dynamics CRM 2011, offering users access to live information and a great user experience over a variety of devices and browsers. The chart below details the latest information regarding platforms and browsers supported. The minimum screen resolution required to access Dynamics CRM on a device is 800x600.
Cross-browser functionality is free, requires no installation on the mobile device and presents information through a rich user interface with the same look and feel as the current Internet Explorer version. Powerful features including Dashboards, BING Maps imbedded to customer records, and a “flatter” user interface to deliver an Office 13 look and feel, are included with this version.
For CRM users with an unsupported device, Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Mobile Express delivers CRM information through an HTML 4.0 application. This web-based solution requires no installation and includes a UI configurator, so that the application can be configured to the unique needs of an organization’s users with out-of-the-box tools and functionality. Microsoft is moving towards the HTML 5 platform, which will expand access and native support, as well as full functionality to more devices moving forward.
Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 will include a Windows 8 application that has alert notifications to prompt users when action is required of them, mobile charts and dashboards, activity feeds, and the Windows 8 look and feel.
Organizations that require more robust mobility features can leverage Independent Software Vendors such as CWR Mobility, who offers add-on functionality for smart client support for iPad, iPhone, Android, Blackberry, and Windows phones and tablets. Other powerful features include the ability to utilize in-app web browsing, so that users can utilize resources like SharePoint, web applications and internet websites as part of their mobile experience. CWR also offers the ability to work on- or off-line.
Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 includes a Process Control Customization Tool that empowers organizations to define critical activities that must be completed in each sales phase of an opportunity before the opportunity can progress to the next phase. The tool guides on-the-go users through the sales process, checking off activities as they are completed, to reinforce the organization’s selling process and to foster consistency in forecasting. Powerful Lync and Skype integrations offer users who work with a laptop or PC the ability to connect a call and record a record of it in CRM with one simple click.
The mobility features in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 will help your team avoid disastrous sales meetings like the one described above. Armed with information, they can increase their effectiveness while working away from the office – and while in front of customers and prospects. Enhanced efficiency, increased sales, and higher customer satisfaction results will further increase the value that Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 delivers to its users.
For a high level estimate of your investment in Microsoft Dynamics CRM, please use our “FREE” Microsoft Dynamics CRM Quick Quote Tool”. It will give you a great starting point for assessing your potential investment in a project like this.
If you have additional questions or would like to learn more about what Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 can do for your company, please contact Turnkey Technologies to set up a “Free Discovery Call” at 636-237-2280 or email at [email protected]
By Michael Ramatowski at Turnkey Technologies, Inc. – Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri Microsoft Dynamics CRM & Microsoft Gold Certified Dynamics GP Partner