New Marketing and Sales Applications

Spring is a time of fresh starts, especially for software vendors releasing the latest versions and improved features of their products. This year, one of the most exciting spring releases is from Microsoft Dynamics 365, which debuted its new CRM applications this week. When building its marketing and sales applications, Microsoft considered both the latest technological advancements and business needs to bolster smarter customer journeys. Below, we explain how the Spring 18 Update of Dynamics 365 drives digital transformation.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Sales

With more sales channels and data than ever, businesses are finding it increasingly difficult to achieve 360-degree views of their customers. Furthermore, customers have more power than ever, making it critical for salespeople to respond as quickly and effectively as possible to consumer demands. Microsoft Dynamics 365 more than meets these new challenges with the latest version of its sales application. The sales application takes advantage of machine learning and predictive analytics to help users steer customer journeys in the right direction. Here are just a few of these new functions:

• Relationship assistant: Using new embedded intelligence capabilities, Microsoft updated its relationship assistant tool. Beyond sending alerts to remind salespeople to move customer relationships forward, this platform now provides informed suggestions for contacts and next best actions.
• Predictive lead scoring: Without writing a single line of code, users can take advantage of computer generated lead scores and grades to prioritize leads, identify when leads are gaining or losing traction and drill into this information to plot their next move.
• Power BI for Sales Insights: Available for preview this spring, the new feature offers an embedded experience for the sales platform. It leverages a large amount of data from customer sentiment to previous transactions to deliver a comprehensive view of customer relationships.
• Icebreakers: Knowing that it can be a challenge for sales teams to break the ice with customers that have gone cold for a while, the new icebreakers function uses machine learning to identify conversation starters from previous customer communications.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Marketing

Only so many deals can be closed when marketing and sales departments are functioning on different wavelengths. Microsoft Dynamics 365 drives sales and marketing alignment with the unrolling of its new marketing application as part of its spring release. Like the sales application, Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Marketing is made from Microsoft’s trusted Azure cloud, enabling the two applications to work together cohesively. Users can take advantage of business process flows to streamline interactions between sales and marketing. Plus, marketers can easily forward qualified leads to salespeople. This alignment powers a smooth sales cycle and better customer relationships.

The marketing application also includes robust features to go beyond basic email campaigns to provide personalized customer journeys. Without coding, users can execute effective multi-channel campaigns and interactive landing pages using out-of-the-box templates. Marketers can use these templates as well as drop-down menus to easily create automated email campaigns that go to the right audience at the right time. Improved data management and behavior-based lead nurturing features enable marketing teams to personalize customer experiences.

Wrap Up

With the latest developments from Microsoft Dynamics 365, businesses can achieve 360-degree views of customers from beginning to end. Its new CRM applications for marketing and sales introduce smarter capabilities and simplified processes to streamline sales cycles. Datix, a Microsoft Dynamics 365 partner, is committed to supporting clients in their digital transformations by guiding them in CRM implementations, integrations, maintenance and upgrades to ensure they are always operating on optimal platforms. To find out more about our enterprise software solutions, reach out to Datix today!

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