End customer:
SCHMIDT-GEVELSBERG GMBH
Implementation period:
2 months
Products:
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales
Schmidt-Gevelsberg is a medium-sized company with an established and successful sales department. However, with the increasing complexity of customer requirements, decentralized information management in Excel lists and various isolated solutions for appointments, quotations and customer histories, the sales department was reaching its organizational limits. Important customer information was spread across different systems, there was a lack of transparency for management and cooperation between the office and field sales teams was not optimally coordinated.
The challenge was to transfer this loosely distributed data and working methods into a central, digital environment that would make sales more efficient, transparent and usable across teams - without burdening ongoing operations. At the same time, a solution had to be found that would be productive quickly and accepted by the users.
Together with the Schmidt-Gevelsberg team, we introduced Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales as the central CRM system. We deliberately chose a solution that would fit in with the existing Microsoft environment (Microsoft Business Central was also already in use) - including Outlook integration - to ensure high user acceptance and a seamless introduction.
The project approach was based on an early, practice-oriented start, in which the most important sales processes were quickly mapped and made directly usable in day-to-day business. These included
- Central recording and maintenance of customers, contacts and activities
- Uniform lead and opportunity management
- Automated filing of emails and appointments directly from Outlook
- Structured, AI-supported customer histories
One particularly innovative element was the digitalization of visit reports: field staff record notes by voice input directly during the customer visit. These are automatically structured and stored in the CRM - a big step away from paper-based reports and Excel lists.
Employees were specifically involved and supported by an accompanying training and communication concept - a decisive factor in the high level of acceptance and successful rollout.
The introduction of Dynamics 365 Sales has brought measurable improvements in several areas at Schmidt-Gevelsberg:
- Centralized information: Customer and sales information is now available in one place - up-to-date, traceable and accessible for all relevant roles.
- Efficiency in everyday life: Automatic filing of e-mails, appointments and activities as well as mobile visit reports have significantly reduced manual effort.
- Better collaboration: back office and field service work with the same database, which leads to clearer handovers and less loss of information.
- High user acceptance: Thanks to a pragmatic project approach and targeted training, Dynamics 365 Sales is quickly productive in use and is experienced as real added value.
All in all, the company has laid the foundation for modern, data-driven sales management that reduces administrative tasks and measurably increases sales performance.
For Schmidt-Gevelsberg, the introduction of Dynamics 365 Sales is the starting point of a long-term digital sales and marketing strategy. Planned further developments include:
- Marketing automation with Dynamics 365 Customer Insights - Journeys to build personalized communication and lead-nurturing processes.
- Automated quotation and document creation using dox42 to further reduce process times and ensure consistent brand communication.
- The continuous use of AI functions to obtain even better predictions for forecasts, customer behavior and activity prioritization.
This ensures that Schmidt-Gevelsberg not only works efficiently today, but is also able to react flexibly to market requirements tomorrow.
With the help of primeone, Schmidt-Gevelsberg has successfully completed the transformation to a digitally networked sales organization. The introduction of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales not only addressed existing challenges, but also changed the way sales works in the long term - towards greater transparency, efficiency and teamwork. The pragmatic project approach, the well thought-out integration into existing systems and the early involvement of users created a solution that works in everyday life and delivers real added value.
A personal statement illustrates the appreciation within the project:
"We are on the home straight, but I still need some practice in how and where I move in the sales environment. But I have a really great mentor in Dominik. I have rarely experienced his calm and understanding way of explaining things to someone and finding solutions for people from the 'non-IT world'."
- Anette Eberhardt, Sales