Microsoft has been increasingly vocal about digital transformation, defining it as such: “Digital transformation is about bringing together people, data, and processes — disrupting technology to transform your company and create value for your customers.”
Ummmm… ok. But what kinds of systems enable this transformation? What solutions (beyond CRM) will help us bring together people, data, and processes? And — the biggest challenge, in our opinion — how do we drive more revenue through digital transformation?
Integrating platforms and products (where your processes and data live)
Every company all-in with Microsoft has already taken steps to integrate its primary platforms: CRM, ERP, Office, and Outlook are able to communicate with each other, share information, and create a robust view of every customer and prospect.
And as Microsoft can easily integrate third party data (such as Google Ads), pull info from LinkedIn, and even collect actionable info from your products themselves (keep your eyes open for D365 Product Insights!), your Microsoft stack can capture almost every piece of actionable info you need.
But wait! There’s more! IoT hardware integrated with Dynamics can give you real-time information from the real world. Transponders on trucks in your supply lines can help improve efficiencies; thermal cameras at your facilities can help secure employee safety (e.g., by detecting symptoms of COVID); smart appliances can help create upsell and cross-sell opportunities. Now we’re talking about a 360-view!
Digital transformation and driving revenue
With your D365 suites and Microsoft stack on Azure, collecting and codifying information from the outside world into near-perfect pictures of every customer and prospect, it’s time to start reeling them in… by sending them a sales quote made in Word that looks like a freshman research paper.
We’re not knocking Word: we use it every day. But it doesn’t have the “engine” required to create branded sales proposals that include dynamically configured product bundles and pricing packages.
To extend digital transformation from first customer contact to closing of a sale, you need to extend Dynamics with CPQ.
Adding CPQ to CRM puts the finishing touch on digital transformation by automating the sales proposal process, the most critical step to driving more revenue. After all: what good is a 360-degree view of the customer if it doesn’t impact your bottom line?
Sales proposal templates, built-in: Digital templates make customization easy, even for first-time sales quote makers. Plus, you can transform each template with on-brand imagery and messaging, and even include infographics and other “attention-grabbers” that will help you stand apart from your competition.
Dynamic product and pricing configuration: Where sales reps once had to rely on spreadsheets and picklists to assemble a custom quote, CPQ offers an engine that makes all of this digital, too, transforming not just how products and pricing are added to quotes, but optimizing them as well (as each quote creates a learning opportunity for what drives sales).
Robust sales quote tracking: For reasons we can’t quite figure, the 360-degree view of the customer often becomes a two-degree view during the last step of the sales process with D365 out-of-the-box functionality, which is usually limited to 1) sent and 2) won/lost. CPQ digs deeper into each step, and digitally transforms the closing process, enabling you to finally use that 360-degree view to drive more revenue.
