Here at CommuniGator, we practice what we preach. We use our software every day, just like anyone else. That way, we can fully relate to our customers. Plus, you know we’re actually being truthful when we bang on about how much we love the platform. And we’re not just shouting about how great a CRM integration is, we use that too! Microsoft Dynamics 365 (MSD 365) is our CRM of choice, and every single team uses it in one way or another.  

But before I get into who uses MSD 365 and how, I want to tell you why we use it in the first place. How does it help with our marketing automation? Before we integrated our CRM, we were using a good old CSV file to upload our marketing lists. There’s the risk of duping data and so much room for human error! Turns out we aren’t perfect after all! Now, that’s all gone. We have access to full contact information from a single click, and it’s the most up to date information too! Real-time reporting takes care of that (with dynamic lists helping behind the scenes). So, this means we can track our leads and customers as an action happens. It makes everything quicker and slicker. 

Our CRM integration benefits all aspects of our business. From lead generation to email marketing to customer retention. Each team takes charge of a different aspect of the customer relations management, with MSD 365 forming the stage for our masterpiece (of creating smooth customer journeys).  

How the Gators use MSD 365:  

Marketing Gators: The foundation of our lead base. Marketing is responsible for identifying and qualifying all leads. And guess who creates the journey of emails and events for them to interact with. That’s marketing. Within MSD 365, marketing develops priority lead lists for sales to work through. Our GatorLeads IP tracking software identifies website visitors, which feed the most engaged contacts into our CRM dynamic lists as they surpass the set criteria. This helps sales focus on the most important leads in their pipeline.  

When sales are unable to get through to a lead, pre-made hyper-targeted email campaigns can be triggered. Plus, with key aspects of email interactions (opens, clicks, unsubscribes) all fed back to CRM, reporting becomes a piece of cake. Every aspect is trackable from start (lead capture) to finish (sale). We use this insight to forecast marketing trends and target future opportunities accurately. So we’re always ahead of the game.  

Sales Gators: On a typical day, Sales start by running through their CRM activities to see which leads need a call back that day. CRM adds the convenience of storing information as it’s gathered, so every sales call is tailored to fit the lead. Plus, our GatorLeads integration means website traffic feeds back for each contact throughout the day so up-to-the-minute data can be used to promote a sale opportunity. Having visibility of all web hits means no more crossed wires between web visitors and CRM accounts. All the data is there together already. 

Each Sales team member has their own set of leads who are theirs to nurture. Recording all data and calls makes every sales pipeline easier, faster and personal.  

Account Management Gators: When a sale is reached, our awesome account management team step in to make sure every customer is looked after on their path to becoming a marketing automation guru. When the account is passed across, the account management team have no idea what has been discussed before this point. Previously, this would mean sitting Sales down to find out exactly what was agreed. Things are missed in communication, there’s no avoiding it. Well, not the case here! We have MSD 365 to save the day. It provides a full overview of every interaction their accounts have received, with detail on each contact. No information is lost in handover any longer, and the customer continues to feel cared for throughout the entire process.  

But past the onboarding stage, each account manager can keep an eye on which campaigns and web pages their customers are engaging with. Upsell opportunities just got easier to spot. And they can provide the customer with continued engagement on the topics they’re interested in. Personalisation doesn’t stop when a sale is made.  

Have we convinced you of how great MSD 365 is yet? Well, this is just how we use MSD 365, to see how it can benefit each aspect of your marketing and lead funnel, see the full resource here: CommuniGator and Microsoft Dynamics – The King of CRM Integrations.