Microsoft Viva Sales has been launched to empower your sales teams to spend less time on manual data entry and focus on what they do best – selling and building client relationships.
The new experience application brings together customer relationship management (CRM), Microsoft 365 and Teams within a streamlined, artificial intelligence (AI) powered selling experience. Read on to find out what the new Microsoft Viva seller application can do for your sellers.
Why the seller experience needs Viva Sales
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella claims that every business function – from sales and marketing to customer support and supply chain – needs to be reimagined for an AI and collaboration-first world.
This applies now more than ever as the way people work has changed so considerably over the past two years. There are now the demands of hybrid working, with evolving expectations about tools, hours and the locations where people can work.
The challenge for sales teams in the hybrid workplace
Sales teams have seen a particular change to the way they work, with less time in the field and more spent connecting with customers in video conferences, chats and emails. This has put a spotlight on challenges and gaps in the digital selling landscape.
Illustrating this, Microsoft found in its latest Work Trend Index report that the number of meetings the average Teams user had in the diary increased by 153% from the start of the pandemic to September this year.
But these interactions are not the only part of the seller’s role that have evolved. As more is done online, some of the biggest challenges have been navigating disconnected CRM systems, manual data entry and finding the space in between all this to capture customer engagement data. LinkedIn’s Global State of Sales report found that sellers spend just 30% of their time selling, with administrative work getting in the way of what they do best.
Where does Viva Sales come into this picture of the digital seller experience?
Elevate the seller experience with Microsoft Viva Sales
Every business wants to grow and expand – and to do that, they need productive and efficient sellers, with effective tools that will empower them in their role.
Viva Sales is a new Microsoft Viva module designed to create more connected and collaborative business systems for your salespeople. It allows sellers to engage with backend CRM systems, like Dynamics 365 or Salesforce, within Microsoft 365 applications Outlook and Teams. If you aren’t using Dynamics 365 or Salesforce, the good news is that future releases of Viva Sales will include integration with any other CRM system.
This new Viva module helps your sellers reclaim time by eliminating manual data collection and entry tasks, meaning they can focus on selling and building relationships with their customers. It’s all done in the applications they already use to do the most valuable part of their job – communication.
Viva Sales uses conversation intelligence that removes the need for note taking in meetings and provides sentiment analysis and next-best actions. This all goes into providing insights into customer interactions and AI-driven suggestions and reminders, all designed to help your people close the sale.
The application provides your sellers with a clear view of client status to make the most of the conversation and keep the ball rolling on the lead. It brings information that sellers need to know about their connections, with all of the relevant context, into Outlook and Teams.
Caption: Screenshot of Viva Sales module integrated in Outlook.
Empower sellers to focus on customer relationships
With a CRM system enhanced by AI and integration with the Microsoft 365 tools your people use every day, Viva Sales empowers your salespeople to strengthen client connections, create personalised customer engagements and close deals.
AI integration embedded in Viva Sales works like a sales coach. It provides suggestions and reminders to follow up on your deal. This layer of intelligence gives your people information to make them more productive and enrich the customer experience.
How to get started with Microsoft Viva Sales
Viva Sales is one of the latest modules of Microsoft Viva, the employee engagement and experience platform integrated in Microsoft Teams.
Microsoft Viva is built of apps that bring insights, connections, growth and purpose to the hybrid way of working. Microsoft Viva Sales, however, is the first of the tailored Viva solutions for role-specific needs for the functions that Microsoft is looking to bring into the collaboration-first environment.
The Viva Sales module is available now to users on Microsoft 365 for Enterprise licences. If you already have the Microsoft Viva Suite, we can support you in implementing Viva Sales as an add-on to your Viva platform.
Get the support of the UK’s leading Microsoft partner
At Content+Cloud, we're one of the most awarded Microsoft partners, including a Solutions Partner designation for Modern Work. We’re best placed to support your smooth and secure implementation of the Microsoft Viva Suite, including the Viva Sales module. Get in touch with us now to find out how to get started.
