CRM UK - the official blog of the CRM specialists at TSG

Creating a 'CRM culture' within your business

CRM software (Customer relationship management) is becoming a critical business system sitting at the heart of operations, rather than simply a sales or customer contact tool. 

It is ultimately about enhancing the customers experience with your company.

We have worked with thousands of customers across the UK in developing and implementing CRM solutions to provide businesses with a truly integrated solution. At TSG we believe in supporting you to create a ‘CRM culture’ within your business... after all, an accurate CRM system is a great foundation to building on successful customer relationships.

With a team of highly skilled CRM specialists and various industry sector implementations under our belt, we are confident in providing the best impartial advice and delivering the best CRM system.

Embracing CRM and making it part of your business 'culture' will help your organisation and staff thrive. Imagine - fully documented customer information at the click of a button in one central place.

Too good to be true?
Read on to see how we have recently helped OCN North East Region (OCNNER), an Awarding Organisation and registered Charity, who adopted new CRM technologies and saw the benefits instantaneously.

The Charity needed to replace its old system to improve customer relationships and user experience, and approached TSG for help. Our CRM experts recommented Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

Dynamics CRM offers a rich set of functionality for nearly all areas of a business including Sales, Marketing, Customer Support and Resource Scheduling. OCNNER needed a central management system and an easy-to-use system with the flexibility to adapt to changing needs - Microsoft Dynamics CRM was seen as the perfect fit due to its development with ease of use in mind, and has always aimed to work the way its users do.

'TSG has provided the expertise and support necessary to enable us to plan, prepare and implement a system which has proved its worth immediately'

Read the full OCNNER case study or find out more about CRM for your organisation

CRM is valuable technology - make the most of it!

With the recent launch of our new corporate website, we certainly have a lot to shout about!

Standing out from the boring 'IT crowd', we have set ourselves apart as one of the leading and most dynamic IT Support companies in the UK today.

Our people really are our strength, and that's why we've worked with our CRM experts around the business to help us create a fantastic CRM area on our website.

Whether you're looking to upgrade your CRM software or new to customer management software, you will find our CRM section both informative and easy to understand. We don't want to confuse you with IT jargon, just help you understand how CRM can help your business and what the next steps are.

Our CRM section is designed to guide you through your CRM journey, from selecting the right CRM software through to our very own bespoke 'TSG addIT' solutions.

Visit our website today to find out how we can help you develop a feature and functionality rich CRM system which will fit with the way you're used to working.

If you simply want to speak with one of our CRM experts, they are happy to help you with any enquiry you have, just contact us.

 

Dreamforce 2012 Video Preview - CRM Shop Talk

In this second edition of CRM Shop Talk, Denis Pombriant and Brent Leary share predictions on what major announcements will be made at Dreamforce 2012.

Saleforce's 'Marketing Cloud' and 'Social Enterprise' strategies are among the topics discussed.

Click here to view the video

Courtesy of CRMSoftware.TV

 

Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online – Customer confidence with cloud computing

Recent studies and estimates by Gartner Inc. show that ‘by year-end 2016, more than 50 percent of Global 1000 companies will have stored customer-sensitive data in the public cloud’.

This is primarily because enterprises are reaping great benefits from cloud computing in added business agility and cost savings.

However, even though the number of organisations migrating to cloud based CRM solutions is ever growing, we all know that some still struggle with confidence issues in hosting their businesses data away from their own on-premise environment.

Microsoft have recognised since the launch of their Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online product that data security and compliance are critical key considerations for organisations evaluating cloud services. In act of this Microsoft have recently announced the availability of the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online Trust Centre.

The Trust Centre is essentially a website that provides in-depth information about the privacy and security practices for the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online service. It delivers to customers and potential customers high-level information about the privacy, transparency, independent verification and security features of Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online.

In order to install further confidence with their customers as well as rival their cloud market competitors, Microsoft announced their registration with the Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) Security, Trust & Assurance Registry (STAR) program, making Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online the first cloud CRM service to provide this level of transparency.

Being a Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online partner ourselves, we have seen nothing but positive activity by Microsoft who are really focussed on delivering the strongest cloud CRM solution possible. Not only are they providing a cost effective way of acquiring CRM but are also are making sure that customers are confident that their business data is completely secure.

For further information about Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online and computing with cloud based CRM solutions feel free to get in touch with the TSG CRM team.

Important News about Microsoft Dynamics CRM Mobile and Cross-Browser Support

In case you haven’t already heard, Microsoft is delaying the release of Microsoft Dynamics CRM Mobile and cross-browser support. This functionality was originally scheduled for release some time around the middle of June 2012, as part of what Microsoft refer to as the Q2 2012 service update. It’s now looking like this functionality will now be available towards the end of the year, as part of the Q4 2012 update. 

Let’s be honest, this news is disappointing. Both mobile and cross-browser support have been eagerly awaited by CRM partners and users alike. The benefits it can deliver to some organisations are substantial. Some of these benefits are obvious, such as convenience, flexibility and personal choice. There are also a number of hidden benefits of accessing Microsoft Dynamics CRM on iPads, smartphones and other mobile devices which are not to be underestimated. These include being less intrusive and making face to face sales meetings easier. 

On the positive side, the Q2 2012 release is still going ahead and includes some really useful additional features and functionality, such as some new industry templates. And if accessing Microsoft Dynamics CRM on mobile devices is important to your business, TSG can still help you achieve this by using third-party add-on software. This software has been around for quite some time. It’s tried and tested, works well and we’ve successfully implemented this for a number of clients with excellent results. 

Microsoft won’t have taken the decision to remove mobile and cross-browser functionality from the Q2 2012 release lightly. However, it’s surely far better to act on feedback from people testing the software and postpone the release rather than put out something that still has bugs or issues.

The Q4 2012 service update has a number of specific enhancements planned for inclusion. Microsoft has also stated that these won’t be affected by deferring the mobile and cross-browser functionality until then. Here’s an excerpt of the Q and A from Microsoft:

Question: When will Cross-Browser be supported?

Answer: Cross-browser support will be available with the Q4 2012 Service Update.

Question: Does this new plan result in planned capabilities from the Q4 2012 release being deferred?

Answer: No currently announced Q4 2012 capabilities will be deferred as a result of this decision. As a part of our bi-annual release cadence we work on multiple service updates in parallel. Merging the Q2 and Q4 2012 releases allows us to provide a better overall experience by combining cross browser support with user interface enhancements already planned for the Q4 2012 Service Update. 

In other words it shouldn’t upset the development plan or put back other new or additional features and functionality. So we now really eagerly await the Q4 2012 release of Microsoft Dynamics CRM: it should be massive!! 

For more information about Microsoft Dynamics CRM including using the product on a mobile device in the UK, or any of the other queries you may have, please contact the CRM team at TSG.

Interested in real-life examples of how businesses use CRM software? There’s a new white paper you should read!

If you’re interested in the different ways businesses and organisations use Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software, there’s a brand new white paper that you’ll like. It’s called “24 Wildly Creative Ways Companies Use Microsoft Dynamics® CRM to Drive Revenue and Serve Customers”, and has contributions from highly experienced and respected Microsoft Dynamics partners in the US, Canada, and we’re proud to say from TSG in the UK.

It doesn’t matter whether you use Microsoft Dynamics CRM as your CRM system or not, because with 24 real-life examples interspersed with tips and practical advice, the white paper describes some inventive, original and innovative ways businesses use CRM software to increase their efficiency and effectiveness. If you’re looking for information or evidence to help you prove the business value of all good quality CRM software, these examples will also help.

“24 Wildly Creative Ways Companies Use Microsoft Dynamics® CRM to Drive Revenue and Serve Customers” is well laid out, easy to read and will certainly get you thinking about ways to improve your own business. While highlighting the flexibility and capabilities of Microsoft Dynamics CRM, one of the key aims of the whitepaper is to inspire its readers to use CRM in new and creative ways in your their own organisations.

These days CRM software is transforming businesses in ways that just weren’t possible a few years ago. CRM technology has moved way beyond the glorified contact management software it once was: it’s now improving the efficiency of business processes throughout entire organisations and industries.

All the examples in the report are from real companies. They range from non-profits to manufacturers and many in between: everything from scheduling rentals to tracking inventory to running promotions and much more.

And the really good news – while providing genuine value and business insight, this whitepaper is available free of charge from the crmsoftwareblog or direct from TSG. You can use this link to download 24 Wildly Creative Ways Companies Use Microsoft Dynamics® CRM to Drive Revenue and Serve Customers, or send your details and request to us at [email protected] and we’ll email you a copy back.

Update on UK Price Rises for Microsoft Software Licences

Following on from our recent blog article about imminent Microsoft software licence price rises in the UK, we now have some more details on the changes.

Assuming the Euro and UK pound currencies don’t fluctuate significantly between now and July, the price of Microsoft licences for most of its business software, which includes Microsoft Dynamics CRM and Microsoft Dynamics NAV, will rise by about 20%. This is part of Microsoft’s harmonisation of licence prices throughout the EU and EFTA regions: Microsoft is aligning the price of licences purchased in UK pounds sterling against the cost of those purchased in Euro’s.

So, for the majority of customers in the UK that use these products and are thinking of upgrading, adding more licences or have renewals due this year (in July onwards), you should certainly consider bringing these purchases forward to June. Having said that, the changes won’t affect everyone. If you already have fixed term agreements with Microsoft with agreed prices, these will not change.

Microsoft licensing is not always easy to understand. There are lots of different variables to consider depending on what sort of licence you need, what industry you’re in and how you choose to purchase. So to get the best value and to choose a plan that suits your business, it’s worth talking to an accredited Microsoft business partner (ideally one with a Gold or Silver competency in the area you’re interested in).

If you have any questions about these price rises may affect you or your business , please feel free to discuss with your TSG account manager or contact us direct.

UK Businesses Likely to See Microsoft Software Licence Costs Rise This Summer

This summer, Microsoft will align the prices of its volume-licences (which generally refers to licences for its business software) to the Euro. This aims to harmonise pricing across the European region.

At the moment, because of currency fluctuations the cost of licences varies depending on the currency you buy them in. Because the British Pound is currently weak against the Euro and has been for a while, UK customers are (arguably) getting Microsoft software cheaper than their Eurozone neighbours.

There’s a lot of speculation about how much Microsoft volume licence prices could rise for UK customers. Estimates range from a small amount to over 35%. Either way, if you’re in an organisation that's considering purchasing new or additional licences for products such as Microsoft Dynamics CRM or Microsoft Dynamics NAV, it’s might be worth buying them in the next couple of months, before the prices goes up.

No matter how you look at it, Microsoft’s licencing model for its business software is not simple. There are various different types of licence and agreements for its products and services which can confuse even the most savvy business person or buyer. Because of this, the price changes may not apply to all products. There are also likely to be exceptions, for example for organisations or individuals in academia.

Full details of the changes and how much licences are likely to rise (or possibly fall in some EU countries) will be available in June this year. So if you’re not sure whether these changes will affect you, or by how much, contact your Microsoft Business Partner in June.

And don’t forget, June is also a deadline for two major offers on Microsoft Dynamics products. There’s the cash back offer on Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online for organisations with 30 users or more. For UK organisations this ends June 30th 2012. There’s also the Microsoft Dynamics NAV 'Give Me Five' Offer. Also ending in June, this enables UK businesses to buy five licences of Microsoft Dynamics NAV for just £1800! Both these offers are genuinely outstanding and, if you’re able to take advantage of them, are a great chance to save a substantial amount while at the same time avoiding any price rises caused by harmonisation.

Silverlight 5 versus HTML 5 (in the world of Microsoft Dynamics CRM) - which one’s best?

For all those that work in, or are interested in the technical side of Microsoft Dynamics CRM and related technologies, here’s a guest post from David Cabaniuk. David is an expert on in-depth configuration and customisation of Microsoft Dynamics CRM, and specialises in development of add-on applications and ‘IP’ for the product. He is also well-known and respected amongst the UK Microsoft Dynamics CRM development community, and is the driving force behind the popular independent Microsoft Dynamics CRM website, www.CRMcodex.com.

Silverlight 5 vs HTML 5 in the CRM Namespace – By David Cabaniuk

It has been so painful to write the title above, but I have been asked the question above several times. The reason people are asking the question is simple. They have seen Silverlight introduced to Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011, they are aware of the upcoming of Silverlight 5 and HTML 5, which on the face of things look similar and so are asking the question “what’s best: Silverlight 5 or HTML 5?”

Why is the question painful? Well it’s the wrong question!

The question we should be asking exists in the context of a development project. The question is “for my given project, can I achieve my requirements, while keeping the solution simple and maintainable through Silverlight 5 or HTML 5?”

This is obviously a question a developer is more likely to ask rather than a consultant, salesmen, marketing or manager will ask. They are more likely to brisk over the details and simply say, “Silverlight 5 does animations, HTML does animations, which one do we use?” AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

I’m not going to get in to the technical details – there are plenty of blogged technical comparisons out there that demonstrate the differences. I’m going to keep it simple and give you my opinion.

So how do I answer the question? They are two completely different technologies! Put aside the funky groovy animations that you have seen demonstrations of! Silverlight is an entire platform that sits on the Microsoft stack and offers increased efficiency and functionality by utilising the resources of your machine. HTML 5 is a mark-up language which is dependant on browsers implementation of the new standard. The standard has been updated to reduce the amount of plug-ins you need to install to handle things such as video.

So with CRM in mind, if your application requires a lot of functionality that interfaces to your PC devices or interfaces to external systems (web services, dlls) then Silverlight is your port of call. If you are looking for client rich UI that is based on simple input, video and audio then HTML 5 is the better option.

Here's another question. What do I think we will see in the future deployed into Microsoft Dynamics CRM? The answer is both, hopefully deployed in the right scenarios. Personally I can’t see Microsoft dropping Silverlight as it’s currently integrated in to Microsoft Dynamics CRM, one of their flagship products. It is also heavily used on the windows phone platform which is being marketed by Microsoft and Nokia. In phone development you have the choice of XNA for game development or Silverlight for application development. Microsoft's problem is maintaining Silverlight for other devices and browsers outside of the Microsoft stack.

HTML 5 isn’t going anywhere either. The standard just needs to be fully agreed and implemented by the browsers. Once implemented and developed across multiple browsers and devices, it may become easy through HTML 5 In the future I can see Silverlight moving on much quicker than HTML 5, offering new rounds of features more rapidly than HTML 5.

A new feature in HTML 5 will have to be approved and browsers will have to implement the new changes. For Silverlight all Microsoft need to do is update their Silverlight runtime and deploy the update through a Windows Update.

I may have glossed over a lot of in-depth details between the two but my view point is simple. They are both here to stay and as developers we should embrace them both. We should be looking at our requirements independently and deciding which the simplest solution to deploy is.

For now, until the standard has been agreed for HTML 5 and implemented I personally will be using Silverlight. However, I’m looking forward to implementing my first HTML 5 solution within Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

This post was first published on the CRMCodex blog in January 2012. Please note these are the opinions of the author and not necessarily of TSG Ltd.

Still on Microsoft Dynamics CRM version 4? Why You Need to Start Thinking about Upgrading to 2011

Here’s a guest post by Senior CRM Consultant, Microsoft Dynamics CRM specialist and something of an evangelist for the product, John Odell. Over the years, John has been involved with many major and highly successful projects based around Microsoft Dynamics CRM, and his opinions are valued by technical and non-technical users alike.

Here’s John’s post:

Upgrading to Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011, by John Odell

It’s been well over a year since the release, in the UK, of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 and Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online, the cloud version of the product.

Upgrading CRM systems can seem daunting. Many organisations wait until they really have to upgrade before doing so, and not always without reason. There are lots of things to consider in terms of your upgrade strategy. These include testing, training, minimising downtime, resources, cost versus benefit analysis, deciding whether or not you should move to ‘the cloud’, not to mention how to make the most of the new things that the latest version of the software offers you.

In the past, upgrading hasn’t always been as easy as it should be. For example, Microsoft Dynamics CRM version 4 was released in 2007. It made a big impact on the uptake and use of CRM software in the UK, from small business deployments to enterprise solutions. However, upgrading from Microsoft Dynamics CRM version 3 to versions 4 was, in a nutshell, a horrible job.

I don’t make a habit of giving Microsoft undue credit, but they really deserve a big pat on the back for the tools they have provided us to upgrade from Microsoft Dynamics CRM version 4 to Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 (which they really should have called version 5, which goes to show Microsoft don’t always get it right!).

Why should you upgrade to Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011?

There are a whole variety of reasons to upgrade to Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011. Many of these depend on the individual needs of your organisation. However, there are also some strong reasons which apply to nearly all businesses. Here are a few quick highlights:

Dashboards Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011

Dashboards are a great way of putting essential information in front of users, helping them to do their job and make better decisions. Dashboards are easy to create, and can contain “live” CRM content, which can be in list view and a wide array of visual charts and graphs. Dashboards can be role tailored, containing and displaying data relevant to each user or each user’s job, and they can also include external content and specific information, as shown in the example screenshots.

Example Screenshot of a Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Dashboard

Example Screenshot of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Dashboard with external content – Twitter feeds and BBC content

Personalisation and Ease of Use

In terms of appearance, one of the biggest differences between Microsoft Dynamics CRM version 4 and Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 is that the later version has an Office 2010-style ribbon with contextual menus. Everything is just one or two clicks away for the user! I’ve noticed people quickly go to love this feature.

One of my favourite things in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 is that you can personalise views and set your own default views. Microsoft has also improved the “set regarding” feature when tracking emails from Outlook, with “show only my records” and use saved Views (another personal favourite). This is a relatively small change but makes it so much easier to properly track emails and appointments.

Personalisation of list views through Outlook is also great. Conditional formatting allows you to highlight records that meet specific criteria. You could make all opportunities closing this month appear in bright pink Comic Sans, for example (I’m not suggesting you should!). You can also “pin” multiple views to the screen and choose what fields (columns) to see. Role tailored forms, dashboards, navigation and field level security also greatly enhance personalisation and are all popular features which benefit many users of the product.

Example Screenshot of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 “Set Regarding” improvements – a personal favourite

Management and Productivity Information

There’s some excellent functionality here which can deliver some major benefits. But it’s also a whole separate blog post for another day…

Microsoft Dynamics CRM Marketplace

The CRM Marketplace is a bit like an app store, but with a totally different name! You can find, try and buy all sorts of exciting plug-in products to enhance your CRM solution. The Marketplace is certainly worth a browse whether you’ve upgraded or not.

Development and Integration Capabilities (techie stuff)

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 has enhanced capabilities for configuration, and here are some of the top things our technical people like:

• .Net 4.0 and Windows Workflow Foundation

• Enhanced Integration: WCF SOAP & REST; OData; LINQ

• FetchXML – Dashboards and Reports

• Claims Based Authentication option

• “Solution” Management = Easier Deployment

• Out of the box SharePoint document management integration

More, Newer, Cooler Stuff is Coming…

…all the time! In the past year Microsoft has released quite a few mini-upgrades and will continue to do this on a frequent basis (rather than waiting four years between releases). For example, by summer 2012 Microsoft is due to release:

• Browser support for “front end” pages (not admin) on Firefox, Safari, and Google Chrome (as well as Internet Explorer, of course) across PC, MAC and iOS… (I am a bit sceptical about this one, to be honest)

• “Rapid View” option to open CRM forms “rapidly” in a read-only view

• Social media enhancements and integrations (this looks like it’s going to be amazing stuff)

• Exciting new BI capabilities thanks to integration with SQL Server 2012 Power View

Support for Microsoft Dynamics CRM version 4 Ends in a Year’s Time!

In the UK, mainline support for Microsoft Dynamics CRM version 4 comes to an end 9th April 2013. This means Microsoft will stop issuing updates for v4, except for major security updates (which will be supported to April 2018).

Our recommendation is not to operate a CRM system outside of mainline support unless if can’t be helped. So, even if you’re not looking to upgrade any time soon you should certainly start thinking about it…

You can see more screenshots of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 of the Concentrix TSG website. If you want to find out more about why and how to upgrade to Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011, or to talk about how to approach an upgrade, please don’t hesitate to contact me or any of the team at Concentrix TSG!

John Odell, CRM Specialist

You can find me on Twitter: @odellodell

And of course Concentrix TSG: @Concentrix_UK