Manufacturing group Dextra revamps customer relationships with Dynamics 365

Dextra Group is a key player in manufacturing, logistics, and transport, with an expanding global presence and nearly 1,000 employees. Over the years, Dextra has supported more than 10,000 large-scale infrastructure projects ranging from airports to skyscrapers. Its mission is to deliver exceptional customer and stakeholder satisfaction with integrity, creativity, and a passion for results.

Dextra’s customers are global contractors with multiple offices and work sites. As such, having a consolidated data source was essential for effective account management.

The company decided to shift to an Azure cloud server and move its existing customer relationship management software (CRM) to Dynamics 365 Sales. “We wanted a centralized collection of customers’ information that would include all interactions between our teams and partner networks,” says Matthew Paul Schmitt, Group ITS Manager at Dextra Group.

A more efficient and cost-effective CRM solution

Working together with technology partner Unify Dots—a company that specializes in implementing software solutions such as CRM and customer engagement solutions—Dextra implemented Dynamics 365 Sales in June 2021 across its 14 sites.

“Unify Dots was recommended to us by Microsoft because of their experience in integrating Dynamics 365 business applications with legacy Dynamics AX systems. They also prepared the training modules we used to train our staff on the new system, which was helpful,” says Schmitt.

The team at Dextra and Unify Dots successfully collaborated for a swift and smooth deployment. “It’s amazing that we could do this without actually meeting with our contractors. If you told me years ago that you could implement a new system without actually sitting down with everybody, I wouldn’t have believed you,” says Schmitt.

The CRM system now offers back-end automation that helps reduce the workload for sales personnel. “The solution’s Excel upload capabilities saves each sales representative two to three hours weekly by uploading customer data automatically into the system—meaning a total of 130 to 195 hours per week saved,” says Schmitt. Dextra’s new CRM also offers better lead management through automation—it analyzes multiple sales inquiries to identify leads with higher potential while marking those that may require additional follow-up.

The new solution is not only efficient but also cost-effective. The company’s annual spending on CRM software has reduced drastically because of Microsoft. “Switching to Dynamics 365 has resulted in 60% savings for the company,” says Schmitt. “By shifting to Azure—considering the leasing, purchasing of hardware, and licensing—we’re saving about 20 to 30 percent on our core infrastructure.”

Maintaining a seamless workflow anywhere, anytime

In addition to the CRM system, Dextra also leverages Microsoft 365 to support remote collaboration among its employees and customers. This was particularly vital to its business continuity during COVID-19 lockdowns and restrictions.

“We could meet virtually on Teams and share all project documents via SharePoint,” says Schmitt. “In fact, we’ve cut down a lot on travel costs—we used to make a lot of sales trips to sell our products. But in the last few years when travel has been restricted, we continued to be successful thanks to effective remote communications. It’s unlikely that we’ll return to the same amount of traveling that we used to do.”

The company is also leveraging the Power Platform to streamline human resources processes through the Travel and Expense Power App. “Some of the sales guys and after-sales engineers who are on the road for months at a time accumulate a lot of receipts, which they need to submit with paperwork back at the office. Now, they can fill the expense report on their phones and submit it anywhere, anytime, and get the reimbursements faster,” says Schmitt.

“The next project we have scheduled is to integrate our Dynamics CRM with our Dynamics external ERP,” explains Schmitt.  Currently, a few initial custom dashboards have been put into effect with a target of accomplishing 37 dashboards by the end of 2022. Leveraging Power BI, Dextra intends to consolidate all its global information into one dashboard – a single source of truth that will help guide the company into the future. The company will also continue a complete shift to the Azure cloud by 2023.

Looking to the future

"We want to be on a fully unified enterprise resource planning (ERP) system,” says Schmitt. A unified system will allow for more intricate predictions. Sales forecasting will originate in CRM and will be translated into the supply chain planning within the ERP, which in turn will feed the manufacturing forecast, creating a seamless data link.

To prepare Dextra for the future, Schmitt believes in trying new solutions. “You have to have that curiosity. You can't just sit back and say, ‘what I have is enough’. But you don't have to jump on every idea that comes by either. Ultimately, you need to figure out what works best for your company,” he concludes.