Microsoft aims to enhance productivity for sales and service teams by introducing AI-driven Copilot features. These innovative features were unveiled at the Microsoft Ignite conference, with the goal of boosting sales productivity and improving customer service experiences across organizations.
The new Microsoft Copilot sales and services efforts represent a significant update from the initial set of capabilities introduced in July. This update includes a much deeper integration across the Microsoft portfolio, allowing for easier integration of Microsoft 365 with sales and service data.
Streamlined Copilot Experience
“Since the beginning of this year, we’ve been pushing hard on having copilots embedded in all our products,” said Emily He, CVP for Microsoft Business Applications. “At Ignite, one of the things that Microsoft is announcing is a streamlined copilot experience that will sit on top of all Microsoft applications.”
With this streamlined copilot experience, users can leverage the power and integration of Microsoft Copilot across various Microsoft tools, notably Microsoft 365 and customer relationship management (CRM) systems. Microsoft 365 users, in particular, can now extend their copilot experience to include customer data residing in CRM systems.
The New Microsoft Copilot for Sales
The new Microsoft Copilot for sales offers a seamless and integrated approach by connecting CRM information to Microsoft 365. This integration enables organizations to create emails and access customer data within the Microsoft 365 environment. Previously, users would have had to switch between different systems, causing a disjointed experience.
“You can ask questions without having to log into your CRM system and the system can recommend competitive insights to you, it can recommend what you will say to a customer or answer questions for you,” explained Emily He.
Introducing Microsoft Copilot for Service
While Microsoft already had a copilot for sales, the introduction of Microsoft Copilot for Service is a brand-new offering. This technology enables the integration of service information from various systems into the copilot experience, including Microsoft 365. Customer service agents can now access different knowledge bases without navigating across multiple systems.
“When we talk to customers, customer service is kind of ground zero for AI,” said Emily He. “We have the opportunity to bring customer data and business data into that experience without the employees having to leave the tools they love and use the most.”
With the new Microsoft Copilot for Service, customer service agents can simply ask a question using natural language, and the copilot will search across all connected knowledge bases to provide the right answer. This significantly reduces the amount of time agents spend navigating different systems to find the information they need.
Compared to other vendors, Microsoft’s integrated copilot approach offers a distinct advantage. “We already know that most employees across all business functions are spending most of their time in their productivity tools,” noted Emily He. “We have the opportunity to bring customer data and business data into that experience without the employees having to leave the tools they love and use the most.”
