Microsoft Leads the Way by Integrating Social Productivity into CRM
Do you know what the new buzzword, or buzz term, is in the world of CRM? No, nor did I until a few days ago… Well, let me enlighten you – it’s Social CRM and technology giants, such as Oracle and Salesforce.com, have been leading the way… that is until Microsoft entered the fray with the launch of the service update for their Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online. And the reason they are drawing attention to it? Yes, you’ve guessed it; it is because their latest version incorporates a strong range of social collaboration capabilities.
In addition to these added social capabilities, Microsoft Dynamics CRM November 2011 provides users with a Unified Microsoft Office 365 experience on top of the Microsoft Dynamics CRM in the cloud enhancement. According to Microsoft, there are 5 new ‘social productivity’ capabilities that have been integrated into the CRM Online solution.
Brad Wilson, General Manager of Microsoft Dynamics CRM Product Management Group, said, “Across Microsoft, we deliver social capabilities that help customers and businesses build more productive relationships. By bringing together new social collaboration capabilities in Microsoft Dynamics CRM with familiar collaboration technologies such as Office, SharePoint and Lync, businesses will be able to expand their relationships with customers and gain even deeper insight and understanding.”
New capabilities include configurable activity feeds, or real time notifications of business/relationship developments and events. Also there is micro-blogging which allows users to ‘post status updates and conduct conversations’, according to David F Carr in Information Week. Barry Levine on newsfactor wrote, “Micro-blogging provides notifications to users through simple updates, and conversations allow users to collaborate among themselves to get feedback from others or to locate information.”
Another social productivity function is automated activity updates based on configurable event rules, i.e. when a sales opportunity is closed, that users can follow, including a mobile activity feeds app for the Windows Phone 7.
Social CRM is essentially the coming together of social technologies and CRM processes, and it is this collaborated technology that enterprises are looking to harness to achieve greater customer satisfaction and ultimately results. The new release of Microsoft Dynamics CRM incorporates new social collaboration capabilities including:
• Activity feeds – configurable, real time notifications on important relationships and significant business events via a blended view of a micro-blog posts and interactions for a person, customer or sales opportunity.
• Micro-blogging – status updates and notifications regarding business events and actions, providing simple experiences for users.
• Conversations – post questions, observations, suggestions and status updates, enabling users to collaborate quickly and efficiently, locate information or expertise and gather feedback from others.
• Automated activity updates – post information directly to the activity feed based on configurable event rules; users can subscribe to or ‘follow’ these activity feeds.
• Mobile activity feeds – mobile Activity Feeds application for Windows Phone 7 enabling users to view their activity feeds while absent from the office.
Jim Steger, Co-Founder & Principal at Sonoma Partners, said, “As companies grow across geographical and technological boundaries, businesses need to be able to capture knowledge and disperse it effectively to ensure people have the most up-to-date information when they need it. To be effective, social tools need to be easily accessed and usable, they need to be searchable allowing you to filter information, and they need to be a holistic part of the CRM solution. Microsoft’s approach to social productivity uniquely meets those criteria.”
Written by: Allie Philpin