Is Your Company Utilizing Business Intelligence?

There are dozens of ways a company can gauge their level of success, or lack thereof. This basic understanding results from measurable metrics such as an increase in customers, sales and the overall share of the marketplace – year over year.

But have you heard of Business Intelligence, otherwise known as BI? As technology continues to chase the speed of light, so does the ability to garner even deeper insights as to where a company stands – and where it is headed.

Microsoft Dynamics NAV and CRM both fit the bill to accomplish these goals by providing business leaders with the ability to get the most out of the data they gather day to day.

Do Business From Anywhere?

These days, business isn’t merely done from a desk, on the phone, or in the board room. As companies work to increase the bottom line – it now takes the ability (and mobility) to access documents, reports, presentations and other vital information from anywhere, and on all devices. That sort of easy accessibility keeps up with the growing momentum of business, and puts a company out in front. Being able to produce on the spot, whether you are on site or out of the country is one of the many benefits of both Microsoft Dynamics NAV and CRM.

Understand Your Business Processes and Data

You can maintain a consistent overview of your business through charts and graphs as you work within a role center designed specifically for your position in ERP software, Microsoft Dynamics NAV. Information like why sales have declined on a certain product or profitability of a specific product line all can easily be obtained through ad hoc analysis and out-of-the-box reports. Additionally, you can assess performance against key indicators –turning information into business insight (or intelligence).

The Cloud – Software as a Service.

More and more companies are choosing to move to the cloud in order to avoid the substantial costs of hardware and infrastructure upkeep, and that’s just plain intelligent when it makes sense. The same data is accessible and at your fingertips as it would be from an on premise server. Among the other intelligent benefits are reduced implementation time and monthly costs, a quicker return on investment (ROI) and ease in increasing users. Both Dynamics NAV and CRM are available on premise, or in the cloud.

CRM=More Than Just Relationships

Ensuring you have regular follow-up with not only customers, but prospects, is a vital part of growing relationships-and a company. CRM - Customer Relationship Management software doesn’t just build and strengthen relationships. It also creates a pathway to measure success of marketing and sales campaigns, which adds up to more awareness and tracking of how you are trying grow your business, and if it’s actually working.

It’s All Very Social.

If your company isn’t represented on some sort of Social Media platform, you could be missing out on valuable brand promotion and future sales. Business is evolving; Social Media is many times the first research consumers conduct on a company. If you do have a presence, are you measuring your ‘likes’ or ‘follows’ against new customers-is there a correlation at all or is it an exercise in futility? If you’re not taking the time to gather this BI, you’ll never know the impact Social Media may-or may not-be having. Information such as this can be tracked in Dynamics CRM.

Content is King-Position Yourself as an Industry Expert. Valuable content which educates the consumer has unofficially become ‘King’ in the marketing world. If your company blogs regularly on industry topics that showcase knowledge and insight into your products and services-they’ll like you for it. Studies show an overwhelming majority of consumers spend ample time researching purchases they are considering – and that’s anything from a blender to ERP software. By providing (unbiased) information which is useful-and also empowers the prospect-you actually save time in your sales cycle. More intelligent questions can be asked and answered, and Business Intelligence can be gathered by measuring how many shoppers actually became customers. Dynamics CRM provides the ability to measure the effect of blogging over time.

BI is without a doubt a sound business practice if you’re interested in growing and thriving. If you’ve got data that shows you what is working and what is not, why wouldn’t you use it to the fullest to provide insurance for the future?

For a free demonstration of how Microsoft Dynamics NAV and CRM can work for your company, contact Solution Systems.