Microsoft Connections Helps You Retain, Grow, and Win New Customers

As a part of Office 365, Microsoft Connections makes email marketing easier than ever. In just a few simple steps, you can apply a proven process to help you find and connect with new customers.

The cloud is here to stay. Both in the personal consumer market and the big business world, the cloud has quickly become a staple of popular mobile and desktop technology. However, with this popularity comes the seemingly unending number of choices you have to make when it comes to equipping your business with a cloud solution. With so many options on the market trying to capitalize on the cloud craze, how can you know which is best for you?

The best way to figure it out is to do your homework – consider the different options by their reputation, longevity, and what they can offer your business. You could do that yourself, or you could just take our word for it – the best choice for you is Microsoft Office 365.

Microsoft is the best choice for almost all daily work in the office, whether it’s Microsoft Word for document processing, Microsoft Outlook for email, or Microsoft Excel for spreadsheets, so why not get the most out of those services? Microsoft Office 365 connects each and every Microsoft application with the cloud, which makes accomplishing your tasks more convenient and user-friendly.

That’s not all though – you may be thinking that most of these programs have been around for years, and that they’re old news. If Microsoft Office 365 really is the best in the business, wouldn’t they be trying to stay ahead of the game as well?

You’re right – and, that’s exactly what they’ve continued to do for years. Case in point: Microsoft Connections.

Email marketing is a great way to increase your sales and reach a new customer base. However, figuring out where to start with an email marketing campaign can be a daunting task. Available on the web and as an iOS or Android mobile app, Microsoft Connections will allow you to put together sleek and professional campaigns with surprisingly little effort. Simply choose from a selection of pre-designed templates for customer referrals, newsletters, or announcements and customize your template to suit your marketing project. Easy to use options for prospects and clients to opt-in or unsubscribe from your mailing list are available for each campaign.

Microsoft Connections allows you to engage with and learn from your clients. Using Connections, you can send satisfaction surveys to clients to find out how your services can be improved. This helps to both boost their service quality and show clients that you care about their experience. Connections also allows you to send newsletters, maintain a mailing list, and more.

Microsoft lays out exactly how Connections will help you grow your business in four simple steps:

1. Create customer surveys. Ask them the questions you want the answers to (bonus: it also shows them that you care about service delivery, not just about getting paid for it).
2. Pay attention to their answers. Track, implement, and learn from what they tell you so that any constructive or negative feedback is eliminated in the next customer service experience.
3. Ask for referrals. At the end of the survey, give them an option to refer another business. They may not do so the first time, but after they see your business improve and grow with each experience, they’ll be more compelled to do so.
4. Create email campaigns. Take your newly referred businesses and send them engaging, tailored email campaigns that show them what your business has to offer.

As your mailing list grows, you have the ability to create segments to manage specific groups of customers better and target each group accordingly. Subscriber activity updates and performance charts are available to help you track open rates, clicks, offer redemptions, new opt-ins, and unsubscribe numbers for each separate campaign. These statistics will give you a clear picture of which parts of your email marketing strategy are working, and which aren’t.

Microsoft Connections is just one part of the Microsoft Office 365 suite – but what about everything else? More importantly, what can Microsoft Office 365 offer your business?

As the leading name in cloud business productivity software, Microsoft Office 365 has a plethora of services and features designed to help you and your employees do more each day:

• 99.9% Uptime Guaranteed: You can expect minimal downtime or inconvenient planned maintenance, allowing you and your employees to work efficiently and without delay.
• Skype For Business: This service comes with the range of features necessary for truly effective communication between your business and its clients and prospects. You can schedule Skype for Business meetings, upload, share, and view PowerPoint presentations, share your screen with other contacts, record all calls in high quality, check availability of meeting attendees, and more.
• Email and Calendar, On The Go: With Microsoft Outlook, you can seamlessly integrate your calendar features directly into your email, so that scheduling a meeting, responding to invites, and keeping track of your upcoming appointments is that much simpler.
• Yammer: Microsoft Office 365 can even provide your business with its own private social network in Yammer. With each employee using a personalized profile, you can track progress on projects, share content and resources, and collaborate and communicate to provide feedback and praise once a task has been accomplished.
• Comprehensive Availability: Microsoft Office 365 provides an undeniably convenient end user experience. You can access your own Microsoft Office 365 configuration with ease, via browser login on any Internet-capable device, the Outlook web app for email and calendar access, or simply at Office.com.

One of the most exciting things about Office 365 is the endless ways your business can use familiar programs to do something entirely new. Rather than investing time and money into customized software, you can use Excel to power customer engagement.

It’s not just old favorites like Excel that can simplify the way you get important work done each day. Skype for Business is part of the Office 365 package, giving you access to Skype’s many great features directly from your Outlook inbox. You can arrange and take meetings with the long list of people who will help you to grow your company. Branding consultants, accountants, and salespeople who are scattered across different parts of the country are still able to help to run things day-to-day through Skype, and the one-click call feature makes touching base with anyone you need to quick and easy.

Versatility and flexibility are Office 365’s best assets. The productivity suite is built to be used with laptops, smartphones, and tablets, which will allow your staff to work in the field and out of the office as much as they need to. This keeps jobs on track and makes sure customers are being taken care of.

The combination of apps and services Office 365 provides allows businesses to grow quickly and seamlessly while providing quality service to customers at the same time. There’s no sacrificing reliability for speed, or security for convenience. Your team is able to do exactly what they need to in order to give your customers the best possible service experience, and the time, effort, and expense your business saves by relying on one tool for all your important functions leaves you room to branch out and try new things. Your business can’t grow if all you’re doing is trying to keep up.

For more information about Microsoft Office 365 and what it will do for your business, get in touch with the CTECH team at (403) 457-1478 or info@ctechgroup.net right away.

Written by Carl Fransen

posted on April 12, 2018

Carl Fransen

My passion is to make my mark on the world in a positive and lasting way. I want to set an example for my son that his father can compete with integrity in today’s world, be very successful, and leave the world a better place for him.

Combining my technical/business-based education with a long career steadily progressing up the corporate ladder, I decided to build a company that held true to my values. So, I founded and designed the next generation of IT support firm: CTECH Consulting Group Inc. We are a completely automated, cloud-based IT company designed to compete against any other IT firm without the overhead. We promote a lifestyle to all our staff where they can work anywhere, at any time, access any information on any device that is relevant to their job, and collaborate with anyone they want to.