How to Choose the Right Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales Version

If you’re using Microsoft Dynamics 365, you may know that it’s the latest product that contains business applications, which include the customer relationship management (CRM) capabilities that have been in existence under different names for a number of years.

 
Today, the CRM capabilities include Sales, Customer Service, Marketing, Field Service, and Project Operations.

The Dynamics 365 Sales module contains a wide range of benefits. The challenge that many business leaders have is determining which version of the software would benefit their organizations most.

Overview of Dynamics 365 Sales Versions

Here’s a brief overview of the four different versions of the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales application.

Sales Professional – The entry-level version of the Sales application that includes the core features of the Sales application

Sales Enterprise – The version meant for enterprise-level organizations that are managing over 250 salespeople and includes a high level of customization and workflow automation

Sales Premium –The next step up from the Enterprise version that includes everything in the Enterprise version, plus advanced tools for salespeople that Microsoft identifies as contextual insights, sales accelerator, and conversation intelligence

Relationship Sales – A combination of the capabilities in the Enterprise version, plus integration with the LinkedIn Navigator

How to Decide Which Version You Need?

Microsoft offers four versions of the Dynamics 365 Sales application and deciding among them requires a good bit of research. Ask yourself these questions to help you make the right decision.

What’s the Size of Your Business and Sales Team?

Microsoft’s entry level version of Sales is called Sales Professional. It is intended for small businesses who want to help their sales staff become more productive. Sales Professional isn’t configured with a maximum number of users, but its capabilities include only core features that may not satisfy a business leader managing a large number of sales employees.

Those core features include Microsoft’s core sales execution features, integration with many of the Office 365 applications, and core reporting and analysis features.

The next step up from Sales Professional is Dynamics 365 Sales Enterprise. This version is targeted for businesses with 250 or more users. The Professional version can integrate with many of the Office 365 applications such as Outlook, Exchange, Excel, Teams, OneDrive/SharePoint and OneNote. But it doesn’t have the same customization capabilities as some of the other versions.

How Complex is Your Sales Cycle?

If your small company sales cycle is straight forward with one or two decision-makers involved over a relatively short period of time, Sales Professional may work well. However, if you have a small business but your sales cycle is complex, you may want to opt for the Sales Enterprise version.

For example, Sales Enterprise includes tools for forecasting, tracking products and relationships among them, an assistant to track daily activities, and more. The customization opportunities in Sales Enterprise are much greater than those in the Professional version, and workflow automation is standard.

How Valuable is LinkedIn to Lead Generation and Closing Deals?

If LinkedIn is a powerful tool for your sales team, you’ll want to consider Microsoft Dynamics 365 Relationship Sales. The Relationship Sales version includes everything in the Sales Enterprise version, along with an integration of the LinkedIn Sales Navigator. It is the only version that allows access to the Navigator. You can add the additional features of the Sales Premium version as Add-Ins.

Do You Need Advanced Sales Support Tools?

The Dynamics 365 Sales Premium version includes what Microsoft calls contextual insights and sales accelerator, and conversation intelligence, along with everything in Sales Enterprise. This version offers a range of sales tools such as predictive contact scoring, embedded email and phone dialer, and conversation intelligence to help salespeople understand their customers’ reactions to telephone conversations. If your sales staff could be more effective with these advanced tools, then the Sales Premium version is for you.

How Can Datavail Help?

We’ve written a white paper, What You Need to Know About the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales Modules. It provides all the details about the various versions of the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales modules. It also contains a Feature Overview that lists the features that are available and which version can access them either as standard features or as Add-Ins. Download the white paper to determine which version has the features you need.

After selecting the right version, you’ll need to identify the integrations you require, implement the module, and put everything in place to make sure your adoption rate justifies your investment.

Datavail has more than 15 years of Dynamics CRM experience and we can assist you in your journey from choosing the sales version to deployment to user adoption and on through to ongoing modernization and maintenance. For more information, contact Datavail’s Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM experts.