Here is a question for you.
Ever wondered how important a customer’s location is? It can help your business optimize services and improve engagement with your customers. All these factors play a major role in business growth. Especially for businesses that require continuous interaction with customers in person should think of managing their data wisely.
CRM data does not give the visualization that is required to make future strategies. But by integrating a Dynamics 365 map with your Dynamics 365 you can unlock amazing functionalities that give you data insights in a map format.
What is Map Integration?
There are ready to use plugins available in the market which integrate with the Dynamics CRM. The plugin helps in visualizing the CRM data in map form. With unique features like data plotting, proximity search, route optimization, and many more, this integration transforms the way a business works.
This map integration brings in the visibility that was early missing while handling tons of CRM data. It is full of features that can benefit your business. Both sales and the sales team can be handled really well with this integration. Let’s find out how the magic happens.
Benefits of Map Integration With the Dynamics CRM
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Data Plotting on Map
Usually, our marketing and sales team have the list of our CRM data. While planning marketing strategies, it becomes extremely difficult to figure out the areas with low sales. Running a campaign in regions with high sales would not have as much impact as in low-performing regions.
Every business that is trying to increase sales is always trying to promote their product more in the regions with low sales to increase their customers. But if the managers do not clearly visualize the regions, marketing campaigns will not give the desired results.
The Dynamics map has features of data plotting which displays all the CRM data on a map. So, now you can see the regions with high, moderate, and low sales. It also has options like a heat map that compares the records based on density levels. That’s when the map integration with the CRM helps.
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Proximity Search
This feature in Dynamics map can be a game changer for a business. The on-field sales reps have no idea on how many customers are near their location. They go from one location to another and later realize the next customer they will meet is near the first location. They constantly travel back and forth with no planning, thus wasting time and money on fuel.
However, if you have a map integration, then your sales rep could see the locations of the nearby customers. They can plot the location on the map keeping their current location in the center. The map will show the pin on the map, and when you hover over it, it will show the required details of the customer.
The sales reps can instantly approach any new leads. They can see the new location additions in their area. Thus, the sales reps who earlier had no ins into the customers’ locations would now have more clarity. This map feature helps in running the marketing campaigns when the sales reps are trying to reach out to the maximum number of customers.
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Route Optimization
Often, sales reps fail to build a good first impression on customers as they reach the appointment time late. This makes the customer feel that you do not value their time. In reality, your sales rep was stuck in traffic.
It is not possible that your sales rep would be aware of every location in your city. If you assign them ten customers per day, they might be unable to finish the list because they got stuck in traffic or were unaware of the road closure. Most of their time would go on the road rather than with clients.
That is when the route optimization features come to the rescue. This feature helps the on-field sales reps with the shortest available route. They can also choose to avoid toll routes, highways, traffic, road closures, etc. the route would also show the time they would reach their destination, thus ensuring that they are not late.
This feature benefits a business in cutting down the cost of fuel. The map would suggest the sales reps the shortest path. Also, they would be able to meet more customers. This would help in increasing the sales of your business. Thus, this feature helps increase the productivity of your customers.
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Live Tracking
Feedback plays a major role in improving a product; when you do not receive the expected feedback, the chances of improvement reduce. Companies struggle to get the correct customer feedback; the reason behind this is that the customers do not receive the product on time. Sometimes, the sales reps cannot finish the target and enter false entries.
You might be waiting for the customer to give feedback; on the other hand, they would be waiting for the product. The other thing that managers struggle with is receiving the reports of the meeting. Managers have to call the sales reps every time, and there are chances that you might disturb them during a meeting.
All these problems can be sorted with the live tracking feature. So, your sales reps can only log in when they reach the client location. They would not allow them to log in from any other location. The timer would start once they check-in. As soon as the meeting is over, the sales reps can check out and update the details of the meeting.
So, the manager can easily see the meeting details and how long the meeting lasted. This data would help managers plan their teams’ schedules. Also, if the managers need to call any sales reps, they can check their status, whether they are in a meeting or not, and then call them.
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Analytical Dashboard
Data is important but analyzing it is even more important for the growth of any organization. Managing entities, sales, leads, accounts, resources, etc., plays a major role in running a business. Having just one default dashboard overloaded with information is not fun nor helpful.
But if you integrate the map with your CRM, you get multiple dashboards. You can choose the one that fits according to roles and requirements like sales prospects, open leads, recent activities, and more. This data can help develop the marketing strategy and target the different regions to increase profit.
All the dashboards are fully configurable. You can select one or more entities to configure the dashboard. You can name your custom dashboard and then save it.
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Multiple Language Support
To have just one language in your plugin can restrict the users if you have business overseas. If you have or wish to expand your business in other states or countries with a different language than yours, you would also have a team there. If the employees in that area are not comfortable with the language, they would be unable to use it.
The point of using this plugin is to simplify the work process of the on-field employees. But what is the point of having such integration if they cannot use it? However, the Dynamics maps support multiple languages. The user can choose the language of their choice.
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Security Templates
You might have a question, if all the users can see all your customers’ data, then clients’ personal information can be at risk. This increases the risk of data security. But the map has this feature called a security template. This increases the risk of data security.
You can assign different roles to users as per their hierarchy and/or requirement. They would have access to the details you allow them. This helps them work freely with the data without asking anyone while you are not over-showing the data, thus reducing the risk.
You can create multiple security templates with different security permissions and save them. Later, you can give access to your employees across the organization as and when required.
Final Words
It is obvious from the above discussion that the map brings in the visualization that was early missing while dealing with the CRM data. This tool works best for sales and marketing teams. It brings clarity to operations to make future strategies with a high success ratio.
Your business can also benefit from all this; all you need is a Dynamics 365 map plugin that integrates with your Dynamics CRM. Many companies are selling this plugin. If something is missing in the plugin, or if you wish to change something, you can also ask them to customize it according to your requirements.
