It is undeniable to say that COVID-19 has greatly affected our global economy, enterprises – both small and large, and ultimately, changed the very fundamentals of our daily way of life. One notable change from the COVID-19 confinement is completely changing consumer habits, leading to one of the worst economic crises in history. This is our new reality.
At VOX ISM, we are committed to ensuring you not only to survive the effects of the pandemic but also able to thrive and flourish in it through Microsoft 365 Cloud Solutions. Captured here in this article are practical guidance and insights for you as a Canadian Entrepreneur to help you and your business move ahead in the midst of the uncertainty and disruption around us – that you can use to navigate our new reality, sustain your business, and thrive in the face of adversity.
The top four priorities to survive and thrive through the pandemic:
Priority 1 – Put Finances in Order
According to the Business Development Bank of Canada, as many as 39% of entrepreneurs will prioritize financial recovery after the crisis. There are four major actions as an entrepreneur that you should take in order to balance cash inflows and outflows:
- Reduce operating cost
- Improve cash flow management
- Reduce debt
- Set up a contingency fund
In order to achieve this goal, you should consider a good ERP (enterprise-resource planning) system as an investment to help you manage your finances and business operations in order. The new good news is that Microsoft has Dynamics 365 Business Central to assist Small-Medium businesses to deliver integrated, streamlined solutions – from data, to people to processes – all in one platform.
Priority 2 – Take advantage of Technology
Digital transformations, once previously placed on the back burner of many companies’ business plans, are now increasingly becoming an imperative in order to not only drive performance, propel the business forward, get an advantage against competitors but also simply as a mean to thrive during this pandemic.
That being said, Microsoft has been at the forefront of innovation especially with its high-end customer relationship management platform, empowered with AI.
With Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM, Bring together transactional, behavioural, demographic data to create multi‑dimensional profiles. Activate real‑time insights across the customer journey and on destinations including analytics, marketing, advertising, and customer engagement platforms through turnkey integrations with Microsoft and third‑party applications.
Priority 3 – Focus on telework
Don’t fear mobility, embrace it. Mobility (or “telework”) enables businesses to put technology advancements into practice on any day, across multiple devices, and at any location. Your employees need to be connected like never before. Customers expect your sales and service representatives to have immediate access to the information they need to solve their problems or deliver on a good or service they expect to receive. Calling back to the office to see if an item is in stock or waiting for a follow-up response to schedule a service appointment just doesn’t cut it.
Cloud-based business applications make it easier to give employees the information they need to stay productive regardless of where they need to work. But it’s not enough to be able to access information; you need to be able to act on it based on customer demand. Your mobile experience needs to be consistent and secure, replicating what you could do in the office on your phone, laptop, or tablet regardless of the operating system.
With the mobile experience of Dynamics 365B Business Applications such as CRM for Sales, Marketing, Service and ERP (Business Central) your employees can:
- Manage quotes, proposals, and orders from the field.
- Confirm inventory status before making a commitment to customers.
- Deliver better service with full access to customer history, maintenance contracts, and service schedules.
Priority 4 – Sell Online
Customer experience is everything. With the rapid growth of e-commerce, the relationship between businesses and the customer began to shift. Demand for Omnichannel commerce drove investment in new technologies while growing expectations around free and fast delivery pushed retailers to optimize operations. As a result, the last decade has been marked by increased access, faster operations, and reduced operational costs.
What got lost was the experience. Emerging technologies delivered new capabilities, but many failed to produce results because they didn’t make the shopping experience easier or better for the customer. This year, business leaders have renewed their focus on the experience at a time when it is needed more than ever.
k-eCommerce delivers an innovative cloud-based e-commerce solution that simplifies and accelerates your ability to sell online. Fully integrated with Microsoft Dynamics™ AX, CRM, GP, and NAV, and coming soon for Dynamics 365, our solution offers a complete omnichannel platform for B2B and B2C.
Over 1500 sites in 15 countries succeed with the k-eCommerce solution. Whether in the wholesale distribution space or retail industry, this highly scalable, turnkey solution offers organizations the flexibility to grow their business online and comes ready to go, right out of the box.
Ready to revive growth? VOX ISM can help.
VOX ISM is a Microsoft Triple Gold Partner. We specialize in ERP, CRM (for Sales, Marketing and Service) and Business Analytics and provide fully customized business intelligence solutions for our clients using Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Power BI.
If you are interested, join us for our upcoming webinar Dynamics 365 CRM for SME: Everything you need to know this Nov 18, 2020.
