MS Dynamics 365 for Sales vs Salesforce | Learn more about Dynamics 365 for Sales features

Continuing from our previous blog post, we’ll further discuss the process of capturing leads and how to develop them into potential customers. Now that you’ve established your workflow and have found some promising leads, the next step towards gaining new customers is to build on your relationship with your leads and to nurture them.

What is lead nurturing?

Lead nurturing refers to the development of a series of planned actions and communication strategies for the purposes of eliciting certain behaviours from potential clients. The idea of lead nurturing is to guide consumers down their purchasing journey, sending them specific and relevant content which can help convince clients that you both understand their needs and assuring them that you have the solution to their problems.

How does lead nurturing work?

MS Dynamics 365 for Sales vs Salesforce | Learn more about Dynamics 365 for Sales features

No doubt, CRM plays a significant role in today's business world – it provides useful insights, improves customer service and automates everyday tasks. But what about one of the fastest developing industries in the world – the IT industry? How can a $200 billion worth industry benefit from a CRM system? Here are three ways how CRM helps software companies to increase their sales:

1. Determine the best marketing channels for quality lead generation

Does your marketing team know which leads bring you the most value – the ones that were acquired from LinkedIn or the ones that saw your ad on Google? Assessing it without a CRM system is tough.  A CRM system can also determine the most effective messages, which influence a sale, and the best time to deliver them. This makes a CRM system an irreplaceable tool for software sales.

2. Develop a well-established customer journey

MS Dynamics 365 for Sales vs Salesforce | Learn more about Dynamics 365 for Sales features

With Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Sales and the implementation of marketing automation, managing and nurturing leads has never been easier. With automation software, potential leads can be tracked and nurtured accordingly based on their level of interaction they have with your company’s content. However, establishing a lead nurturing workflow is not a one size fits all process, and requires some initial setup and customization before you can begin to start bringing in new clients. Consider the following three steps before you decide on implementing any CRM software:

1. Understand Your Customers

Before you can begin setting up any sort of automation, you need to understand how your customers interact with your content. Who is your ideal target segment? Is the information and content relevant to their needs? Knowing how consumers are engaging with your company (i.e. social media, blog posts, etc.) will influence the type of content you post and how you choose to interact with them based on where they are at in their customer journey.

2. Plan Out The Steps To Your Workflow

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No matter what size your business is, time tracking is always a good idea. Without time tracking software, it's easy for your employees to get lost in projects and hard to follow their efficiency and productivity. Below are more reasons why it’s worth considering implementing a time tracking software for your business:

Track Work Efficiently

Time tracking software can create time sheets, which makes it easier to understand your company's workflow. Moreover, you can do without the punch-in/punch-out process and other old-fashioned attendance systems, which make time tracking process more complicated and less convenient both for you and your employees.

Improved Client Billing

For many companies, the Cloud is still considered new and unfamiliar territory. For the uninitiated, the Cloud refers to the ability to share, store and process information through a network of servers. With Cloud hosting, a company’s online resources will be spread across various web servers, allowing companies to freely transmit and access their data outside of their place of work. The Cloud is more than just a place for companies to store their data however, and once integrated will actually shape the way organizations do business in the future. For companies considering moving their business to the Cloud, here are several changes you may expect to occur:

Expect a change in your IT Infrastructure:

Should you decide to move to the Cloud with a fully managed service provider, time consuming activities such as server maintenance and resource management will be handled by your Cloud-based service provider. As a result, companies have reported having to reassign their CTOs and IT directors to undertake additional tasks and roles such as managing IT expenses and strategic planning.

Prepare for an increasingly fast paced work environment:

According to a HBR-Verizon survey report, 75% of businesses state that the Cloud reduced business complexity, 61% claimed that it increased employee productivity, and 53% stated it increased response time with customers. With its automated tools, business operations have become more streamlined and allowed for greater flexibility for companies to enter new markets and for faster rollout for new businesses initiatives and exploit new opportunities.

WebSan Solutions Inc. chosen as award winner of the Modern Marketing Innovation Award

MISSISSAUGA, 2017 – Microsoft Canada is delighted to announce the 2017 IMPACT Awards winners.  The awards took place on July 9^th at the Marriott Hotel, Washington DC as part of Inspire, formerly called Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC). The annual event now in its 14^th year celebrates outstanding achievement across Microsoft’s community of partners, system integrators and service providers who are committed to the pursuit of quality and innovation.

Microsoft has worked closely with all partners on a wide range of customer solutions and business propositions. A number of the finalists chosen have showed their confidence and commitment to the partnership by leveraging Microsoft cloud offerings.

“In this mobile-first, cloud-first era it’s an exciting time to be a Microsoft partner in Canada,” said Andrew King, Managing Director of WebSan Solutions Inc. “We are honoured to be chosen as one of the winners for Microsoft Canada’s IMPACT Awards and to be recognized for our accomplishments within the Canadian Partner community.”

Winners are invited to an exclusive awards dinner hosted by the Microsoft Executive Team, providing a unique opportunity to network with executives and strengthen relationships with Microsoft business groups

WebSan Solutions Inc. chosen as award winner of the Modern Marketing Innovation Award

MISSISSAUGA, 2017 – Microsoft Canada is delighted to announce the 2017 IMPACT Awards winners.  The awards took place on July 9^th at the Marriott Hotel, Washington DC as part of Inspire, formerly called Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC). The annual event now in its 14^th year celebrates outstanding achievement across Microsoft’s community of partners, system integrators and service providers who are committed to the pursuit of quality and innovation.

Microsoft has worked closely with all partners on a wide range of customer solutions and business propositions. A number of the finalists chosen have showed their confidence and commitment to the partnership by leveraging Microsoft cloud offerings.

“In this mobile-first, cloud-first era it’s an exciting time to be a Microsoft partner in Canada,” said Andrew King, Managing Director of WebSan Solutions Inc. “We are honoured to be chosen as one of the winners for Microsoft Canada’s IMPACT Awards and to be recognized for our accomplishments within the Canadian Partner community.”

Winners are invited to an exclusive awards dinner hosted by the Microsoft Executive Team, providing a unique opportunity to network with executives and strengthen relationships with Microsoft business groups

MS Dynamics 365 for Sales vs Salesforce | Learn more about Dynamics 365 for Sales features

Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Sales, also known as Dynamics CRM, has become a powerful tool that, when successfully implemented, can greatly increase sales revenue and improve customer retention by as much as 27%. Successful implementation can be difficult however, partially due to reluctance by sales representatives who are unwilling to overcome the initial learning curve that comes with the software. To help smooth over the initial transition process, here are three ways in which you can encourage your sales representatives to begin using CRM to assist them in sales:

1. Communicate Financial Benefits

The ability to improve lead management should be communicated to sales representatives, as well as the potential financial benefits that stems from it. D365 for Sales helps sales representatives better track and follow up with potential sales leads. This has resulted in businesses reporting upwards of 30% increase in sales revenue per sales rep.

2. Emphasize Personal Accessibility

MS Dynamics 365 for Sales vs Salesforce | Sign up for a free Dynamics 365 for Sales course! | Learn more about Dynamics 365 for Sales features

While creating emails, people usually make two significant mistakes: in their emails, they sell too much without any useful content, or they put too much content without enough selling. So, how can you find "the golden mean" and make your emails more effective? Here's a handy guide:

1. Be Yourself

Let’s be honest – people are tired of emails that contain similar messages and don’t have anything personal. The vast majority of them is based on the traditional techniques, which make them look just like one another. To combat this, try to contribute a little bit of your personality into an email – tell a joke, share your opinion, be honest about the product that you sell. Soon enough, your personality can come through the emails and become a unique identifier that’ll make your company stand out.

2. Use Trends

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According to World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Rank, Canada ranked the 2nd country in the world for starting a business (New Zealand took the 1st place if you're curious). Vancouver and Toronto always make the lists of the best cities for startups. So, what makes Canada so attractive for entrepreneurs?

Access to Governmental Funding

Canadian government encourages people to start a new business through providing a variety of grants, loans, and tax credits. You can find a financial support program “for every taste” -  it can be regional, industry-specific or just general business support. For example, you can get up to 50% of a tax credit for your R&D investments with the help of SR&ED. This has attracted a number of tech geniuses to launch their startups in Canada.

Great Talent

Inefficient organizational software can negatively impact how your manufacturing business is run. Whether it be due to complications with understanding manufacturing variances or failure to effectively track time and materials for a job, having an efficient and easy to use operating system will help to relieve some of the most troubling aspects of manufacturing that affects the productivity of your business. Here are three ways in which ERP software can help improve your manufacturing operations:

Automating business operations

If you’re preparing your business for further growth in the future, you may be considering how to help your operations grow with it. With an ERP system, manufacturing companies are able to automate all business operations, allowing you the flexibility to configure the system to suit your company’s changing needs. ERP systems are not one-size-fits-all, but instead they are configured, so allow for personal customization.

Maintaining your customer base

With increasing competition swaying customers with lower prices or claiming to have the best available products, it’s become even more imperative to find new ways to stand out and deliver exceptional service for your customers. Gain real time information on your company’s operations to help prevent disruptions and delays, as well as break up informational logjams to help both your staff and users make decisions more quickly and effectively.

According to Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, there are 1.1 million small companies (1-99 employees) in the country. However, 60% of small businesses fail within the first five years, so there's a big concern for entrepreneurs on how to stay competitive. Here are three ways you can stay ahead of your competitors if you run a small business.

1. Be passionate

Usually, small business owners started their business because of passion. Passion drives motivation, which makes small business owners the busiest people in the world. They don't finish their work when it's 5 o clock and rarely think about vacation. This drive and passion are factors that make them successful.

Convert your passion into hard work, and you’ll be one step ahead of the pack.

2. Use CRM

Out of the many reasons employees choose to leave a company, majority are likely to point back to a problem with how a company decides to manage their employees. According to Forbes, three common reasons that have motivated employees to quit is if the employee feels intellectually stifled, they lack autonomy, and/or they feel as if though their work is unrecognized and unappreciated. If you’re worried about losing your best and brightest, see how ERP software implementation can help you address some of these concerns.

Dealing with unchallenged employees

Repetitive tasks such as entering order entries or entering General Ledger Reconciliation and Collections can be labour intensive, creating unmotivated and unhappy employees. With built in automation functions however, these tasks can be completed in minutes, allowing your employee to use their time more productively and apply their efforts to more worthwhile tasks.

Lack of autonomy

To micromanage or to establish various security protocols that hinders your employee’s ability to do their jobs can easily make an employee feel as if they aren’t trusted to make basic decisions in their work. ERP software such as Dynamics GP resolves this issue through employee portals, which allows employees rights to access necessary information and to communicate with other members of the team for help or assistance.

In December 2016, the world got to know that Microsoft acquired LinkedIn. Now we can see the first results of this deal – Microsoft has announced that Dynamics 365 for Sales is integrated with the LinkedIn Sales Navigator.

The new LinkedIn solution is a widget, which integrates into your dashboard and consists of 2 parts – a member profile and a company profile.

A LinkedIn member profile allows you to get general information and some insights about your prospect. It also helps you to find the best ways to get introduced to your prospect as well as proposes a list of related leads based on your target audience.

Deciding whether to invest in an ERP software can be difficult. The price of the software can be discouraging, let alone navigating the learning curve required to properly integrate the software with your company’s day-to-day activities. With more and more businesses turning to ERP to manage their operations however, can you afford to miss out? Ask yourself the following questions and see if now is the time to switch over to an ERP system:

1. Are you using multiple systems to accommodate the needs of each individual department?

Communication and transparency are essential for a company’s operations to run smoothly. When various systems are running separately and the data received from each department isn’t synchronized, then issues involving processing errors and information logjams are all the more likely to occur.

2. Do you or your staff spend more than 3 hours to complete repetitive tasks?

As a business grows, so too does the amount of data and information that will need to be dealt with. This can mean hours upon hours spent on managing invoices, inputting sales orders, updating inventory, etc. and using time that could have been spent on more lucrative or productive activities.

Microsoft Canada has announced today that it has named WebSan Solutions Inc., a cloud Microsoft Dynamics Certified Partner and IT consulting and solutions provider, a finalist for the Modern Marketing Innovation Award of the 2017 Microsoft IMPACT Awards.

The Microsoft IMPACT Awards celebrate innovation in technology recognizing the outstanding work partners do to deliver virtually seamless solutions to customers. The IMPACT Awards showcase the excellence and innovation within the Canadian Partner community.

This year’s group of finalists are recognized for using modern marketing practices to effectively and efficiently acquire, convert and retain customers where this year’s theme focuses on the impact and value of digital transformation.

Microsoft IMPACT Award winners and finalists will be recognized at the IMPACT Awards Finalist Dinner of the Microsoft Inspire event on July 9, 2017 in Washington, D.C. A listing of all winners and finalists will be posted on www.microsoft.com/en-ca/sites/impact-awards.

“We are thrilled to be recognized as one of the finalists of the Microsoft Modern Marketing Innovation Award,” says Andrew King, Managing Director at WebSan Solutions Inc. “Being on this list is a testament to the hard work we bring not only to our strategic and unique marketing efforts but also towards understanding how digital content impacts lead generation and product perception.”

According to the latest statistics from RightScale 2017 State of the Cloud Report, current cloud adoption among companies is 95%. This could mean that we’re not too far away from having 100% of companies who will use the cloud for their daily tasks. There is no better time than now to think about moving your ERP system to the cloud. Here are 3 reasons why you will benefit from it.

Lower Costs

The most common and the most attractive benefit is, of course, price. A cloud-based ERP system offers lower upfront and operating costs - you wouldn’t need to spend a huge amount of money on hardware, purchasing the ERP solution itself and hiring staff to maintain it.  A cloud-based ERP system requires only flat-rate monthly fees, which will make your life much easier and become a less costly option for your business.

Quicker Access to Information

With a cloud-based ERP system, you don’t need to spend much time to perform your daily business operations. Once you have an Internet connection, you can access to your ERP system anywhere you want. It makes much easier to spend time outside the office and still stay on top of everything that happens with your business.

Microsoft Canada has announced today that it has named WebSan Solutions Inc., a cloud Microsoft Dynamics Certified Partner and IT consulting and solutions provider, a finalist for the Modern Marketing Innovation Award of the 2017 Microsoft IMPACT Awards.

The Microsoft IMPACT Awards celebrate innovation in technology recognizing the outstanding work partners do to deliver virtually seamless solutions to customers. The IMPACT Awards showcase the excellence and innovation within the Canadian Partner community.

This year’s group of finalists are recognized for using modern marketing practices to effectively and efficiently acquire, convert and retain customers where this year’s theme focuses on the impact and value of digital transformation.

Microsoft IMPACT Award winners and finalists will be recognized at the IMPACT Awards Finalist Dinner of the Microsoft Inspire event on July 9, 2017 in Washington, D.C. A listing of all winners and finalists will be posted on www.microsoft.com/en-ca/sites/impact-awards.

“We are thrilled to be recognized as one of the finalists of the Microsoft Modern Marketing Innovation Award,” says Andrew King, Managing Director at WebSan Solutions Inc. “Being on this list is a testament to the hard work we bring not only to our strategic and unique marketing efforts but also towards understanding how digital content impacts lead generation and product perception.”

As we’ve mentioned in a previous blog post, an ERP system is not a quick fix to all of your company’s problems. At times, it may even be difficult to measure whether your company is gaining any benefits from implementing your ERP software. If you’re doubting the effectiveness of the software, I suggest reviewing the following areas of your business first:

Tracking Customer Service Experiences: In today’s market, providing outstanding customer service can be the determining factor on whether a customer will choose to do business with you or a competitor. An ERP software puts you in control of the consumer buying journey, enabling you to track online customer experiences, line item fill rates and ensure delivery times to your customers. You’ll be able to compare these measures with previous results to identify trends and determine if the ERP software is making a difference in your company.

 Measuring Profit Margins: If you’ve ever taken a business course, then you’ve probably heard of the ’80 – 20’ rule, which states that 80% of a company’s revenue is typically generated by 20% of its total customers. An ERP software can influence your overall strategy, allowing you to concentrate your sales efforts and target your more profitable customers. Once again, the results can be measured and compared with historical data.

Impacts of Inventory Management: One of the key features of an ERP software is its ability to manage and track inventory. Not only does this allow your company to better meet consumer and production demands, but also ensures your company will not be spending more on excess stock and tying up additional capital and resources.

If you’re still wondering if your ERP system is working out for you, why not try and take a free ERP assessment? Click here for more information.

As a small business owner, you always think about new solutions to increase revenues and boost your company’s growth. ERP software is definitely one of those things that can help improve your business’ efficiency but, as everything in life, it can have some pitfalls. What are the pros and cons of ERP for small businesses? We examine them below:

ERP Pros

• Increased productivity - By storing all the data in one place, it makes it much easier and faster for your employees to get the necessary information and focus on working towards the business’ goals for success rather than spending time contacting other employees from different departments.
• Improved collaboration – A robust ERP system will help improve collaboration between teams by providing easy access to data to help make decisions quicker.
• Lower operating costs - With one ERP system, you don’t need to spend money on separate software for each department.
• Generate business insights – An ERP software performs analysis on different processes, so it makes the process of a decision-making smoother and more comfortable with accurate data.
• Improved security - ERP systems provide advanced security settings, so you can rest easy knowing that your data is well-secured.

ERP Cons

• High price - It’s no surprise that ERP implementation and its further use are followed by significant expenses. But the modern market of ERP software can provide you different price options for any budget. As an example, Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Sales, starts from only $48.60 per user/month.
• Staff training - Usually, it takes a significant amount of time and effort for employees to learn new software. But thanks to WebSan University, you can make this process faster and more efficient.
• High risk – The ERP implementation process can become a problem for a small company because of challenges of data migration from an old system to a new one. Our advice: Have patience and read about 3 Biggest Failure Cases of ERP Implementation and How You Can Avoid the Same Mistakes for some tips.

Alina Hura, Digital Content Creator, WebSan Solutions Inc., a 2014 Ontario Business Achievement Award Winner for Service Excellence