REDMOND, Wash., Oct. 8, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Microsoft Corp.
(Nasdaq "MSFT") on Wednesday announced that it will offer a new
Sales Productivity solution that combines Microsoft Dynamics CRM
Online Professional with Office 365 and Power BI. This powerful
combination gives sales professionals the leading productivity
tools that work seamlessly with business applications to enable
them to do more and achieve more. The new solution will be offered
to customers at a promotional price of $65 per user, per month. Existing users of Office
365 can upgrade to the Sales Productivity solution for $45 per user, per month. This is almost 50
percent lower than comparable offerings in the industry. This offer
is available in all markets worldwide where Microsoft Dynamics CRM
Online, Office 365 and Power BI are available, starting
Wednesday.
Productivity is an important component of any business
applications offering, and that is especially critical for sales
organizations where people need to quickly respond to customers'
needs. By combining Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online, a recognized
leader in CRM, with Office 365, the leading productivity solution
in the market, Microsoft is empowering people to work across their
entire enterprise and beyond with partners and customers directly.
And by bringing Outlook, Lync, Skype and Yammer for social
collaboration into the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online experience,
the company is enabling true sales productivity for customers.
"The importance of combining powerful productivity tools with
business applications is something that Microsoft Dynamics has
recognized all along — indeed it is core to our strategy," said
Bob Stutz, corporate vice president,
Microsoft Dynamics CRM. "We have been building our products to work
seamlessly together from day one, and this new offering makes it
even easier for our customers to benefit from this combination
of solutions today: Microsoft Dynamics CRM plus Office 365 plus
Power BI is a winning bet."
Customers are already benefiting from the power of Microsoft
Dynamics CRM Online with Office 365 and Power BI analytics.
Businesses are choosing Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online over
competing vendors for its ability to work seamlessly with Office
365 along with its world-class and intuitive process-driven user
experience and real-time insights through easy-to-use tools that
empower users to get the answers they need.
Grant Thornton LLP is the U.S. member firm of Grant Thornton
International Ltd., one of the world's leading organizations of
independent audit, tax and advisory firms. Grant Thornton chose Microsoft's Sales Productivity
solution over Salesforce.com to enable the firm to offer its
clients something the competition cannot — personalized service and
closer relationships.
Grant Thornton has revenue in
excess of $1.3 billion with more than
500 partners and 6,000 employees and has seen some incredible
results. One of its key goals as a business was to increase team
collaboration among its sales associates. With Microsoft solutions
in place, Grant Thornton has seen a 700 percent increase in the
number of contacts in its system over the legacy solution and a 450
percent increase in the number of opportunities. That translates to
five-and-a-half times more deals managed in the firm's system. With
Microsoft, Grant Thornton's sales teams are able to easily identify
trends affecting their customers so they can proactively reach out
to them. The sales teams' pipeline has increased, their win rate is
39 percent higher and, most impressively, their average win value
has increased by 36 percent. Not only are they closing more deals,
those deals are significantly larger. These insights into client
demand "make very smart people even smarter, which creates a more
personalized client experience," said Rick
Stow, head of Client Relationship Management at Grant
Thornton.
CSX Transportation, a business with more than 31,000 employees,
$12 billion in annual revenue and
21,000 miles of railway in 23 states across the United States and two Canadian provinces,
also selected Microsoft Dynamics CRM. More than 1,300 people at CSX
Transportation use Microsoft Dynamics CRM on a day-to-day basis,
and the company has seen improvement in its productivity,
collaboration, ability to identify new business opportunities and
relations with customers.
"Now, all related customer information is available in one
solution, helping people collaborate more effectively across the
company," said Vicki Burton,
director of CRM for CSX Transportation. "And having a single tool
to manage much of their day-to-day work has also meant a boost to
productivity for CSX staff. Before Microsoft Dynamics CRM, people
had to go to multiple systems to get the information they needed.
Now, they just go to one."
Metro Bank was founded on a simple precept: to offer the best
customer experience, how, when and where the customer wants it. It
chose Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Office 365, Yammer and Power BI
analytics to give its people the apps they need to support the
personalized interactions that are the hallmark of its business and
to be operationally flexible. For a company like Metro Bank — where
customer experience is everything — Microsoft Dynamics CRM with
Office 365 has been essential to its business.
Microsoft partners around the world, including Microsoft 2014
Global CRM Partner of the Year Hitachi Solutions, continue to see
success with Microsoft Dynamics CRM.
"While many of Hitachi Solutions' customers are already using
Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online, Office 365 and Power BI in
combination, this new solution, which is simple, powerful and
affordable, is a perfect opportunity for companies looking to boost
their sales productivity," said Mike
Gillis, chief operating officer, Hitachi Solutions America.
"In fact, many of our successes come from helping clients migrate
off alternative cloud-based solutions, which promise low monthly
fees but frustrate customers when they receive a bill for over
double that amount."
PowerObjects, a top Microsoft Dynamics CRM partner, has grown
its business by over 1,000 percent in the past six years as a
result of picking Microsoft over Salesforce.com. It expects to add
thousands more Microsoft Dynamics CRM users over the next few
years.
Other partners worldwide, such as Ciber in the United Kingdom and OnDemand4You in
Germany, are also excited about
the opportunity and potential the new Sales Productivity solution
opens up for them to help their customers be more efficient and
deliver amazing experiences.
More about the Sales Productivity offering from Microsoft can be
found at
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics/sales-productivity-promo.aspx.
In addition, all can follow and engage with the Microsoft Dynamics
CRM community @MSDynamicsCRM at
http://www.twitter.com/msdynamicscrm, #MSDYNCRM.
About Microsoft Dynamics
At the heart of every successful business are the people who
make things happen. Microsoft Dynamics designs modern business
solutions that empower individuals with intuitive tools that allow
them to do their best work. Our proactive, easy-to-use business
applications adapt to the way people and systems work, enabling
businesses to rapidly deploy and be forward-looking in an
ever-changing world.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide
leader in software, services, devices and solutions that help
people and businesses realize their full potential.
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SOURCE Microsoft Corp.