Opportunity, we're told, knocks but once. Fortunately, with a good CRM we can invite Opportunity in, make it comfortable, and give it a cup of coffee while it waits for us.

Opportunity tracking lets us keep track of leads and prospects, bring the right staff and strategies into the picture at the right time, and identify new revenue opportunities with existing clients, too.

Never miss another opportunity.

Rumor has it that Microsoft Dynamics is going to be Azure-based at some point in the future.

We're not talking here about the beautiful shade of blue known as "azure," but about Windows Azure, a cloud computing platform that integrates with other Microsoft products.

Right now, MS Dynamics cloud solutions aren't Azure-based, but word from the Convergence conference last week is that the next version of MS Dynamics ERP will be Azure-based, and that MS Dynamics CRM will also eventually be using Azure as well.

What does this mean to you? If you're a Customer Dynamics client -- nothing, really. We make sure that it's business as usual for you, even if there are technical changes.

We've said that you have to get everyone on board to see the full results of using CRM, and it's true. Effective implementation requires 100% involvement.

How do you accomplish this?

The economy seems to be on an upswing, or at least an upcrawl, but many of us are still being careful with our resources.

A good CRM solution, like Microsoft Dynamics CRM, can be part of that lean approach. First, think about what your CRM does for your business:

1. Identify the most profitable customers, based on data rather than feelings.

2. Easily provide data about those high-value customers to high-performing salespeople and customer service staff.

3. Routinely alert staff to events like birthdays or updates to products customers have ordered in the past.

4. Use data mining and segmentation capabilities to identify sales opportunities that might have gone unnoticed.

5. Keep sales and marketing activities streamlined and coordinated with customer support for maximum efficiency and customer satisfaction.

These are all terrific outcomes, but you could achieve them without Dynamics CRM -- if you have the budget...

What's a data silo? It's a collection of information that's separate from the organization's shared data. When one person keeps handwritten notes on sales prospects and another has details of costs in a spreadsheet, it's easy for decisions to be made that don't take into account the information in those two private collections.

Then you've got the raw materials for some unfortunate misunderstandings.

"How could you promise to do the job for that price?! You aren't even thinking about the tariffs."

or

"Listen, Jason told me you could do this. What's the hold up now?"

or

"No one told me that you were in charge. We decided to do it this way in our department."

Sometimes data silos are part of legacy systems. One organization told us that they were planning to migrate the data from the spreadsheets they'd been using into the online CRM they had switched to, but just hadn't gotten around to it yet.

The SNAFUs this can lead to make a data migration plan...

You're upgrading to Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Online, and you're going to love it! Out of the box integration with Sharepoint, multiple dashboards with complex reporting, and new customization options make the new version of MS Dynamics CRM as powerful and versatile as Salesforce or SAP. Yet it still lets you work in your own comfortable Outlook and Office work environment.

Here's what you need to do.

Upgrade the Outlook Client on each machine:

1. Uninstall CRM 4 Outlook Client

2. Download Link: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=22dc423a-7194-491e-a169-6ace16bfdd36

3. Choose appropriate version (64-bit or 32-bit) for installed version of Outlook.

Now upgrade the E-Mail Router (if installed) and any third-party add-ons (if applicable).

Training is the final step – make sure you don’t lose users to the new interface/design.

...

A survey from research specialists at Gartner survey predicts that software spending overall will rise by about 31% in 2011. The highest level of increase will be seen in CRM, customer relationship management solutions.

It makes sense. As consumer confidence increases and the economy stabilizes, the companies that have kept in touch with their customers are the ones that will receive the orders.

We're also seeing a shift from the call center to the contact center. While many of our clients continue to receive most of their inbound customer services contacts by phone, the ability to offer email and chat options is increasingly appreciated by customers.

These multiple options have the benefit, too, of allowing your company to be more responsive to special needs and to differing levels of communication skill within your staff.

A solution like Microsoft Dynamics CRM lets you use a single integrated solution for all...

You've met people like Sally. She knows exactly where that customer's order is on the shop floor, who is working on it right now, and just how much profit the company is going to make on it. When a new order comes in, Sally can gaze around the facility, calculate how fast the current jobs can be finished and where the next one can be fitted in, tell you whether the price the customer is asking for is feasible, and remind you about the problems that came up last time a similar job arose.

What if everyone in the company had that kind of knowledge available, all the time?

A customer calls, and everyone who answers the phone -- not just Sally -- can see where the order is. The likely outcome of a change can be forecast, approvals can be arranged quickly, and communication of the changes goes to everyone whose work is affected by it.

This is the beauty of ERP: Enterprise Resource Planning. For manufacturers, combining Visual Manufacturing (VMFG) with Microsoft Dynamics CRM brings everything...

Is it less expensive to buy and install a software package such as MS Dynamics CRM, or to use a cloud computing approach with a monthly fee?

When we hear this question, we might connect it with other questions like these:

Is it cheaper to rent or to own?

Is it cheaper to lease or to buy?

Our inclination is to assume that buying something once will inevitably be less expensive than paying for something each month.

Not so with software. Here's why:

Enterprise-level software is likely to require a hardware investment.

Purchasing software and hardware may require hiring people to care for it.

Software is never a one-time investment; it always requires updates, upgrades, and patches.

In order to compare the price of technology ownership with cloud solutions, you'll have to include all the costs, not just the initial purchase price.

So far, we've been working with a very simple scenario: the cost of buying exactly...

If you're doing without customer relationship management (CRM) software, you're missing some important benefits for your company: Automation of sales and relationship cycles ensures that all your customers are taken care of equally, even when you're busy or they're quiet. Data collection and report writing are simplified, so they get done, increasing both accountability and success. Continuity is assured, even when staff members leave, go on vacation, or change positions. Planning, time management, and team coordination are easier when you always have decision making data handy. Immediate access to client information increases responsiveness to customer's needs and increased customer satisfaction. The result is happier customers, lower costs, and better return on your investment in your staff. So why are you doing without a CRM solution? Some of the more common reasons are these: You're not ready to make a major capital investment in hardware and software. You've heard (or experienced for yourself) that people won't use a CRM solution....