In the world of sales, it’s imperative that the “engine” keeps momentum, it’s all too easy for your commercial workforce to be too busy at one end of the sales funnel and in danger of taking their eye off the ball at the other; for example, closing a deal at the expense of nurturing new relationships. In other words, sales productivity becomes an issue for businesses who need to ensure that their revenue is assured for the short, medium and long term.
More often than not the problem lies with time management, the balance of “admin” versus sales conversations and a focus toward the close rather than the longer term activity, with no reward in sight.
We have previously blogged about achieving business productivity through Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2016; but it is worth focussing on the key area of sales and its nuances for this article.
Intelligent social selling for increased sales productivity
The arena for sales has changed along with changing buyer behaviour. Sales teams can now grow their network (and therefore their pipeline) and engage with prospects and customers within social networks. According to Forbes, a study showed that 78% of sales people using social media out performed their peers. Social engagement functionality with Microsoft Dynamics CRM is not just for customer service and marketing teams, but account managers and lead generating sales personnel can also take responsibility and build relationships where their audience gathers.
Mobile first for sales
There is a constant struggle for the remote worker to keep on top of their other sales activities and not lose productivity. The key challenge for a remote sales person is to seamlessly multi-task, ensure their relationships are nurtured and the business is kept up to date on their pipeline and performance.
When a business equips their sales professionals with easy to use software that breaks down these challenges, such as touch and mobile enabled Microsoft Dynamics CRM, there is an increase in productivity, no matter where they are.
Ease of adoption is imperative for maintaining productivity, and by having a consistent experience across all your devices for CRM and Office 365 means that your team can stay connected to customers and the business with no issues.
Easy insights to stay on top of your customers and competitors
Interactive charts are available in Dynamics CRM 2016 so your sales team can analyse their data for quick insights and to “surface” the most relevant information—no matter where they are.
Azure machine learning via Cortana within Dynamics CRM online assists the sales professional with account management and lead nurturing; by receiving recommendations on potential leads, people to follow and content to share in their networks. Cortana is moving on from just personal productivity, by enriching with business information (contextual and historical data) so that the sales person can move seamlessly between business and personal life.
This deeper integration with Outlook also give sales an expanded view of their key customer records through quick navigation; by bringing data and actions from multiple sources together, this also focuses the user on relevant tasks to do.
Reduced admin time with intelligent document management
In a time pressured environment where these things slip, it is much easier to view, keep and share records in Dynamics CRM online because of the integration with Office 365, using One Drive for Business for private documents or via Sharepoint for team documents; all in the context of the opportunity or customer record being worked on.
All of these functionalities are in answer to issues felt by sales teams and managers when balancing all the different needs throughout the sales funnel. Speak to Prodware about how Microsoft Dynamics CRM helps professionals improve sales productivity, deliver great customer experiences and remain motivated.
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