Is Affinity or Microsoft Dynamics 365 right for your team?

While Microsoft Dynamics can offer users a streamlined solution, especially if customers are using other Microsoft tools, Dynamics is a generalized CRM that lacks intelligent CRM functionality. For example, instead of providing relationship intelligence, Dynamics is described by some users as simply a database of contacts.

Unlike Affinity, Microsoft Dynamics also lacks automated data capture. Dynamics customers must manually enter contact information, calls, meetings, notes, and calendar information, making CRM hygiene questionable. The system can be slow to load and process information, and some users describe the interface as not being user friendly.

Although Dynamics can cater to small and large organizations, the larger nature of the platform can also mean that it requires high and ongoing maintenance. This, in turn, can necessitate the use of expensive consultants or other resources to help manage the data.

See more reviews for Affinity vs. Microsoft Dynamics.

Affinity is designed to be easy to use and rich with insights that drive faster, confident action taking. Professional and financial services dealmakers utilize Affinity’s relationship intelligence to differentiate themselves from the competition, including using their team’s network, business connections, and client interactions to drive engagement and help them find, manage, and close quality deals more efficiently.

Relationship-driven deal teams that choose Affinity focus their time on building relationships that become their most lucrative deals because their “data exhaust”—details automatically captured from email communications, meetings, and contact information such as names, roles, industry, and source of introduction—maintains their contact data for them.

Traditional sales CRM platforms end up functioning more like a database than tools built for business intelligence. Simply storing contact and deal data is no longer enough, which is why dealmakers are transitioning to relationship intelligence CRM platforms to support their deals. The insights provided by platforms like Affinity are no longer add-ons, they’re table stakes for tech-forward teams that want to get—and stay—ahead of the competition. Here are a few ways teams are using Affinity’s relationship intelligence to build a better business and close more deals:

• Custom trials using real company data enables you to get a more tangible view into how Affinity impacts into your unique day-to-day workflows–and when you’re ready to fully migrate, all of your information is already in your new CRM—saving time on deployment and training.
• Easily customizable views of relationship and deal data mean your team can quickly make changes to your CRM at any time so they continue to fit your specific preferences and workflows.
• Native reporting and analytics functionality allow you to build reports to monitor forecasting, team productivity, deal flow, KPIs, and make more data-driven decisions to improve your business.
• Flexible integration options ensure your CRM is the foundation of your tech stack. Connect your other software to your CRM—from email providers like Gmail or Outlook to email marketing, marketing automation, task management, and anything else your team depends on.
• Automated reminders and triggers ensure you never miss a follow-up with an important contact.
• Relationship intelligence is drawn from a combination of your team’s collective network—from customer interactions, meetings, phone calls, notes logged from exchanges on social media platforms like LinkedIn and Twitter, and everything in between—to give your team paths to new warm introductions and opportunities.

Flexible pricing options provide teams with the versatility to pick the features they need. Affinity Advanced tier—the most popular solution—provides teams the broadest and most valuable Affinity offerings.

• Automatic people and company record enrichment with hard to find insights
• Sourcing and deal management CRM extensions
• Analytical reports and dashboards built to improve deal quality and velocity
• Customizable user and content based permissions
• SSO (Single Sign On)
• Additional support and service options

Alternative pricing options are also available with different combination of features. Reach out to our sales team today to find the options that suit your needs.

Traditional CRM platforms like Dynamics are a good fit for sales teams of all sizes that manage linear sales funnels. Companies that need to handle order management, fulfillment, and product purchases will do well with the near-unlimited feature set of Dynamics 365.

However, software built for sales teams can be difficult to fit into dealmaking workflows that rely on long-term relationship management, which is why relationship intelligence platforms like Affinity are purpose-built for dealmakers. If your team is ready to automate manual contact and deal data entry and take back time to focus on the relationships that drive your business, try Affinity. Talk to our team today to learn more.