Gaining and keeping customers is a big part of running a business. You want to keep your customers engaged and provide your business and employees with the tools needed to make it happen. This is where CRM (customer relationship management) services can help.
Microsoft recently revealed the latest release of Microsoft Dynamics CRM, the company’s customer engagement solution. Dubbed Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2016, the company claims this will be the most comprehensive upgrade ever for Dynamics CRM.
With Dynamics CRM 2016, Microsoft claims users will be seeing significant productivity enhancements as well as advancements in intelligence, mobility, and service. Bob Stutz, corporate vice president, Microsoft Dynamics CRM, says in the announcement:
“Dynamics CRM 2016 is designed from the ground up to deliver core capabilities all in a single system to eliminate distractions, to make it easier to get things done, and to dramatically increase productivity so our customers can spend more time serving their customers.”
Dynamics CRM 2016 will be introducing various new features and capabilities, though not all were revealed in Microsoft’s latest press announcement on the new release.
Microsoft did give some details as to what users can expect and stated that they would be posting a Dynamics CRM Release Preview Guide later in the week.
Microsoft claims Dynamics CRM 2016 will offer full offline capabilities so users can access it no matter where they are. This capability will work on phones and tablets across Android, iOS, and Windows. Users will now also have the ability to create task-centered mobile apps for their business and employees.
OneDrive for Business will be integrated so users can access and create documents from within Dynamics CRM. To further cut down on time lost when switching programs, a toggle feature is being introduced. Microsoft claims this will provide users with a simple and familiar customer process.
A new functionality you can expect to see is Delve. Powered by Office Graph, Microsoft boasts this function will surface key content to help sales people find helpful information, such as popular sales presentations and proposals.
Other enhancements include data management and advanced analytics capabilities powered by the Cortana Analytics Suite. Azure Machine Learning will also be included, boasting the ability to help enable business insights to predict customer needs.
Microsoft gave no date as to when this newest Dynamics CRM upgrade will be coming, only stating it is set “to come out later this calendar year.” The company did say it plans to announce additional details in the coming weeks leading up to the release.
Image: Microsoft
Bryan
The site is “Smallbiztrends.com” yet the article is about an enterprise-only service from Microsoft. When it comes to small businesses, Microsoft’s Dynamics is non-existent.. They have no packages tailored for small businesses and no help from their sales teams. You can’t even get Microsoft Sales to call you back when you inquire about it for a small business.. If anyone from MSFT reads this you need to get your sales team that services the Charlotte, NC area to review their customer inquiries for dropped balls.
Aira Bongco
I think that CRM is a part of the operations of a small business. It is not about having packages tailored to the needs of small business owners – it is about looking at a technology and looking at how it can be applied in one’s small business. At least, that’s what it is in my point of view.
cehnigeria
Microsoft and others are really great applications but one thing we should know is that Technology must not come before strategy for a customer-centric enterprise. You must have a clear role for your front offices before you start thinking of technologies that can help you achieve your CRM objectives.