January 15, 2025 • 26 mins
Ready to adapt faster, work smarter and perform better? You’re in the right place.
Shelby Skrhak speaks with Pam Johnson, director, America’s Business Applications Marketing at Microsoft, about:
To join the discussion, follow us on Twitter @IngramMicroUSA #B2BTechTalk
Listen to this episode and more like it by subscribing to B2B Tech Talk on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or Spreaker.
Shelby Skrhak speaks with Pam Johnson, director, America’s Business Applications Marketing at Microsoft, about:
- The definition of CloudAscent data
- The top three differentiating aspects of Business Central
- How Copilot within Business Central boosts productivity
To join the discussion, follow us on Twitter @IngramMicroUSA #B2BTechTalk
Listen to this episode and more like it by subscribing to B2B Tech Talk on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or Spreaker.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
You're listening to B to B Tech Talk with Ingram Micro,
a place to learn about how to grow your business
and stay ahead of technological advances before they've become mainstream.
This episode is sponsored by ingram Micro's Expantage, the next
level way to transform your business's potential and reshape how
customers see you through advanced transactional data. Let's get into it.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Welcome to B to B Tech Talk with Ingram Micro.
I'm your host, Shelby Skirhawk, and our guest today is
Pam Johnson, director of Partner Marketing for Business Applications for Microsoft. Pam,
welcome back.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
Thank you so much. I'm excited to be back.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Yeah. So we're doing these episodes kind of back to back.
We just had you on and we were talking about,
you know, first the business Central and some of the
trends that SMBs are seeing. And so for today's episode
where talking about really unlocking that potential for partners and
mastering those business central opportunities. So again, recapping business Central
(01:11):
is an EERP solution that can kind of a single
pane of glass and it's it's the way to modernize
to bring everything of cloud and all of these things
within one Central ERP. Is there anything else that I
guess you would add to understand what business Central is.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
I love the fact that you use modernize because that's
kind of a word that we use sometimes, like modernize
your ERP and make that transition to business central, And
I think you got it right. It's like a comprehensive
solution that I don't think everyone understands that combines the ERP.
So it connects your finance, your sales, your service, and
your operations. And the best part is it integrates with
(01:53):
M three sixty five and it's got copilot built into
it already. So we are the first d peace solution
out there that's already got that call pilot functionality built
into it.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
Excellent, excellent. Okay, So if we're in the mindset of
a partner, I want to start unlocking those opportunities with
my existing customer base. So how do I get started
with that? How what should I understand? I guess specifically
within business Central, I understand there's cloud ascent data that
(02:24):
is correct, Tell me what those things, what that is,
and then how that relates to getting started.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
Yeah, so cloud Ascent data is actually your existing customers.
Then that Microsoft takes and applies a set of machine
learning modules, and what those modules are providing is propensity
for customers that potentially have the likelihood to purchase a
solutionary And in this particular situation, we're going to talk about
(02:51):
business applications. It goes across solutions, so you already have
this for your Modern work and Azure as well, but
in this one we're going to talk about how it
looks from a business applications perspective.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
So this is qualifying the customer. This is looking at
instead of you just thinking about your customer base and thinking, well,
I need to check in on them. They're probably ready
for this, They're probably ready for that. This is actually
a machine learning model that can give you the likelihood
of this is a good customer to target, or this
isn't right.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
Yeah. So what it does is it actually looks at
some Microsoft Windlass data. It looks at the customer profile,
the firmographics, the technology, and what they have installed. And
then what we do is we categorize them into sales
stages that we recommend based on what the machine learning
(03:48):
kicks back to us for each client. And what we're
finding is customers the first stage is what we consider
act now, which is more of a sale stage ready,
and that's where we would recommend and that the partner
any customers should be put in a marketing campaign. All
customers should. But in addition to that marketing campaign, this
is where we would have if they have a tell
(04:09):
a team that can call out or account managers can
call out to these clients and start driving the conversation.
Like it looks like you might be interested in business central,
here's what business central is, and what we're finding is
prospects that are in that act now sales stage, they're
doing a conversion three times faster than any other sale stage,
(04:30):
and so it's super important to make sure that you're
targeting the act now to help qualify that top of
funnel for sure, got it?
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Got it?
Speaker 3 (04:39):
So what are some of those other stages then? Yeah, great,
So the next one of what we can center is
evaluate and that's where customers are really ready for marketing,
and I would do multi channel marketing. Some of those
who've actually gotten to switch relatively fast too. So depending
on the volume of customers you have, you might want
to think about adding that to where the account reps
(05:01):
or the tele team would actually be calling into those accounts.
And then the last two is really the nurture and
the educate, and that's really helping customers give visibility, you know,
what is the solution, how it can help address the
pains that they might be having that they haven't even
thought deeply about in upgrading to a different solution.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
So the act now they evaluate. That's that's the ones
that are that might be right on the verge of
ready to discuss, you know, an ERP like this, but
it still needs some marketing some of I guess awareness for.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
Them agree because the customer might not know what business
central is. So that's why it might take the phone
call less time depending on when that marketing campaign gets
out versus the rep picking up the phone. And so
that's why our recommendation is it's not going to probably
cost you anymore to throw everyone into that marketing campaign.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Got it, Got it? And then the nurture that is
it's not the least I guess if you're rating them one, two, three,
and four, educate is number one because they're the furthest
away from it correct and for being act now, so
understanding these that first and second level, they're really just
(06:20):
starting their process or for the partner, they're still learning
about what the customer needs that right.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
Yeah, So I would think about it. If the partner
has customers that fit into that category, they're the ones
that are showing the most interest and potentially a new
solution based on the machine learning that we've done by
again looking at the demographics, the installs, the size of
the customer. So those are the ones that are going
(06:50):
to be more receptive to it. They might not necessarily
understand what business central is, but they are evaluating potentially
a different ARP solution.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
Let me ask you a tough question, Pam, and tell
me if you don't really have the answer for this.
But especially for very small businesses, I would imagine that
all of this customer data, what do you do when
that customer data is basically in the CEO's head. They're
not sophisticated enough that you know, basically a lot of
(07:22):
this isn't isn't documented. How do you balance or I
guess counteract something like that. I guess you're That's the
probably the toughest scenario of all.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
It is hard, and I think the biggest thing is
that's when it's super important for the partner to demonstrate
the power within the Microsoft solution and how it's going
to help the CEO because they don't necessarily have time
to be thinking about all the details around that. And
knowing that it integrates so well, I think is another
(07:54):
critical point that's super relevant. Now you bring up a
good point depending on the size of the organization, Like
if it's an organization and it's got a couple of employees,
business central is too powerful for them. They're probably just
going to be leveraging, you know, a different solution. But
organizations that even have ten employees we've seen do business Central.
They just don't need a lot of users because depending
(08:16):
on what you purchase, you can have one or two
individuals that have access to it to run the books
and it'll work that way. So I think it's important
for the customer to understand what are the pains that
they're experiencing, how will the solution fix it? And then
what are my productivity gains going to be? And then
the other thing keeping so top of mind is that security.
(08:38):
And then from a cost perspective, like if you have servers,
you have to think you're going to have to upgrade
your servers every so often. So when it's in the cloud,
you don't have to upgrade your servers. And then the
other thing I think that's important for the partners to
understand is we consider ERPA sticky solution because customers aren't
(09:00):
going to buy a new ARP solution every couple of years.
Based on our data, we say it's like every seven
to ten years. And so what that means is you
get the customer on business Central, then they're going to
be more inclined potentially to purchase other solutions as well
and expand the portfolio for incremental revenue for you got it?
Speaker 2 (09:19):
Got it? Okay, So I want to kind of skip
ahead to talking about again the opportunity and understanding the
value of and it's the full title Microsoft Dynamics through
sixty five business Central, but we call it Business Central
for sure, correct, Okay, So weighing into what those advantages are,
(09:41):
you know, I guess I wonder if we can kind
of talk through some of the functionality and elements here,
because I if this is a new product area, and
as a partner, I'm not that comfortable talking about this
this ERP and how it's different and how it integrates copilot.
(10:03):
Why that you know, why this is such a powerful solution.
So I wonder if we can kind of maybe talk
through some of those customer conversations or scenarios that we've
come up, and I guess before we talk about maybe
those very specific conversations that partners would be having with
(10:23):
their customers, if we're looking at those those four different
groups and assembling a marketing campaign, I wonder if just
a high level we could talk about the competitive advantages
that Microsoft brings. I mean, what are some of the
messaging that would go into a marketing campaign like that.
Speaker 3 (10:39):
Yeah, so if you want the easy ticket, you can
totally leverage what we consider your digital marketing content. So
it's called DMC. You can actually access it at aka
dot ms slash DMC, so pretty easy to remember. We
already have a pre built campaign out there for Business
Central it's six weeks, but if you want to get creative,
(11:01):
you have some marketing time and resources. There's kind of
three messaging pillars that we really feel is a differentiation
for us, and the first one is really adapting faster,
the second one is really on working smarter, and the
third one is really on perform better. So I know
(11:22):
it's six words, they're pretty powerful. If you want to,
we can go a little bit deeper into each area
and kind of what that means, and some messaging as
well as some products stuff that really helped make it pop. Well.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
So yeah, okay, so these campaigns, they are six week campaigns,
they're already built out. You can customize those as you
need for your business and for your industry. But the
big messages that they give you mentioned first, adapt faster.
What does that mean?
Speaker 3 (11:53):
Yeah, So there's probably like six to eight things underneath
each one of these. I've kind of picked out three
of my favorite that I think really resonate with the customers,
And the first one is being ready for growth, Like
as you think about customer organizations or even your self partners,
like the software that you're using today, is it really
ready to support your growth? Can it scale? And is
(12:14):
it in the Microsoft Cloud? So that would be one
underneath the adapt Faster. The second one is what about
that world class security and protection that we talked about,
So we're going to protect your data, plus we're going
to maintain the regulatory compliance that's needed with world class
identity protection, role based access and encryption. And the third one,
(12:37):
my favorite is connecting with existing systems. Again, this is
like taking advantage of the open architect that we have
that combines business central or systems that you already use today.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
So adapting faster, being ready for growth, having the world
class security with Microsoft, and I guess the performance of
Microsoft Cloud. All of those are some of the messages
that go into the adapt faster. I guess chain of
or campaign for email, right, yep, pillar, yep, all right.
(13:09):
So that second one you mentioned work smarter, I imagine
this involves AI and copilot. Tell me more about that one.
Speaker 3 (13:20):
Yeah, so redefining how work gets done with copilot, like
using that next generation of AI to speed up those
repetitive tasks potentially sparks some creativity and really improving business processes.
Then the second one is one of my favorites, in
addition to the copilot, is boosting productivity within M three
sixty five and it does seriously work seamlessly with the
(13:43):
M three sixty five applications that you're already used to today,
and that's Outlook Excel teams, and it reduces a data
entry in switching between applications. And the third one is
collaborating in Microsoft Teams. And this is actually improved collaboration
with read only access to business central data with an
(14:04):
M three sixty five license at no additional charge. Huge
functionality and benefit to the end client. Got it all right?
Speaker 2 (14:12):
So then the third pillar, the third campaign, the messaging
behind that is perform better.
Speaker 3 (14:19):
What does that mean? So this is the one that
make data driven decisions and this is where we talked
in the other episode about removing those data silos, having
access to the business intelligence that's going to have real
time dashboards, flexible reporting and KPIs for each role. You've
also got improved financial performance and this is really about
(14:41):
the accelerating the financial clothes, improving the forecasting, managing the
cash flows, and then getting timely performance metrics that is
really going to enhance the financial performance, which is critical
for everybody's bottom line. And then this one, I think
is super cool. It's deliver those extraordinary customer experiperiences. And
this is where you're empowering the sales and service teams
(15:04):
or tools that are going to efficiently manage inquiries, close
more deals, and strengthen those customer relationships.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
Okay, so this is a pretty well thought out and
powerful marketing campaign email campaign that is really already ready
to go and ready to personalize. So again, so that
takes care of the marketing the messaging that we're trying
to do. But that's digitally. What about the conversations, you know,
(15:33):
when you're sitting need to me with that customer. How
do you start those conversations and discuss what those recommendations are.
Speaker 3 (15:40):
Yeah, it's a great question, and so we can go
through like a couple different scenarios, like if you want
to ask me a question, I can kind of come
up with a scenario that you should be having with
your customer at the end of the day. Yeah, because
I know from a partner perspective, it can be uncomfortable
because this isn't necessarily your area of expertise, This isn't
(16:03):
even a product that you potentially have thought about. But
we can help guide you with that. So Shelby, I'm
happy if you come up with a few questions, like,
let's do some role playing and I'll see if I
can answer your question.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
Right right, Okay, Well, so I'm the partner, I'm talking
to my customer. Something that the customer might be concerned
about is their financial data. How accurate is all of
the reporting in there?
Speaker 3 (16:30):
And is the.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
Reporting all their period that can help inform those top
level executive decisions.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
Yeah, and this is where we feel pretty bullish that
if the customer doesn't have trusted information, it's super hard
to actually make those good decisions. Yeah, and we believe
this is where business Central can improve the decision making
because it's going to provide the end to end visibility
across the business that includes real time performance metrics with
(17:02):
flexible reporting, and those AI powered insights such as cash
flow forecasting. And then if you use Copilot inside a
business Central to transform those raw data into insights, it
can be prompted by a single sentence, and then Copilot
can actually identify trends and anomalies, enabling data driven decisions
(17:24):
that can actually propel a customer's business forward.
Speaker 2 (17:27):
So it'll see anomalies, things that maybe just don't seem
quite right, and I'll highlight those correct for you.
Speaker 3 (17:33):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
Another challenge that I think customers would have would be
the well we mentioned it earlier, manual workarounds, the old
fashioned spreadsheet or you know, really pen and paper. What
does that partner say to the customer that's probably facing
those workarounds?
Speaker 3 (17:54):
What are some examples. Yeah, and I think if we
think about ourselves, I think we can all get stuck
where I'm just going to make do with what I have.
I don't have time to make, you know, an investment
in another technology. And I think that's where we have
to really message and somewhat challenge the customer to ask
the question about what if you could automate repetitive tasks
(18:17):
or activities like bank reconciliation using the powerful AI or
Microsoft Copilot, You're going to actually minimize the tedious task,
You're going to improve accuracy, you're going to drive productivity,
and I like all those but in my opinion, you're
actually going to allow teams to focus on those higher
(18:38):
value activities and make more informed decisions.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
So okay, So thinking about again, these these are the
questions that the partner may be asking the customer correct
kind of I don't want to say poking around for
what their their problems are, but just highlighting on you know,
are you are you having problems with this or are
you struggling with that? So I guess another one, what
(19:05):
about different systems, having multiple systems that don't talk to
each other, and the inefficiency of bouncing around all of
these these these different programs, what would the partner maybe
ask or say to the customer?
Speaker 3 (19:22):
Yeah, and this is where I think we shine because
business Center, like we talked earlier, it works seamlessly with
the M three sixty five application that you use every day,
the customer uses every day teams Outlook, Word and Excel.
And what it's going to do is it's going to
help the team actually collaborate effectively as well as improving
(19:43):
that efficiency because it's going to make the information readily
available within the flow of work for them.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
All right, thinking again about these questions, I imagine the
partner would be asking the customer, what about your growth plan?
What do you the next one, two, or you know,
three years look like for your technology set up? What
are going to be some of those so the challenges
that you can see coming down the pike.
Speaker 3 (20:10):
Yeah, and I think that's good because I don't think
we always take that step back and think about how
do we want to grow? Where's our business going to go?
And oftentimes I think software that was good enough when
a business is small can necessarily support it when a
business grows. And so having the right technical infrastructure in place,
it's going to be key to be able to scale
(20:30):
customers businesses, and I'm pretty proud to say that we
have over forty thousand businesses today that are using Microsoft
Dynamics through sixty five Business Central. So it's a massive
stat that we have countries or countries customers on this globally, all.
Speaker 2 (20:46):
Right, So you know there's there's a lot of thought
and support for one. Again, I'm impressed with the marketing
campaign and how detailed and elaborate that is. So I imagine
it's making it a little bit easier for or the
partner to think about having those conversations with their customers.
But taking a step back in general, when a customer
(21:07):
is considering a new ERP solution, whether it's Business Central
or any ERP from your experience, so, what are some
of the big things that they should be aware of
or they should be considering when making that decision.
Speaker 3 (21:23):
Yeah, so I narrow this one down to six because
there's a lot that goes into the decision making for sure.
And the first one I'll talk about is core functionality.
And this is where you might even think about just
like a finance solution is what they're looking for. And
so a few questions there would be does it have
the key capabilities that we need or can it easily
(21:44):
be customized to support a unique process? Does it offer
the reporting that we need? So when we think core,
that's one of the areas platform, which I think is
a no brainer for anybody on the phone with the
Azure side of the house, because again, it's the performance,
it's the security, it's the compliance, it's in the cloud,
it can scale like all that's super relevant for individuals AI.
(22:09):
I think that's the new buzzword that everyone can get
on the train with, like how does it use AI
to really improve productivity and efficiency and surface insights and
provide guidance to improve the decision making and business performance.
So again, huge benefit within our solution, you've got connectivity,
(22:29):
So how does it work with other apps? We talked
very extensively in every podcast we've been on about the
integration within M three sixty five because I think that
is a huge benefit because customers are already using that software,
they are familiar with the software. It makes it an
easier transition, ease and speed of implementation. And so this
is like how quick is it to learn, how is
(22:51):
it easy to use? How long does it deploy The
deployment is what Ingrim can help you with, so U
as a partner don't have to become the expert. And
then pricing is pricing affordable and easy to understand. And
I would say our pricing is very competitive in the
market there and depending on there are some customer offers
out there. If the customer has business premium, as an example,
they get a ten percent discount. And so make sure
(23:14):
that when you think about the holistic approach, this is
a solution that can bride it to the end customer
at a great price.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
Excellent. Well, we've gone over a lot today and covered
a lot. But if we start to wind things down
with all that information that we've given Pam, what are
some of the I guess the key takeaways, the things
that you would hope that listeners if they learned anything
from this episode, it would be what, So, there's.
Speaker 3 (23:41):
So much I'm like, how do I summarize these? And
just a few bullets I know top of mind for me,
I would say, you are the strategic advisor to your clients.
You need to make sure that you're listening and showing
up and be able to provide other solutions to them
aka business Central. First, identify the opportunities you know, ask
(24:03):
some of the questions that we ask to make sure
that you can uncover those opportunities within your own client base.
And then leverage our free tool of aka dot m
slash DMC digital marketing content. You can automate a six
week campaign, put it in market and go out to
your clients and engage with Ingram. Once you identify opportunities,
(24:25):
contact the Dynamics three sixty five at Ingram for support.
They can help you with the sales and they can
do the deployment for you, so you don't have to
become the expert. And the third is think about the
increased value providing to the customer and also the increased
revenue to your organization. And this is a way I
(24:46):
think that you will be able to differentiate your organization
because there's a lot of modern workplace partners out there today,
but are they adding business Central to their existing customers
to really make a difference in the market for themselves
as well as their clients.
Speaker 2 (25:00):
Excellent, well, Pam, I appreciate all of the time insight.
Today we've gone really detailed into the marketing mindsets and
how to have those conversations. But I think there's a
lot of information that hopefully our listeners have taken notes
on and learned. What was the contact like, how would
they reach out to find more information if they have questions?
Speaker 3 (25:23):
Yeah, so at ingram you can go out to Dynamics
three sixty five at ingrammicro dot com and there are
individuals waiting ready to help you.
Speaker 2 (25:33):
Excellent. Well, Pam, I appreciate it. Thank you so much
for joining me, Thank.
Speaker 3 (25:38):
You so much for having me. I'm excited to see
how US partners will help expand your portfolio and help
enable your customers with this solution.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
Definitely well, and thank you listeners for tuning in subscribing
to B to B Tech Talk with Ingram Micro. If
you haven't subscribed, be sure to do so and don't forget.
You can find all of these episodes on the ingram
Micro Expantage platform. Next time, I'm Shelby Skirrehawk.
Speaker 1 (26:03):
You've been listening to B to B Tech Talk by
Ingram Micro. This episode was sponsored by Ingram Micro Exvantage.
B to B Tech Talk is a joint production between
Sweetfish Media and Ingram Micro. To listen to this episode
and many others, visit ingrammicro dot com,
You're listening to B to B Tech Talk with Ingram Micro,
a place to learn about how to grow your business
and stay ahead of technological advances before they've become mainstream.
This episode is sponsored by ingram Micro's Expantage, the next
level way to transform your business's potential and reshape how
customers see you through advanced transactional data. Let's get into it.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Welcome to B to B Tech Talk with Ingram Micro.
I'm your host, Shelby Skirhawk, and our guest today is
Pam Johnson, director of Partner Marketing for Business Applications for Microsoft. Pam,
welcome back.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
Thank you so much. I'm excited to be back.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Yeah. So we're doing these episodes kind of back to back.
We just had you on and we were talking about,
you know, first the business Central and some of the
trends that SMBs are seeing. And so for today's episode
where talking about really unlocking that potential for partners and
mastering those business central opportunities. So again, recapping business Central
(01:11):
is an EERP solution that can kind of a single
pane of glass and it's it's the way to modernize
to bring everything of cloud and all of these things
within one Central ERP. Is there anything else that I
guess you would add to understand what business Central is.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
I love the fact that you use modernize because that's
kind of a word that we use sometimes, like modernize
your ERP and make that transition to business central, And
I think you got it right. It's like a comprehensive
solution that I don't think everyone understands that combines the ERP.
So it connects your finance, your sales, your service, and
your operations. And the best part is it integrates with
(01:53):
M three sixty five and it's got copilot built into
it already. So we are the first d peace solution
out there that's already got that call pilot functionality built
into it.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
Excellent, excellent. Okay, So if we're in the mindset of
a partner, I want to start unlocking those opportunities with
my existing customer base. So how do I get started
with that? How what should I understand? I guess specifically
within business Central, I understand there's cloud ascent data that
(02:24):
is correct, Tell me what those things, what that is,
and then how that relates to getting started.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
Yeah, so cloud Ascent data is actually your existing customers.
Then that Microsoft takes and applies a set of machine
learning modules, and what those modules are providing is propensity
for customers that potentially have the likelihood to purchase a
solutionary And in this particular situation, we're going to talk about
(02:51):
business applications. It goes across solutions, so you already have
this for your Modern work and Azure as well, but
in this one we're going to talk about how it
looks from a business applications perspective.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
So this is qualifying the customer. This is looking at
instead of you just thinking about your customer base and thinking, well,
I need to check in on them. They're probably ready
for this, They're probably ready for that. This is actually
a machine learning model that can give you the likelihood
of this is a good customer to target, or this
isn't right.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
Yeah. So what it does is it actually looks at
some Microsoft Windlass data. It looks at the customer profile,
the firmographics, the technology, and what they have installed. And
then what we do is we categorize them into sales
stages that we recommend based on what the machine learning
(03:48):
kicks back to us for each client. And what we're
finding is customers the first stage is what we consider
act now, which is more of a sale stage ready,
and that's where we would recommend and that the partner
any customers should be put in a marketing campaign. All
customers should. But in addition to that marketing campaign, this
is where we would have if they have a tell
(04:09):
a team that can call out or account managers can
call out to these clients and start driving the conversation.
Like it looks like you might be interested in business central,
here's what business central is, and what we're finding is
prospects that are in that act now sales stage, they're
doing a conversion three times faster than any other sale stage,
(04:30):
and so it's super important to make sure that you're
targeting the act now to help qualify that top of
funnel for sure, got it?
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Got it?
Speaker 3 (04:39):
So what are some of those other stages then? Yeah, great,
So the next one of what we can center is
evaluate and that's where customers are really ready for marketing,
and I would do multi channel marketing. Some of those
who've actually gotten to switch relatively fast too. So depending
on the volume of customers you have, you might want
to think about adding that to where the account reps
(05:01):
or the tele team would actually be calling into those accounts.
And then the last two is really the nurture and
the educate, and that's really helping customers give visibility, you know,
what is the solution, how it can help address the
pains that they might be having that they haven't even
thought deeply about in upgrading to a different solution.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
So the act now they evaluate. That's that's the ones
that are that might be right on the verge of
ready to discuss, you know, an ERP like this, but
it still needs some marketing some of I guess awareness for.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
Them agree because the customer might not know what business
central is. So that's why it might take the phone
call less time depending on when that marketing campaign gets
out versus the rep picking up the phone. And so
that's why our recommendation is it's not going to probably
cost you anymore to throw everyone into that marketing campaign.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Got it, Got it? And then the nurture that is
it's not the least I guess if you're rating them one, two, three,
and four, educate is number one because they're the furthest
away from it correct and for being act now, so
understanding these that first and second level, they're really just
(06:20):
starting their process or for the partner, they're still learning
about what the customer needs that right.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
Yeah, So I would think about it. If the partner
has customers that fit into that category, they're the ones
that are showing the most interest and potentially a new
solution based on the machine learning that we've done by
again looking at the demographics, the installs, the size of
the customer. So those are the ones that are going
(06:50):
to be more receptive to it. They might not necessarily
understand what business central is, but they are evaluating potentially
a different ARP solution.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
Let me ask you a tough question, Pam, and tell
me if you don't really have the answer for this.
But especially for very small businesses, I would imagine that
all of this customer data, what do you do when
that customer data is basically in the CEO's head. They're
not sophisticated enough that you know, basically a lot of
(07:22):
this isn't isn't documented. How do you balance or I
guess counteract something like that. I guess you're That's the
probably the toughest scenario of all.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
It is hard, and I think the biggest thing is
that's when it's super important for the partner to demonstrate
the power within the Microsoft solution and how it's going
to help the CEO because they don't necessarily have time
to be thinking about all the details around that. And
knowing that it integrates so well, I think is another
(07:54):
critical point that's super relevant. Now you bring up a
good point depending on the size of the organization, Like
if it's an organization and it's got a couple of employees,
business central is too powerful for them. They're probably just
going to be leveraging, you know, a different solution. But
organizations that even have ten employees we've seen do business Central.
They just don't need a lot of users because depending
(08:16):
on what you purchase, you can have one or two
individuals that have access to it to run the books
and it'll work that way. So I think it's important
for the customer to understand what are the pains that
they're experiencing, how will the solution fix it? And then
what are my productivity gains going to be? And then
the other thing keeping so top of mind is that security.
(08:38):
And then from a cost perspective, like if you have servers,
you have to think you're going to have to upgrade
your servers every so often. So when it's in the cloud,
you don't have to upgrade your servers. And then the
other thing I think that's important for the partners to
understand is we consider ERPA sticky solution because customers aren't
(09:00):
going to buy a new ARP solution every couple of years.
Based on our data, we say it's like every seven
to ten years. And so what that means is you
get the customer on business Central, then they're going to
be more inclined potentially to purchase other solutions as well
and expand the portfolio for incremental revenue for you got it?
Speaker 2 (09:19):
Got it? Okay, So I want to kind of skip
ahead to talking about again the opportunity and understanding the
value of and it's the full title Microsoft Dynamics through
sixty five business Central, but we call it Business Central
for sure, correct, Okay, So weighing into what those advantages are,
(09:41):
you know, I guess I wonder if we can kind
of talk through some of the functionality and elements here,
because I if this is a new product area, and
as a partner, I'm not that comfortable talking about this
this ERP and how it's different and how it integrates copilot.
(10:03):
Why that you know, why this is such a powerful solution.
So I wonder if we can kind of maybe talk
through some of those customer conversations or scenarios that we've
come up, and I guess before we talk about maybe
those very specific conversations that partners would be having with
(10:23):
their customers, if we're looking at those those four different
groups and assembling a marketing campaign, I wonder if just
a high level we could talk about the competitive advantages
that Microsoft brings. I mean, what are some of the
messaging that would go into a marketing campaign like that.
Speaker 3 (10:39):
Yeah, so if you want the easy ticket, you can
totally leverage what we consider your digital marketing content. So
it's called DMC. You can actually access it at aka
dot ms slash DMC, so pretty easy to remember. We
already have a pre built campaign out there for Business
Central it's six weeks, but if you want to get creative,
(11:01):
you have some marketing time and resources. There's kind of
three messaging pillars that we really feel is a differentiation
for us, and the first one is really adapting faster,
the second one is really on working smarter, and the
third one is really on perform better. So I know
(11:22):
it's six words, they're pretty powerful. If you want to,
we can go a little bit deeper into each area
and kind of what that means, and some messaging as
well as some products stuff that really helped make it pop. Well.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
So yeah, okay, so these campaigns, they are six week campaigns,
they're already built out. You can customize those as you
need for your business and for your industry. But the
big messages that they give you mentioned first, adapt faster.
What does that mean?
Speaker 3 (11:53):
Yeah, So there's probably like six to eight things underneath
each one of these. I've kind of picked out three
of my favorite that I think really resonate with the customers,
And the first one is being ready for growth, Like
as you think about customer organizations or even your self partners,
like the software that you're using today, is it really
ready to support your growth? Can it scale? And is
(12:14):
it in the Microsoft Cloud? So that would be one
underneath the adapt Faster. The second one is what about
that world class security and protection that we talked about,
So we're going to protect your data, plus we're going
to maintain the regulatory compliance that's needed with world class
identity protection, role based access and encryption. And the third one,
(12:37):
my favorite is connecting with existing systems. Again, this is
like taking advantage of the open architect that we have
that combines business central or systems that you already use today.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
So adapting faster, being ready for growth, having the world
class security with Microsoft, and I guess the performance of
Microsoft Cloud. All of those are some of the messages
that go into the adapt faster. I guess chain of
or campaign for email, right, yep, pillar, yep, all right.
(13:09):
So that second one you mentioned work smarter, I imagine
this involves AI and copilot. Tell me more about that one.
Speaker 3 (13:20):
Yeah, so redefining how work gets done with copilot, like
using that next generation of AI to speed up those
repetitive tasks potentially sparks some creativity and really improving business processes.
Then the second one is one of my favorites, in
addition to the copilot, is boosting productivity within M three
sixty five and it does seriously work seamlessly with the
(13:43):
M three sixty five applications that you're already used to today,
and that's Outlook Excel teams, and it reduces a data
entry in switching between applications. And the third one is
collaborating in Microsoft Teams. And this is actually improved collaboration
with read only access to business central data with an
(14:04):
M three sixty five license at no additional charge. Huge
functionality and benefit to the end client. Got it all right?
Speaker 2 (14:12):
So then the third pillar, the third campaign, the messaging
behind that is perform better.
Speaker 3 (14:19):
What does that mean? So this is the one that
make data driven decisions and this is where we talked
in the other episode about removing those data silos, having
access to the business intelligence that's going to have real
time dashboards, flexible reporting and KPIs for each role. You've
also got improved financial performance and this is really about
(14:41):
the accelerating the financial clothes, improving the forecasting, managing the
cash flows, and then getting timely performance metrics that is
really going to enhance the financial performance, which is critical
for everybody's bottom line. And then this one, I think
is super cool. It's deliver those extraordinary customer experiperiences. And
this is where you're empowering the sales and service teams
(15:04):
or tools that are going to efficiently manage inquiries, close
more deals, and strengthen those customer relationships.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
Okay, so this is a pretty well thought out and
powerful marketing campaign email campaign that is really already ready
to go and ready to personalize. So again, so that
takes care of the marketing the messaging that we're trying
to do. But that's digitally. What about the conversations, you know,
(15:33):
when you're sitting need to me with that customer. How
do you start those conversations and discuss what those recommendations are.
Speaker 3 (15:40):
Yeah, it's a great question, and so we can go
through like a couple different scenarios, like if you want
to ask me a question, I can kind of come
up with a scenario that you should be having with
your customer at the end of the day. Yeah, because
I know from a partner perspective, it can be uncomfortable
because this isn't necessarily your area of expertise, This isn't
(16:03):
even a product that you potentially have thought about. But
we can help guide you with that. So Shelby, I'm
happy if you come up with a few questions, like,
let's do some role playing and I'll see if I
can answer your question.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
Right right, Okay, Well, so I'm the partner, I'm talking
to my customer. Something that the customer might be concerned
about is their financial data. How accurate is all of
the reporting in there?
Speaker 3 (16:30):
And is the.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
Reporting all their period that can help inform those top
level executive decisions.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
Yeah, and this is where we feel pretty bullish that
if the customer doesn't have trusted information, it's super hard
to actually make those good decisions. Yeah, and we believe
this is where business Central can improve the decision making
because it's going to provide the end to end visibility
across the business that includes real time performance metrics with
(17:02):
flexible reporting, and those AI powered insights such as cash
flow forecasting. And then if you use Copilot inside a
business Central to transform those raw data into insights, it
can be prompted by a single sentence, and then Copilot
can actually identify trends and anomalies, enabling data driven decisions
(17:24):
that can actually propel a customer's business forward.
Speaker 2 (17:27):
So it'll see anomalies, things that maybe just don't seem
quite right, and I'll highlight those correct for you.
Speaker 3 (17:33):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
Another challenge that I think customers would have would be
the well we mentioned it earlier, manual workarounds, the old
fashioned spreadsheet or you know, really pen and paper. What
does that partner say to the customer that's probably facing
those workarounds?
Speaker 3 (17:54):
What are some examples. Yeah, and I think if we
think about ourselves, I think we can all get stuck
where I'm just going to make do with what I have.
I don't have time to make, you know, an investment
in another technology. And I think that's where we have
to really message and somewhat challenge the customer to ask
the question about what if you could automate repetitive tasks
(18:17):
or activities like bank reconciliation using the powerful AI or
Microsoft Copilot, You're going to actually minimize the tedious task,
You're going to improve accuracy, you're going to drive productivity,
and I like all those but in my opinion, you're
actually going to allow teams to focus on those higher
(18:38):
value activities and make more informed decisions.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
So okay, So thinking about again, these these are the
questions that the partner may be asking the customer correct
kind of I don't want to say poking around for
what their their problems are, but just highlighting on you know,
are you are you having problems with this or are
you struggling with that? So I guess another one, what
(19:05):
about different systems, having multiple systems that don't talk to
each other, and the inefficiency of bouncing around all of
these these these different programs, what would the partner maybe
ask or say to the customer?
Speaker 3 (19:22):
Yeah, and this is where I think we shine because
business Center, like we talked earlier, it works seamlessly with
the M three sixty five application that you use every day,
the customer uses every day teams Outlook, Word and Excel.
And what it's going to do is it's going to
help the team actually collaborate effectively as well as improving
(19:43):
that efficiency because it's going to make the information readily
available within the flow of work for them.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
All right, thinking again about these questions, I imagine the
partner would be asking the customer, what about your growth plan?
What do you the next one, two, or you know,
three years look like for your technology set up? What
are going to be some of those so the challenges
that you can see coming down the pike.
Speaker 3 (20:10):
Yeah, and I think that's good because I don't think
we always take that step back and think about how
do we want to grow? Where's our business going to go?
And oftentimes I think software that was good enough when
a business is small can necessarily support it when a
business grows. And so having the right technical infrastructure in place,
it's going to be key to be able to scale
(20:30):
customers businesses, and I'm pretty proud to say that we
have over forty thousand businesses today that are using Microsoft
Dynamics through sixty five Business Central. So it's a massive
stat that we have countries or countries customers on this globally, all.
Speaker 2 (20:46):
Right, So you know there's there's a lot of thought
and support for one. Again, I'm impressed with the marketing
campaign and how detailed and elaborate that is. So I imagine
it's making it a little bit easier for or the
partner to think about having those conversations with their customers.
But taking a step back in general, when a customer
(21:07):
is considering a new ERP solution, whether it's Business Central
or any ERP from your experience, so, what are some
of the big things that they should be aware of
or they should be considering when making that decision.
Speaker 3 (21:23):
Yeah, so I narrow this one down to six because
there's a lot that goes into the decision making for sure.
And the first one I'll talk about is core functionality.
And this is where you might even think about just
like a finance solution is what they're looking for. And
so a few questions there would be does it have
the key capabilities that we need or can it easily
(21:44):
be customized to support a unique process? Does it offer
the reporting that we need? So when we think core,
that's one of the areas platform, which I think is
a no brainer for anybody on the phone with the
Azure side of the house, because again, it's the performance,
it's the security, it's the compliance, it's in the cloud,
it can scale like all that's super relevant for individuals AI.
(22:09):
I think that's the new buzzword that everyone can get
on the train with, like how does it use AI
to really improve productivity and efficiency and surface insights and
provide guidance to improve the decision making and business performance.
So again, huge benefit within our solution, you've got connectivity,
(22:29):
So how does it work with other apps? We talked
very extensively in every podcast we've been on about the
integration within M three sixty five because I think that
is a huge benefit because customers are already using that software,
they are familiar with the software. It makes it an
easier transition, ease and speed of implementation. And so this
is like how quick is it to learn, how is
(22:51):
it easy to use? How long does it deploy The
deployment is what Ingrim can help you with, so U
as a partner don't have to become the expert. And
then pricing is pricing affordable and easy to understand. And
I would say our pricing is very competitive in the
market there and depending on there are some customer offers
out there. If the customer has business premium, as an example,
they get a ten percent discount. And so make sure
(23:14):
that when you think about the holistic approach, this is
a solution that can bride it to the end customer
at a great price.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
Excellent. Well, we've gone over a lot today and covered
a lot. But if we start to wind things down
with all that information that we've given Pam, what are
some of the I guess the key takeaways, the things
that you would hope that listeners if they learned anything
from this episode, it would be what, So, there's.
Speaker 3 (23:41):
So much I'm like, how do I summarize these? And
just a few bullets I know top of mind for me,
I would say, you are the strategic advisor to your clients.
You need to make sure that you're listening and showing
up and be able to provide other solutions to them
aka business Central. First, identify the opportunities you know, ask
(24:03):
some of the questions that we ask to make sure
that you can uncover those opportunities within your own client base.
And then leverage our free tool of aka dot m
slash DMC digital marketing content. You can automate a six
week campaign, put it in market and go out to
your clients and engage with Ingram. Once you identify opportunities,
(24:25):
contact the Dynamics three sixty five at Ingram for support.
They can help you with the sales and they can
do the deployment for you, so you don't have to
become the expert. And the third is think about the
increased value providing to the customer and also the increased
revenue to your organization. And this is a way I
(24:46):
think that you will be able to differentiate your organization
because there's a lot of modern workplace partners out there today,
but are they adding business Central to their existing customers
to really make a difference in the market for themselves
as well as their clients.
Speaker 2 (25:00):
Excellent, well, Pam, I appreciate all of the time insight.
Today we've gone really detailed into the marketing mindsets and
how to have those conversations. But I think there's a
lot of information that hopefully our listeners have taken notes
on and learned. What was the contact like, how would
they reach out to find more information if they have questions?
Speaker 3 (25:23):
Yeah, so at ingram you can go out to Dynamics
three sixty five at ingrammicro dot com and there are
individuals waiting ready to help you.
Speaker 2 (25:33):
Excellent. Well, Pam, I appreciate it. Thank you so much
for joining me, Thank.
Speaker 3 (25:38):
You so much for having me. I'm excited to see
how US partners will help expand your portfolio and help
enable your customers with this solution.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
Definitely well, and thank you listeners for tuning in subscribing
to B to B Tech Talk with Ingram Micro. If
you haven't subscribed, be sure to do so and don't forget.
You can find all of these episodes on the ingram
Micro Expantage platform. Next time, I'm Shelby Skirrehawk.
Speaker 1 (26:03):
You've been listening to B to B Tech Talk by
Ingram Micro. This episode was sponsored by Ingram Micro Exvantage.
B to B Tech Talk is a joint production between
Sweetfish Media and Ingram Micro. To listen to this episode
and many others, visit ingrammicro dot com,
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com