Dynamics 365 Sales Insights - Simply Explained
Key Takeaways
- In this Microsoft Knowledge Nuggets episode, Mirko Peters explains Dynamics 365 Sales Insights in plain English, demonstrating how AI helps sales teams focus their attention instead of suffering from data overload.
- Dynamics 365 Sales acts as the secure filing cabinet for core customer records, while Sales Insights sits on top as an intelligent coach that surfaces valuable signals and predictive scoring.
- Everyday capabilities like the Assistant, Auto Capture, and Email Engagement streamline manual data entry and provide timely reminders to prevent important follow-ups from falling through the cracks.
- Predictive lead and opportunity scoring use historical sales data and patterns to help sellers prioritize crowded pipelines, acting as guidance signposts rather than guarantees.
- Relationship analytics, Who Knows Whom, and Conversation Intelligence offer deep visibility into team communication patterns, helping organizations spot cooling accounts before deals disappear.
How many sales opportunities disappear because somebody intended to follow up but lost the email, missed the task, or simply forgot? Modern sales teams rarely suffer from a lack of customer data. They have CRM records, emails, meetings, notes, opportunities, tasks, forecasts, and relationship information. The bigger problem is understanding which information matters right now and what the seller should do next. In this episode of Microsoft Knowledge Nuggets on M365 FM, Mirko Peters explains Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales Insights in plain English and explores how Microsoft uses AI, activity signals, relationship data, predictive scoring, conversation intelligence, and forecasting to help sales teams focus their attention. We look at the Sales Insights assistant, Auto Capture, Email Engagement, predictive lead and opportunity scoring, Sales Accelerator, relationship intelligence, Who Knows Whom, Talking Points, Conversation Intelligence, notes analysis, forecasting, Microsoft 365 integration, Microsoft Teams, and LinkedIn Sales Navigator. γ
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WHAT IS DYNAMICS 365 SALES INSIGHTS?
Dynamics 365 Sales Insights is a collection of AI-powered and intelligence capabilities designed to make the information inside Dynamics 365 Sales more actionable. Dynamics 365 Sales remains the CRM foundation. It contains accounts, contacts, leads, opportunities, activities, customer information, pipeline records, and sales history. Sales Insights sits on top of this information and looks for useful signals. An important activity might be overdue. A lead might resemble previous leads that successfully converted. Communication with an important account might have declined. An opportunity may show patterns associated with previous successful deals. Instead of expecting sellers to manually search thousands of records for these signals, Sales Insights can bring relevant information closer to their daily work. The objective is not more data. The objective is better guidance from the data the sales organization already has.
WHY SALES TEAMS NEED INSIGHTS, NOT JUST MORE DATA
Imagine the traditional sales process. A salesperson keeps one spreadsheet containing prospects, searches Outlook for the latest customer email, writes notes after telephone calls, creates calendar reminders, and tries to remember which customer requested pricing last week. Then the sales manager asks: Which opportunities are likely to close this month? The answer can quickly become dependent on memory and intuition. The salesperson is not necessarily doing anything wrong. Sales simply generates enormous amounts of information. Every call creates notes. Every email creates another conversation. Every meeting creates potential follow-up actions. Opportunities move through stages. New people enter buying groups. Customer requirements change. Dynamics 365 Sales gives this information a structured home. Sales Insights attempts to turn that growing information into useful signals.
THE SALES INSIGHTS ASSISTANT
One of the everyday capabilities discussed in the episode is the Sales Insights Assistant. The assistant uses cards inside Dynamics 365 Sales to surface work that may require attention. That could include overdue tasks, upcoming meetings, or suggested next actions. Think of it like an inbox tray sitting on a salesperson's desk. Important items can rise closer to the top without making everything else disappear. Suppose you promised to send pricing information after Tuesday's customer call. Wednesday becomes unexpectedly busy. Two new leads arrive. A meeting runs longer than expected. Another customer calls. The promised pricing email never gets sent. An assistant card can bring that overdue follow-up back into view. That simple reminder can matter because customers rarely contact a salesperson to explain that the salesperson followed up too slowly. They may simply begin talking to somebody else.
ASSISTANT CARDS AND NEXT ACTIONS
Assistant cards should not be confused with automated sales decisions. The system can identify something potentially important. The salesperson still determines whether and how to act. An overdue task may still be relevant. Another task may no longer make sense because the customer situation changed. An upcoming meeting may require preparation. Another customer may suddenly require immediate attention. Sales Insights provides the signal. The salesperson provides the context and judgment. This distinction runs throughout the entire Sales Insights experience. The technology is designed to support the seller rather than replace the seller.
AUTO CAPTURE
One of the biggest problems with CRM systems is keeping activity information current. Salespeople spend significant amounts of time inside email and meetings rather than filling out CRM forms. If every useful customer interaction needs to be manually copied into Dynamics 365 Sales, information inevitably gets missed. Auto Capture helps identify emails and meetings that appear related to customers already inside Dynamics 365 Sales. Those interactions can then be brought to the salesperson's attention for review. The important point is that finding an interaction does not necessarily mean every email should automatically become a permanent CRM record. Sales information still needs appropriate review. A private message, unrelated conversation, or incorrectly associated email should not become part of a customer history simply because software detected a possible relationship.
PREMIUM AUTO CAPTURE
The episode also discusses additional Auto Capture capabilities. Imagine a customer replies to an email and includes a colleague the salesperson has never previously met. That person may be part of the customer's buying group but does not yet exist inside Dynamics 365 Sales. Premium Auto Capture can help identify this situation and suggest creating a contact. The salesperson can then review the person's name, role, and context before deciding whether they actually belong inside the CRM. This illustrates an important principle: Automation can reduce data entry without eliminating data quality controls. The system helps prepare the work. The seller still confirms whether the information belongs in the customer record.
EMAIL ENGAGEMENT
Email Engagement provides sellers with additional information about tracked sales emails. Depending on the configuration, sellers can see signals such as whether a recipient opened an email or clicked a link. These signals need careful interpretation. An email open does not mean a customer intends to purchase. A customer not opening an email does not automatically mean they have no interest. But engagement information can provide useful context around timing. Imagine sending a proposal Monday morning. The prospect opens the message and clicks through to the pricing information but does not reply. Instead of simply sending exactly the same follow-up several days later, the salesperson now has another signal suggesting that a conversation might be useful. The signal provides context. The salesperson still needs to decide what an appropriate interaction looks like.
PREDICTIVE LEAD SCORING
Salespeople can only make a limited number of calls and conduct a limited number of meetings each day. When hundreds of leads exist inside the CRM, the obvious question becomes: Where should I start? Predictive lead scoring attempts to help answer that question. The system looks at patterns from previous sales information and compares those patterns with current leads. Depending on the organization's data, those patterns might involve lead sources, company information, job roles, activities, or other fields used during the sales process. The underlying question is relatively simple: When leads with similar characteristics appeared previously, how often did they move forward? The resulting score can help sellers prioritize a crowded lead list. γ
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PREDICTIVE SCORES ARE SIGNALS, NOT GUARANTEES
Suppose 200 leads arrive after an industry event. Without scoring, the salesperson might work through those leads alphabetically, according to registration time, or simply according to personal instinct. Predictive scoring can provide another method of prioritization. Leads resembling previous successful customers may receive greater attention earlier. That does not mean lower-scoring leads should be ignored. A new market may behave differently from historical customers. A promising prospect might have incomplete information. A new product could attract buyers unlike those in the historical training data. The score should therefore be treated as a priority signal rather than a final sales decision. γ
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PREDICTIVE OPPORTUNITY SCORING
Predictive opportunity scoring applies a similar concept to deals already moving through the sales pipeline. An opportunity can contain information such as estimated revenue, expected closing dates, customer contacts, sales activities, and sales stages. Sales Insights can compare the active opportunity with patterns from previous sales outcomes. The result can provide an indication of how strongly the current opportunity resembles previous successful deals. Sellers can also look at how the score changes. A rising score may correspond with increased engagement or positive progress. A falling score can provide a reason to investigate what changed. Again, the score does not know whether the customer's budget has actually been approved or whether a competitor has suddenly changed the situation. It provides another piece of evidence.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is Dynamics 365 Sales Insights?
Dynamics 365 Sales Insights is a collection of AI-powered capabilities that sits on top of Dynamics 365 Sales to turn customer data and activity signals into actionable guidance, predictive scores, and relationship intelligence.
How does predictive lead scoring work in Dynamics 365?
Predictive lead scoring compares the characteristics and patterns of current leads against historical sales data to determine which ones have a higher likelihood of converting, helping sellers prioritize their daily outreach.
What does the Sales Insights Assistant do?
The Assistant uses smart cards inside Dynamics 365 Sales to highlight important action items, such as overdue tasks, upcoming meetings, or forgotten follow-up emails, functioning like an inbox tray for a salesperson's desk.
How does Auto Capture reduce manual CRM data entry?
Auto Capture automatically identifies emails and meetings related to existing customers in Dynamics 365 Sales and brings them to the seller's attention for review before adding them to the permanent customer history.
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How many sales opportunities disappear
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because someone meant to follow up
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but lost the email, missed the task, or just plain forgot?
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That question hits hard because a sales pipeline
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can turn into a messy pile of customer names,
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meeting notes, and promises that only live
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in different people or TMAs heads.
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Running things that way is risky.
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Most people think Dynamics 365 sales only
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stores customer records, and yes, it does store them.
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But sales insights add something different to a helper
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that spots patterns in the work you
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temer are already doing and nudges you
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towards the next step.
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Think about a sales office building
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where Dynamics 365 sales holds the filing cabinets
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with accounts, contacts, leads, and deals.
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Sales insights act more like a coach on the sales floor
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who watches the schedule and puts useful reminders
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in front of the right person.
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The ultimate miracle Peters from M365FM,
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and this knowledge nugget starts with the problem
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that coach is trying to solve.
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Why sales teams need insights not more data?
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Imagine the old way of working in that old way
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a seller keeps one spreadsheet for leads,
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searches outlook for the last email,
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scribbles notes after a call, and tries to remember
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which customer asked for pricing last week.
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When a manager asks which deals might close this month,
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the answer usually depends on gut feeling.
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That does not mean the seller is careless.
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They outnumber it just busy.
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Conversations move fast, details change,
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and every single deal generates more information.
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A call creates notes and email creates a thread
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and a meeting creates follow-up work.
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After that, the opportunity changes stage,
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a new contact joins the buying team
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or the customer asks a question
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that reshapes the whole conversation.
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Now, Dynamics 365 Sales gives all that information
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a proper home.
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It keeps the customer record, the account
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that people involved, the lead and the opportunity
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in one connected place.
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Rather than hunting through separate files,
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you can see what the team actually knows about a possible sale.
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However, the customer history still spreads
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out across multiple places.
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Dynamics 365 Sales holds part of it.
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Microsoft 365 holds emails and meetings.
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And if your company uses LinkedIn Sales Navigator,
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relationship details can appear there too.
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The result is that the seller ends up with plenty of data,
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but still does not know what deserves attention first.
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That autumn's exactly the problem sales inside solves.
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The talcans break it down in plain English.
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Sales Insights is a group of AI-powered tools
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inside Dynamics 365 Sales that turns sales activity
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into guidance by surfacing prompts, scoring leads
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or opportunities and showing signals
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about customer relationships.
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It does not end up replacing the sales record, Dynamics 365.
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Sales remains the filing cabinet.
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It holds the facts your team enters and works with,
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who the customer is, what they outtember interested in,
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where the deal sits, and what actions have happened.
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Sales Insights sits on top of those records
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and looks for useful signals.
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For example, an important task might be overdue.
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A lead might look a lot like earlier leads
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that turned into customers or contact with an account
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might have dropped off.
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The system brings those signals forward,
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so the seller spends less time searching
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and more time deciding what to do next.
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This difference matters because more data
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does know, timid, automatically create better sales work.
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A full CRM can still feel like a crowded desk.
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Sales Insights helps put the right piece of paper near the top
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while the seller still decides what to say, who to contact
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and whether the timing feels right.
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Next, let's take a look at the everyday tools
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that cut down on manual follow-up work.
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The everyday helper, assistant, auto-capture,
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and email engagement.
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So what does sales Insights actually put
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in front of a seller during a normal day?
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Let's break it down.
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The assistant uses cards inside Dynamics 365 sales
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to highlight work that might slip away
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A or overdue tasks, upcoming meetings,
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or suggestions for next actions.
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And it works like the inbox tray
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on a busy salesperson's desk.
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The papers that need attention sit on top
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and everything else stays available when you need it,
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so you're never forced to act on every card.
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The assistant doesn't take over the customer conversation,
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but just helps you notice the work
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that deserves a look before another day passes.
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Say you promise to send pricing after Tuesday's call,
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but Wednesday becomes busy with two new leads,
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a meeting runs long, and the email stays unsent.
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Instead of relying on memory alone,
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an assistant card can bring that overdue follow-up
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back into view the moment you open Dynamics 365 sales.
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That small reminder can prevent a very ordinary problem.
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Customers rarely tell you they lost interest
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because you replied late, they just look elsewhere.
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The assistant gives you a chance to act
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while the conversation still has momentum.
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Now, auto-capture tackles a different problem,
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the manual logging of customer activity.
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Here's the thing, salespeople spend most of their day
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in email and meetings, not filling out CRM forms,
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so if every useful email thread needs to be copied
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into a record by hand, things get missed,
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not because people don't care,
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but because there are only so many hours in the day.
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Auto-capture finds emails and meetings connected
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to customers in Dynamics 365 sales,
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then brings those interactions to the seller's attention
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for review.
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Here's the key detail.
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Brings to attention doesn't mean every email suddenly
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becomes a permanent record without anyone checking it.
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Sales records need to stay clean,
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so a private message, an unrelated thread
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or an email connected to the wrong person
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shouldn't become part of a customer history
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just because software guessed.
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Instead, auto-capture helps the seller see related activity
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and decide what belongs with the account, contact, lead,
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or opportunity.
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The premium version can go one step further.
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Suppose a customer replies and includes a colleague
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you haven't met before.
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That person isn't in Dynamics 365 sales yet,
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but they might be part of the buying group.
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Premium auto-capture can suggest creating a new contact,
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so the seller doesn't need to start from a blank form.
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Then the seller checks the name, role, and context
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and decides whether that person belongs in the CRM
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and that human check keeps the customer record clean.
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Email engagement gives a little more context.
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When a seller sends a tracked sales email,
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it can tell whether the recipient opened it or clicked a link.
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An open email isn't a signed deal
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and no open doesn't always mean no interest,
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but it can help with timing.
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Say a seller sends a proposal on Monday morning
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the prospect opens it, clicks the link to the pricing page,
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but doesn't reply to the follow-up email.
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Rather than sending the same message again on Friday,
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the seller can call while the proposal is still fresh
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and ask a simple question.
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Did you get a chance to look at the options?
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That call starts from a real clue
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and it doesn't replace good manners, customer knowledge,
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or a thoughtful message.
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It just gives the seller a better reason
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to reach out at that moment.
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Assistant cards, auto-capture, and email engagement
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all save time by making everyday activity easier
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to notice and manage, but a full pipeline
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still creates a harder question.
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With limited time, which lead or deal
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should a seller focus on first?
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Predictive scoring, which leads and deals
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deserve attention.
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Now, a seller can only make so many calls in one day,
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so a long list of leads creates a simple problem.
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Where do you start?
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Predictive lead scoring gives each lead a score
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based on patterns from past sales results
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and it works like a priority number
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that helps sort the pile so sellers can spend their first hour
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on leads that show stronger signs of becoming customers.
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The system learns from the sales data already
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in Dynamics 365 sales by looking at past leads
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that turned into opportunities or customers,
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then compares their details with leads currently in the system.
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Depending on how your company records sales work,
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that could include the lead source, company details, job role,
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the activities around the lead, or other fields your team uses.
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This isn't magic.
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It asks a simple question based on past data.
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When leads with details like these appeared in the past,
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how often did they move forward?
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The answer becomes a score that helps a seller
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sort a crowded list.
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Imagine 200 leads arrive after an event
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and without scoring, someone might work
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through the list by date, by name, or by instinct.
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With predictive lead scoring, the seller can begin
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with the leads that look more like earlier successful leads
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than work down through the rest with a clearer plan.
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That doesn't mean low scoring leads belong in the bin.
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A new market, a new product, or a lead
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with incomplete details can receive a lower score
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even when the person could become a great customer.
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The score helps direct attention
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but doesn't decide who deserves respect, effort, or a reply.
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Opportunity scoring works in a similar way,
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but it looks at deals already moving through the pipeline.
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An opportunity is no longer just a possible customer.
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It may include an estimated amount, a close date,
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people involved, sales activities,
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and a stage such as qualification or proposal.
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Predictive opportunity scoring uses patterns
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from earlier sales outcomes to estimate
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how likely an active deal is to close.
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You can also see whether that score rises
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or falls over time, and that movement
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can start a useful conversation.
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A score that rises may match fresh activity and progress,
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while a score that drops can tell the seller
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to check what changed rather than waiting
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until the expected close date passes quietly.
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A high score isn't a promise though.
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No score can tell you that a buyer has approved a budget,
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chosen your company, or signed a contract.
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Real sales work still depends on customer needs,
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competition, timing, trust, and the people making the decision,
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so treat the score like a signpost
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that helps you navigate, not a goal.
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The quality of the score depends heavily on the quality of the data.
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If sellers leave lead sources blank,
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never update deal stages, enter close dates
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that don't mean anything, or record wins and losses in different ways.
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The model has bad data to learn from.
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A system can't find reliable patterns
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when the history tells mixed signals.
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Clean records don't need to be perfect.
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They just need to be consistent enough
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that the past resembles the real sales process.
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When a team agrees on what a qualified lead means,
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when stages change and how it records outcomes,
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predictive scoring has a much better chance
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of producing useful guidance.
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Picture two opportunities, each worth $50,000.
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One has recent contact with several people
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at the customer, clear deal details,
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and patterns that match earlier wins.
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While the other has not seen customer activity for weeks,
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includes an old close date, and carries very little information
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beyond the amount.
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A seller shouldn't ignore the second deal,
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but if time is tight, the first opportunity may deserve attention first
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because the score and the current record
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both point in the same direction.
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The second one may need a different action,
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perhaps checking whether the deal still belongs in the pipeline at all.
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Sales accelerator helps turn that priority into a workday
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by giving sellers a focused workspace
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with a work list, activities, and assigned sales records.
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Rather than opening one lead, then searching for a task,
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then looking for the next email, the seller can see the work lined up
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in a more deliberate order.
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Sequences fit inside that approach.
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A sequence is a set of sales actions that repeats,
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such as a call, an email, a follow-up task,
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and another call after a set period.
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Your company can build sequences around the way
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it wants sellers to work, especially for common situations
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like new leads or early stage opportunities.
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That structure helps new sellers learn the process
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and gives experienced sellers fewer small tasks to remember.
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The seller still controls the conversation.
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If a customer needs a different approach,
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the seller can respond like a person instead of blindly following a list.
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The sequence organizes the work but doesn't replace judgment.
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A score tells a seller where to look first,
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while relationship tools help explain the people
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and activity behind the deal.
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Relationship intelligence, seeing the people behind the pipeline.
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Here's a scenario you've probably seen.
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A deal looks totally healthy on paper,
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but the customer relationship is slowly going cold.
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Relationship analytics catches that early
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by looking at contact activity around an account, lead, or opportunity.
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It takes your team's communication patterns
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and turns them into a clear health view,
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so you can see whether people are staying connected
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or starting to drift apart.
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Think about a large account with several people involved.
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One seller emails the project lead regularly,
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a colleague meets the finance contact
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00:10:55,920 --> 00:10:58,000
and a manager talks with an executive.
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Those separate interactions tell a wider story
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and relationship analytics brings that story straight into your sales record.
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So where does this data come from?
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The system pulls information from Dynamics 365 sales and Microsoft 365
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when your organization connects those sources
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and LinkedIn adds more relationship context
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if your company uses the related LinkedIn tools.
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You don't need to chase every single signal.
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Instead, look for changes.
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Maybe an account that used to hold regular meetings
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now shows very little recent activity
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or a newer opportunity starts building contact with several people.
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Those patterns need different attention.
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Relationship analytics shows this through a bubble chart,
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which at first glance may look like one of those screens people open, not at,
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then never visit again.
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But the idea is simple.
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Each bubble represents a customer relationship
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and its position and size help you spot accounts
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that need attention or deals where engagement is growing.
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A large opportunity with limited recent contact
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should be a warning sign, but it doesn't prove the deal has failed.
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The buyer might be busy,
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a decision might sit with another team
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or a planned meeting might still happen.
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Still, the seller now has a reason to look closer,
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which is far better than finding out months later
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that the customer chose someone else.
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Relationship health isn't about judging the customer.
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It gives the sales team a view of their own connection.
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If communication drops, the team can check the record,
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ask whether the right people are involved
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and decide on a useful next step.
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Sometimes the best next step starts inside your own company.
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That's where who knows whom comes in.
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It helps the seller find colleagues
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who may already know a prospect
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by scanning existing relationships and email patterns out,
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provided the feature is set up and has access.
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Imagine you're about to send a cold email to a senior buyer
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and before you do, the system shows a colleague
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who has exchanged emails with that person.
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You don't send a message saying, "I saw you know them."
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"Eh, that would feel strange."
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Instead, you ask your colleague privately.
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You've worked with Jordan before.
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Would an introduction make sense?
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And is there anything I should know before I reach out?
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That conversation changes the approach.
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Maybe the colleague offers an introduction.
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Maybe they tell you the buyer prefers direct messages
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and dislikes long sales pitches
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or maybe they explain the relationship isn't close enough to use.
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Any of those answers beats guessing.
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00:13:00,120 --> 00:13:02,640
Talking points supports preparation in a different way.
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It looks at your email details
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00:13:03,920 --> 00:13:06,040
and suggests possible conversation starters
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from earlier exchanges out.
350
00:13:08,080 --> 00:13:10,800
Like a customer mentioning an upcoming company event,
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a project deadline or a change in their role.
352
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The seller can use that context
353
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to begin a more relevant conversation.
354
00:13:17,360 --> 00:13:18,880
This needs a little common sense.
355
00:13:18,880 --> 00:13:20,960
A customer shares information for many reasons
356
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and not every detail belongs in a sales call.
357
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If a suggested talking point feels too personal,
358
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outdated or unrelated, leave it alone.
359
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The tool can serve his context,
360
00:13:29,480 --> 00:13:31,160
but the seller decides whether using it
361
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respects the person in the situation.
362
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Good selling still depends on listening.
363
00:13:34,920 --> 00:13:36,600
No health score can replace trust
364
00:13:36,600 --> 00:13:38,880
and no connection suggestion gives you permission
365
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to force an introduction.
366
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The purpose is better preparation,
367
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not turning every customer interaction into a data exercise.
368
00:13:45,200 --> 00:13:47,680
When relationship health starts falling,
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a seller can act before a deal disappears from the forecast
370
00:13:50,200 --> 00:13:52,640
or by confirming the customer's timeline,
371
00:13:52,640 --> 00:13:54,840
reconnecting with a quiet decision maker
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or learning that priorities changed.
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That is far better than treating silence
374
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as progress because the close date still sits in the system.
375
00:14:01,880 --> 00:14:03,800
Relationships show the pattern of contact
376
00:14:03,800 --> 00:14:05,920
and customer conversations show what people actually
377
00:14:05,920 --> 00:14:08,760
talk about, conversation intelligence.
378
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What sales calls can teach the whole team.
379
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Let's talk about conversation intelligence.
380
00:14:13,720 --> 00:14:16,280
A sales call often contains details
381
00:14:16,280 --> 00:14:18,600
that never make it into the CRM record.
382
00:14:18,600 --> 00:14:21,720
The seller might write good conversation, send proposal,
383
00:14:21,720 --> 00:14:24,440
but the actual call could include a concern about price,
384
00:14:24,440 --> 00:14:27,040
a mention of a competitor, a question from finance
385
00:14:27,040 --> 00:14:29,560
and a clear deadline from the customer.
386
00:14:29,560 --> 00:14:31,440
Conversation intelligence helps the team
387
00:14:31,440 --> 00:14:32,920
look beyond that short note.
388
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It works with recorded sales calls
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that your organization is allowed to record
390
00:14:37,000 --> 00:14:39,680
and the tool analyzes the spoken conversation
391
00:14:39,680 --> 00:14:42,640
to bring forward topics and patterns like product names,
392
00:14:42,640 --> 00:14:46,520
tracked words, questions, competitor mentions, and sentiment.
393
00:14:46,520 --> 00:14:49,560
Instead of searching through a long recording from start to finish,
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a seller or manager can jump straight
395
00:14:51,240 --> 00:14:52,920
to the moments connected to those signals.
396
00:14:52,920 --> 00:14:54,840
That makes the call easier to review.
397
00:14:54,840 --> 00:14:56,440
Suppose a customer repeats a question
398
00:14:56,440 --> 00:14:58,880
about how a product works with their current systems.
399
00:14:58,880 --> 00:15:01,000
The seller may answer it well or they may rush past it
400
00:15:01,000 --> 00:15:02,880
because they want to finish the presentation.
401
00:15:02,880 --> 00:15:04,680
When that question appears in the call review,
402
00:15:04,680 --> 00:15:06,960
it gives the team something real to discuss.
403
00:15:06,960 --> 00:15:09,920
Sentiment needs careful handling, conversation.
404
00:15:09,920 --> 00:15:11,720
Intelligence can detect signals about tone,
405
00:15:11,720 --> 00:15:13,960
but it can't read every human situation correctly.
406
00:15:13,960 --> 00:15:15,960
A customer may sound direct because they are busy
407
00:15:15,960 --> 00:15:17,280
and another might sound positive
408
00:15:17,280 --> 00:15:19,480
while privately leaning toward a different supplier,
409
00:15:19,480 --> 00:15:21,240
so treat sentiment as a clue.
410
00:15:21,240 --> 00:15:22,840
If the tool detects a change in tone
411
00:15:22,840 --> 00:15:25,360
during a pricing discussion, the seller can listen back
412
00:15:25,360 --> 00:15:28,120
and ask what the customer reacted to.
413
00:15:28,120 --> 00:15:31,120
The answer might point to price, timing, scope,
414
00:15:31,120 --> 00:15:33,160
or nothing serious at all.
415
00:15:33,160 --> 00:15:34,680
The recording provides the context
416
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that a single label can't provide.
417
00:15:36,600 --> 00:15:38,440
For managers, this changes coaching.
418
00:15:38,440 --> 00:15:40,640
Without a recording, a manager often hears
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00:15:40,640 --> 00:15:42,280
the seller's memory of the call.
420
00:15:42,280 --> 00:15:45,080
The buyer liked the demo, the pricing conversation went fine,
421
00:15:45,080 --> 00:15:46,440
and a follow-up is coming.
422
00:15:46,440 --> 00:15:47,440
That may all be accurate,
423
00:15:47,440 --> 00:15:48,640
but it leaves out the small moments
424
00:15:48,640 --> 00:15:51,280
where a customer hesitated, asked an unanswered question,
425
00:15:51,280 --> 00:15:53,000
or mentioned a competing product.
426
00:15:53,000 --> 00:15:55,680
Now, a manager can review those moments with the seller.
427
00:15:55,680 --> 00:15:57,400
The conversation becomes specific.
428
00:15:57,400 --> 00:15:59,760
Instead of saying, try to ask better questions,
429
00:15:59,760 --> 00:16:01,440
the manager can point to a section of the call
430
00:16:01,440 --> 00:16:02,800
and ask why the seller moved on
431
00:16:02,800 --> 00:16:04,360
when the buyer mentioned a deadline.
432
00:16:04,360 --> 00:16:06,920
That is much easier to learn from
433
00:16:06,920 --> 00:16:09,320
because both people can hear the same thing.
434
00:16:09,320 --> 00:16:11,000
It also helps new sellers get up to speed.
435
00:16:11,000 --> 00:16:12,800
Imagine someone who joined the team last week
436
00:16:12,800 --> 00:16:15,200
and keeps hearing that customers often object to the price.
437
00:16:15,200 --> 00:16:16,840
They can listen to approved examples
438
00:16:16,840 --> 00:16:19,360
of experienced sellers handling that objection.
439
00:16:19,360 --> 00:16:22,200
Maybe one seller asks what the customer is comparing
440
00:16:22,200 --> 00:16:24,120
and another checks whether the buyer is concerned
441
00:16:24,120 --> 00:16:26,920
about the first year cost or the longer term cost.
442
00:16:26,920 --> 00:16:29,800
The new seller learns the words, but also the pacing.
443
00:16:29,800 --> 00:16:31,640
They hear when an experienced colleague pauses,
444
00:16:31,640 --> 00:16:33,440
asks a follow-up question or stops talking
445
00:16:33,440 --> 00:16:35,240
and lets the customer explain the problem.
446
00:16:35,240 --> 00:16:37,560
Training becomes less about memorizing a script
447
00:16:37,560 --> 00:16:40,200
and more about hearing how a real conversation develops.
448
00:16:40,200 --> 00:16:42,880
Brand and competitor mentions give leaders another view.
449
00:16:42,880 --> 00:16:44,760
If customers repeatedly compare your company
450
00:16:44,760 --> 00:16:47,720
with the same competitor, that pattern appears across calls.
451
00:16:47,720 --> 00:16:49,920
The team can then check whether sellers have a clear answer
452
00:16:49,920 --> 00:16:50,960
for that comparison,
453
00:16:50,960 --> 00:16:53,760
whether the competitor is winning for a specific reason
454
00:16:53,760 --> 00:16:55,680
or whether buyers keep raising a concern
455
00:16:55,680 --> 00:16:58,720
that marketing and product teams need to understand.
456
00:16:58,720 --> 00:17:01,480
Nobody should use this as a reason to spy on people.
457
00:17:01,480 --> 00:17:04,120
Call recording and analysis need clear company rules
458
00:17:04,120 --> 00:17:07,040
and customers and sellers need the right notice and permissions.
459
00:17:07,040 --> 00:17:09,240
Your organization needs to decide who can listen,
460
00:17:09,240 --> 00:17:10,960
what data it keeps, how long it keeps it
461
00:17:10,960 --> 00:17:12,560
and how it protects that data.
462
00:17:12,560 --> 00:17:13,920
Respect comes first.
463
00:17:13,920 --> 00:17:16,440
The purpose is to prepare better, coach fairly,
464
00:17:16,440 --> 00:17:19,200
and follow through on what customers ask for O.
465
00:17:19,200 --> 00:17:21,520
If people don't trust how recordings are used,
466
00:17:21,520 --> 00:17:23,400
the tool will damage the very conversations
467
00:17:23,400 --> 00:17:25,440
it is meant to support.
468
00:17:25,440 --> 00:17:28,160
Notes analysis works on a smaller but equally familiar part
469
00:17:28,160 --> 00:17:29,200
of sales work.
470
00:17:29,200 --> 00:17:31,160
When a seller writes a note after a call,
471
00:17:31,160 --> 00:17:33,240
it can spot text that looks like a task,
472
00:17:33,240 --> 00:17:36,040
meeting or follow-up action and suggest creating it.
473
00:17:36,040 --> 00:17:38,480
If the note reads, send security documents
474
00:17:38,480 --> 00:17:40,240
and book a meeting next Thursday,
475
00:17:40,240 --> 00:17:42,840
the seller can turn those commitments into work items
476
00:17:42,840 --> 00:17:45,080
instead of hoping they remember later.
477
00:17:45,080 --> 00:17:47,440
Once a team can see activity, scores, relationships
478
00:17:47,440 --> 00:17:48,760
and customer conversations,
479
00:17:48,760 --> 00:17:50,120
sales leaders need a clearer view
480
00:17:50,120 --> 00:17:51,480
of where the pipeline may land,
481
00:17:51,480 --> 00:17:54,360
as forecasting and the connected sales picture.
482
00:17:54,360 --> 00:17:55,520
So what about forecasting?
483
00:17:55,520 --> 00:17:57,320
Forecasting pulls from your current pipeline
484
00:17:57,320 --> 00:17:58,960
and past sales patterns to estimate
485
00:17:58,960 --> 00:18:00,040
where revenue might land.
486
00:18:00,040 --> 00:18:01,480
Notice I said estimate.
487
00:18:01,480 --> 00:18:02,720
A forecast isn't a promise.
488
00:18:02,720 --> 00:18:04,560
It gives leaders a clearer view of what's likely
489
00:18:04,560 --> 00:18:07,240
so they can ask smart questions before the quarter ends.
490
00:18:07,240 --> 00:18:09,600
With premium forecasting, you can save snapshots
491
00:18:09,600 --> 00:18:11,560
of your pipeline at different times.
492
00:18:11,560 --> 00:18:13,320
A manager compares an earlier snapshot
493
00:18:13,320 --> 00:18:15,640
with the current one, sees the numbers changed
494
00:18:15,640 --> 00:18:18,120
and then looks at the deals behind that shift out,
495
00:18:18,120 --> 00:18:20,080
no need to rely on memory.
496
00:18:20,080 --> 00:18:21,720
Think back to that filing cabinet.
497
00:18:21,720 --> 00:18:24,840
Dynamics 365 sales holds your accounts, contacts,
498
00:18:24,840 --> 00:18:26,200
leads and opportunities.
499
00:18:26,200 --> 00:18:29,240
Sales insights add signals right onto those records.
500
00:18:29,240 --> 00:18:32,560
EU-risk priority, recent activity, suggested actions,
501
00:18:32,560 --> 00:18:34,720
so the team sees more than just deal amounts.
502
00:18:34,720 --> 00:18:36,400
They see the story behind each deal.
503
00:18:36,400 --> 00:18:37,800
Other tools plug into that picture.
504
00:18:37,800 --> 00:18:39,720
Teams gives colleagues a place to collaborate
505
00:18:39,720 --> 00:18:41,680
around customer info, like a shared channel
506
00:18:41,680 --> 00:18:42,880
for a key account.
507
00:18:42,880 --> 00:18:45,520
Linked in sales navigator adds relationship context,
508
00:18:45,520 --> 00:18:47,880
showing mutual connections and company updates.
509
00:18:47,880 --> 00:18:50,520
And Microsoft 365 activity can appear
510
00:18:50,520 --> 00:18:52,120
where your organization enables it,
511
00:18:52,120 --> 00:18:54,720
so you see emails or meetings tied to that deal.
512
00:18:54,720 --> 00:18:57,440
Now, what tools you get depends on your sales app,
513
00:18:57,440 --> 00:18:58,920
your license and your setup.
514
00:18:58,920 --> 00:19:01,080
Standard features differ from premium ones.
515
00:19:01,080 --> 00:19:02,520
So check what your team actually has
516
00:19:02,520 --> 00:19:03,800
before planning around a feature.
517
00:19:03,800 --> 00:19:05,680
Start small, pick the one sales problem
518
00:19:05,680 --> 00:19:08,200
that costs your team the most missed work, oh.
519
00:19:08,200 --> 00:19:10,000
Maybe it's follow-ups that fall through the cracks,
520
00:19:10,000 --> 00:19:11,240
clean the records behind it,
521
00:19:11,240 --> 00:19:13,480
then add the tools that help solve that problem,
522
00:19:13,480 --> 00:19:15,000
bring the whole building into one view,
523
00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:16,840
the records hold the customer story.
524
00:19:16,840 --> 00:19:19,760
Sales Insights helps the team notice where to act next.
525
00:19:19,760 --> 00:19:24,040
Conclusion, the sales coach behind the scenes.
526
00:19:24,040 --> 00:19:26,880
Sales Insights turns everyday customer activity
527
00:19:26,880 --> 00:19:27,920
into practical prompts.
528
00:19:27,920 --> 00:19:30,640
It acts like a coach pointing out where to focus your energy,
529
00:19:30,640 --> 00:19:33,000
but it can't replace sales skill, customer trust,
530
00:19:33,000 --> 00:19:34,440
or clean CRM records.
531
00:19:34,440 --> 00:19:36,160
So here's one question to ask first,
532
00:19:36,160 --> 00:19:39,200
which follow-ups leads or deals does your team miss most often?
533
00:19:39,200 --> 00:19:42,000
Start there, subscribe on your favorite podcast platform
534
00:19:42,000 --> 00:19:44,120
for more Microsoft knowledge nuggets with me,
535
00:19:44,120 --> 00:19:46,300
Mirko Peters at M365 FM
