Blog
How Microsoft Cloud Optimises the Customer and Employee Experience
How Microsoft Cloud Optimises the Customer and Employee Experience The concept of a digitally centralized cloud started in the 1960s. However, usability and access to cloud services have grown drastically in recent years. The Microsoft cloud allows us to store data...
Inside Microsoft Dynamics 365: The Benefits for Manufacturers
Inside Microsoft Dynamics 365: The Benefits for Manufacturers Do you want your manufacturing organization to take advantage of predictive analytics? If you answered yes, then get ready to learn about how Microsoft Dynamics 365 can help manufacturers. This article will...
Microsoft Ignite – helping businesses get on with business.
Microsoft Ignite - helping businesses get on with business. The Microsoft Ignite digital event was held between 2 and 4 November 2021. This event was the second to be held this year. Over 100,000 attendees from all over the world were expected to attend the November...
Why is Digital Transformation harder for Midsize Businesses?
Why is Digital Transformation harder for Midsize Businesses? At first, many business owners thought the digital age was nothing more than a flash-in-the-pan fad. Years later, almost all had accepted that it was absolutely necessary to support real-world business...
Why Azure and Dynamics 365 are a perfect fit
Why Azure and Dynamics 365 are a perfect fit When you use Dynamics 365 in conjunction with Azure, you gain access to a number of benefits. These benefits can help streamline your business activities and improve our customer experience, bringing you an attractive...
What is the future scope of digital transformation?
What Is Digital Transformation? Digital transformation is the operational, cultural, and organisational change of a company’s ecosystem. This is achieved by using smart integrated technologies and processes across every level and function of the organisation in a...
Why marketing automation is important for every business – including yours
Why marketing automation is important for every business – including yours Many companies know the term “marketing automation”. But what, exactly, is it? In short, marketing automation is this: the digital tools that make marketing simpler and more effective. At a...
Teams and Dynamics 365 – They go together like PB & J!
Teams and Dynamics 365 - They go together like PB & J!And that’s just part for the lunchbox of new tech reveals at Microsoft Inspire 2021. Microsoft recently held its annual Inspire conference – the tech giant’s annual release of all that’s new and innovative in...
8 key benefits of marketing automation
8 key benefits of marketing automation In a nutshell, marketing automation refers to all the digital tools that help marketers reach customers more efficiently, effectively and scalably. But what are the real differences between business that use marketing automation...
POPIA Explained: Your 5-Minute Guide to SA’s New Data Privacy Law
POPIA Explained: Your 5-Minute Guide to SA’s New Data Privacy Law Has your inbox suddenly been flooded with mails all about POPIA, privacy and new legal changes? Ours certainly have been! Now that the dust has settled a little, we’re posting to clarify any remaining...
Customer Insights and why you need them
Customer Insights and why you need them In the competitive world of business today, customers expect a lot from businesses. Not only do they demand high-quality goods and services but they want high-quality experiences to accompany them. Customer insights are the...
Data, your differentiator in Financial Services
Data, your differentiator in Financial ServicesIt comes as no surprise that Covid-19 has been bad for the financial services industry in South Africa. In March 2021 Standard Bank reported a 51% decline in profit after tax and in October 2020 Nedbank estimated that...
How to be a customer-centric company
How to be a customer-centric company In the simplest terms, customer centricity is about listening to and learning from your customers. It’s about leveraging the information and knowledge you have about your customers to guide your business in a way that is resonant...
Microsoft Dynamics 365 – Ignites with new enhancements
Microsoft Dynamics 365- Ignites with new enhancementsMicrosoft Ignite 2021 took place from the 2nd to 4th March and was attended virtually by over 45,000 people around the world. Along with dozens of announcements there were a number of exciting enhancements made to...
Drive personalized interactions with real-time customer journey orchestration
Drive personalized interactions with real-time customer journey orchestration Faced with a historic level of social and business disruption, companies have been forced to respond quickly and strategically to meet the challenge. To help address this challenge, and...
A partnership to empower marketing for a brilliant customer experience
The CRM Team and Simple join forces! Empowering marketing, to deliver a brilliant customer experienceLondon and South Africa, March 04, 2021: The CRM Team, expert implementers of world-leading customer engagement technology, and Simple MRM Ltd, enablers of...
Bill Gates and Chewbacca Believe In The Magic of Software
Bill Gates and Chewbacca Believe In The Magic of SoftwareIt was a Friday. The 27th of June 2008 to be exact. Bill Gates said, "10100011000" to everyone at Microsoft. That's "Bye" in binary for all the non-techies among you. It was his last day as CEO at Microsoft, and...
The CRM Story
What is CRM? HINT: It’s not just about software. Many people think that CRM is software. But it’s far more than that. Customer Relationship Management is about blending technology and strategy to guarantee great customer experience. Customers are at the centre of...
Omni-channel vs Multi-channel. Is there a difference?
Omni-channel vs Mutli-channel. Is there a difference? The words multi-channel and omni-channel are often used interchangeably by experts and consultants alike, but is there a difference? We believe there is. Multi-channel refers to the fact that organisations...
Prepare for change – Dynamics 365 Unified Interface is here!
Prepare for change - Dynamics 365 Unified Interface is here! Your experience with Dynamics 365 is about to change – the Unified Interface is here. This responsive experience for Dynamics 365 is becoming the primary and only experience for users, replacing WebClient....
Better service from a bot? How A.I. is remaking customer service
Better service from a bot? How A.I. is remaking customer service For years, the human touch was considered the cornerstone of great customer service. Friendliness, a helpful attitude – it’s easy to imagine. But can machines augment this and help make customers even...
Marketing Automation is What Your Business Needs, Right Now
Marketing Automation is What Your Business Needs - Right Now $25 billion! If you are not part of this spend chances are your competition is! An April 2018 report from global research agency Forrester concluded: ‘As digital marketing complexity...
The Future of Field Service is Here
The Future of Field Service is Here Field service of the future is automated, autonomous and above all, connected. Actually, scratch that. That’s best-in-class field service of right now. In place of a call from a customer for servicing or repairs – an automatic,...
Building Profitable Relationships
Building profitable relationships - here’s what you need to know about relationship sellingI’m reaching out – but leads aren’t reaching back. Is it my approach? Is there another way to connect better or more meaningfully from the get-go – one I haven’t thought of?...
6 Ways Technology Can Supercharge Your Sales Process
6 Ways Technology Can Supercharge Your Sales ProcessToday’s marketplace is always on. And it’s always evolving. To keep up, leading-edge organisations are turning to technology. Why? Because technology drives market traction. Greater forecast accuracy, real-time...
Never lose a prospect? What lead nurturing can really deliver
Never lose a prospect? What lead nurturing can really deliver The sales and marketing funnel is all about conversion. Curious prospective buyers enter at the top and happy customers exit at the bottom. But what happens when your funnel looks more like a sieve? By...
How a CRM Solution Can Fix Your Sales Forecasts
How a CRM Solution Can Fix Your Sales Forecasts Sweaty palms? Nervousness? Fingers hovering over the keyboard, afraid to commit to a single figure? Sales forecasting can rattle even the most seasoned sales director. When forecasting – for the month, quarter or year –...
Power BI: Microsoft is the BI and Analytics leader – Gartner Magic Quadrant 2018
Gartner 2018: Microsoft No.1 for BI & AnalyticsMicrosoft's been innovating in analytics and business intelligence for a long time. However, Gartner’s 2018 BI and Analytics report ranked PowerBI as the no. 1 product in terms of both vision and the ability to execute....
4 Ways a CRM Solution Helps You Close Customer Service Cases Faster
4 Ways a CRM Solution Helps You Close Customer Service Cases Faster Customer service - the term calls to mind rows and rows of headset-wearing agents working through hundreds and hundreds of queries and, yes, complaints. They’re an operations director’s bugbear –...
Automated and Amplified: Sales Meets A.I.
Automated and Amplified: Sales Meets A.I. Sales is evolving. Predictive and powerful, it’s no longer just speed that separates the best from the rest – it’s processing power. Today’s strongest sales engines are not only blisteringly quick – thanks to A.I. they’re now...
What’s new in Dynamics 365 for Field Service
What’s new in Dynamics 365 for Field Service Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Field Service works in tandem with the Dynamics 365 Customer Service application to help organizations manage field-based service teams. The Field Service app includes these capabilities: Work...
What’s new in Dynamics 365 for Customer Service
What’s new in Dynamics 365 for Customer Service Dynamics 365 for Customer Service is a business application from Microsoft that is designed to empower agents to deliver fast, personalized service and support. With interactive dashboards, guided business process flows,...
What’s new in Dynamics 365 for Marketing
What’s new in Dynamics 365 for Marketing Dynamics 365 for Marketing is a leading marketing-automation application that is part of the Microsoft's Dynamics 365 platform of business apps. It delivers comprehensive capabilities for creating and running...
What’s new in Dynamics 365 for Sales
What’s new in Dynamics 365 for Sales Microsoft's Dynamics 365 for Sales is a sales automation and forecasting business application that is part of the Dynamics 365 platform. It enables salespeople to build strong relationships with their customers, take actions based...
Reduce costs. Sell more. Make your customers happier.
Reduce costs. Sell more. Make your customers happier. Consistently great customer service is getting harder to achieve. Social media has enlarged a customer’s voice - good when companies are being praised, but damaging when they are being criticised. Since 2009, there...
What does a CRM implementation look like?
What does a CRM implementation look like? A refreshing new approach. The real value of CRM is having a solution that is tailored to your specific business strategy. When you buy a solution from us, the first thing we'll do is listen to your specific objectives. We'll...
Increasing your marketing effectiveness with ClickDimensions & Microsoft Dynamics 365
Increasing your marketing effectiveness with ClickDimensions & Microsoft Dynamics 365 Increasing your marketing effectiveness If you have Microsoft Dynamics 365, you're probably using the marketing area to automate many of your marketing tasks. But you may get to...
Need sales to excel?
Need sales to excel? Drop the spreadsheets. 1985 was a big year. Madonna and Wham! were topping the charts with their songs: ‘Like a Virgin’ and ‘Wake me up before you go-go’. Ronald Reagan was being sworn in for a second term. And Microsoft launched Excel. Excel...
The Business Case for CRM
The Business Case for CRM The stats from 362 companies Investing in CRM makes great business sense. Don’t just take our word for it: have a look at the hard numbers from 362 companies. The stats are grouped according to three key CRM benefits: sales force automation,...
Microsoft Office 365 & Dynamics 365
Dynamics 365 & Microsoft Office - Better Together Every month, more than 85 million people are more productive thanks to Microsoft Office 365. Users can work from anywhere, at any time and across any device. Add Microsoft Dynamics 365 to your Office 365...
The CRM Maturity Journey
Where are you currently? Consistently great customer experience doesn’t happen overnight. It’s a journey. But it’s a journey you definitely want to be taking. How do we know? Because each stage you reach on the CRM maturity journey directly impacts your revenue....
Deliver projects on time, on budget, at a profit
Ensuring projects deliver: On time. On budget. At a profit. Ensure your sales team, project managers, resource managers, and project personnel coordinate for maximum profit and efficiency. Dynamics 365 for Project Service Automation works in conjunction with your...
10 Reasons Why We Use Dynamics 365 on the Microsoft Cloud
10 Reasons Why We Use Dynamics 365 on the Microsoft Cloud Here’s ten reasons why we've chosen to go with Microsoft Dynamics 365 on the Microsoft Cloud: 1. Higher Security The level of data-security that Microsoft provide is far higher than many companies can...
What is the Minimum Viable Product?
What is the Minimum Viable Product? Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is a commonly misunderstood term. This video is adapted from Crisp's blog by Henrik Kniberg explaining his, now famous, MVP drawing. His drawing shows up all over the place, in articles and...
Delivering projects on time, on budget, at a profit.
Delivering projects on time, on budget, at a profit. Professional Service Automation. 1.5 trillion USD! In 2012 that was what the Professional Service industry was worth in just the US alone. It’s a huge industry that’s dependant on a company’s...
5 reasons why Agile is better than Waterfall
5 reasons why Agile is better than Waterfall Waterfall methodology used to be the way all IT deployments were done. It worked, was reliable and suited IT professionals. But then the Agile revolution happened. In a changing world, speed and the agility now matter to...
Digital Transformation – Everything’s Changing
Digital Transformation - Everything's Changing evin’s face went white! He just realized he’d left his phone in the taxi. An older man at the bar was confused. ‘Is it insured?’ ‘Yes’ he replied. ‘Then why’s it a big deal?’ When people get more...
Microsoft | LinkedIn: Why competitors are *still* having sleepless nights.
Microsoft | LinkedIn - Why competitors are *still* having sleepless nights. It's been three short months. Satya Nadella, Jeff Weiner and Reid Hoffman stood outside the LinkedIn Headquarters in Mountain View, California and announced the third biggest tech acquisition...
Users are Key | CRM Implemenation
Users are Key 150 billion dollars. Wasted. In one year. That's how much companies around the world threw away on IT projects. We're talking ZERO return on their hefty investments. But it doesn't have to be this way. There's a secret that all successful companies know:...
Sales Managers: Do these 6 things in 2018
Sales Managers: Do these 6 things in 2018 Staying ahead of the competition is a must. Here's six things you need to be doing as a sales manager in 2018: 1. Get real-time data to make better decisions Gut-feel and experience are essential guiders of decisions in sales...
Microsoft | LinkedIn: Sleepless nights have arrived for Microsoft’s competitors!
Microsoft | LinkedIn – Sleepless nights have arrived for Microsoft’s competitors! Last year we wrote about Microsoft’s acquisition of LinkedIn and why competitors will be having sleepless nights. Now those sleepless nights have arrived! On Monday, Microsoft and...
Avoiding the Dire Consequences of a Missed Sales Target
How to Avoid the Dire Consequences of a Missed Sales Target The day has arrived. You’re about to report your numbers to the board. And you know you’ve missed your sales target. You’ve either over committed and under delivered. Or under committed and over delivered....
Sales Productivity: Buzzword or Revenue Killer
Sales Productivity: Buzzword or Revenue Killer Selling is competitive as ever. Many companies are feeling the pressure. If you don’t want to get left behind, there’s one number you need to focus on: 22. Pace Productivity Inc. has spent decades tracking...
Recession Roadmap: Driving Sales in Tough Times
Recession Roadmap: Driving Sales in Tough Times The hard truth? South Africa is in a recession – something we saw coming last year. It doesn’t take an economist to see that we’re in a tough spot. The shops are empty. People – and businesses – are under huge pressure....
Microsoft Overtakes Salesforce.com – Forrester
Microsoft Overtakes Salesforce.com They’ve led for decades. But things are now fading for Salesforce.com. In the recent Forrester Wave report Microsoft is ahead in Salesforce.com’s traditional stronghold: sales software[1]. This is a big coup for Microsoft who have...
How to Enable an Extended Sales Team
How to Enable an Extended Sales Team There are real opportunities out there. Make the most of them. Sounds like strange advice in the current market, doesn’t it? It shouldn’t. When times get tough, many make the mistake of losing confidence. They focus inwardly,...
Why our customers chose Dynamics 365 over Salesforce
Why our customers chose Dynamics 365 over Salesforce.com In our post, Microsoft Overtakes Salesforce.com, we shared an important market shift: Global analyst Forrester placed Microsoft ahead of Salesforce.com for the first time. This is hugely significant. To...
Five Golden Rules Every Great Field Service Organisation Follows
Five Golden Rules Every Great Field Service Organisation Follows Surprise and delight. Sound familiar? For years, that’s been the go-to phrase when it comes to customer experience. The mantra’s stuck around for a reason, but the route to the promised land has changed....
Nucleus Research: Dynamics 365 + Sales Navigator significantly increases your sales productivity.
Nucleus Research: Dynamics 365 + Sales Navigator significantly increases your sales productivity. Get an hour back each day. That was the conclusion of global tech analyst, Nucleus Research when they looked at LinkedIn’s Sales Navigator with Dynamics 365 for Sales....
Gartner: Microsoft a Visionary in Field Service
Gartner: Microsoft a Visionary in Field Service It’s only been two years. After entering the Field Service market in 2015, through the acquisition of FieldOne Systems, Microsoft has made rapid progress. Gartner’s latest Magic Quadrant (for Field Service Management)...
Smart Talk: How artificial intelligence is reinventing customer service
Smart Talk: How artificial intelligence is reinventing customer service Today’s customers have high expectations. Hyerpersonalisation. Instant responses to queries. Omnichannel access. Intuitive interfaces. Immersive experiences. The companies that get it right reap...
Run a field service business? Here’s why efficiency is everything
Run a field service business? Here’s why efficiency is everything Read the statistics – they paint an interesting picture. Consider this: 91% of customers stay loyal to brands that offer low-effort interactions Only 4% of service organisations can solve an inquiry...
Privacy and Protection: GDPR – what you need to know
Privacy and Protection – What you need to know about the GDPR Does your company deal with data from individuals or companies in the European Union (EU)? If so, read on. Data is everywhere – and at the heart of almost every business. Yet recent data breaches have meant...
Where’s my CRM button gone?
Where's my CRM button gone? If you logged into your office portal this morning you may have been surprised. The CRM button wasn’t there! In case you missed it, Dynamics CRM is no more. ‘What?!?’ you may say. But don’t worry. Microsoft has evolved their cloud ERP and...
Recession is looming: Get your sales team battle-ready
Recession is looming: Get your sales team battle-ready Recession is looming. The US and UK are both positioned for one. China is rapidly devaluing the Yuan. Here in South Africa, the economy is already contracting. Don't let this take your sales team by...
4 Reasons Why Microsoft’s Becoming Cool Again
4 Reasons Why Microsoft's Becoming Cool Again During the 1980s Microsoft dominated the business world. In that era, being loved or hated didn’t matter much because it was all about winning. And Microsoft was a winning machine. But something happened in the...
Creating Highly Engaged (and) Satisfied Clients
Creating Highly Engaged (and) Satisfied Clients Customer engagement means business growth. It’s that simple. Recent research by Gallup proves just how much customer engagement matters. Clue: a lot. Engaged customers provide a 23% premium over the average customer when...
Navy SEALs. Combat Leadership. And The Ongoing Campaign For Your Customer’s Heart.
Navy SEALs. Combat Leadership. And The Ongoing Campaign For Your Customers Heart. If you heard Navy SEALs on 947 Breakfast Xpress, 702 Money, or Cliff Central in the past few weeks, you'll know that Jocko Willink and Leif Babin were in South Africa to talk about...
Why Always Saying “Yes” is Killing Your Business
Why Always Saying “Yes” is Killing Your Business Selling is tough. You’re faced with the constant pressure of winning deals in a world saturated with competition. So, the idea of disqualifying a lead probably makes you apprehensive. A lead is a lead, right? Whether it...
Dynamics 365 – Is there substance to the hype?
Dynamics 365 - Is there substance to the hype? There’s been a lot of buzz around Dynamics 365. At their recent world conference, it was Microsoft’s big announcement. And it marks their latest move towards cloud-only computing. Is it just good marketing? Or is it...
Dynamics 365 is here
Dynamics 365 is here And it’s arrived just in time. ‘We now live in a digitally transformed world.’ Customers are becoming more demanding. In the 70s/80s, great product was the differentiator. But in the 90s, as processes improved, services became more...
The CRM Academy South Africa was a success!
The CRM Academy South Africa was a success! The CRM Team ran the inaugural Microsoft South Africa CRM Academy in 2016. Microsoft runs academies like this one all over the world, with the aim of equipping young people with the skills needed to become IT...