Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Dynamics CRM Blogs by John Eccles | Magnetism Solutions | NZ (Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin)

Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Dynamics CRM Blogs by John Eccles | Magnetism Solutions | NZ (Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin)

9 Tips to Drive CRM Strategy

John Eccles, 06 October 2015

CRM, Customer Relationship Management, is NOT primarily a software technology. Rather, CRM is a business strategy. Hence the rationale for implementing CRM must be because it is a good strategy for your organisation. Here is my working definition of CRM: “CRM is the business strategy to acqui
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Successful CRM

John Eccles, 10 July 2014

Not all CRM projects are successful! There are a lot of anecdotes and figures about CRM failure out there, many of which are highly suspect at best. I think Bob Thompson provides a realistic view of the CRM success statistics in the 2004 article, Successful CRM: Turning Customer Loyalty into Profi
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Moving from Contact Management System to CRM

John Eccles, 11 December 2013

In the 1990’s, I was a Goldmine user. I thought it was pretty powerful because I could record details of all my Contacts and email from Goldmine and easily find my emails. I could even, after some effort to set it up, print letters and faxes mail-merged with my Goldmine Contacts!
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Measure User Adoption of CRM

John Eccles, 17 November 2013

In an earlier blog - User Adoption of CRM – The Key Issue - I laid out the evidence for user adoption of the new system being critical to its success. “By far the most important factor for realizing value from software is effective user adoption.” If this is true (
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Upgrade to CRM 2013 – Costs and Benefits

John Eccles, 17 October 2013

Dynamics CRM 2013 offers great benefits which I believe will almost always out-weigh the costs associated with the upgrade. Read on to see what a great investment your upgrade will be. The Costs: 1. Infrastructure upgrade This may or may not apply to you. But if your orga
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Upgrading Customised CRM Systems

John Eccles, 16 October 2013

We all want our CRM system to be up-to-date and have all the features we need to stay competitive. So when Microsoft releases a new version of Dynamics CRM we naturally want to upgrade as soon as possible. But what if our CRM system has been customised? Might it break?
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Why Customise CRM?

John Eccles, 07 October 2013

One of the powerful features of Dynamics CRM is the ability to customise the system to match the different business requirements of different organisations. Because when it comes to CRM, one size does NOT fit all. (Picture from: http://www.usatechguide.org/blog/one-size-fits-all-wheelcha
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Count the Cost of CRM

John Eccles, 01 September 2013

"But don't begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it?” Luke 14:28, New Living Translation That is still good advice and it applies to CRM projects as well as building cons
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CRM and the Big Bang Theory

John Eccles, 12 August 2013

I love the show, but I have grave doubts about the Big Bang Theory. I find it impossible to imagine the complex systems all around us originating from the randomness of some sort of cosmological explosion. Not surprisingly, I’m equally sceptical of Big Bang software implementations – esp
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User Adoption of CRM – The Key Issue

John Eccles, 30 July 2013

How’s this for an IT strategy: • Management decides “we need a CRM system.” • Careful selection to find the best fit CRM software. • Find a consultant or partner to implement it. • Run a training course. • Less than 20% of users act
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Successful Implementation of CRM

John Eccles, 03 June 2013

According to a study by SandHill Group and Neochange (2008) the number 1 indication of "success" for an enterprise software implementation is "value realisation for the company." 96% of buyers thought so! But the same study showed that only 40% of buyers and 35% of software provide
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Salesforce.com vs Dynamics CRM Online

John Eccles, 06 March 2013

The main arguments made by Salesforce in promoting their software against Dynamics CRM online are out of date. I recently watched a video clip (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGgkM_hsmiI) on Youtube in which a Microsoft Gold Partner (identity hidden) explained why they had switched from D
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Introduction of New Software is Not Easy

John Eccles, 10 February 2013

Introduction of a new software system such as Dynamics CRM involves change and that change must be initiated, agreed, planned and managed. But making change happen is not easy. Human nature is stacked against you! I recently read a quote from Bill Bryson which says it all. In A S
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Step by Step Approach to CRM Implementation

John Eccles, 14 October 2012

The greatest risk of CRM project failure is to tackle too many business processes or too much functionality at once. It can be like trying to eat an elephant at one sitting. It can overwhelm end-users. I recommend a strategy of incremental improvement: start small, achieve some successful ou
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Why Fairtrade is Good for Business

John Eccles, 10 October 2012

Magnetism is a Fairtrade certified workplace, which means we serve Fairtrade products to staff and visitors, including trainees, at our Dynamics CRM training courses. My reasons for leading the company down the Fairtrade path were probably not well grounded in economic theory: My daughter is p
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