Three different levels of access to available to be licensed: Enterprise, Professional and Basic. Different users can be licensed differently according to what their function and requirements in the organisation are.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM has an API which allows the integration with any modern system.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM needs to be configured to offer access to people outside the organisation. Restricted portals can be developed to external parties based on the requirements are.

Microsoft offers a monthly support plan.

Empower IT can train your CRM administrator to carry out the tasks in relation to licensing in part with the option to add and remove users and levels of access as required, with supported costs incurred.

The addition of a professional social network such as Yammer within the package is provided as a part of a complete customer experience solution Add On from Microsoft.  Refer to http://www.parature.com/

Purchasing a CRM license is available for the on-premise edition.  With on-premise edition there is the overhead cost of installing the software when compared to the online editions.

All dashboards within Microsoft Dynamics CRM are live. Sales reports are available and refreshed on a ‘live’ basis to all users, including cancelled business and opportunity statuses.

Every user has the ability to create their own personal dashboard with charts and reports. System dashboards and reports can also be created to be shared amongst a group of users.With Microsoft Dynamics CRM users have the ability for ‘live’ data to be filtered into direct reports and monitor brands and company performance.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM does not come equipped with auto-dialing options (as an out-of-box function) and it needs to be externally configured. Empower IT has experience setting this function for  many clients previously.

This is done through integration with the existing phone system. As a result of the integration, users can even capture voice recordings from the phone system and attach them as MP3 files to the lead / opportunity for quality management checking.

The Actual sales are reported in the Microsoft Dynamics CRM by default. Management dashboard can enable users with financial and managerial previliges to interact with the data (drill down) based on monthly, quaterly, yearly etc…

Multiple Tiers of security access  to suite business requirements can be setup in Microsoft. This can be based on Geographical Locations (e.g. Regions) and Line of business (e.g. Kitchen Installations vs Kitchen Repairs)  and Type of Role (Sales, Operations, Marketing etc)

Microsoft Dynamics CRM is an intuitive software that understands consumer purchase, help identify upselling / crosselling opportunities and allow users to remarket add-on products.

It has the Microsoft Office look and feel and works very well with Microsoft Outlook by automatically syncing enquiry related emails to the lead records as as well personal calendars.  As such the users can have the the same calendar in Outlook as in the CRM.

The main Microsoft CRM champion within your organisation can be trained on doing this.

The Microsoft Dynamics CRM calendar is much like the Outlook calendar; it shows all scheduled appointments and service activities. You can set up rules that guide and assist you when scheduling appointments or service activities.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM offers full data analysis and report generation capabilities including productivity measures.  Data analysis can be tailored to suit exact business needs.

Microsoft CRM supports Apple products, Android and Windows Devices. For more info please see this link: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics/crm-customer-center/crm-for-phones-and-tablets-user-s-guide.aspx

Lead generation and management are the core capabilities of Microsoft Dynamics CRM

Microsoft Dynamics CRM needs to be configured to allow access to external marketing databases to drive customer transactions. The integration can occur with any modern system that supports an API / Interface.

Complete data analaysis is available from Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Marketing Analytics components include: Dashboards, Report Wizard, Standard Reports, Trend and Historical comparison capabilities.

Integrating with the website can be achieved on different levels:

Level 1  sales enquiries capture:  Have the lead automatically created in the system from the website in addition to the email that gets sent out.

Level 2  customer support portal: the ability for the customer to go to on the portal and access knowledge base articles as well as make further enquiries about the existing kitchen.

and so on…

Marketing Campaigns can be run from Microsoft Dynamics CRM with different channels:  phone calls, emails, faxes, mail-outs, SMS.

Perfomance management can be based on KPI’s and Goals. Examples of KPIs and Goals are:
-number of phone calls / sales activities per day
– number of service activities
– timesheets / work recorded
– time to get back to the customer from initial enquiry.

Looking at the Dynamics Marketing you can add the following functionality:
-Marketing resource management
-Multichannel campaigns
-Lead management and scoring
-Sales and marketing collaboration
-Social marketing
-Marketing intelligence

Key points covered in this video include the differences between static and dynamic lists, how to add members to a list and how to create quick campaigns.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM does not come equipped with auto-dialing options (as an out-of-box function) and it needs to be externally configured. Empower IT has experience setting this function for  many clients previously.

This is done through integration with the existing phone system. As a result of the integration, users can even capture voice recordings from the phone system and attach them as MP3 files to the lead / opportunity for quality management checking.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM offers complete visibility of the customer journey for the customer.

A Sales Workflow Example
Lead / Enquiry workflow is out of the box. The different stages of the of the lead can be configured easily. Examples of some workflows:
-> Phone Enquiry > Lead > Opportunity > Contract > Sale > Production > Installation
-> Web Enquiry > Lead > Opportunity > Contract > Sale > Production > Installation
-> Suspect > Prospect > Lead > Opportuniity > Quote > Sale > Invoice > Production > Installation
The possibilities are endless…

Measures can be setup within Microsoft Dynamics CRM depending what is defined as productivity. Have a look at the following example in setting up measures (in 2011): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQEcJaukFUo

This provided as a part of a complete customer experience solution Add On from Microsoft, check out http://www.parature.com/ for more details.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM is accessible on computers, laptos, tablets, iPads, iPhone, Android-phones and Windows-based phones.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM can be configured to prompt follow-ups and customer contacts based on past feedback/ requests. Workflow rules can be setup to generate a phone call / meeting request under certain conditions.

Some Examples include:
– if you haven’t touched base with a lead with X days then generate a reminder
– X days after the purchase call the customer for feedback
– X days before scheduled maintenance to setup appointments with the customer
– Periodic followups with the customer

the possibilities are endless…