On June 13, Microsoft purchased the business social media giant LinkedIn for a whopping $26.2 billion. Why would Microsoft pay $196 a share for a company whose value was $131 a share? There are a lot of reasons, one of which is the impact LinkedIn will have on Microsoft’s ability to grab a large portion of the $26.3 billion CRM market. This is great news for Microsoft Dynamics CRM customers as Microsoft announced its plans to use LinkedIn as an integrated selling tool in conjunction with its existing CRM products. To paraphrase the goal of Microsoft and LinkedIn is to:
- Empower people and organizations
- Connect the professional world
- Create more connected, intelligent and productive experiences
What can we expect with regards to CRM? Well first off we expect a huge boost to Dynamics CRM’s social selling aspect. Social Selling is the use of social media to interact with your prospects and nurture sales. When LinkedIn is fully integrated into Dynamics CRM it will include real time data and actionable insights, providing users with the most up-to-date information right from their Dynamics CRM. The days of lead generation through LinkedIn and subsequent data entry into CRM may soon be history. This hassle will most likely be automated directly into Dynamics CRM by tracking your touch points and using activities to set follow up reminders, freeing up salespeople’s time to do more selling.
