Microsoft Dynamics CRM system implementation

Strategic step which raises your business to a whole new level

Microsoft Dynamics CRM system implementation is a strategic step which raises your business to a whole new level. Sales and service automation gives you several significant immediate advantages: increasing productivity and quality of personnel work, transparent results of marketing activity and, as a result, increase of revenue. But in order to achieve this challenging goal, it’s very important to take into account a number of key questions.

Goals and tasks
What tasks does CRM system solve?
How to prepare for implementation a CRM system?
Implementation stages
What difficulties may arise or the enterprise and what to do in order to avoid them?

Goals and tasks of CRM system Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Sales

CRM system (Customer Relationship Management system) is a software for effective management of relationships with customers by means of automation of business processes considering sales, service and marketing.

What tasks does CRM system solve?

Increasing sales. Management of sale and agreements process is one of the most important goals of CRM system implementation.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Sales has impressive basic functionality developed to take into account world practices, which demonstrate high effectiveness. Besides, system adapts easily to company’s needs when it’s important to take into consideration unique peculiarities of the business.

Improving quality of customer service. Automation of interaction with customers minimizes impact of the human factor while it considerably increases loyalty of current customers and the conversion of leads into agreements. Additionally, you have the possibility to collect detailed history on every customer and to use it for further sales and service.

Productivity of personnel work. Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Sales provides transparent and credible analytics, enabling management to track work effectiveness of every employee. The real productivity of one employee can be evaluated and plan quantity of personnel accordingly.

How to prepare for implementation properly?

In order to achieve desired results and avoid unnecessary misunderstandings, it’s important to prepare for the implementation in advance. We recommend a detailed review of the current situation in sales and service, and an audit of the resources necessary for the launch of the project – qualification of the personnel, available budget and time.

Compile a list of problems and reasons why they emerged. Why do you lose customers? What are the causes? What ways of interaction with customers have the lowest conversion? At what stage does purchase usually fail? What are the reasons of refusal or customers’ dissatisfaction?
Find problematic spots in interaction with customers. Plan likely scenarios of customers interactions and compare them with working processes inside the company – quite possible, there are unproven procedures which prolong period of agreement or cause it to fail.
Define your expectations. How do you see company’s work after implementation of CRM system? What has changed? What results have you achieved?
Develop KRI (Key Performance Indicators). Precise indicators give the possibility to evaluate effectiveness of the applied actions any time, to maintain level of service effectiveness, to build personnel motivation system.
Compile a list of contacts supply sources. Analyze where you receive new and repeated contacts from and compile into a detailed list. This will enable you to track the effectiveness of every channel and its conversion into sales, in order to avoid unnecessary waste of advertising budget.

Answers to these questions will help you to optimize time for preparation and set tasks clearly before implementation of CRM system. This will help ensure youri results meet your expectations.

Implementation stages

Work on the project consists of three basic stages:

Choice of system and implementation partner. Become familiar with demo versions of the software. Meet with implementation consultants to discuss your urgent problems and expectations from CRM system. Taking your requirements implementation cost will be calculated along with a detailed project plan: pay attention to specification. Innoware consultants approach is diligent and througher at all stages of cooperation, forming part of a unique project methodology which ensures success of the project.
System implementation. If your company is ready to adopt the standard business processes of Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Sales, then this system can be implemented quickly. If you need the system to be adapted to the peculiarities of your enterprise’s work, then it may take a longer period of time to implement. During this phase, consultants configure CRM system including transferring while all existing data inside the company to this system. It is also during this phase that you learn how to use the new software.
Support and completion. During the implementation phase or at completion additional features or functionality maybe requested of CRM. This can be done during support. It’s not obligatory to deploy additional modules at once – it can be carried out over subsequent months, for example, in order to innovate in a managed step by step basis.

What difficulties should you be ready for?

Having frustrating experience in the past, some companies mistakenly believe that implementating a CRM system is a waste of finances and time. But negative experience can be avoided by using the right implementation partner to help you prepare properly for each new stage.

Often, employees are skeptical about innovations or new working practices, and also, at first, face difficulties adapting a new system. That’s why, it’s vital to prepare employees in advance and inform them about future changes which will be to their advantage. By adopting this planned approach the level of internal resistance is considerably lowered and implementation runs more smoothly. In addition learning how to work the new CRM system is of course vital to a successful implementation.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Sales software is intuitively easy to understand and simple to work with, however there is always a need to provide training for the personnel. Additionally a package of detailed instruction is provided in order to help personnel become familiar with new CRM system.

After deployment of Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Sales, not all the benefits will be available on day one. There is a transition period as employees need some time to get used to the software. It may take several months before the full benefits are achieved. In order to get more objective comparison, it would be nice to check KRI before implementation of the system and in half a year when it’s completed. You will definitely see positive dynamics both in numbers and in revenue of your business.