Spread best practice among staff with Dynamics CRM | David Brown, Microsoft Dynamics CRM Channel Development Manager, Microsoft UK
As Microsoft Dynamics CRM Channel Development Manager, David has worked with over 150 companies to support over 2,000 UK customer solutions- all deployed to help find, win and grow customer relationships.
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Question: I run a small electricians business with engineers in vans going to people’s houses. I’d really like a software package that will allow me to manage and schedule engineers’ visits and which will also enable me to enter customer details - just once - into a database. Ideally, I’d also like to schedule daily plans for the engineers and push them out to a mobile PDA, and for the engineer to also be able to enter information into the database via his PDA. Any suggestions? - Mark
Answer: Hi Mark. As a small business with a team of people out on the road, your success clearly depends on all of you storing and sharing information in one place. That way, your team has a single view of your customers- wherever they are.
 The aim of Dynamics CRM is to make communicating with your staff and customers as simple as possible. 
I recommend you consider using Microsoft Dynamics CRM, a customer relationship management (or CRM) system which will grow with you as your company expands. The aim of Dynamics CRM is to make communicating with your staff and customers as simple as possible. What’s more, you don’t have to buy it outright. More on that later, but first let me tell you how I think it will help you and your business.
With Dynamics CRM, you’ll no longer need to use bits of paper or the whiteboard on your office wall to allocate electricians because the system will keep you updated as to which engineers are doing what jobs at any given time. Your customers will be happy because accurate scheduling means engineers will turn up on time. And if a customer calls in at the last minute to say they need to change the time of their visit, you can redirect that engineer to another job, saving wasted travel time and fuel.
Customer data goes mobile
Your particular need to assign jobs and get regular feedback from engineers can be solved by using CRM Mobile Express for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0, which is designed specifically for a mobile workforce like yours. CRM Mobile Express lets your engineers view, create and modify customer records on any mobile Web browser, such as Windows Mobile Pocket PCs and Smartphones, PDAs and Blackberry devices. It requires no specialist installation - you can simply configure it the main Microsoft CRM package and choose which items your employees can access.
Dynamics CRM will also help you find new customers, and once you have found them, ensure they keep coming back.
Build up a picture of your customers
As your engineers begin to input data about each job via their hand-held devices, the system will capture that data for use in other ways and start to build up a picture of each customer - the last time you visited them, what you did and how much to invoice for a job. It will allow you to monitor trends and become better organised by enabling you to set up bespoke services, so you know at the press of a button what equipment and resources are needed for particular jobs - like wiring a conservatory or installing a consumer unit.
From a sales and promotional perspective, Dynamics CRM will also help you find new customers, and once you have found them, ensure they keep coming back. It will automate daily tasks and improve efficiency by enabling your engineers to make more customer visits each day. It means you can email customers special offers- even send them a Christmas card!
Start with a ‘hosted’ solution
As I said earlier, you don’t have to buy Microsoft Dynamics CRM- you can rent it by the month. Our Software-plus-Service philosophy offers a ‘hosted’ service via one of many specialist CRM providers. This means you can pay for your CRM software on a monthly basis just like your phones, gas or electricity. It’s ideal for small companies like yours who don’t have bottomless pockets or a large IT infrastructure, but who want the benefit of a ‘grown-up’ system. The hosted service needs no boxes or office space- it’s simply accessed through your Outlook software and an Internet browser.
There’s no major commitment or upfront investment - in fact many Microsoft service providers offer a ‘no cost’ 15-day trial period, with a per user/per month cost of around £50, depending on the complexity of the solution deployed. This will give you everything you need and much more.
I strongly recommend you have a conversation with one of our partners regarding your immediate requirements. Our dedicated Microsoft Dynamics team can give you contact details of several partners with experience in helping customers in your line of business.
I hope this helps, but please let us know if you need any more advice.
--David
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