In past , I have talked about the power of using the Microsoft Dynamics CRM platform to deploy XRM solutions for our clients. Well if CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management then XRM stands for [Anything] Relationship Management. What this means is that we can apply all of the great customization and extensibility tools that come with Microsoft Dynamics CRM to create a solution that can manage any business data and processes that we want.
At NexusTek, we really love these types of projects because they enable us to deliver high ROI solutions to our customers that are tailored to their unique business requirements. (Plus they are really fun to work on!) We recently had the opportunity to apply the XRM capabilities of Microsoft Dynamics CRM to satisfy some very specific and unique prospecting requirements for a client. In this case, we focused on the capabilities of the Dialog Process functionality in Dynamics CRM to provide process guidance and automation for salespeople.
Peter Svenneby and his team at Syntuity have developed a proven process for prospecting that enables salespeople to gradually build relationships with potential customers in a non-threatening way. As these relationships move forward, it becomes easier for salespeople to understand the potential customer’s needs and suggest solutions to meet those needs. By implementing this process, companies can achieve higher prospecting success rates and drive more sales.
Peter’s customer CliIntel, specializes in providing advanced business intelligence solutions to their customers in the cable television industry. They have recently developed a new product that will help smaller cable companies reap the benefits of advanced analytics at a more affordable price point. In order to effectively market this new product, they knew they had to change their prospecting and sales strategies to adapt to a higher volume / lower transaction value model. After reviewing the Syntuity prospecting process, they decided to work with Peter and his team to adopt it for their new strategy.
We sat down with both Syntuity and CliIntel team members to discuss the process and outline requirements. We quickly realized that the process could be significantly streamlined through accurate data management, guiding the user step by step through the process, and by helping the users manage their workload through queues. These are things that Dynamics CRM is well suited to address.
We designed a solution in Dynamics CRM that is centered on Dialog processes. Dialogs in Dynamics CRM are interactive wizards that guide a user through a process. Dialogs can prompt the user for information, contain branching logic based on responses, create or update records in the system based on information gathered, send notifications, etc. Close cousins to Dynamics CRM workflows, they are highly configurable to adapt to specific requirements and the result is a step-by-step script that guides users through a process. We also came up with a customized data structure to manage the data that was being captured in the Dialogs. We then used this data to manage the process and help user’s manage their daily work activities through Dynamics CRM Queues.
The result was a streamlined and reliable user process that:
- Started with a user selecting a prospect record from a queue.
- Guided the user through a script as they contacted the prospect.
- Prompted the user to provide information during and after the call.
- Automatically updated multiple records based on the call result.
- Automatically moved the prospect record to the correct queue for the next step in the process.
- Automatically tracked the history of contacts made.
- Automatically updated the user’s activity goal tracking dashboard.
As a result of using Dynamics CRM Dialogs as the centerpiece of the solution, the users do not need to memorize complicated call scenarios or remember how and when to update multiple records based on call results. Instead they can focus on achieving their call volume objectives to obtain new business while the system manages the process details for them.
If your organization could benefit from the power of Microsoft Dynamics CRM to guide users through complex prospecting or other processes or to address any other business objectives you might have, please contact NexusTek at 303.773.6464 or [email protected]
By , Director- Dynamics Solutions
