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

New Microsoft Dynamics NAV offer for UK Businesses: Five Licences for Just £1800

Microsoft Dynamics NAV is a highly flexible ERP solution. It's also one of the most powerful, cost-effective and robust business management solutions available. The latest version, called Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2009 R2, was released towards the end of 2010 and has already proven popular with a wide variety of businesses.

While it Microsoft Dynamics NAV is often a good fit for medium and large organisations, it’s also a good fit for smaller businesses. In fact, Concentrix TSG has a client using it with just one-user! However, sometimes we come across people in smaller businesses that, for some reason, believe Microsoft Dynamics NAV is an enterprise level product and only suited to organisations with tens or hundreds of end-users.

To help smaller businesses get started with Microsoft Dynamics NAV, during the latter half of 2010 and the first half of 2011, Microsoft ran two promotions. These were primarily aimed at getting smaller businesses on board with the product. The promotions, which enabled businesses implementing Microsoft Dynamics NAV for the first time to buy three licences for one UK pound, or in the case of the second offer buy three licences for the price of one, were genuinely exceptional and offered outstanding value. They enabled a number of Concentrix TSG clients to save significant amounts on initial software costs.

We had a lot of interest in both these offers and they enabled us to help several businesses get started with Microsoft Dynamics NAV. However, anecdotal feedback inferred that while these promotions offered outstanding value, they were available for a relatively short time period.

The Microsoft Dynamics NAV licence price and structure mean you can keep costs to a minimum and grows your ERP system as your business grows. However, changing your ERP solution, or implementing one for the first time, is a major business decision. People, businesses and organisations need enough time to research, plan and assess their options.

So, at the start of this month Microsoft announced a new offer to UK organisations considering changing their existing ERP solution to Microsoft Dynamics NAV or just starting out with proprietary ERP software. The offer, called the “Give Me Five” promotion, allows businesses to buy five Business Essentials or Advanced Management licences for just £1800 (UK pounds).

This is a significant financial saving and makes Microsoft Dynamics NAV exceptional value compared with other ERP products in its class. It provides smaller businesses with a realistic, low risk way to get a quality ERP system implemented within their organisation.

One of the key differentiators of this latest offer is that it runs until next summer (June 2012). This gives plenty of time for any business to thoroughly consider their options and not feel rushed in to making a decision.

Note this offer is only available to new customers that haven't previously bought licenses from the Microsoft Dynamics ERP product range. There are also other terms and conditions that apply.

Concentrix TSG is ‘product agnostic’: we will only recommend an ERP solution if we feel the product meets your aims, objectives, budget and requirements. This could of course be Microsoft Dynamics NAV, or it could be a different solution such as Sage 200. If you’re a UK business and want to find out if you’re eligible for this latest Microsoft Dynamics NAV offer, for more information or if you have any other questions about ERP software, please contact Concentrix TSG.

CRM and Customer Analysis – How CRM Software Helps you Keep the Right Customers

Most people in business are familiar with the phrase “It costs more to gain a new customer than to keep an existing one”. And, despite the advances in marketing technology, digital marketing and social media, it’s a phrase which is still true.

In a tight economy, with the results and return on investment of each marketing campaign more important than ever, it’s essential to use your CRM software to analyse and develop your existing customer base. What’s more, satisfied customers are one of your most powerful marketing tools: there’s still nothing stronger than genuine personal recommendation, and keeping your existing customers happy will in itself help you generate more business.

Customer retention is important, but account management is a specialist role which takes training, time and dedication. So, if you’re going to invest time and resources in keeping customers, it’s good practice to regularly use your CRM software to do a quick check on which customers you actually want to keep.

Not all customers are equal. In fact, there may even be some that you’re better off without. For example, the ones who are consistently late payers, frequently giving you ‘reasons’ why they haven’t paid and taking up resources in your admin, accounts or even legal departments.

Then there’s the terminally dissatisfied. No matter how hard you try, they’ll find a problem. No matter how much time, energy and resources you devote to them, the scenario will just keep repeating itself, and the cost of servicing particularly difficult customers can outweigh their value to you.

Modern CRM software products such as Microsoft Dynamics CRM or Sage CRM are incredibly powerful with a wide range of features and functions. You can use the tools within these applications to run in-depth analysis of your customers. But, to keep it simple, if you suspect a particular customers is using up more resources than their current or potential value, take a quick look at the communications, service calls, cases, activities and history logged against them. Comparing these with past and forecast spend will soon tell you whether you need to review their contracts or service agreements, or even consider gently dropping them.

At the other end of the scale are your key accounts or best customers; the top few per cent that deliver a significant part of your revenue. Those customers that are more profitable because they spend more than most, that are easy to service and generally pay on time. Typically the Pareto Principle or 80-20 rule is quoted (meaning 20% of your customer’s deliver 80% of your revenue) but there’s no hard-and-fast rule. It depends entirely on your business and sector.

Whatever the ratio, you can easily find out who those customers are using your CRM software. You can look at what they bought, how often they’ve bought, how much work went into each sale, the cost of each sale, and most things in between. You can either look at each account or customer ‘manually’, or run advanced searches or set up (or ask your business partner, or in-house CRM expert if you have one to set up) a report.

If you have a CRM system which links with your accounts or ERP system, you’ll be able to analyse this in even more depth, such as payments history or credit status. Microsoft Dynamics CRM, for example, provides 'out of the box' integration with Microsoft Dynamics NAV. This enables significant productivity improvements through the interaction between front and back office in any organisation, and helps you get a clear view of your best (and worst) customers. Similarly an integrated system, such as Sage 200, which includes a CRM module as a ‘foundation module’, links CRM functionality directly to your other key processes such as manufacturing, project accounting or a retail system. And if you have a business intelligence module or data visualisation tool, the results can be even more detailed.

By Concentrix TSG – UK Independent CRM specialists