A guide for sales managers and sellers who want to improve their customer engagement and collaboration with multiple sequences now available across Dynamics 365 Sales. 

Productivity and efficiency are important to sales teams. Improving customer engagement, as well as collaboration when multiple team members work on an account, can be key to securing deals faster, and bringing better business results. With the support of multiple sequences in Dynamics 365 Sales, this now becomes easier than ever. 

In this blog, we will show you how you can streamline parallel sales processes, coordinate your sales efforts, and optimize your customer interactions. You will also learn how to create, manage, and monitor multiple sequences in Dynamics 365 Sales. Whether you are a sales manager or a seller, we will cover some useful tips and best practice to make the most of this powerful feature. 

Ready to boost your sales performance with multiple sequences? Sign up for a free trial of Dynamics 365 Sales today and discover how it can transform your sales organization. 

What are sequences and why do you need them? 

Sequences are a series of steps that sellers can follow to engage with customers and prospects in a consistent and effective way. They help sales managers provide guidance on best practices and ensure that every customer interaction is aligned with the sales strategy. Sequences can include various types of activities, such as emails, phone calls and tasks. In addition, sellers can utilize sequences as well, to automate their successful selling formulas and reduce manual work.

But what if you have multiple team members working on the same record (for example an account)? How can you ensure that they are not stepping on each other’s toes or sending conflicting messages to the customer? How can you leverage the expertise and skills of different sellers to create a better customer experience? 

This is where multiple sequences come in handy. Multiple sequences allow you to connect more than one sequence to a record, so that different sellers can work simultaneously on the same record with different sequences. For example, you can have an account manager and a solution architect working on the same opportunity, each with their own set of activities. This way, you can optimize your customer engagement and collaboration to drive better business outcomes. 

How to connect multiple sequences to a record? 

There are two ways to connect multiple sequences to a record: manually and automatically. 

• Manually connecting a record to a sequence: Connect a record to a sequence by using the connect sequence button on the record page to launch the connect sequence dialog. You can connect multiple sequences to a record at the same time, as long as the record owner or the sequence owner has the relevant permissions to do so. You can also disconnect a sequence from a record manually, by selecting the disconnect sequence button on the record page. 
• Automatically connecting a record to a sequence: Connect a record to a sequence by using the segmentation feature. Segmentation allows you to define criteria for a group of records that qualify for a sequence. For example, you can create a segment for all the opportunities that have a high probability of closing in the next quarter. You can then associate a sequence to that segment, so that whenever a record meets the criteria, it is automatically connected to the sequence.

How to assign a sequence to a different user than the record owner? 

By default, when a record is connected to a sequence, the sequence is assigned to the record owner. However, you may want to assign a sequence to a different user, depending on their role and responsibilities. For example, you may want to assign a sequence to a specialist role for a record, such as a solution architect or a technical consultant. 

To do this, you can use the sequence assignment feature. Sequence assignment allows you to select a field in the record entity or a related entity that can be used to assign the sequence. For example, if you have a field called opportunity_rep in the opportunity entity, you can assign the sequence to the user who is specified as the opportunity rep for that record. You can also use the properties pane to assign the sequence to the account owner, or owner/access team with capability to assign the sequence to a user with a specific role in the respective team. 

How to view the connected sequences and users for a record? 

Once you have connected multiple sequences to a record, you may want to view the connected sequences and the users who are working on them. This can help you get a better understanding of the customer engagement and collaboration happening on the record and what work is left to execute. 

To see the sequences and users that are linked to a record, you can select the sequence title from the Up next widget which will take you to the preview pane that shows all the sequences that are related to the record. The sequence preview gives you a full overview of the sequence, including the progress and activities for different paths. To see a sequence, choose the name of the sequence in the Up next widget. The sequence opens in a pane showing the list of activities that have been set up within it. 

You can also use the sequence stats report to see status, progress, and performance of each sequence. In addition, you can see the number of completed, overdue, and upcoming activities, as well as each email’s open rate, click rate, and conversion rate in the sequence.  

How to view sequence steps in a record using the Up next widget? 

In cases where a record is associated with multiple sequences, you may want to efficiently plan the execution by accessing all the available steps of these sequences. The new enhancements empower you to achieve precisely that! Now, the sequence name showcased on the Up next widget transforms into a clickable link. Upon clicking, it reveals a comprehensive list of all steps associated with that specific sequence. This feature facilitates the simultaneous viewing of both executed and upcoming steps in a single pane, streamlining the planning process for the subsequent steps. 

Conclusion 

Multiple sequences in Dynamics 365 Sales are a powerful capability that can help you improve your customer engagement and collaboration:

• By connecting multiple sequences to a record, you can optimize your sales process and leverage the skills and expertise of different sellers.
• By assigning a sequence to a different user than the record owner, you can ensure that the right person is doing the right activity.
• By viewing the connected sequences and users of a record, you can get a better insight into the customer communication and collaboration happening on the record.

With multiple sequences, you can drive better business outcomes and gain a competitive edge in the marketplace. 

Next steps

Learn how to Improve Sales process efficiency using sequence insights – Microsoft Dynamics 365 Blog  

Learn more about sequences and how to create them:  
Sequences in sales accelerator | Microsoft Learn  

Learn more about segments in sequences:  
Create segments and connect them to sequences | Microsoft Learn 

Explore our getting started templates to quickly create sequences and try them for yourself:  
Sequence templates | Microsoft Learn  

Don’t have Dynamics 365 Sales yet? Try it out now: Sales Overview – Dynamics Sales Solutions | Microsoft Dynamics 365 

The post Support parallel working with multiple sequences in Dynamics 365 Sales  appeared first on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Blog.

In the Sales world, business success is often dependent upon effective communication with customers. One of the most common ways to reach out to customers is through email, making it essential to have effective email content. However, determining the best content for an email can be a challenge, especially when there are many variables at play.

This is where Dynamics 365 Sales sequences with A/B testing can now help!

Sequences help sales managers enforce best practices, ensuring that all sellers follow the same series of steps for successful customer engagement. Email is an essential part of these sequences, and A/B testing can help find the most effective versions of an email to drive customers to the desired action.

Through A/B testing in Dynamics 365 Sales sequences, sellers and sales managers can now test different versions of an email and automatically select the one that performs better.

Drive better business outcomes with A/B testing

A/B testing enables you to determine which variation on an email drives more customers to take the desired actions. With our new A/B testing capabilities in Dynamics 365 Sales sequences, you don’t need to be an expert statistician to design and run such experiments. The system runs the numbers for you, and automatically determines the version that brings better results with statistical significance. This takes the guesswork out of the sales process. It allows sales managers to make data-driven decisions that improve customer communications and drive better business outcomes.

Here are some of the key capabilities of A/B testing:

1. Experiment with different versions of the subject line or entire email content.
   With sequence testing, you can create multiple versions of an email with different subject lines or content to see which one performs better. For example, you can test two versions of an email, one with a question in the subject line and one without, to see which one drives more customers to open it.
2. Control distribution of email versions.
   You can control the distribution of different email versions, so that a certain percentage of recipients receive one version and the rest receive the other. This ensures that the results are statistically significant and accurate.
3. Select the winning metric.
   You can choose the metric that determines the winning email version, such as open rate or click rate. Open rate is the percentage of recipients who opened the email. Click rate is the percentage of recipients who clicked on a link within the email.
4. Automatically determine the better performing option with statistical significance.
   Finally, the A/B testing tool will automatically determine the better performing option based on the selected metric and statistical significance. Statistical significance is a measure of the probability that the difference in performance between the two versions is not due to chance.

Make data-driven decisions with A/B testing analytics

Sales managers may use A/B testing in sequences to make data-driven choices, removing guesswork from the sales process. This strategy leads to improved customer communication, better business outcomes, and, ultimately, a higher possibility of success.

It’s important to note that there are different approaches to email A/B testing:

• Experiment with different subject lines to see which one drives more customers to open the email.
• Experiment with the entire content of the email to see which one drives more clicks or conversions.

Deciding which approach to use depends on the specific goals of the email campaign and the tracked metrics.

Once the better performing option is selected, it’s important to continue running a small experiment. This is to ensure that it continues to outperform the other options. This helps to prevent any unintended consequences that may arise from any changes made to it. Good news – we run such micro experiments in background automatically, so you don’t have to do anything.

Additionally, there are various analytics available for A/B testing in sequences, such as open rates, click rates, and conversion rates. We also show you what portion of the audience received each version. These analytics can provide valuable insights into the effectiveness of different email versions and help sales managers make informed decisions about their email campaigns.

Conclusion

In conclusion, A/B testing in sequences is a powerful tool that can help sales teams improve their customer communication, drive business success, and gain a competitive edge in the marketplace. By experimenting with different versions of an email, controlling distribution, selecting winning metrics, and continuing to run small experiments, you can make data-driven decisions that improve business outcomes. With the right approach and analytics, A/B testing in sequences can help you optimize your email campaigns for maximum impact.

Next steps

Don’t have Dynamics 365 Sales yet? Try it out now: Sales Overview – Dynamics Sales Solutions | Microsoft Dynamics 365

Learn how to Improve Sales process efficiency using sequence insights – Microsoft Dynamics 365 Blog

Learn more about sequences and how to create them:
Sequences in sales accelerator | Microsoft Learn

Learn more about A/B testing in sequences:
Utilize A B testing in sequences | Microsoft Learn

Explore our getting started templates to quickly create sequences and try them for yourself:
Sequence templates | Microsoft Learn

The post Winning sales sequences: A/B testing guide appeared first on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Blog.