What Is Dynamics 365 Customer Insights?
Dynamics 365 Customer Insights is designed to help sales, service, and marketing departments reduce their time to sell, serve, and communicate while decreasing their overhead.
Below, I’ll explain how it’s licensed, how the functionality of the app has grown in recent years, and what it’s used for. I’ll finish up by explaining what needs it doesn’t fulfil well and offer suggestions for other applications to consider in those situations.
Table of Contents
- Features of Dynamics 365 Customer Insights
- Customer Insights License Pricing
- What Is Dynamics 365 Customer Insights Used for?
- D365 Customer Insights vs D365 Marketing
- What Needs Doesn’t Customer Insights Fulfill?
- Integrations With Other Apps
- Implementing D365 Customer Insights
Note: There are now 5 different Dynamics 365 apps that serve various CRM needs. In some contexts, you may also see those products referred to as “Customer Engagement” or “CE” apps. Importing records works the same no matter which of those apps you’re using.
Features of Dynamics 365 Customer Insights
The key features of Dynamics 365 Customer Insights are AI-enhanced data analysis and customer-journey paths that can be applied to both the service and sales functions of the business. These features are broken down into two areas: Data and Journeys.
Customer Insights — Data Features
- Aggregate customer interaction data from all areas of the business, including purchasing, service, social, and general communications.
- Apply AI to surface trends and categorizations of prospect and customer behaviors.
- Enable turnkey integrations with third-party sources to create an all-inclusive view of both behaviors and sentiment.
- Create unique AL/ML (machine learning) models using built-in toolkits.
- Ensure the preservation of data governance and compliance policies with complete control over all data.
Customer Insights — Journeys Features
- Develop multi-media campaigns (SMS, push notifications, custom channels) that change dynamically as a prospect or customer interacts with your company.
- Personalize communications based on predictive data without writing code or creating complex if-then statements.
- Quickly create targeted messaging that resonates with specific profiles using AI-enhanced tools.
- Speed up creative development with drag-and-drop controls and smart content generation, all using built-in consent management features.
- Streamline event management by funneling all aspects into one system and create communication automations that handle repetitive tasks like payments and reminders.
- Use ready-made dashboards and reports to evaluate ROI, campaign and event efficacy, and the interactive behaviors of your prospects and customers.
Customer Insights License Pricing
Dynamics 365 Customer Insights licenses start from $1,700 USD ($2,306 CAD) per tenant per month. Discounted “attach” licenses are also available for companies that have at least 10 licenses from one of the qualified Dynamics 365 application like Dynamics 365 Sales or Customer Service.
Read our broader overview of D365 CRM license pricing.
Note: Based on the contract commitment, the per month price may differ from the price listed above. All pricing is subject to change without notice. Contact Encore for the most current product pricing and available contract options.
What Is Dynamics 365 Customer Insights Used For?
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Insights surfaces data on prospect and customer behavior to be used in service prioritization, communications, and selling.
Companies who have large amounts of customer data scattered across various locations, from separate sources, and/or owned by different functions can leverage Customer Insights to unify this critical information for easier analysis. Using AI, they can surface insights around increasing customer loyalty, shortening selling times, and speeding up service fulfilment. This information can be used to more strategically reach both prospects and customers at precise moments in their relationship with the business. This can help find new opportunities to satisfy their needs and complete important processes.
Customer service teams who need to decrease labor costs and who have difficulty understanding which customers or issues should be prioritized can watch behavior trends to know where to focus energy first. Salespeople who find it hard to calculate potential customer lifetime value can use data modeling to predict which prospects need more attention and cross- or up-selling in the sales process.
For companies who have disjointed customer experiences that include interactions owned and executed by various functions, Customer Insights creates both a unified map and a streamlined operations center. All interactions are organized into traceable and intersecting paths. At any point, triggers can initiate a series of actions that are tailored to the specific participant’s viewpoint and at their specific location on the path. This creates a unified customer experience that shows your brand listens and reacts to the customer.
Trying to find out if Dynamics 365 can fulfil your requirements? Encore's process starts with a candid assessment of your true needs — and whether Dynamics 365 is a good fit.
Book a ConsultD365 Customer Insights vs D365 Marketing
Dynamics 365 Customer Insights now includes the functionality that was in the Dynamics 365 Marketing product. This feature set is now essentially Customer Insights — Journeys.
Previously, Dynamics 365 Marketing was what we now experience as Customer Insights — Journeys. It was primarily the feature set that allowed companies to create complex and custom campaigns. These could be built with various entry and exit points, as well as components that dynamically change as a participant interacts with different aspects. It also contained the early elements of AI-enhanced content creation and smart creative development tools.
Microsoft combined this Marketing-centric platform with Dynamics 365 Customer Insights, which was the core data collection, collation, modeling, and analysis engine. Together they create an end-to-end offering that provides, not only full-scale machine learning that can be applied to complex data, but also the tools required to make insights from that data actionable.
What Needs Doesn’t Customer Insights Fulfil?
Customer Insights is not a replacement for a sales automation platform since it doesn’t offer any of the sales governance, contact tracking, or opportunity development provided in Dynamics 365 Sales.
Similarly, it doesn’t offer any service execution tools, like customer service ticket, knowledge base, or resourcing features as seen in Dynamics 365 Customer Service. It also doesn’t offer any of the financial execution functions of a traditional ERP solution, so companies seeking help with General Ledger, inventory, manufacturing, vendor management, and AP and AR activities should focus on Business Central or Finance & Operations.
Companies with few customer data sources and data sets may find Customer Insights too robust for their needs. If market data and behavior trends are relatively static and changes are already easily discovered, then Dynamics 365 Customer Insights likely offers more tools than will typically be utilized, therefore diminishing its ROI.
Engaging with an experienced Dynamics 365 CRM Partner early on will help you analyze your sources and understand if an advanced engine such as Customer Insights is right for your business.
Integrations With Other Apps
Dynamics 365 Customer Insights works seamlessly with other Dynamics 365 applications, particularly those focused on complementary activities such as Sales and Customer Service. Since many companies use their Dynamics 365 ERP application — like Business Central or Finance & Operations — for order fulfilment, these solutions also work well with Customer Insights to complete a necessary part of the customer picture.
Customer Insights also integrates with Microsoft Teams and other Office 365 apps, which offers greater productivity.
Alongside its integrations with other Dynamics and Microsoft 365 applications, Customer Insights also integrates with disparate platforms such as event management, communications, social media, and POS systems to create a comprehensive view of behaviors.
Implementing D365 Customer Insights
Navigating the complexities of Dynamics 365 Customer Insights can be challenging. That’s why it’s important to work with an experienced Dynamics 365 Customer Insights Partner like Encore. Our team of skilled specialists can uncover your unique requirements and align your business needs with the right functionalities within the Dynamics 365 suite.
By leveraging best practices in analysis, Encore can strategically build a robust data foundation to help you achieve your goals. Contact us to discuss your technology needs.
FAQs
Dynamics 365 Customer Insights helps organizations deliver personalized, responsive, and connected customer experiences. It connects data from various sources to build a 360-degree view of each customer, enabling real-time journeys and AI-driven insights that enhance interactions across sales, marketing, and service teams.
By unifying customer data and applying intelligent filters, Customer Insights allows businesses to tailor communications based on demographics, behavior, and transaction history. This leads to more relevant messaging, better timing, and stronger customer relationships across multiple channels.
D365 Customer Insights integrates seamlessly with other Dynamics 365 apps like Sales and Customer Service, helping unify customer data across departments. It also works well with ERP systems such as Business Central and Finance & Operations, which are often used for order fulfillment, completing the customer picture.
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