A great deal has already been written about the new features of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015 Online. And I know that here at Altico Advisors, we’re going to derive huge benefits from the functionality in this next release, as will our clients! But instead of a laundry list of features, I want to tell you about the magic, which is, the added tools that promote “crossing the chasm.” Allow me to explain.
It probably comes as no surprise to you that sales and marketing often have an adversarial, finger-pointing relationship. When revenue goals aren’t met, sales points the finger at marketing for not having provided enough leads for them to pursue. And marketing points the finger right back at sales, saying that marketing provided an ample amount of qualified leads but sales did not do a good job of following up or closing the deals.
This finger pointing is very counter-productive and really helps no one at all. To the contrary, it creates bad feelings all around.
But when sales and marketing work together, the result is sheer magic!
I’m not a sports fan and yet a sports analogy comes to mind. In team sports such as football, baseball, soccer and the like, the best results are achieved when all members of the team work together to win. There may be star players, but team support is invaluable. Am I correct?
The same is true in a corporate environment. A “Business Development Team” that includes sales and marketing is better than a Sales Team working separately from a Marketing Team. The ”Business Development Team” model is the one we’ve adopted here at Altico Advisors. So I speak from experience when I say that working together is magic.
cross the chasm that often separates them?
At the most basic level, Dynamics CRM provides a 360-degree view of accounts, contacts, leads, and opportunities. Every member of the Business Development Team can view the activities, posts and notes related to every account, contact, lead and opportunity. We can see the lead source and source campaign so we know exactly where every lead came from. We can see who on our team has called or emailed the prospect and what the response was. We can see the sales stage which tells us how far along the prospect is in the sales cycle. We can see all open or closed opportunities associated with the account.
The new “Sales Collaboration Panel” that will be released with Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015 will add to the magic by strengthening marketing and sales synergies. The Panel allows the sales team to provide input into marketing campaigns, gain visibility into campaign activities, control communications targeting their customers, and receive alerts when there are new interactions. The Panel is just one of the tools that supports Microsoft’s vision of a world where sales and marketing work more closely together to seamlessly and successfully engage customers and deliver amazing customer experiences together. It’s going to allow the Altico Advisors Business Development Team to go to the next level of collaboration. It’s going to be awesome!
Abracadabra! The Sales Collaboration Portal, along with many of the other features that already exist in CRM 2013, will open new doors for our team … like magic.
Take a look at this short video about Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015:
To learn more about Altico Advisors, you’re invited to browse our Web site @ , contact Altico Advisors the old school way at 508-485-5588, or reach out to us online at .
by Marcia Nita Doron, Altico Advisors, Your Microsoft Dynamics CRM Partner serving Massachusetts (MA) and beyond.
