MSDW Podcast: Frieda Maher on the challenges of the sales back office

Frieda Maher of SalesPOD joins the podcast to discuss the her work with organizations on their CRM systems and processes. One of the key challenges to successful CRM, she says, is establishing a strong relationship between end users like sales reps and the largely technical teams that roll out the software. We discuss notable projects like Frieda's work at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), innovative use of Microsoft technology like Power Apps and Teams, and how CRM projects are successfully using Scrum to overcome some of the most common project challenges.

Show Notes:

• 3:00 - Why CRM requires the successful interaction of sales teams and back office systems-focused workers
• 4:30 - How Frieda tends to get involved in projects, including organizations
• 7:00 - Why organizations need a sales ops team to keep CRM-related systems alive and evolving
• 10:30 - The role that agile plays on different types of projects
• 14:30 - Frieda's experience leading product development of UNSW's CRM-based system
• 19:30 - The challenge of replacing legacy systems across the university
• 25:00 - Have CRM projects improved over time in sharing responsibilities between IT and the business?
• 29:00 - The challenge of adopting the ongoing flood of new CRM features from Microsoft and other vendors
• 31:00 - New solution areas that Frieda is watching closely
• 35:30 - Why cloud is so critical to agile development
• 38:00 - How is the Power Platform going to change the way solutions are designed?
• 41:00 - Why the broader user base faces challenges to trying to take ownership of Power Apps
• 43:30 - An example of a user leading the way on innovative use of Microsoft applications
• 45:30 - What Frieda's most excited about for the future of CRM