Sales and Customer Service on the Same Platform: What This Means
A customer who calls customer service often ends up speaking with someone who doesn't know what the customer bought or what was promised: sales and customer service don't share the same database. What this disconnect costs, what changes when you bridge it, and the three questions to ask before making a decision.
The same scenario plays out again and again, regardless of the company’s size. A customer calls customer service about a problem. The person who answers the phone has no idea what the customer was sold, what was promised during the sales pitch, or that a sales representative is supposed to call the customer back tomorrow to discuss a renewal. They do the best they can. The customer, however, feels like they’re talking to a completely different company.
It's not a people problem. It's the inevitable result of two tools that don't share the same memory.
The Actual Cost of the Outage
We ask the customer again for information we already have. This is the most common source of irritation and the one that damages our reputation the most. It’s perceived as negligence, when in fact it’s a matter of system design.
We’re selling to someone who is involved in a legal dispute. A sales representative follows up about a renewal while a claim is pending. Management usually finds out about this situation through a complaint, not through a report.
We don't know how much each customer is worth. Revenue is one thing; the number of support hours is another. No one can say who is actually profitable, and business decisions are made without this information.
Let's get back on track. A signed contract becomes a record that needs to be recreated in the service tool. Duplicate data entry has both a direct cost and an indirect cost: the two records end up differing.
Note: None of these four issues can be resolved by changing processes or training teams. They stem from the disruption itself, and they resurface as soon as attention wanes.
What Changes When Memory Is Shared
A single platform doesn't make people better. It does three things, and you need to assess whether they're worth the effort in your case:
- a single customer record where negotiations, orders, incidents, and deadlines are all on the same page;
- Cross-cutting rules: An ongoing dispute can suspend a collection effort, and a contract due date can trigger a sales task;
- figures that can be added together, because sales and service are based on the same foundation.
At Microsoft, these two roles are represented by two applications— Dynamics 365 Sales and Dynamics 365 Customer Service — that share the same database and the same identity. We’re not integrating two products; we’re enabling two use cases on the same platform.
Rates, to put the decision in context
Per person per month, on an annual subscription basis: Dynamics 365 Customer Service Professional at 50, Enterprise at 105, Premium at 195. On the sales side, Sales Professional is 65 and Enterprise is 105.
But these listed prices are not what a company that uses two apps actually pays, and that's the point most comparisons fail to address.
The licensing rule that changes the calculation
The licensing guide Dynamics 365 describes a two-step process, and it is crucial here.
The base license. When purchasing multiple Dynamics 365 applications for the same person, the first one must be the more expensive of the two. That is the one charged at full price.
The primary license. Subsequent applications for the same person are billed at a reduced rate. The guide is clear on one important point: “Base licenses and primary licenses are identical in terms of capabilities and differ only in price.” A person may hold multiple primary licenses, and a primary license can only be assigned to a user who already holds the qualifying base license.
In other words: a sales representative who also has to handle service cases doesn't pay the full price twice. Instead, they pay the higher of the two amounts, plus a supplement.
There are two limitations to be aware of. An attached license does not add platform capacity; it uses the base platform's capacity. And not all Dynamics 365 applications are eligible for this mechanism.
The pricing tiers are listed in the guide’s table and should be confirmed with Microsoft or a reseller—they are subject to change. To give a rough idea of the cost, the guide provides a specific example: based on Business Central s Premium, Customer Service Enterprise, Field Service, or Sales Enterprise are priced at 20 per person per month, with an annual commitment.
A useful point for anyone also considering a contact center: Microsoft offers a discounted rate for Dynamics 365 Contact Center when purchased with Customer Service Enterprise. The price hasn’t been disclosed, so one wonders.
When Two Tools Are Still the Right Choice
The reasoning above does not apply everywhere, and forcing unification is a common mistake.
- The two business lines do not deal with the same customers. A company that sells to distributors and provides services to end users manages two distinct customer groups: a single customer record is of no use.
- Customer service is a profession in its own right, with requirements that a general-purpose tool cannot meet—such as Level 3 technical support and a chain of industrial warranties.
- One of the two tools works very well and has been adopted. Breaking what works in the name of unification is the surest way to lose both.
In these cases, the right answer isn't a single platform—it's to share information between the two, which costs much less and can be set up much more quickly.
The Three Questions to Ask
- Do your sales representatives and customer service team talk to the same people?
- How many times a week does someone need to look up information in the other tool?
- Can you tell me today how much your largest customer costs you in terms of support?
If the first answer is yes and the third is no, the outage is already costing you something. You'll need to figure out how much before making a decision.
Lambert Consulting It implements Sales and Customer Service Dynamics 365 s and integrates them with the rest of the information system. When the right answer is to keep both tools, we prefer to make them work together rather than replace one of them. And if the question still revolves around choosing a platform, the comparison with HubSpot outlines the four deciding factors.
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