Small businesses: 10 benefits of using Microsoft Dynamics CRM
To compete in today's information-driven world, you need a solid understanding of your customers. You also need to react quickly to new customer demands and market opportunities. To achieve your business goals, you need business tools that can help you succeed in the fast changing market place.
Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 and Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003 Premium Edition are designed to work together so businesses have the right customer information at the right time. Together, these two products can help your employees build closer relationships with your customers to achieve new levels of productivity and profitability.
1. Work more effectively from Microsoft Office Outlook
Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 and Windows Small Business Server 2003 Premium Edition enable your staff to work directly from the Microsoft Office Outlook messaging and collaboration client. This tight integration with Microsoft Outlook and other Microsoft Office programs means that your sales, marketing, and customer service staffs can stay in their favorite work environments while accessing fresh customer data. They can look up customer information, send and manage e-mail messages, set up appointments, and capture customer discussions, all without ever leaving Outlook.
2. Keep all your customer information in one place
Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 can help you create a single, centralized repository for all customer information. This information can be instantly accessible wherever and whenever it's needed. Your staff can have the accurate, up-to-date customer knowledge they need to drive sales, maximize up-sell and cross-sell, and deliver personalized customer service. Even mobile employees can stay in the loop through new mobility and data synchronization features in Microsoft Dynamics CRM.
3. Understand customer behavior with Microsoft SQL Server
It's one thing to collect reams of customer information—it's another to understand it. Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services integrates with Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0, enabling you to get quick insights into customer behavior. Powerful reporting and analysis tools make it easy to identify opportunities and problems at a glance. So you can get frequent insights into how your business is doing.
4. Improve security enhancements for your customer data
Advanced security enhancements in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 can help you keep your customer data confidential. RoleTailored and permission-based access to customer data helps to ensure that each user is restricted to only the information he or she is authorized to see. And Windows Small Business Server 2003 Premium Edition offers built-in firewall protection and security-enhanced remote access. This enables employees to tap into customer information while away from the office. Microsoft Internet Security and Acceleration Server, included in Windows Small Business Server 2003 Premium Edition, provides policy-based access control to help enforce your Internet usage policy.
5. Get Microsoft Dynamics CRM up and running quickly
Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 and Windows Small Business Server 2003 Premium Edition feature fast and easy setup. This helps to speed your time to productivity and profitability. Your technology provider can install Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 in fewer than 10 mouse clicks. This means your employees can start using Microsoft Dynamics CRM in no time.
6. Expand the use of Microsoft Dynamics CRM as your business grows
With Windows Small Business Server 2003 Premium Edition, you can easily extend the capabilities of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 to new users as your company grows. Flexible licensing terms make it easy to give more employees access to broader product functionality.
7. Send and receive faxes from Microsoft Dynamics CRM
Your employees can create, send, and receive faxes from within Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0. They simply click the customer contact name, send a fax, and record the fax in the customer CRM record for future reference. Employees can also take advantage of Microsoft Shared Fax Service, a feature of Windows Small Business Server 2003 Premium Edition that helps you send and receive faxes from a PC rather than from a public fax machine.
8. Maintain Microsoft Dynamics CRM with ease
Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 is easy to manage through the built-in management tools in Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003 Premium Edition. The preconfigured Windows Small Business Server 2003 Server Management console can help your staff manage the server and network as well as user accounts, printers, fax machines, licensing, e-mail messages, backups, and more.
9. Customize Microsoft Dynamics CRM to your business
With the built-in Configuration Wizard, you can tailor Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 to your business. You can design custom application views for different users. Modify forms, data fields, and relationships without writing a single line of code. And build in business logic to have Microsoft Dynamics CRM automate repetitive tasks, suggest next steps, send e-mail messages, and raise alerts for open items.
10. Migrate data from Microsoft Office Outlook Business Contact Manager to Microsoft Dynamics CRM
Do you already have customer data recorded in Microsoft Office Outlook Business Contact Manager or another sales force automation or contact management tool? No problem. It's easy to migrate customer data from other sources into Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0. Your Microsoft partner can get you up and running in no time. And you can do more than before with your customer information.