Customer relationship management
Microsoft Solutions help manufacturers exceed customer expectations
In today’s global economy, the manufacturing industry is much more competitive. Consumers have more options, so they can afford to be picky about where they spend their money. They routinely expect impeccable customer service, high-quality products, and reasonable pricing; when they don’t get it, they seldom return to a business for additional purchases.
To build customer loyalty, people who work in the manufacturing industry need a customer-care framework that gives them immediate access to the resources and information they need to help their customers best. Manufacturers must develop a focused marketing and sales strategy that includes enhanced customer care, improved order management, and product and service customization. With the right tools, people throughout the organization are empowered to provide the intimate, seamless sales experience their customers want.
Microsoft and its partners can provide those tools.
Make the most of industry-standard platforms to achieve customer insight and increased sales
Manufacturers can meet customer demands through an integrated, full-service customer relationship management (CRM) solution that provides analytics, integration, and collaboration capabilities. By building software solutions that take advantage of widely-used and interoperable platform applications such as Microsoft Windows and Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft software partners are helping their manufacturing customers manage customer relationships.
By building on industry-standard Microsoft technologies, companies such as SAP and Siebel help manufacturers:
| • | Analyze sales data. A good CRM solution provides easy access to past sales data. By determining what sold well at different times, or to different audiences, sales and marketing teams can make predictions about what might sell well in the future. This enables them to tailor marketing campaigns for products that might sell well with a certain group of customers, or at a certain time of year. |
| • | Customize sales. CRM solutions can help tie demand generation directly to sales coordination. Sales and marketing teams can easily target the right customers with the right value proposition based on specific product and feature requests. They can also use this data to coordinate follow-up activities, such as customized special promotions. |
| • | Improve customer service. When customer information is maintained in a central location, it’s much easier for sales and customer service representatives to access and use the data in the field and on sales calls. Sales representatives, for example, can copy the information to a handheld device to use while selling products away from the office. Not only can this customer data be used to enhance the current sales transaction, the information can also be used to cross-sell other products. |
| • | Expedite orders. Customer order management is another key factor in the success of a company. Excellent customer service includes accurate and fast order processing. With a good CRM solution, it is easy for the customer service team to locate specific orders and track the status of that order from initial placement to final delivery. |
Achieve maximum performance with Microsoft technologies
The Microsoft platform and Microsoft .NET technologies deliver the integration, communication and collaboration capabilities that manufacturers need to compete effectively in an increasingly challenging global marketplace. Software partners with expertise in the manufacturing space have chosen to build their solutions on the Microsoft platform so their customers can take advantage of powerful Microsoft technologies such as Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server, and Microsoft Exchange Server.
Microsoft software is optimized to help manufacturers and the people who work for them achieve maximum performance:
| • | The extensive use of Web services and XML schemas in the Microsoft platform empowers manufacturers to achieve their business goals without abandoning prior investments in automation systems, production processes, and other specialized systems. |
| • | The integration capabilities in BizTalk Server, SharePoint Portal Server, and Exchange Server make it easy for people to share data and collaborate with suppliers across the supply chain. |
| • | Adherence to open industry standards and manufacturing-specific standards such as OPC, S-99, S-95, radio frequency identification (RFID), OAGIS and UCCNet provide IT and development teams with a flexible architecture that enables them to make optimal use of their legacy infrastructure. |
| • | Universally familiar project and data management products such as Microsoft Project and Microsoft Excel are easy to learn and already have a high level of adoption within the manufacturing supply chain. Tools like the Microsoft Office Word provide a standard way to deliver information across teams and enterprises. |
| • | Optimal security measures help to ensure the integrity, confidentiality, and accessibility of plant floor data. In addition to shipping products with maximum security design, Microsoft also provides regular updates and patches to make it easier to manage security. |
Learn more about Microsoft manufacturing partners
To learn more about solutions that can help you achieve peak performance in customer relationship management, please contact one of our Microsoft partners.
If you want assistance in finding the right partner for your needs, please contact your Microsoft representative today.
