Microsoft Dynamics AX-GP-NAV-CRM: Trends and International Recommendations

Microsoft Dynamics project ? or formerly referred as Project Green should unify and modulate all Microsoft Business Solutions ERP applications: Microsoft Great Plains/Microsoft Dynamics GP, Microsoft Navision (former Attain) Microsoft Dynamics NAV, Microsoft (Navision) Axapta/Microsoft Dynamics AX. The challenge of unification probably will result in quality change for the unified interface, such as Web/Business portal/Microsoft Outlook & MS Office integration, Deployment of new technologies, such as Microsoft Sharepoint with workflow automation. Plus the development platform for Microsoft Dynamics products should shift from proprietary tools, such as Microsoft Dexterity, C/SIDE, MorphX (no confirmation for Axapta yet ? but we guess it should follow) to C# and VB.Net with VisualStudio. In this small article we will try to orient IT managers in Microsoft Business Solutions MRP products selection for international and regional markets.

? Microsoft Dynamics GP. The regional markets for Great Plains 9.0 and following Microsoft Dynamics GP 10.0 version will narrow: United States, United Kingdom, Canada: both English and French speaking, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and other English speaking countries in Asia, Africa and Worldwide, plus Spanish Speaking Latin America. Microsoft Dynamics GP 10 will not be available for Germany, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Poland ? the last version localized for these European countries will be 9.0 ? June 2006

? Microsoft Dynamics NAV. Currently Navision has very good presence in Europe, including East Europe: Poland, Russia, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Slovakia. Microsoft also localized Navision for new markets, where it just moved in: Brazil for example ? it was interesting development in Brazil ? first Microsoft probed Solomon, then Microsoft Great Plains 7.5 and in 2004 replaced it with localized Navision

? Microsoft Dynamics AX. Microsoft Axapta, opposite to Navision or Great Plains where market shares are gained/divided and competition is based on renovations and product improvements, Axapta has great potential yet to be deployed, coming from its modern and very futuristic system design and architecture. Being targeted to upper mid-market and corporate clients Axapta shows very good progress on emerging markets: in Russia for example the number of Axapta installation is similar and comparable with the number of Navision installations. Plus, in 2005 large number of Microsoft Business Solutions gold certified partners rushed into Axapta consulting arena ? this is seen in the USA, UK, Australia and continental Europe. In Brazil currently MBS in local Portuguese Axapta launching mode ? localized for Brazilian tax code

? Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Is planned as front CRM solution for the majority of Microsoft Dynamics ERP system: integration with Microsoft Dynamics GP is available for GP 7.5, 8.0, 9.0 and CRM 1.2 and 3.0, Microsoft Navision ? through third party integrations, Axapta integration is planned. Microsoft has Microsoft CRM as worldwide product, so you should not have any doubts regarding your regional market.

? Competition. Oracle is on the way with Oracle Fusion project, aiming on Oracle Financials/Applications/E-Business Suite, PeopleSoft, JDEdwards and potentially Siebel integration. SAP with the purchase of new mid and small market ERP: SAP Business One and Mendocino ? for SAP R/3 is catching up

Andrew Karasev is Chief Technology Officer at Alba Spectrum Technologies ( http://www.albaspectrum.com http://www.greatplains.com.mx http://www.enterlogix.com.br ) - Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains, Navision, Axapta MS CRM, Oracle Financials and IBM Lotus Domino Partner. Please do not hesitate to call or email us: USA 1-866-528-0577, 1-630-961-5918 help@albaspectrum.com

Microsoft Dynamics AX-GP-NAV-CRM: trends & international recommendations

Microsoft Dynamics project ? or formerly referred as Project Green should unify and modulate all Microsoft Business Solutions ERP applications: Microsoft Great Plains/Microsoft Dynamics GP, Microsoft Navision (former Attain) Microsoft Dynamics NAV, Microsoft (Navision) Axapta/Microsoft Dynamics AX. 

Microsoft Dynamics project ? or formerly referred as Project Green should unify and modulate all Microsoft Business Solutions ERP applications: Microsoft Great Plains/Microsoft Dynamics GP, Microsoft Navision (former Attain) Microsoft Dynamics NAV, Microsoft (Navision) Axapta/Microsoft Dynamics AX.  The challenge of unification probably will result in quality change for the unified interface, such as Web/Business portal/Microsoft Outlook & MS Office integration, Deployment of new technologies, such as Microsoft Sharepoint with workflow automation.  Plus the development platform for Microsoft Dynamics products should shift from proprietary tools, such as Microsoft Dexterity, C/SIDE, MorphX (no confirmation for Axapta yet ? but we guess it should follow) to C# and VB.Net with VisualStudio.  In this small article we will try to orient IT managers in Microsoft Business Solutions MRP products selection for international and regional markets.

• Microsoft Dynamics GP.  The regional markets for Great Plains 9.0 and following Microsoft Dynamics GP 10.0 version will narrow: United States, United Kingdom, Canada: both English and French speaking, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and other English speaking countries in Asia, Africa and Worldwide, plus Spanish Speaking Latin America.  Microsoft Dynamics GP 10 will not be available for Germany, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Poland ? the last version localized for these European countries will be 9.0 ? June 2006
• Microsoft Dynamics NAV.  Currently Navision has very good presence in Europe, including East Europe: Poland, Russia, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Slovakia.  Microsoft also localized Navision for new markets, where it just moved in: Brazil for example ? it was interesting development in Brazil ? first Microsoft probed Solomon, then Microsoft Great Plains 7.5 and in 2004 replaced it with localized Navision
• Microsoft Dynamics AX.  Microsoft Axapta, opposite to Navision or Great Plains where market shares are gained/divided and competition is based on renovations and product improvements, Axapta has great potential yet to be deployed, coming from its modern and very futuristic system design and architecture.  Being targeted to upper mid-market and corporate clients Axapta shows very good progress on emerging markets: in Russia for example the number of Axapta installation is similar and comparable with the number of Navision installations.  Plus, in 2005 large number of Microsoft Business Solutions gold certified partners rushed into Axapta consulting arena ? this is seen in the USA, UK, Australia and continental Europe.  In Brazil currently MBS in local Portuguese Axapta launching mode ? localized for Brazilian tax code
• Microsoft Dynamics CRM.  Is planned as front CRM solution for the majority of Microsoft Dynamics ERP system: integration with Microsoft Dynamics GP is available for GP 7.5, 8.0, 9.0 and CRM 1.2 and 3.0, Microsoft Navision ? through third party integrations, Axapta integration is planned.  Microsoft has Microsoft CRM as worldwide product, so you should not have any doubts regarding your regional market.
• Competition. Oracle is on the way with Oracle Fusion project, aiming on Oracle Financials/Applications/E-Business Suite, PeopleSoft, JDEdwards and potentially Siebel integration.  SAP with the purchase of new mid and small market ERP: SAP Business One and Mendocino ? for SAP R/3 is catching up

Please do not hesitate to call or email us: USA 1-866-528-0577, 1-630-961-5918 help@albaspectrum.com

Andrew Karasev is Chief Technology Officer at Alba Spectrum Technologies ( http://www.albaspectrum.com http://www.greatplains.com.mx http://www.enterlogix.com.br ) - Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains, Navision, Axapta MS CRM, Oracle Financials and IBM Lotus Domino Partner, serving corporate customers in the following industries: Aerospace & Defense, Medical & Healthcare, Distribution & Logistics, Hospitality, Banking & Finance, Wholesale & Retail, Chemicals, Oil & Gas, Placement & Recruiting, Advertising & Publishing, Textile, Pharmaceutical, Non-Profit, Beverages, Conglomerates, Apparels, Durables, Manufacturing and having locations in multiple states and internationally.

Microsoft CRM Customization

Microsoft CRM Customization

 by: Andrew Karasev

Microsoft CRM customization techniques are very diversified and based on the whole spectrum of recent Microsoft technologies. The main terms you should know are: Microsoft CRM SDK 1.2 and Visual Studio.Net 2003. And of course you should be familiar with all the legacy internet technologies, such as HTML, XML, XSLT, JavaScript and be good C#/VB/Net developer.

If you are developer who is asked: how do we customize Microsoft CRM read this and you will have the clues on where to look further.

1. Microsoft CRM SDK this is software development kit with C# and partly VB.net examples it is supported by Microsoft Business Solutions technical support. It is all web services based calls, if you are C# .NET developer you are excellently positioned to do this type of customizations. This is the preferred customization scenarios and this should be easily upgradeable customization.

2. Legacy SQL Data integration. This is also easy and safe. If you have SQL database, sitting on the same or linked SQL Server you can create ASPX .Net application and simply integrate it into CRM. You can place it on the navigation bar or menu in isv.config please refer to MS CRM SDK

3. Legacy ASP integration this is somewhat more sophisticated. You have to deploy HTTP handler to be a middle party between CRM which is .Net based and ASP which is legacy IIS. The trick is you have to have INI file with security settings to penetrate into MS CRM with proper credentials, calling web service.

4. Microsoft Exchange Programming. Microsoft CRM has Exchange connector which moves CRM incoming email to MS if it has GUID in its subject. You can alter this logic (for instance - move email to CRM if it doesnt have GUID but it is from the sender who is contact or account in MS CRM). Refer to MS Exchange SDK onsyncsave event handling. Then simply apply some MS CRM SDK programming

5. Direct SQL touch in #4 above I described you the scenario with MS Exchange handlers this would be ideal world if MS CRM SDK does the job. But in real world this is not always true you have to do direct flags correction in CRM database (like making Activity closed, moving email attachments/octet streams, etc). This is not supported by MBS technical support but you can rescue to this technique if you have to make job done.

6. MS CRM Customization tool you can feel free to use this this is rather end-user tool and we dont describe it here read the manual. Weve described above the options to use when this tool doesnt do the job

Happy customizing! if you want us to do the job - give us a call 1-866-528-0577! help@albaspectrum.com

Andrew Karasev is Chief Technology Officer in Alba Spectrum Technologies USA nationwide Microsoft CRM, Microsoft Great Plains customization company, based in Chicago, California, Colorado, Texas, New York, Georgia and Florida, Canada, UK, Australia, Brazil, Mexico (www.albaspectrum.com), he is Dexterity, SQL, C#.Net, Crystal Reports and Microsoft CRM SDK developer. akarasev@albaspectrum.com

 

Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains, Navision, Solomon, CRM & RMS: serving international clien

Microsoft Business Solutions products: Microsoft Great Plains, Navision, Solomon, Microsoft CRM, Microsoft RMS are now serving not only to small and mid-size, but also large clients, plus they maybe reasonably priced solution for the branch of multi-national corporation.

Microsoft Business Solutions products: Microsoft Great Plains, Navision, Solomon, Microsoft CRM, Microsoft RMS are now serving not only to small and mid-size, but also large clients, plus they maybe reasonably priced solution for the branch of multi-national corporation.

Microsoft Business Solutions products: Microsoft Great Plains, Navision, Solomon, Microsoft CRM, Microsoft RMS are now serving not only to small and mid-size, but also large clients, plus they maybe reasonably priced solution for the branch of multi-national corporation.  This raises question of supporting Microsoft Business Solutions product installation remotely and internationally.  We do not question local Microsoft partners service quality, the question maybe different local partners may not be authorized to sell and service specific MBS product, the example in France MBS promotes Navision, but there are multiple cases when branch of the US-based company in France needs users training and support for Microsoft Great Plains system.

In this small article we are trying to give you the best system selection idea, depending on your country and business type.

Microsoft has two major mid-market ERP packages: Microsoft Great Plains and Navision (Solomon is the one to consider for Project oriented company this would deserve dedicated publication).

• Microsoft Great Plains this application serves the markets, formerly targeted and gained by Great Plains Software (Great Plains Dynamics/eEnterprise or Great Plains Accounting), later on GPS was purchased by Microsoft.  These markets are: USA, Canada, Spanish Speaking South and Central America (except Brazil), South Africa, Middle East, Australia, New Zealand and Oceania.  If you are in these regions you should probably consider Microsoft Great Plains
• Navision we believe that Microsoft bought Navision Software Denmark based software development company few years ago in order to get European market share.  However Navision Software itself had long history of penetration to US market.  This is why we see Navision clients in both Europe and US. Now Microsoft seems to appreciate Navision accommodation to former European tax and language specifics and it promotes Navision on emerging markets: Russia, East Europe, Africa, Asia.  In Brazil situation is more complex Microsoft have not decided yet and you can have either Navision or Great Plains (our subdivision Enterlogix.com.br is exclusive Great Plains reseller in Brazil).  It is very delicate question for MBS - but what you can see - Great Plains version 8.0 has fewer number of languages support and at the same time Navision has more with new releases.
• Microsoft CRM Microsoft promotes its CRM worldwide and it is web based so it naturally automates your worldwide operations or serves you in your local country.  Microsoft CRM has C# and VB.Net based SDK, BizTalk server based integration to Great Plains and Microsoft SQL Server database.  Plus it deploys all the spectrum of Microsoft technologies: MS Exchange, Message Queuing, Active Directory.
• Solomon - this ERP application was formerly bought by Great Plains Software (before GPS was bought it its turn by Microsoft) - Solomon is very good fit for project-driven organization. 
• Microsoft RMS you should probably stay with Navision Retail module if you are in the region where MBS promotes Navision.  In all other places consider Microsoft Retail Management System: RMS Store Operations and POS.  If you have multiple stores you may manage and control them via Microsoft RMS Headquarters.  RMS has several integration options to Microsoft Great Plains.
• Remote Support Technology it gives you cheaper consulting rates, because consultant doesnt have to travel to you and can serve several remote clients per day.  Microsoft VPN and Remote desktop solution is usually free for the client and in the case of sophisticated firewall Web Session could be another way to serve.  We do voice training, based on Internet telephony solutions, such as Skype enable you free voice over the internet.
• Customization it is always better to avoid it however if you really need it, you should consider MBS customization partner who specializes in custom development and has experienced programmer.  In such a case we do not recommend to stick to local programmers in our experience local markets may not provide enough clientele for local developers to specialize in your product customization.  Also we do not recommend choosing generic offshore software developer.  MBS products require dedication in their customizations and integrations.

You can always have us help you internationally, give us a call: 1-630-961-5918 or 1-866-528-0577, help@albaspectrum.com

Andrew Karasev is Chief Technology Officer in Alba Spectrum Technologies USA nationwide Great Plains, Microsoft CRM, Microsoft RMS customization company, serving clients in Chicago, Arizona, Colorado, California, Texas, New York, Georgia, Florida, Minnesota( http://www.albaspectrum.com )

Microsoft CRM in Latin America: implementation, customization, support overview for consultant

Microsoft Business Solutions CRM is present several years on the US software market plus it makes advances in Europe.  We expect substantial number growth of Microsoft CRM implementations across South and Central AmericaMicrosoft Business Solutions CRM is present several years on the US software market plus it makes advances in Europe.  We expect substantial number growth of Microsoft CRM implementations across South and Central America

 

Microsoft Business Solutions CRM is present several years on the US software market plus it makes advances in Europe.  We expect substantial number growth of Microsoft CRM implementations across South and Central America and the need for Microsoft CRM implementation, support, tuning, reporting, training services, especially in such countries as Mexico, Columbia, Venezuela, Argentina, Peru, Uruguay, Chili, Costa Rica.  In this small article we try to project US market lessons on Latin American business climate.

• Sales.  Microsoft CRM in opposite to former CRM leaders, such as Siebel, Onyx, Saleslogix doesnt need hard pushing sales efforts.  It also should probably not be sold to the company top management, but rather to IT department enthusiasts, who are in charge for specific legacy business system support and data fixing.  Microsoft CRM is very simple from business logic and intuitively understood by IT group.  It is rather very simplified version of full-featured CRM, such as again Siebel.
• Installation.  Microsoft CRM should be either hosted or installed by in-house IT group.  And this is due to the fact, that MS CRM utilizes all the resent Microsoft technologies: MS Exchange Server 2003/2000, Active Directory, MS SQL Server, Crystal Reports Enterprise, MS Outlook client, Microsoft IIS, .Net components, etc.  This makes installation sensitive to existing setup of the above components
• Implementation.  The crucial in the implementation is Workflow design, which should be probably done by consultant with IT in-house specialist.  This process doesnt require a lot of business consulting knowledge and in our experience company middle management actually makes suggestions in the time of initial presentation.  In the case of MS CRM Sales module the workflow should organize leads processing up to the point of closing the deal and following invoicing.  When workflow is realized sales team works as excellent orchestra.
• Customization.  Usually MS CRM ties together existing legacy business systems and replaces large portion of them.  Typical case if you are freight forwarding client and have cargo tracking system you should more likely have lookup from the MS CRM account screen to the customer current shipments statuses.  This is usually made as small web application, created in Visual Studio.Net with MS CRM SDK and SQL queries to legacy database.
• Support.  Because MS CRM is web application it can be used by remote users and automate operations across the whole South America and even Worldwide.  The same should be said about MS CRM support your Microsoft Business Solutions CRM Partner can support your installation remotely from say office in San Pablo as if it is located across the street.

Good luck implementing, customizing and reports designing and if you have issues or concerns we are here to help!  If you want us to do the job - give us a call in San Pablo: 55-11-3826-3449, 55-113825-2586! help@albaspectrum.com

Author is MS CRM Specialist in Microsoft Business Solutions Partner Alba Spectrum Technologies ( http://www.albaspectrum.com ) Navision, Great Plains, Microsoft CRM customization company, serving client in Mexico-city, Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Bogota, Caracas, Panama, San Jose, Lima, Quito, Madrid, Barcelona

CRM -- Turning Customers Into Clients

Estimates that 20 percent of customers account for 80 percent of total revenues in some businesses is a wake-up call! Finding new business a climate like that is expensive, and often unrewarding. As Barry Stamos points out in 'Best' Customers: More Profitable Relationships (Email Marketing Newsletter), Why spend resources attracting new customers until optimizing the profitability of your client relationships?

Estimates that 20 percent of customers account for 80 percent of total revenues in some businesses is a wake-up call! Finding new business a climate like that is expensive, and often unrewarding. As Barry Stamos points out in 'Best' Customers: More Profitable Relationships (Email Marketing Newsletter), Why spend resources attracting new customers until optimizing the profitability of your client relationships?

More Bang for Your Buck

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is organizing and maintaining strategic connections with clients and customers to turn that sorry 20/80 stat on its ear.

Successful CRM is about competing in the relationship dimension explains Bob Thompson, CEO, CustomerThink Corporation, Not as an alternative to having a competitive product or reasonable price- but as a differentiator. If your competitors are doing the same thing you are (as they generally are), product and price won't give you a long-term, sustainable competitive advantage. But if you can get an edge based on how customers feel about your company, it's a much stickier--sustainable--relationship over the long haul.

Putting Clients First

Service is a client-centric activity, but theres plenty in it for you, too. For small-business owners (SBOs) and independent professionals, developing and managing healthy client relationships and providing superior service increases cross-selling and up-selling opportunities, and can spin off endless chains of high-leverage qualified referrals. Building on your client base also increases profitability, by cutting front-end marketing time and costs; but its the quality of those relationships that affects persistency, enhances your professional reputation, and can lead to future business from your hard-earned clients.

Technically, of course, when you make a sale, you dont have a client, you have a customer. A customer is someone who buys from you once; a client is someone who will buy from you, again and again. Clients who trust you and your expertise will come to you (and maybe only you) for your products or services. A client relationship is one in which both the buyer and seller agree that the first transaction was not a one-time event.

Client Relationship Management goals are clear:

Being seen as confident, competent professional;

Proactively servicing your existing business and providing extra value;

Meeting additional needs as clients situations change, and

Earning prestige recommendations or introductions to other qualified prospects.

The buyer must accept Client status, however, its not a label that can be stuck to the buyer by the seller. Client relationships must be cultivated and nurtured to stay healthy. To borrow a line from former New York City mayor, Ed Koch, simply asking clients, How am I doing? is a great way to find out.

CRM is typically characterized by continuous contact, shared expectations and mutually beneficial relationships evolving over time. The post-sale period must be carefully managed. Thank-you messages are courteous and business-like; progress reports may be useful in some situations.

Make a point of contacting clients informally several times a year, in addition to holiday messages and regularly scheduled service contacts. It can add up, but todays SBOs and independent professionals have a really simple and powerful way of delivering much more value to clients with less effort, since virtually all client service contacts can be automated.

E-Communications Its Expected!

People have come to expect email service notifications and other communicationseverything from thank-you notes, birthday and holiday greetings to cross- and up-selling messaging. If youre not using automation technology and a Web presence to the max, youre at a disadvantage (because your competitors are!).

At the same time, a lot of businesses are slow to acknowledge customer inquiries and service requests. Business research firm, Jupiter Research (http://www.jupiterresearch.com), found that nearly one-third of companies either took three days or longer to respond to customers' email inquiries or never responded at all. Bad on them!

But that can all be fixed with automated messaging built into e-mail systems. Meeting basic customer service needs in these ways improves persistency and client loyalty.

Just as understanding the people you're looking for makes it easier to find more of them, a markets unique make-up can help you tailor appropriate client communications. As consumers become increasingly sophisticated, so does the benefit of targeting client communications, not just promotional messages, to their needs, interests and buying behaviors. With today's technology you can readily customize client communications to each market segment.

Smart CRM Another Way to Succeed

CustomerThink Corporations Bob Thompson: Said another way, you can succeed with CRM by being SMART: Define a customer-centric Strategy; use appropriate Metrics ; ensure your organization is Aligned with your objectives; Redesign work processes as needed; and use appropriate Technology tools as enablers. But it all starts by putting your customers first and creating a better relationship with them than your competitors offer.

Want More? Send questions and comments to w.willard3@knology.net.

Bill Willard has been writing high-impact marketing and sales training for over 30 yearsbut as Will Rogers put it: "Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there. Through interactive, Web-based "Do-While-Learning" programs, e-Newsletters and straight-talking articles, Bill helps small-business owners and independent professionals get the job done.

Microsoft CRM for Large Corporation Security

Microsoft Business Solutions CRM proved to be reliable solution in the whole spectrum of industries and market niches: transportation & logistics, education, recruiting & placement, supply chain management, pharmaceutical, oil & gas, aerospace & defense, manufacturing, wholesale & retail. When corporation is looking into CRM application to choose from one of the fist questions is security. In this small article well try to give you the highlights on the most typical questions we are receiving in the security area.

• Active Directory. Microsoft CRM uses Active Directory users and its security is built upon Windows domain security. We heard complains about this tight integration. If you compare MS CRM with Siebel, for example you will see, that Siebel security is built on the CRM level and Siebel can be installed on Windows and Unix/Linux platforms

• Vertical Security, Roles. If you are thinking about vertical security, say assign more rights to manager, versus salesperson, this should be done on the role level. We first talk about vertical security, to give you conception of the matrix-type of security, realized in MS CRM

• Horizontal Security, Teams. At this moment (MS CRM 1.2, MS CRM 3.0 is due in September 2005) team can include users only, not other teams, however, if you share the object with the team you can share it with multiple teams. This is the place where collective security begins. Imagine, you have Worldwide product line widgets and you have several regions: Europe, Pacific, USA, Australia & New Zealand, China. In gadgets team you have product manager, who should see all the sales worldwide, also you create regional teams for European, America, Australian etc markets and then make gadgets manager as team member of all these teams

• Secured Reporting. When you, as European market manager run report on the gadgets sales you see only records in your security realm. This statement is true even if you have customization, done in MS CRM SDK: C# or VB.Net.

• Presentation Level. If you use MS CRM Web or Outlook clients these are just two types of presentation level clients. Microsoft CRM schema sits in MS SQL server database, so if you deploy MS CRM SDK to modify/customize your CRM both presentation clients will get the custom interface

• Messaging. Microsoft CRM deploys MS Exchange. However you can improve MS CRM Exchange connector to catch emails by addresser email or domain, also you can deploy Lotus Notes Domino as email server check with Alba Spectrum Technologies

• Integration with MS Great Plains. Microsoft CRM integrates with GP customers, SOP Orders & Invoices. You can have custom integration, by calling Great Plains objects (customer annual sales info, employees payroll summary, etc.)

Good luck and you can always seek our help in customization, implementation, integration and support. Call us: 1-866-528-0577 or 1-630-961-5918, help@albaspectrum.com

Andrew Karasev is Chief Technology Officer in Alba Spectrum Technologies USA nationwide Great Plains, Microsoft CRM customization company, serving Chicago, California, Arizona, Texas, Florida, Georgia, New York, Australia, UK, Canada, Continental Europe, Russia and having locations in multiple states and internationally ( http://www.albaspectrum.com ), he is Dexterity, SQL, C#.Net, Crystal Reports and Microsoft CRM SDK developer

help@albaspectrum.com

Microsoft Dynamics CRM V3.0 ? Customer Relationship Management

Customer Relationship Management software effectively implemented, provides business owners and management with an extremely powerful tool for bringing the front-office functions of sales, marketing and customer support together and working far more effectively as a combined team.

Many businesses think wrongly that a CRM solution is only for enterprise class concerns with large check books when in fact software providers such as Microsoft offer scaleable versions for all company sizes. Microsoft Dynamics Software has evolved from their enterprise class Great Plains software however versions have been developed and aimed specifically at the small and mid-range business market.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM v3.0 allows businesses to respond to the growing challenges in the modern business environment by bringing client and prospect information into a central repository, organizing the information and allowing users throughout the business to access the data when they need it. Microsoft Dynamics CRM v3.0 delivers the ability to manage the customer relationship throughout the entire sales cycle from initial enquiry in response to a marketing or sales campaign, through to pre-sales meetings, the actual sale and post sale issues such as delivery and repeat ordering.

Microsoft Dynamics software empowers every decision maker in your business to satisfy customer demands by providing the most up-to-date and accurate client information they need when they need it and ensure that the history of the relationship is encapsulated for all to share. Decision makers in this context need not necessarily be management but a customer service representative with a customer on the telephone asking about an order or information on your other products. All staff in contact with prospects and customers will be able to see at a glance what is happening with a particular account and in customer relations, knowledge is power. Customer relationship software provides everyone in your business with the ability to demonstrate an outstanding level of customer service not possible by traditional reporting methods.

The ability to integrate a customer relationship software solution with existing applications already employed by your business allows for the transfer of information between your word processor and spreadsheet applications and the CRM. Microsoft CRM software has been specifically designed with Microsoft Outlook and Office in mind, and allows a seamless user experience. Mobile workers reliant upon email are able to access Microsoft Dynamics CRM v3.0 via their Outlook client, while marketing and sales campaigns can use data imported from the Dynamics Suite directly into Microsoft Word and Excel applications for marketing campaigns and mail shots.

If your business has several office and site locations, it is still possible to implement a customer relationship software solution across the whole company. Microsoft Dynamics v3.0 is well adapted to be delivered to remote locations via Microsoft Terminal Services, Citrix and other ?thin client? solutions. An example is where a business has a central warehousing facility in Detroit with sales offices in New York, San Francisco and Chicago and they all are able to utilise the customer relationship software solution almost in real-time.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM v3.0 benefits your business by saving time and costs, minimizing non-productive activity while maximizing sales revenue by ensuring that sales leads are followed up and do not get lost or ?fall between the cracks?, while customer retention is improved by enhancing customer relations and service.

Syed Ali, is the lead CRM consultant for a Toronto based company. His company offers, Microsoft CRM Software Syed can be reached at Tel : (905) 815- 1995 ext 22, email :asyed@cqsolutions.com

How to Increase Sales with Automation Improvements

How to Increase Sales with Automation Improvements

 by: Diana Barnum

How popular is online shopping? And is there room for improvement? Lets check out some pros and cons of automated shopping and see.

Digital carts offer convenience for people around the globe 24 hours a day. Yet an estimated 4 percent of shoppers make purchases, up from 3.5 percent in 2003, reported by DoubleClick, an online marketing company.

And approximately 30 percent of shopping carts are abandoned, according to recent surveys by BizRate.com, a shopping search engine.

The main reasons for shopping cart abandonment are*:

• High shipping prices (72%)

• Comparison shopping or browsing (61%)

• Changed mind (56%)

• Saving items for later purchase (51%)

• Total cost of items is too high (43%)

• Checkout process is too long (41%)

• Checkout requires too much personal information (35%)

• Site requires registration before purchase (34%)

• Site is unstable or unreliable (31%)

• Checkout process is confusing (27%)

To decrease shopping cart abandonment and increase sales, simple minor improvements in automation can be highly effective. Here are some tips that work best for clients and workers alike of OhioHelp.net, an Ohio-based company that specializes in helping businesses worldwide with their marketing, public relations and freelance writing services.

TOP TIPS FROM OHIOHELP.NET

1. Calculate all handling charges and fees in with your price whenever possible, so that you can offer no-cost shipping. And check for specials like Flat Rate packages with Priority Shipping.

2. Dont have people pre-register, fill out lengthy forms, wait for email confirmation, find their password / user ID and figure out how to log in again and continue to fill out more detailed forms and click through a half-dozen pages. Ugh! People want to shop, buy and go. Period.

3. On EVERY page of your site, shopping cart, receipt and Thank You or other automated reply, list complete contact information. Include a specific person to follow up with, business phone number and postal address (no P.O. Box) and a direct email address like diana@ohiohelp.net (i.e. not info@ohiohelp.net). Then if the Internet connection fails, the site goes down or any number of other technical issues occurs, the shopper immediately has concrete information for follow up.

4. Set your product order numbers at one (1). In other words, when someone clicks a purchase button, have the cart say one (1) item purchased when they preview their cart instead of zero, making them select 1 again.

5. Include a no-cost gift in the shopping cart, with the receipt or in the Thank You email, especially with large purchases. Let your customers know you appreciate their business. And ask for referrals!

6. Test special product and package prices with offers on a Thank You page or with a Thank You email.

7. Accept multiple payment options when possible; credit cards, faxed and telephone orders, print checks, money orders, echecks and 3rd party solutions like Paypal. Note: many businesses use American Express.

8. Choose a progressive shopping cart software solution like ProfitAuto at http://presssuccess.com/AutoPilot for a variety of services, pricing packages and options for company growth. ProfitAuto manages not only the cart but also your leads, contacts and shoppers with automated Thank You follow up. It also has autoresponders for pre-sale and after-sale communications, digital tracking and delivery solutions, importing / exporting of lists and autoresponder series, electronic coupons, affiliate programs and more.

NO-COST TRIAL AND INFORMATION

For a 30-day no-cost trial of ProfitAuto, sign up online at http://presssuccess.com/AutoPilot . And download ebooks with loads of information to help with your business from the Freebies section of the OhioHelp.net bookstore at http://www.presssuccess.com/bookstore

So tweak your checkout process. Make your clients and your company happy. And ring up more sales. To learn more top tips and receive them on a regular basis at no charge in your email, sign up at http://ohiohelp.net today or email diana@ohiohelp.net.

* From research (Fall, 2001) by Vividence Corporation, specializing in Customer Experience Management (CEM) products and services.

--

You have permission to publish this article electronically or in print, free of charge, as long as the bylines are included. A courtesy copy of your publication would be appreciated - send to: diana@ohiohelp.net

Diana Barnum, president of http://movingaheadcommunications.com and CEO of http://ohiohelp.net. For more help with marketing, public relations and writing, email diana@ohiohelp.net or call: (614) 529-9459.