Microsoft Viva Sales Promises to Transform Your Customer’s Journey.

(What does it mean for you?)

How often are you standing in the queue for self-serve checkout and wondering where all the staff have gone?

Both Coles, Woolies, and soon Aldi offer self-serve checkouts.

Like most people, you probably drop into the supermarket on the way home from work.

It’s always busy.

You’ve decided to do a quick Woolies run to grab something for dinner.

It probably happens more often than you like.

So juggling a loaf of bread for the kids’ lunch, a couple of chicken thighs in the other hand and stir-through sauce that you’re sure is full of salt, you slowly creep to the front of the queue.

Now, you might be wondering how this is any quicker.

Why don’t they open all the checkouts?

And don’t get you started on the “return the item to the bagging area” alert.

You see, the supermarket giants have invested heavily in updating their technology and security to bring what they see as a seamless shopping experience. 

Giving the punter what they are looking for…or so they think.

But by taking staff off the front line and scanning your Weetbix and beef honey snags (I mean, who eats them?), they can redirect those team members to other tasks.

Such as fulfilling online shopping orders. 

(Sidenote, that’s what you should do instead of queueing, perhaps?)

They are adopting new shopping trends and leveraging technology to make informed decisions have helped the supermarkets shape their customer experience. 

And all the while creating an engaging workplace experience for their employees.

Imagine if your business could use technology to reduce non-value add activities (like operating the cash register at Coles).

How would that improve your business? 

Many Melbourne businesses find their sales team entering data manually takes them away from customer interactions.

For most, capturing customer orders, quotes, and interactions is essential to doing business. 

It helps sales managers understand leads and sales, providing reports to improve conversions. But most managers believe salespeople punching data into their laptops is a waste of time.

That’s why Microsoft has announced a new online sales team experience. 

Microsoft Viva Sales forms part of the “Viva” line of applications, including Viva Insights (improving staff well-being) and Viva Learning (staff professional development).

The Viva apps seamlessly integrate with MS Teams and Microsoft 365 (M365). In addition, they include automation to remove tedious tasks and improve employee engagement.

So, let’s uncover how Viva Sales could help you.

What can your business expect from Viva Sales?

Viva Sales is an application that will provide sales and lead insights. And these insights populate throughout Office 365 and Microsoft Teams. Ultimately, Viva Sales removes unnecessary data entries to give employees more time to spend on sales. 

So, is Viva Sales a CRM? 

In short, no. Viva Sales is not built to replace your CRM but connects with it and other sales-related apps your business may use. It then uses the data from these platforms to make it easier for your sales team to get the prospect data they need.  

Three ways Viva Sales helps your business

With Microsoft Viva Sales, your business can take advantage of the following: 

• Reducing data entry by sales professionals with forms eliminated, ensuring your sales team focuses on customer relationship building.
• Connecting with several platforms, including CRMs and third-party applications, to gain valuable insights and cross-reference data points.
• Leveraging the latest AI technology, your salespeople will get prompts during the sales process, such as assisting them with leads.

 

Viva Sales connects with other M365 applications. 

Microsoft Viva Sales provides sales-specific insights connected with other M365 applications. 

Sales team members natively view essential customer details wherever they are, including in their Outlook Calendar or their Microsoft or non-Microsoft CRM.

Image courtesy of Microsoft

What are some of Viva Sales features?

You can tag to capture sales interactions.

You know how to tag someone on social media. You can do the same with Viva Sales to get someone’s attention. Simply ‘@name’, and Viva Sales will notify the person you tag. 

And the most exciting part is you can tag across other M365 apps. 

So, your team can use Viva Sales to capture data from another M365 application, including adding prospects or customers to a list using a Viva Sales name tag. In addition, the system will capture contextual information on the lead or customer.

Your team can collaborate faster.

Viva Sales makes it simple and easy to collaborate with your team on a sales prospect or customer. No longer will you have to copy and paste information manually. Instead, you can collaborate instantly using the tagging function to populate lead information from Viva Sales.

Image courtesy of Microsoft

With only a few clicks, you can seamlessly edit or open a new lead (customer record). You won’t have to go looking for or open another app to get the lead captured, saving valuable time. 

Accessing key customer moments with call summaries 

One major gripe customers have with salespeople is a lack of understanding or knowledge of recent interactions. 

Often this leads to poor customer service outcomes for your business.

You can avoid this by capturing all customer interactions in one location. In addition, it brings together all the customer’s interactions in one view. So no matter how the exchange occurred, whether online or on the phone, your salespeople can view this information in one panel. 

Effortlessly download data and customise 

Sometimes, it’s easier to download and view the data in Microsoft Excel. For example, you can download data such as a Viva Sales contact list and customise it for your business. 

When will Viva Sales be available in Australia?

Viva Sales launched in the United States on 3 October 2022. At the time of writing, Microsoft has announced that Viva Sales will be “coming in Q4 2022.” for other markets, including Australia.  

If you want a sneak peek, you can now watch a video on Viva Sales on Microsoft’s website.

Want to know more about how Viva Sales can help you?

Improve your digital workplace and learn how Microsoft Viva Sales can help your teams feel more connected, work efficiently and provide outstanding customer service. 

Learn more about how we can help your Melbourne business by offering a digital experience to your teams.