Best Buy Co. Inc. has selected multiple Microsoft technologies to help its field technicians and consultants increase productivity, better understand and serve consumers and small businesses and develop stronger relationships with its customers.
The Minneapolis, MN-based consumer electronics and computer retailer’s Geek Squad service team, a group of more than 11,000 specially trained agents who solve computer problems for customers by visiting their homes and small businesses, is now using 3,000 Windows Mobile-powered Smartphones to schedule and route customer service calls to improve communication and collaboration capabilities and to access Internet-based technical content.
In addition, Best Buy For Business – a growing unit of more than 1,000 consultants who sell, implement and support solutions for small-business customers – is now using Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 in-house as part of a solution for supporting its complex sales cycle.
Familiarity with other Microsoft technologies and the ability to utilize existing IT investments played a key role in Best Buy‘s decisions.
For Geek Squad, Best Buy preferred Windows Mobile’s easy collaboration with its current installation of Microsoft server technology, its support for mobile messaging through Exchange Server 2003 and its ability to take advantage of emerging Exchange Server capabilities for direct push technology, security and management. In addition, with Windows Mobile-powered Smartphones, Geek Squad Agents have access to technical content when and where they need it and can easily communicate and collaborate with their peers.
For the Best Buy For Business unit, Microsoft Dynamics CRM was chosen for its Microsoft Office Outlook experience and the ability to implement it quickly and easily.
Microsoft Dynamics CRM serves as a centralized repository of customer data that integrates with Microsoft Office applications, which employees use every day, such as the Office Outlook messaging and collaboration client. Within the same familiar Office Outlook interface, employees can now access Microsoft Dynamics CRM sales, marketing and customer service modules to make sales decisions, market products, solve problems and obtain strategic views of their business.
Best Buy also recently decided to add Microsoft Dynamics CRM to its own IT services and solutions offerings.
This will enable Best Buy For Business customers to benefit from the same features and functionality within the product that the major retailer uses in managing its customer relationships.
Best Buy also offers Microsoft Dynamics – Point of Sale, an easy-to-use, single-store application that enables small retailers to track and manage sales, inventory and customer information.
