I had an opportunity to sit down with Gary Bird, a Microsoft General Manager leading the internal IT implementation of Microsoft Dynamics CRM for their global sales organization. Gary is tasked with leading an effort at Microsoft to transform their own internal sales and marketing efforts through a fresh rethink of CRM. The team is transitioning from a legacy product to their own software.
As Gary and I were talking he said something profound:
In the future you won't need to separate social tools and workflow. You won't see CRM as a product, you will see it as managing relationships through interactions.
I literally asked him to rewind. "You won't see CRM as a product." Think about that, let it marinate for a minute. That is exciting stuff. Interest is growing in social applications to support customer service business processes and Gartner says Social CRM application spending will grow at a faster rate than traditional CRM spending.
In 2011 Microsoft introduced Dynamics CRM 2011. It embraces the "contextual ribbon" interface used in other Microsoft Office offerings, so it has the same features and commands you are used to using grouped in a visual format. Information access is simplified, with inline charts without having to navigate between screens or tabs. It is also more integrated with Microsoft Outlook. The CRM folders are presented in your email folders. This contextual ribbon makes Microsoft's product a solid foundation for an enterprise CRM implementation.
MICROSOFT'S INTERNAL CRM TRANSFORMATION
Gary and his team have been working closely with the product group to co-develop Microsoft Dynamics CRM and deliver value to users. Gearing up to deploy the tool internally to Microsoft has allowed the company to analyze deployment from the IT practitioner's point of view and see what customers will encounter during their upgrade or new deployment efforts.
Microsoft uses their CRM system for salesforce automation of a large direct sales force of more than 10,000 and a large indirect partner channel of approximately 30,000. They are just putting the final touches on replacing their legacy system with a more contemporary approach to CRM. They are replacing the classic architecture with the more contemporary Microsoft Dynamics CRM to allow them more flexibility to support sales workflow process innovation. Their mission: drive productivity and effectiveness in this channel.
FOCUSING ON SALES WORKFLOW
One area of focus for the team is sales workflow. In this process, the seller is a key user and Gary's team has focused on designing for the user experience and workflow to create natural experiences. He has found this to be incredibly important in driving user adoption and transition to the new CRM product. Integration with other Microsoft Office tools has been key to making the experience seamless and organic for the sales team. This has led the team to include social CRM (SCRM) in their roadmap for future deployments. Listen to the words he uses: natural, organic, social. Organic is a key component for this concept of managing relationships through interactions rather than through traditional contact or lead management workflows. Those are not organic, those are designed or scripted and pushed by the company rather than pulled or driven by the customer.
I'm really giddy to see this thought process at an organization as large as Microsoft. It's not that companies didn't know this. Some competitors are delivering on the promise of social CRM; but it is exciting to see IT departments planning for this in roadmaps.
I asked Gary: How do you think social impacts CRM? He told me it's being used to manage relationships or enhance those relationships through heavily coupled capabilities with broadcasting and engagement tools like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. These components work together to drive improved communication and collaboration for how people find, buy and deploy products. Another key component for integration is knowledge management capabilities, working these into that organic CRM experience to drive better decision making for both the customer and the company.
WHY MICROSOFT DYNAMICS CRM?
Well, of course some of the reason Microsoft IT is using this product is obviously due to the company connection. But in addition, Microsoft's product offers very seamless and familiar integration with your other desktop applications and the integration/synchronization with Outlook is a big plus. Another great new feature is the improved data visualization in the dashboard.
THE NEXT PHASE
The Microsoft strategy is to continue deployments and co-development with the product team, integrating a new releases more frequently than in the past. They are currently using a hybrid model with some components server based and some cloud based, with the goal of moving to a complete cloud based model leveraging Dynamics CRM Online and Windows Azure. They will also deploy mobile capabilities in future releases. And, SCRM is definitely on their roadmap.
I really enjoyed this conversation with Gary, we were really talking technology during most of the conversation but his words generated a spark. He made me think less about "Social CRM" and more about a concept of "Organic CRM". Aggregating information and contacts to have a more natural open dialogue with your customers, facilitating a less scripted and predetermined conversation. Like SEM vs. social organic referrals, CRM is evolving to become more natural, organic, social. The technology and behaviors are so close to making that a reality. That folks, is exciting.