Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015 has a wide variety of new features available that will help businesses better combine the efforts of their sales and marketing departments, provide seamless experiences to clients and better manage the sales lifecycle. With customer relationship management still at the heart of the program and new structures that increase end-to-end visibility of information and enhance the ability to collaborate, this is a major advancement in the sphere of customer relationship management.

We’ll review five of the most important features included in the new iteration of Dynamics CRM below as its release date quickly approaches:

Global search
The enhanced search capabilities of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015 make it easier for sales and marketing teams to find the information they’re looking for without wasting valuable time on the process. Locating customer records is as easy as typing the relevant keyword into the navigation bar’s search box, an intuitive process for many users. Asterisks can be used to represent wildcard terms, strengthening the overall search performance, and the ability to seek out files of many different record types makes results more useful. The advanced search function and filters also enhance the functionality. These improvements hold true for the Web app as well, Microsoft pointed out.

Internal process automation
Businesses gain more flexibility through Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015 with the ability to design and follow internal approval processes. The system is flexible and allows both teams and individual staff members to collaborate, no matter which department they happen to work in. This feature helps groups work together to meet deadlines and encourages internal alignment on projects and other concerns.

Guided sales process
The guided sales process feature helps sales teams steer potential and current clients toward the most desirable outcomes. Enhanced branching logic is applied to make this component of sales easier and more successful. Dynamics CRM also enforces general and unique business rules across all devices connected to the platform that work in conjunction with increased automation to further guide sales staff toward the best possible results with customers. Branching capabilities make it easier for individual businesses to set up the exact process flows that they desire.

Email editor
The in-depth email editor included in the new version of Dynamics CRM provides marketing professionals with greater control over the messages they send out to prospects in various points of the cycle. The use of pre-designed templates and those made from scratch is possible, allowing for slight tweaks and major overhauls to progress smoothly. The editor also works for marketers with varying levels of technical design skills. The drag-and-drop options remove the need for high-level design knowledge, while those with a background in CSS and HTML can use the advanced editor for unparalleled control. This graphical editing approach helps improve the efficacy of campaigns and boost the ability to segment different marketing efforts.

Calculated field
Calculations are an integral part of operations for businesses with sales and marketing departments. Employees have to deal with calculating the effects of past events as well as making projections and forecasts for future quarters. In its Dynamics CRM 2015 preview guide, Microsoft provided the examples of conditionally providing discounts on certain orders when volume thresholds are reached and the weighted revenue of a sales opportunity as a function of estimated revenue and probability of a sale. The new calculated field feature allows users to define calculated fields without the need to write accompanying code. Common calculations can be used in this fashion, as can conditional operators, if-then functions and many others as well.

Read Top new features for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015: Part 2