Microsoft Dynamics CRM redefines sales productivity for businesses today

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.