Microsoft Dynamics CRM – Case Studies

2B Solutions Technology Consultant Secures New Business, Exceeds Customer Expectations

When Microsoft® Gold Certified Partner 2B Solutions experienced fast growth in its Microsoft Dynamics® CRM practice, it looked for ways to secure all pending business, use resources more effectively, control costs, and increase customer satisfaction. With sound methodology, best practices, guidance, and documentation, the Microsoft Dynamics Sure Step Methodology proved to be a comprehensive business-enabling resource. Since 2B Solutions adopted the methodology, it has used Sure Step to scope every implementation project and close a significant volume of new business. Clearly set expectations and careful planning boost customer confidence and help customers realize solution benefits rapidly. And, with Sure Step tools and materials, 2B Solutions minimizes the cost and risk of complex projects, streamlines technical training, and gains valuable efficiencies in its resource utilization.

“Following the Sure Step Methodology, we offer detailed statements of work and have secured the business every time. We’ve also won new public-sector customers on the merits of this approach.”

Jeff Cross, President, 2B Solutions

Situation

Microsoft® Gold Certified Partner 2B Solutions, headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, was a 2006 Microsoft Technology Innovation Partner of the Year Finalist for Mobility Solutions. The company’s technology experts consult with business customers and deliver solutions to help them gain more value from key relationships and flexibly track inventory and assets while on the go and at business locations.

2B Solutions implements Microsoft Dynamics® CRM for customers who want to increase the productivity of critical business relationships. The company’s customers thrive in a wide variety of market segments, with heavier concentrations in education, government, and healthcare. Often, the company’s technologists customize Microsoft Dynamics CRM for specialized business requirements or integrate it with 2B Solutions’s mobile technologies. As Jeff Cross, President of 2B Solutions, explains, “We began by supporting and enhancing the more traditional customer sales and marketing operations, but have gone far beyond that. We now aim to help our customers generate greater returns from their relationships with their stakeholders and contributors.”

With 2B Solutions employing Microsoft Dynamics CRM in more demanding and complex scenarios, smart project planning and most efficient use of limited resources—people’s time and budgets—became critical. Says Cross, “As we expected our growth to continue and our workload to be challenging, we wondered if there were better ways to prepare, structure, and run our implementation projects.” The company also wanted to identify a reliable, comprehensive source of documentation for Microsoft Dynamics CRM to help standardize and deepen employee familiarization, and reduce training time.

In addition, 2B Solutions sought a way to ensure customers firmly committed to projects that the company’s consultants had spent time discussing and scoping with them to avoid any drop-off that would result in a loss of revenue. Closely connected to that goal was the intent to increase customer satisfaction. More specifically, the company wanted to ensure customers received all necessary information related to projects and technologies. With that information, customers would have a full understanding of the solution’s capabilities to harbor appropriate expectations and be in a position to put Microsoft Dynamics CRM to effective use immediately after an implementation.

Solution

Available through the Partner Foundation Plan for Microsoft Dynamics, the Microsoft Dynamics Sure Step Methodology is a key benefit of the plan. 2B Solutions had already invested in the Partner Foundation Plan and thoroughly evaluated what was available within the framework of the Sure Step Methodology, which provides guidance to streamline solution implementations and complete them successfully. Sure Step Methodology resources comprise a large repository of proven-to-be-effective templates, tools, and best practices, including specific content and tools for each product within the portfolio of Microsoft Dynamics solutions.

“The Sure Step Methodology helps us minimize the risk potential risks in our projects, which in turn frees us up to pursue new business with renewed focus.”

Jeff Cross, President, 2B Solutions

2B Solutions adopted the Sure Step Methodology as the framework for efficiently planning and completing software implementation projects. Available to 2B Solutions as a download, the Sure Step Methodology can scale to support projects of any size—from relatively simple upgrades to large-scale deployments. From diagnostics during the sales cycle, on to solution deployment and operation, the Sure Step Methodology develops through six distinct phases of a software project; 2B Solutions has incorporated this phased approach into its project management. Flowchart diagrams help the company’s consultants make timely, effective use of the tools, templates, and detailed best practices provided for each project phase. In addition, the flowchart diagrams help the 2B Solutions project team and its customers set up all the roles and accountabilities that play a role in completing a project.

The company also uses the extensive documentation accessible within the Sure Step Methodology to grow the skills of both new and experienced employees, and enhance team members’ professional standing with a deep education in Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Sure Step Methodology technical documentation continues to serve as reference material during 2B Solutions’s projects.

Among other recommended practices, the Sure Step Methodology assists in creating a complete, highly detailed scope of work before projects are underway. “As soon as a customer commits to a project, our team carefully reviews the scope-of-work document so that everybody understands the requirements, project milestones, and criteria for success,” says Cross. Using the scope of work, project managers:

Plan resources. Precisely identify tasks and action items. Set deadlines for the distinct phases of a project. Remain in close contact with the customer to make sure 2B Solutions meets or exceeds expectations.

Clear definition of project scope means that consultants and technologists immediately know when a customer request may result in a digression from the project path or present an unplanned risk. If the latter is the case, 2B Solutions issues a risk warning to the customer, asking for review and discussion so that the customer and consultants together can mitigate the risk and adjust the project scope if needed.

Following the Sure Step Methodology guidance, 2B Solutions adjusted the categories that the company uses to allocate and track employee time on projects. Managers review this information to keep projects on track within budgetary guidelines. The Sure Step Methodology enables a transparent information presentation that provides granular, flexible drill-down capabilities. Those, in turn, give project managers an easy way to review the details of project events, assess any changes to be made in project delivery, forecast the projected outcome of changes in resource allocations, and keep projects on track with customer requirements.

Benefits

For 2B Solutions, adoption of the Sure Step Methodology accelerates business growth, improves customer satisfaction, and enhances the efficiency of resource utilization. “The Sure Step Methodology helps us take our company to the next level of success,” states Cross. “It’s an invaluable resource that reinforces our expertise, ensures accountability, and offers practical ways to act on opportunities to grow our business and make it more efficient.”

Close More Business with Better Customer Experience
Using the Sure Step Methodology, 2B Solutions finds it easier to obtain firm customer commitments and steadily grow its customer relationship practice. “Following the Sure Step Methodology, we offer detailed statements of work and have secured the business every time,” says Cross. “We’ve also won new public-sector customers on the merits of this approach.”

“We’re enthusiastic about the potential of the Sure Step Methodology to drive productivity. We will adjust the way we work whenever we see the beneficial impact of practice enhancements.”

Jeff Cross, President, 2B Solutions

2B Solutions has seen first hand how the Sure Step Methodology enhances the experience of its customers. Customers often mention to the 2B Solutions consultants working with them that they feel the company’s approach is thorough, well organized, and completely in line with their goals. Customers also appreciate the fact that every activity in a software implementation follows the steps and schedule outlined in the scope of work so that they always know when and what to expect next. “The Sure Step Methodology gives even the most complex projects a dependable orientation that keeps everybody on track,” says Cross.

Boost the Productivity of Individuals and Teams 2B Solutions can ensure its consultants’ proficiency and effectiveness through the comprehensive documentation and prescriptive guidance available for Microsoft Dynamics CRM through the Sure Step Methodology. What’s more, employees can review the materials on their own without requiring a significant portion of somebody else’s time for training. Says Cross, “In contrast to earlier times, our managers’ workload in familiarizing staff with the intricacies of Microsoft Dynamics CRM and how to meet customers’ challenges is a fraction of what it used to be.”

2B Solutions expects to modify its team collaboration process in response to the experience gained in implementations informed by the Sure Step Methodology. “We’re enthusiastic about the potential of the Sure Step Methodology to drive productivity,” says Cross. “We will adjust the way we work whenever we see the beneficial impact of practice enhancements.”

Generate Savings, Reduce Risk
After having managed a number of implementations in accord with the Sure Step Methodology, 2B Solutions is still finding new ways to use the methodology to improve the way it manages the company’s business. 2B Solutions project managers regularly review detailed information to ensure projects are on schedule and within budgets, and frequently identify opportunities to boost efficiencies. “Sure Step gives us much better control in managing budgets and resources,” says Cross. “I know we will generate more substantial cost savings for customers and the company.”

A 2B Solutions manager team meets every week with a Microsoft partner advisor to discuss how the company uses the Sure Step Methodology and strategize the most promising ways for increasing the outcome. The best use of the methodology to anticipate and mitigate potential roadblocks and risks in implementation projects figures prominently in these conversations. Says Cross, “The Sure Step Methodology helps us minimize the potential risks in our projects, which in turn frees us up to pursue new business with renewed focus.”

Microsoft Dynamics

Microsoft Dynamics is a line of integrated, adaptable business management solutions that enables you and your people to make business decisions with greater confidence. Microsoft Dynamics works like familiar Microsoft software such as Microsoft Office, which means less of a learning curve for your people, so they can get up and running quickly and focus on what’s most important. And because it is from Microsoft, it easily works with the systems that your company already has implemented. By automating and streamlining financial, customer relationship, and supply chain processes, Microsoft Dynamics brings together people, processes, and technologies, increasing the productivity and effectiveness of your business, and helping you drive business success.

http://www.pargesoft.com/ Microsoft Dynamics CRM Global Partner