Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM: Definition, Features, Pricing, & Implementation

Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM provides businesses with intelligent and modern tools that can be customised to fit businesses of any size. As a leading customer relationship management (CRM) solution, Dynamics 365 CRM helps organisations enhance client relations and guarantee their prosperity.

Below we’ll go through how this system works, why it’s beneficial to implement, how much it costs a business, and guide you through the basic deployment process.

What is Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM?

Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM is a set of intelligible business applications that assist you in providing a seamless customer experience with the support of AI-powered insights.

These Dynamics 365 CRM applications are designed to keep working seamlessly with your existing systems. It operates as a central business platform that unifies data across Sales, Marketing, Service, Finance, Supply Chain and more. Thus, you can see all of your business and customer data in one single hub and make a more strategic decision.

• Ease of use: Dynamics 365 CRM has a simple and clean user interface, ensuring that the software is adopted quickly in teams, probably without much training effort.
• Cloud-based deployment: Dynamics 365 CRM is a cloud-based solution that allows you to access it from anywhere. Hence, it supports remote work, real-time updates and scalability if you are a small or medium-growing business.
• Customisable CRM features: Companies can select only the tools needed from the Dynamics 365 suite and customise them based on the business’s processes and strategies.
• Microsoft product integrations: You can also utilise Office 365 tools including Outlook, Teams or SharePoint to send contracts in a single click and work on documents seamlessly across platforms.
• Robust built-in tools: From AI insights to LinkedIn Sales Navigator, Dynamics 365 CRM has robust features that strengthen customer engagement, efficiency, and data-driven decisions.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM: Apps, Features, & Pricing

Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM is a suite of cloud-based solutions that helps businesses streamline the process of managing and nurturing customer relationships. It includes 5 core applications: Sales, Customer Insights, Customer Service, Field Service, and Project Operations.

These five apps of Dynamics 365 CRM have their unique features and can work on their own as individual tools. However, they can also be seamlessly integrated to support different business requirements.

1.  Dynamics 365 Sales

With the Sales app in Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM, you can manage leads, opportunities, marketing lists, products, invoices and quotes from one location. Everyone in your team can also have access to customer data. This app captures leads, sales automation, forecasting and customised dashboards with reports.

Pricing

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales is available in three license plans. The Professional provides essential features with Office 365 integration, and the Enterprise and Premium provide advanced customisation solutions. This application starts at AUD98 per user per month.

Key Features

• AI-powered pipeline management
• Forecasting and sales management
• Lead, opportunity, and partner management
• Marketing lists and quick campaigns
• Products, orders and invoice management
• Office 365 integration
• Reporting and analysis

2.  Dynamics 365 Customer Insights

Dynamics 365 Customer Insights supports your organisation in providing excellent customer experiences. It provides the basis for building experiences that are highly personalised, greatly responsive, and deeply connected to sales, marketing, and service professionals.

Pricing

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Insights has a set of defined pricing packs focusing on customer data type (Unified or Interacted). The Base plan starts at AUD2,600 per tenant per month and offers the first 100,000 profiles. However, you can buy the first additional profile packs from AUD1500 per month for 100,000+ Unified people, or AUD750 per month for 50,000+ Interacted people. This helps organisations to grow their data capacity.

Key Features

• AI-powered identity management
• Forecasting and data enrichment 
• Customer segmentation, lead targeting and management
• Customer journeys creation
• Pre-built digital communication channels

3. Dynamics 365 Customer Service

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Service helps maintain customers’ engagement by synchronising customer data across multiple channels and delivering effective engagement actions.

Pricing

There are two available Dynamics 365 Customer Service licence options. The Professional license includes a basic set of features and the Premium/Enterprise license includes additional extended features such as advanced AI service. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Service begins at AUD75 per user per month.

Key Features

• AI-powered customer service resolution
• Staff forecasting
• Multiple channel engagement
• Case Management and queue configuration
• Basic administration, self-service automation

4. Dynamics 365 Field Service

Companies providing services require a program that organises work, assigns service techs, and guarantees all clients get the attention they should. Mircosoft Dynamics 365 Field Service has automatic means through which your team can know the best solutions for a given customer and his piece of hardware or mechanism.

Pricing

The pricing is differentiated by the business’s requirements. The Base plans are offered at AUD157 per user per month for core features and AUD75 per user per month for the contractors. These are best for managing the field services requirements of companies that have to manage technicians and schedules and interact with customers and/or third-party contractors. 

Key Features

• Self-service scheduling
• Real-time technician tracking
• AI-powered and remote-resolution
• Word order management
• Automated service communication
• Microsoft Teams integration

5. Dynamics 365 Project Operations

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Project Operations divides large-scale projects into smaller projects with defined contributors and distribution of roles, tasks, correct project timeline with project budget and resource usage tracking. Especially suitable for various service-oriented organisations operating in a fast-paced environment.

Pricing

Dynamics 365 Project Operations for basic employees costs $120 per user per month. 

Key Features

• Customisable deal and pipeline management
• AI-powered project reporting and planning
• Built-in insights and trends forecasting
• Resource utilisation
• Mobile access
• Cash flow management
• ERP integration, Power BI integration.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM: 5 Key Implementation Stages

Stage 1 - Analysis and Planning

Your project manager needs to make it clear that he is available for a first consultation to review the objectives, timetable, and requirements of each project. The consultation’s main goal is to identify your business nature and goals in detail. The planned project features, functionalities, and integrations will also be described in detail together with the project scope.

Stage 2 - Solution Design

This stage focuses on creating a comprehensive solution design that includes forms, customisations, reports as well as workflows. It will be up to you to approve the design document to ensure it reflects your business needs well. Integrated configuration models will be developed to contain specific plans of how to go about the development.

Stage 3 - Development and Testing

After the implementation consultation, when you have settled on the design, the developer will customise Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM accordingly. Rigorous testing will be executed to ensure that the final product identifies any constraint or bug that needs to be fixed. Your team’s feedback is a must during the development to make sure that the solution offered is well-developed. Several basic user training sessions will be carried out afterwards.

Stage 4 - Deployment and Go-Live

All the data will be transferred to your newly deployed Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM. One final test should be executed at the end in order to check the stability of the system before going live. You can also do the acceptance testing to make sure the solution delivered satisfies you. This may occur with the launching of the official Microsoft Dynamics CRM system to your team.

Stage 5 - Continuing Support and Tuning

A project supporter should stay with you before and after the deployment is done. A strategy for your solution’s growth as your business requirements change would be the most important in this phase. Evaluation of the system should be done every six months to check the system's efficiency and find out areas for improvement.

What’s Next

Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM is not just a suite of applications, it can also become a competitive advantage. As a centralised database of customers, managing repetitive tasks, and offering insights into your business, Dynamics 365 CRM transforms your CRM management workflows.

In this article, we have looked at major pricing, and features of Dynamics 365 CRM apps. We also discussed the core deployment process and this is where our team, Havi Technology, can be your ideal implementation partner in Australia. Speak to our team to learn how Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM can be your next competitive advantage.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM - FAQs

1. What are Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM apps used for?

Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM is a suite of apps in which there are 5 key CRM-related solutions used to manage customer interactions. These apps work together seamlessly to improve your sales, marketing, and customer service workflows.

2. Is Microsoft Dynamics 365 similar to CRM?

Yes. In simple words, Microsoft Dynamics 365 includes CRM-related apps and services. 5 core apps are developed to streamline business CRM operations: Sales, Customer Insights, Customer Service, Field Service and Project Operations.

3. Is Dynamics 365 CRM different from Salesforce?

Yes. Although both Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM and Salesforce focus on customer relationship management, these systems offer different features and functionalities. They are developed for different groups of users and each has unique advantages.