The Microsoft CRM Q2 Update is imminent, judging by the notification I received from Microsoft about "scheduled maintenance" this Sunday (20th May). The headline features are the new CRM mobile application, and support for a wider variety of web browsers.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM Mobile

As part of this 'CRM Anywhere' update, Microsoft CRM will now include a Cloud-based, cross-platform native mobile client on a range of mobile devices. Pricing has not been finalised, but it is known that you will be able to use it on up to 3 devices for a monthly subscription.

The new Microsoft CRM Mobile apps will include support for the following devices:

• Windows Phone 7.5
• iPad
• iPhone
• Android
• Blackberry

Extended Browser Support

The Q2 update also provides the long-awaited flexibility of being able to use Dynamics CRM on browsers other than Internet Explorer.

These include:

• Safari
• Firefox
• Chrome

Rapid View Forms

This new option enables selected user groups to open CRM records in lightweight form.

These forms will be configurated like any other in Microsoft CRM 2011, so they can be used to display contacts, accounts, cases and other entities.

Additional Enhancements

• Activity Feed Improvements: This Q2 update sees more improvements in the continued goal to provide more social media integration within Microsoft CRM
• Enterprise Cloud: This upcoming release will also ensure that the every complex requirement of enterprise customers, such as disaster recovery, enterprise scalability & user data security, are all met with ease
• Improved Social Capabilities: The new improved Microsoft Dynamics CRM also features enhancements to our social capabilities that expand the ability to communicate in real time

Find Out more…

Download the Release Preview Guide PDF:

Watch the video:

Not familiar with Microsoft Dynamics CRM? Why not take advantage of these changes and download a FREE 30-day trial!

Your premium (and only) product

Almost every business has their ideal product. Their core product that is the (most expensive) thing they want to sell. Maybe a single product developed over a long time, stuffed full of amazing features. This product becomes the be-all and end-all of the company, and without it, the business wouldn't exist.

With such a reliance on one product, it is easy for this to cause problems and actually cost them sales, with too many falling into the trap of effectively telling /asking the prospective customer: 'This is my premium product. Do you want it or not?'

Think about a company whose aim is purely to sell Ferraris. For those of us fortunate enough to be in a position to be able to buy a Ferrari, how would we know which dealership to go to?

A company selling Ferraris would need to know who can afford their cars.  Most importantly, they would need the prospect to know that, if and when they're ready to buy, they are the dealership they need to buy from.

This is where marketing automation, and more specifically the Product Stack, comes in.

The Product Stack

"Product Stack" is my word for a series of products or services you sell, leading up to your ultimate product. Each successive "step" in the stack is sold for more than the previous step. You might start with something that is free, or nearly free, then a product that costs less than £100, then less than £250, less than £1,000, and so on. Not every customer will go orderly up the product stack to your ultimate product, but by designing a stack, you are giving your customers choice. You might have three products in your stack, or ten. Every business will be different in this regard.

Now think again about a Ferrari. What are the steps leading up to the ultimate sale? How are the future customers nurtured until they are ready to buy? Perhaps some of the merchandise like a fleece or jacket are relatively inexpensive, but nevertheless a great way to find out who loves the Ferrari brand, and who might become future Ferrari owners.

It is plausible for someone to decide that they want a new car, and buy it from the first dealership they visit. But if you consider that active customers are six times more likely to buy from you, then it makes sense to engage – in a commercial way – with the prospect long before they are ready to commit to the ultimate product.

In line with Lead Nurturing principles, it's vital to start working on a sale before a prospect is ready to buy. This is specifically where the Product Stack comes-in, and the most important step on the Product Stack is Step One. That is where you are giving away something that is valuable to the prospect for free, that is of value to them. And take note: Giving something away will only work if you have a strategy; a series of well-designed actions that lead your prospect from the "free step" right up to the ultimate product.

Are all the steps in place?

Now think about your business. Do you have a Product Stack? Are there steps in place to guide your customers to the top of the stack?

At the recent Contact Edge seminar, attendees were split into groups and asked to create the product stack for a Landrover dealership.

The answers that came back proved highly interesting with personalised Birthday Cards, safety courses and discounted off-road driving experiences all suggested as possible steps on the Product Stack leading up to the ultimate, high-end product: The Landrover. Judging by the enthusiasm shown during this exercise, all delegates could have successful careers in marketing. Be warned though: The hardest business to create a Product Stack for can often be your own. Because of the natural bias (we know what is good for our customers), and the emotional energy invested in the ultimate product, it is difficult to think of "simpler" products that might be complimentary.

What Now?

Even if you've defined your Products and Services that you think fit nicely in your Product Stack, the process does not end there.

To guide someone slowly up your Product Stack, you need to tailor your output and utilise Lead Nurturing and Lead Scoring to track how they are moving up the stack. The last thing you want to do is interact with your prospect in an inappropriate manner, and lose their trust.  This is where marketing automation (also known as Demand Generation) can help. Output is adjusted automatically, and interactions are scheduled at appropriate times, based on the prospect's journey up the stack.

Microsoft CRM is one tool that enables you to easily manage your database and ensure that however high a lead /client is on your Product Stack, they are receiving information that is directly tailored to them.

At Contact Edge CRM, we specialise in Microsoft CRM, which helps businesses find creative ways to engage with customers.  And by accurately tracking how the first engagement was initiated, it's easy to determine which elements of your marketing strategy are working.

The first of these events takes place on Thursday 14th June in Cambridge, followed by the next one a week later on the 21st June in Borehamwood.

These annual events are lively and informative and cover a range of topics including Selling Your Business, Managing Succession, Mitigating Tax and Exit Strategy.

The seminars are led by Lake Falconer, a man with over 20 years of senior level experience in venture capital.

Testimonial from Don Wiid, founder of Contact Edge CRM:

"I'd urge business owners / senior managers to come and learn from Lake. I attended a seminar in 2011, and found the seminar style logical and coherent. It covered a huge topic very effectively, and the practical "Value a Business" break-out session was especially useful. Anyone interested in building up a business for sale should make an effort to attend this free half-day seminar."

For further information, and details as to how you can book your place on any of the seminars, visit the Events section of the PEM Corporate Finance website.

Don addressed an intimate audience, demonstrating through practical business scenarios how Microsoft CRM can help to Find, Win and Keep customers for any organisation.

The interactive seminar also included a variety of group exercises – including an exercise and discussion on the Product Stack – and two independant guest speakers, who drew on their own vast business experiences to discuss the role of Marketing and Customer Service in CRM respectively.

After previously hosting seminars in Huntingdon, Bedfordshire and Stamford in 2011, Don was delighted that the first Contact Edge CRM session of 2012 proved to be popular.

"It was pleasing to address delegates from a range of businesses and backgrounds, who had markedly different goals", said Don.

"It can be difficult to tailor a session to such a varied audience, but everyone in attendance participated and it was good to see and hear that everyone got something from the seminar.

"Whether their businesses are to implement a CRM system or not, I'm confident that the techniques and skills they picked up in the session will stand them in good stead."

Similarly, the attendees from the discussion were equally impressed with their morning in Kettering.

Malcolm Johnstone (from Re-Formation Associates), who attended the seminar, said:

"The seminar was interactive and full of helpful and insightful tips.  Technology moves rapidly and there is a whole lot more integration and sophistication out there when compared to ACT some 20 years ago!

"The metrics available to a senior management team have clearly improved and now cover much more than just the sales pipeline.

"I would recommend that anyone who is considering CRM should attend a Contact Edge seminar."

To find out more about any Contact Edge CRM seminars, visit our Events Page for more information.

There are just a handful of places left for this interactive session, which is taking place on Thursday 29th March at the Kettering Park Hotel.

This half-day session will show how Microsoft CRM can help you to Find, Win and Keep customers and grow your business.

It will also illustrate various techniques and skills that you can apply to your business, even if you're unsure if it is ready for a CRM installation.

In particular, this seminar will demonstrate:

• How to gain the maximum output from a limited budget
• How Sales and Marketing can work more effectively closely together
• Strategies that will bring people to YOU, rather then having to 'hard sell'
• How to separate the intellectually curious from the economically serious
• And much, much more!

Don has previously hosted successful seminars in Stamford, Huntingdon and Bedfordshire and prides himself on the interactivity of his sessions, as well as being able to tailor them to suit the individual needs of his audience.

Places are still available for the upcoming seminar, but they are extremely limited so we strongly advise you to book early in order to avoid disappointment. Places are free but prior booking is essential.

To find out more and book your place, click here.

“Since implementing Microsoft CRM with Contact Edge, our productivity is already up by 40%; an added bonus is that our printing costs have reduced by 90%.  Microsoft CRM works!”

Felicity Hall, CEO, Roleplay UK.

“It opened a whole new world for me! Marketing has changed so much in the last 15 years and I was in danger of being left behind!”

Cris Rees, Nene Valley Railway.

But what about the two-thirds who don’t like change? To motivate them, you might need a combination of stick and carrot.

The Carrot Approach

With the help of your CRM champions, develop a communications plan to illustrate how CRM will make the roles in each department easier.

Involve the users; help them to see that CRM is a tool that will help, not hinder, them do their job. Perhaps ask a question to get their involvement: “Name the top three issues that you are hoping the new CRM system will solve.”

It might throw up a few other organisational change requests, so tread lightly!

A real-life example from a client: In a European manufacturing business, there are two particularly positive individuals. Individuals who can see the benefit of CRM, and who evangelise and cajole their colleagues. One day, the CEO was out of the office. When he was urgently needed, their first port of call was CRM, to find out where he was. When they finally tracked him down, he was gently reminded that his appointment was not in CRM!

It has taken a nearly a year for everyone to reach high levels of engagement. Standards are starting to develop around the CRM system, and in turn, this means that customers are experiencing a predictable service (and keep coming back for more).

The Stick Approach

This might be an approach for the sales departments and the 5% die-hards. In the absence of a CRM system, people develop their own processes and procedures to manage their work.

These may be spreadsheets or even Outlook and, if they perceive the new system as extra work or wasting their time, you might have a battle on your hands.

Success Tip: Find ALL the spreadsheets and alternative data sources, and make sure you capture the logic inside the CRM system. Then train people on the new systems. They will need to do a cold-turkey switch, otherwise you will have multiple sources of data without knowing which is the most up-to-date.

While it does not pay to go to war with your sales people, you might need to be tough.

The sales function in a business can be particularly competitive, primarily because it is easy to measure the monetary value attributable to each sales person. This leads to a protective culture where sales people often keep their leads and prospects close to the chest.

As a manager, you might be forced to consider a different style of communication:  “We calculate your commission based on the sales and opportunities in CRM. If it is not in CRM, it does not exist."

This normally gets their attention…

Ultimately, Microsoft CRM has been proven to enhance sales results, so it’s just a question of being aware of the pitfalls and skirting around them.

But don’t stop with the sales people. Think about how you might measure the performance of people in other departments, for example the number of customer service issues that go on for longer than 24 hours.

Success Tip: Make sure you have thought about the openness of CRM, and how it will affect sales people. Think about how you will manage territories and how you might go about creating a culture of trust and sharing.

Centralising Information

At its core, CRM achieves its aims by centralising all the information about a customer or prospect in one place.

This visibility of CRM data may be uncomfortable for some, and downright undesirable for others.

It is particularly prevalent in law firms, where the business is top-heavy in terms of 'fee earners'.

The fee earners will undoubtedly be better lawyers than they are account managers and, as a consequence, the client relationship suffers. The fee earner’s authority and 'my client' attitude can make effective CRM virtually impossible in a law firm.

There is hope though: CRM – and the resultant visibility – creates peer pressure, which does wonders for motivation. It flushes out the poor performers and helps the best performers to shine even more.

Over time, CRM helps to document best practice, as well as providing a platform for continuous incremental improvement.

In Summary…

Over the past two blogs, I have been very frank about the problems you can face when it comes to a CRM implementation. This may seem strange coming from someone whose job is to sell and install CRM systems.

However, I feel it is only fair to be honest and give the complete picture before you decide to implement CRM. Yes, Microsoft CRM is something that can be – and has been – of great benefit to businesses and organisations all over the world. But it’s something that you, as directors, need to get behind.

Only then will you truly reap its full rewards.

Sound interesting? Why not come along to my free seminar, where I can show you just how it can be maximised and benefit your business?

At Contact Edge CRM, we specialise in Microsoft CRM, which helps businesses find creative ways to engage with customers.  And by accurately tracking how the first engagement was initiated, it's easy to determine which elements of your marketing strategy are working.

The following question, posted in a LinkedIn discussion, inspired me to write this two-part post:

Can anyone share their experiences of implementing a new CRM system? Particularly interested to hear about unforeseen challenges / positives / negatives impacts on field sales and marketing teams.

Having implemented Microsoft CRM in several businesses, a number of issues keep coming up. Good and bad.

This is Part One of my warts-and-all take on the issues you may encounter when you implement a CRM system, as well as some tips on how to ensure that your implementation is successful.

User Adoption

Let’s face it: Without the users, you don’t have a CRM system. They are the point at which your business interacts with the customer. And if that interaction is not captured in the CRM system, you have nothing.

So if you are about to foist a new system upon the unsuspecting users, bear in mind that behaviourally, around two thirds of users will resent the changes. And 5% will fight tooth and nail against the change.

Success tip: Identify the one third of users who relish change and get them on-side first. Make them the 'CRM champions', and solicit their opinions. The champions will take a benevolent view on things that don’t work and help you to fix it.

Users go through a classic change curve and your communications plan will determine which performance line on this graph applies to your staff.

Needless to say, the dotted line is the better one: Manage expectations in the beginning, and lower the euphoria and hype associated with the new system. This leads to a shallower 'despair' point and quicker subsequent recovery in performance levels.

Management need to understand the pressure of the person at the coal face. Managers are paid to have a big-picture view, which means users’ gripes may seem trivial.

But if your employee struggles to send an email several times a day, you will soon face revolt.  The new system needs to reflect the way they work and, if there is a substantial change, you need to explain the whys and wherefores.

Success tip: Email is a biggie. If the CRM system introduces a new way of handling email, make sure there is plenty of training to bridge the gaps.

Now, that's the easier bit dealt with. Part Two will will explain how you can combat those who are reluctant to embrace change.

Sound interesting? Why not come along to our upcoming FREE seminars, to see how Microsoft CRM can help you to Find, Win and Keep customers and boost your effectiveness.

At Contact Edge CRM, we specialise in Microsoft CRM, which helps businesses find creative ways to engage with customers.  And by accurately tracking how the first engagement was initiated, it's easy to determine which elements of your marketing strategy are working.

We recently discussed some of the reasons why Microsoft CRM has proved so popular among non-profit organisations.

Whilst Lead Nurturing is a method of marketing proving increasingly popular in B2B businesses, it is something that non-profit organisations simply have to do to survive.

But, in the case of non-profit organisations, it is not Lead Nurturing. It is maintaining relationships.

While the definition of a non-profit organisation is far from exclusive to Charities, they remain the first thought in the minds of many when the words ‘not-for-profit organisation’ are uttered.

Charities, like all non-profit organisations, need to do more with less. As with for-profit businesses, they vary in size drastically and therefore have very different outlines and targets.

Whatever the Charity, the three core principles remain the same:

1. Increase revenue from the supporter or membership base
2. Attract new supporters
3. Drive down overall costs

Achieving these three goals simultaneously is a difficult balancing act.

But, with the help of Microsoft CRM, it's something that Charities of all shapes and sizes can achieve.

Increasing Revenue from existing Donors

This is something we touched upon in our previous blog. Charities need to understand their Donors; only by doing this, can they ensure that they are going to keep up their support.

Microsoft CRM ensures all staff have all the information they need on every Donor to hand. This means they are able to show them that their money is being spent exactly how they'd like and individually tailor their output to suit the individual Donor.

By understanding each Donor, a Charity is able to contact them as much, or as little, as they want. They can also do it using whatever the preferred means of contact (email, post or phone) of the individual.

In short, they are giving them exactly what they want. And in doing so, they are drastically increasing the chances of them becoming a regular Donor.

Attracting New Supporters

Attracting new supporters/Donors is made easier with CRM for two reasons.

1. The time and expense saved by having everything in one-easy-to-use system means that they are able to focus attention clearly on gaining new Donors. This is particularly important if a Charity is managing an Event, for example, with everyone's jobs clearly pre-defined; rather than assigned and re-assigned during endless meetings.
2. Due to the monitoring tools and the easy-to-use data storage facilities, they are able to use the Lead Nurturing principles; These tools allow them to only contact people who have indicated – through their interactions – that they want to engage with the charity.

Driving down Costs

CRM is a huge cost-saver. This is largely due to a combination of the two reasons above.

By focussing on the individual needs of their Donors, much of their communications can be done via email. With a more targeted approach to attracting new Donors, it also saves money on 'scatter gun' mailings.

Due to everything being stored in one easy-to-use system, it also drastically reduces training costs and reduces overall staff costs, due to everyone's individual job being clearly defined.

Above all, what Microsoft CRM gives a Charity is time. With less time spent fiddling with a complicated data storage system, less time assigning and re-assigning tasks in meetings and a more targeted approach, it gives a Charity more time.

More time to raise its profile, more time to increase revenue and more time to reach the goals it ultimately set out to achieve.

Case Study

While Microsoft CRM has already proved very popular – and successful – among small-to-medium sized Charities, we are now seeing that this success is able to translate into larger organisations.

The Cumbria Foundation Trust, for example, have 1,400 members of staff and over 7,000 members. They have started to reap the benefits of utilising Microsoft CRM; sending out tailored messages, having all the information on every donor, member and associate immediately to hand, raising efficency and reducing cost.

The full (5 minute) Case Study video can be seen on the Microsoft Dynamics CRM website.

Sound interesting? Why not come along to one of our upcoming FREE seminars, to explore in further detail how Microsoft CRM for Charities can boost your effectiveness.

At Contact Edge CRM, we specialise in Microsoft CRM, which helps businesses find creative ways to engage with customers.  And by accurately tracking how the first engagement was initiated, it's easy to determine which elements of your marketing strategy are working.

It might not be instantly obvious why CRM systems have proved popular for non-profit organisations and charities.

The terminology of a 'non-profit' organisation can be somewhat misleading. After all, non-profit organisations still have to pay their staff, rent office space, pay the bills and meet targets. In other words, they still have to make money.

And, more often than not, they're under just as much pressure to do so as 'for-profit' businesses.

The primary difference lies in what they're able to do when they make that money. While for-profit organisations are free to use the money they make as they wish, not-for-profit organisations must either hold profits and/or invest them back within the organisation.

So, with the line between profit and non-profit organisations becoming more blurred in recent times, why have non-profit organisations been one of the biggest investors in CRM systems?

Non-profit organisations can cover an increasingly wide spectrum, but for many the first thought when the words 'non-profit organisation' are uttered is of a Charity, or of an organisation that is looking to contribute something to society, for no personal gain.

Either way, non-profit organisations often rely on goodwill and donations in order to achieve their goals and continue to make progress.

It's no surprise therefore, that non-profit organisations need to maintain relationships with the people that are supporting them. One way to do this is by tailoring your communication and output to individual prospects and leads, so they are always receiving (free) information that is useful to them.

It is utilising the practices of Lead Nurturing and Lead Scoring at a time when people are taking longer than ever to decide on considerable purchases.

These practices are essential for charities, and non-profit organisations, who need to know who is giving them money and where they want that money to go.

If tailoring output  to an individual prospect/lead/client is something that businesses who sell B2B or B2C products would like to do, it is something that non-profit organisations simply must do.

If an organisation is reliant on donations, they need to understand their donors, and the way to do this is to centralise data and information in one system.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 is something that allows non-profit organisations to see who is giving them money, where they want to see it spent and how they're responding to company-released information, which will tell them if they're likely to become a regular donor.

Though the concept is slightly different to a product-based 'selling' business, a non-profit organisation can use Microsoft CRM in a similar way; classifying leads into three types, and tailoring their output accordingly.

With such an easy way of ensuring that everyone is getting exactly what they want, it starts to become clear to see why Microsoft CRM has become such a hit with non-profit organisations all over the world.

After all, when you're offered something that can improve your organisation and that has the tools in-place to keep everyone happy, why would you ever turn it down?

Sound interesting? Why not call us for a no oblication, free chat and to explore in further detail how Microsoft CRM for non-profit organisations can boost your effectiveness.

At Contact Edge CRM, we specialise in Microsoft CRM, which helps businesses find creative ways to engage with customers.  And by accurately tracking how the first engagement was initiated, it's easy to determine which elements of your marketing strategy are working.

• A raft of optimism: This year is going to much, much better than the last!
• A period of reflection: Am I on the right path? Is my business heading in the right direction?

From a business perspective, everyone wants a New Year to prove more profitable than the last. But what makes you think that 2012 is going to be more successful than 2011?

What are you going to do differently? What are you going to improve in your business?

Only you can decide what changes you need to implement in order to progress your business. But, as we’ve previously discussed, resistance to change can ultimately scupper plans for innovation and improvement. This is particularly relevant when we consider CRM technologies.

Businesses with in-house CRM systems for example, are missing out on the flexibility of modern systems like Microsoft CRM.  Because the scoping-development-testing process takes a long time, the people in the business lose heart and stop asking for new data fields, or innovative new ways of doing things. With Microsoft CRM, it is a matter of seconds to create a new field (if you have the security rights to do so of course).

Struggling to classify a new type of customer, product or service?

Easy… if you have Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Just create the new fields, or even whole data entities and link them up to the customer record.

The people at the coalface in your business will from time to time, come up with innovative ideas about how to serve your customers better; And if they see their ideas consistently being recognised and implemented, you will develop a culture of innovation and progress. Growth and profits will surely follow.

So if you want your business to grow in 2012, you need to ask yourself the question: Do we have the systems and software in place to do so?

Microsoft Dynamics CRM is one way of ensuring that your business is ready to take that next step up; improving organisation, reducing overall costs and minimising the risk of human error.

When everything you do in business is distilled to its essential parts, the only thing that remains is getting and keeping  customers, which is the core promise of CRM.

Sound interesting? Why not call us for a no obligation chat, where we can give you an overview of the best products for your business and advise you of any potential pitfalls.

At Contact Edge CRM, we specialise in Microsoft CRM, which helps businesses find creative ways to engage with customers.  And by accurately tracking how the first engagement was initiated, it is easy to determine which elements of your marketing strategy are working.