Does my business need a business application system (CRM) and can one system really do it all?
Over the years I have worked with, networked with, and generally spoken to many marketing people and business coaches.
Many of whom have suggested that I talk about how having a CRM can get my prospects more leads, more sales and transform
their business.
Sell the dream as it were.
I've always struggled with how to do that, perhaps because I struggle to write like that; deep down I'm a techie,
and while I can write a report or a quote, I've always struggled with the more creative side of the English language.
And, also perhaps, because deep down I have not believed in what they are suggesting I say, because in reality I don't
believe it's true. Or is it?
Here is my view.
Implementing a business application like Microsoft Dynamics 365, call it a CRM if you want, should have a more
underlying, but fundamental, impact on the business. Not in a sexy, like increasing your leads/sales, but instead,
through improving your efficiency and consistency, and hence productivity.
Any modern business application platform can do this. The more departments it can be implemented across, the more
inter- and intra-departmental benefits you will get. The more data and effort you can put into one system, which
is accessible by all, the more you can eradicate inefficiencies and inconsistencies, that waste time, and lead to
things like re-work and re-calls.
Never again
By implementing a business application system throughout your business, you and your employees will save on never
having to do the following:
the copying of data from one system to another,
the need for staff having to use multiple systems to get their job done,
admin assistants (and managers) having to chase sales staff for their latest lead and prospect details,
to be fed into centralised reporting,
spend several days each month collating data from multiple systems, to produce management reports,
create every outgoing document manually, with limited control over their consistency across the business,
staff from different departments communicating with prospects and customers, blissfully unaware of what their
colleagues from other departments might already know about them or might have promised to do for them.
These are just a few examples of daily activities that create inefficiencies, miscommunication and inconsistency
in business. As the business grows, these inefficiencies increase in volume and scale – affecting more staff and
ultimately more of your bottom line.
The end result to my business
The net effect of having a strong foundation (the business system that underpins all operations) for your growing
business is that your staff will actually have more time on their hands. As the business owner/director, what you
choose to do with that freed-up time is up to you.
You could reduce your head count, and thus increase your profit. Effectively doing the same (or a bit more), with
less (staff).
You could allow your staff to use that extra time to work towards bringing in more leads and more sales, thus
increasing both your revenue and profit. Effectively, doing more, with the same (staff). Of course, you could then
use the extra profit to hire more staff, and do even more, with more (staff).
Summary
Implementing Microsoft Dynamics 365, or any other system, that can be tailored to your bespoke needs and can span
across multiple departments, will improve your efficiency, consistency and in turn productivity. If the system is
truly bespoke, it can grow with your business, meaning you can add functionality as your business changes, rather than
paying for a system with many options your business simply doesn’t need.
Ultimately, a business application system enables your business to deal with more leads and more sales effectively, so that
you can scale and grow your business in a sustainable way.
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About the Author
John Clark
Founder | Microsoft Dynamics 365 & Power Platform Consultant, Solutions Shared Ltd