As a sales professional, your main goal is building strong relationships with customers and gathering essential details to finalize deals. However, studies reveal that most sellers spend less than 30% of their time on actual selling tasks.[1] The rest is often spent on administrative activities like searching for information, writing emails, and updating CRM systems. To tackle this challenge, Microsoft has developed a powerful solution.
In February, Microsoft introduced Dynamics 365 Copilot, the first-ever AI-powered assistant for CRM systems. Now, we’re proud to unveil Microsoft Sales Copilot, an AI-driven tool designed to empower sellers with the insights and data they need, precisely when they need it. This tool allows sales teams to focus on what they do best—selling.
Features of Microsoft Sales CopilotSales Copilot integrates seamlessly with Microsoft Outlook, Teams, and Dynamics 365 Sales, while also offering compatibility with Salesforce. Its features are designed to boost productivity and enhance customer interactions. Key capabilities now available for preview[2] include:

• AI-Generated Lead and Opportunity Summaries for faster deal closure.
• Customer Meeting Preparation Summaries to keep you ready for every interaction.
• Real-Time Tips and Suggestions in Teams for handling customer queries.
• Contextual Email Summaries and Follow-Ups to streamline communication.

AI-Generated Lead and Opportunity SummariesSales Copilot uses advanced AI to create concise summaries of leads and opportunities, helping sellers save time and stay informed. These summaries provide a quick snapshot of the current status, progress, and potential of deals. A "catch-up" section highlights the latest updates since your last visit, ensuring you’re always prepared.

Similarly, lead summaries compile information from various sources, including CRM systems, LinkedIn[3], and Bing news. This integration streamlines lead qualification, enabling faster decision-making.

Meeting Preparation and SummariesEffective preparation is essential for productive customer meetings. Sales Copilot identifies upcoming meetings within the next 24 hours and generates a comprehensive summary of recent email conversations and seller notes. This ensures that you are well-informed and ready to discuss important topics.

After the meeting, Sales Copilot simplifies follow-ups by generating professional email summaries in both Outlook and Dynamics 365 Sales. A single click sends these summaries, keeping communication seamless and efficient.

Real-Time Coaching in TeamsDuring Teams meetings, Sales Copilot provides real-time suggestions and tips (currently in private preview) to help sellers respond to customer queries or competitor mentions. This feature ensures you’re always equipped with the right information to overcome objections and demonstrate expertise.

Email Summaries and Follow-UpsSales Copilot minimizes the time spent on email correspondence by offering AI-generated replies based on Outlook and CRM data. You can customize the tone and length to suit your customer’s preferences, fostering stronger connections.

​Additionally, it summarizes long email threads, identifies key action items, and enables saving summaries directly to your CRM with one click. By automating these tasks, Sales Copilot enhances your productivity and ensures no critical details are missed.

Collaboration SpacesCollaboration spaces in Teams provide predefined channels for seamless teamwork with colleagues and customers. These spaces integrate directly with your CRM system and are accessible via Sales Copilot, Outlook, and Dynamics 365 Sales, ensuring smooth collaboration.

Commitment to Responsible AIMicrosoft is dedicated to responsible AI and data security. Sales Copilot adheres to strict security protocols, including two-factor authentication, and ensures that AI models are not trained on customer-specific data. This tool is part of the Azure ecosystem, which offers enterprise-grade security and compliance measures.

Innovations Across Dynamics 365In addition to Sales Copilot, Microsoft continues to innovate within the Dynamics 365 ecosystem. New copilot capabilities for Customer Insights and real-time marketing are transforming how businesses engage with customers. Meanwhile, Dynamics 365 Commerce Copilot allows for the creation of SEO-optimized, engaging product descriptions to drive better online conversions.

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We’re excited to introduce the general availability of Collaboration Spaces in Viva Sales—a game-changing feature that revolutionizes how sales teams collaborate. In today's dynamic sales landscape, collaboration is critical to success, yet many organizations face challenges in staying organized and finding the right tools to foster effective teamwork. Sales professionals often juggle collaboration with more than 15 cross-functional teams while also delivering exceptional customer service. This level of complexity can significantly increase their workload.
Streamlined Collaboration Tailored for Sales Teams
With Collaboration Spaces, sales professionals can now create organized, purpose-built spaces designed to simplify teamwork. These spaces enable seamless collaboration with colleagues and customers, ensuring an efficient and productive workflow.

Sales Templates: Simplifying Collaboration Setup
Viva Sales introduces Sales Templates to streamline the process of creating purpose-built Collaboration Spaces in Microsoft Teams. These spaces are directly connected to D365 or Salesforce accounts or opportunities. The templates come with predefined channels and pinned apps, offering a ready-to-use collaborative environment within Teams’ secure framework.
Once a Collaboration Space is set up, sales teams can access it effortlessly via the Viva Sales app in Outlook or the Sales app. This eliminates the need to search for collaboration tools, saving valuable time and enhancing productivity.
Introducing Two Sales Templates

1. Account Team Template:
   This template is ideal for account-focused collaboration, both within internal teams and with customers. Designed for use at the team level, it links directly to CRM accounts and comes with predefined channels and apps, enabling a smooth workflow for all involved.
   
2. Deal Room Template:
   Tailored for deal-related activities, this template operates at the channel level and connects directly to CRM opportunities. It offers a focused, streamlined workspace to drive collaboration, simplify communication, and boost deal outcomes.
   

Effortless Setup for Seamless Teamwork
Setting up a Collaboration Space has never been easier. With just a few clicks, sales professionals can create a workspace tailored to their needs. By selecting the "Set up account team" or "Set up deal rooms" buttons from the Collaborate in Teams card in the Viva Sales app within Outlook, sellers can initiate the setup process. It involves three straightforward steps:

• Selecting a new or existing team,
• Reviewing default team and channel names,
• Adding recommended team members to the new team.

This simplified process reduces overhead, allowing sales teams to focus on what matters most—building customer relationships and closing deals.

As a sales professional, your primary focus is on fostering relationships with clients and gathering the insights needed to secure deals. However, like many sellers, you likely dedicate less than 30% of your time to actual selling.The majority of your day is consumed by administrative tasks, such as composing emails, updating CRM systems, and searching for information. Recognizing this challenge, we’ve introduced Microsoft Sales Copilot, a role-specific AI assistant designed to transform sales productivity.
Building on the launch of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Copilot, the world’s first AI-powered CRM assistant, Sales Copilot provides sellers with essential data and insights precisely when and where they’re needed. By enabling sellers to focus on selling, it helps them achieve better results.
Sales Copilot integrates seamlessly with Microsoft Outlook, Teams, and Dynamics 365 Sales, empowering sellers to work more efficiently and deliver personalized customer experiences. It is compatible not only with Dynamics 365 Sales but also with Salesforce, making it accessible to a wider range of users.
New Sales Copilot Features (Preview)Here are the latest features available for preview:

• AI-generated lead and opportunity summaries: Simplify the sales process and accelerate deal closures.
• Meeting preparation summaries: Provide auto-generated overviews of past meetings, key notes, concerns, and CRM details.
• Real-time tips in Teams meetings: Deliver suggestions based on live discussions, such as competitor mentions.
• Email summaries and follow-ups: Generate context-aware replies and actions using data from Outlook emails and CRM systems.

Additionally, collaboration spaces in Sales Copilot are now generally available, allowing sellers to enhance their teamwork with predefined Teams channels linked to CRM systems.
AI-Generated Summaries for Leads and OpportunitiesSales Copilot leverages generative AI to provide concise summaries of leads and opportunities. These overviews include updates since the last engagement, streamlining the qualification process. Sellers can access these summaries directly in Outlook, combining CRM data, LinkedIn profiles[3], and Bing news for a comprehensive view.

Streamlined Meeting Preparation and Follow-UpEffective meeting preparation drives sales success. Sales Copilot detects upcoming meetings and compiles relevant information, such as email exchanges and recent seller notes, to keep you informed.

Afterward, it generates professional follow-up emails, saving time and ensuring quick responses.

Real-Time Coaching in Teams MeetingsDuring Teams meetings, Sales Copilot offers real-time suggestions via its Teams panel (currently in private preview). These tips help sellers handle objections and respond confidently to customer inquiries.

Email Summaries and Actionable Follow-UpsCrafting emails is simpler with Sales Copilot. Using predefined prompts or custom text, sellers receive tailored content suggestions informed by Outlook and CRM data. This functionality ensures quicker responses and more impactful communication.
Sales Copilot also summarizes lengthy email threads, identifying key action items and customer requests. These summaries can be saved to CRM systems with a single click.
Enhanced Collaboration SpacesCollaboration spaces streamline teamwork by connecting Teams channels to CRM systems. Accessible via Teams, Outlook, and Dynamics 365 Sales, these spaces enable seamless coordination with colleagues and customers.

Commitment to Responsible AIMicrosoft prioritizes safety and privacy in AI solutions. Sales Copilot operates within enterprise-grade compliance and security frameworks, ensuring customer data remains confidential. Its generative AI does not train on your business data, providing peace of mind for organizations.
Guidance features within Sales Copilot encourage users to verify suggested content, review responses, and cite sources for accuracy. This aligns with Microsoft’s principles of responsible AI, which focus on addressing misinformation and promoting data safety.
Broader Innovations Across Dynamics 365Beyond Sales Copilot, Microsoft is enhancing the Dynamics 365 ecosystem with new AI-driven features, including tools for real-time marketing and customer journey orchestration. These innovations aim to elevate the customer experience across industries.
Next StepsExperience the transformative power of Microsoft Sales Copilot and see how it can enhance your sales productivity.

• Enable Sales Copilot in Outlook and Teams: Deployment guide for Dynamics 365 customers.
• Enable Sales Copilot in Dynamics 365 Sales: Setup guide.
• Learn more: Dynamics 365 Sales 2023 Wave 2 Overview.
• Not a customer yet? Explore the Dynamics 365 Sales website for a free trial and guided tour.

DP World: A Global Leader in Smart Logistics
DP World, a global leader in smart, end-to-end supply chain logistics, operates an expansive network of 181 business units across 64 countries on six continents. Serving both high-growth and mature markets, the company facilitates 10% of global container trade. With contract durations ranging from three to 40 years, relationship selling is at the heart of DP World's success.

To maintain its position as a leading logistics provider, DP World implemented Microsoft Dynamics 365 ERP to enhance its digital sales strategy. This transition revolutionized its approach to managing sales processes and customer relationships, driving significant growth and efficiency.

The Challenge: Evolving Beyond Traditional Sales Methods
Historically, DP World relied on in-person interactions, such as client lunches, to build relationships in the shipping industry. However, the acquisition of SeaRates—a growing logistics platform and digital freight marketplace—presented new opportunities and challenges. With over 500,000 unique monthly visitors on the SeaRates website, DP World needed to digitize its sales processes to meet customer demand without compromising relationship quality.

The absence of a unified CRM system limited visibility into the sales funnel and created inefficiencies. With 41% of its revenue stemming from repeat customers, DP World recognized the need for a robust digital sales and ERP system like Microsoft Dynamics 365 to streamline operations and scale its business effectively.

Why Microsoft Dynamics 365 ERP?
After evaluating various CRM and ERP solutions, DP World chose Microsoft Dynamics 365 ERP for its adaptability and comprehensive features. This decision was bolstered by Microsoft’s dedicated support in tailoring Dynamics 365 to DP World's unique needs. The platform centralized data, improved collaboration, and integrated seamlessly with existing tools, providing a unified solution for managing sales and customer relationships.

Unifying Sales and Customer Data with Microsoft Dynamics 365 ERP
With Dynamics 365 ERP, DP World integrated its sales and customer management systems to achieve unparalleled visibility and control. The solution included:

Sales Accelerator Workspace: A centralized hub where sales teams can access tasks, prioritize leads, and track customer interactions.
Automation with Power Automate: Streamlined workflows, including auto-routing inquiries and generating responses for new leads, significantly increased reply rates and reduced response times.
Advanced Lead Scoring: Intelligent scoring mechanisms prioritize leads most likely to convert, enabling sales teams to focus their efforts effectively.
LinkedIn Sales Navigator Integration: Enhanced customer profiles provide deeper insights into stakeholder relationships and buying behavior.
Transforming Sales Processes with Microsoft Dynamics 365 ERP
Before implementing Dynamics 365 ERP, DP World's sales operations faced challenges like untracked customer interactions and disjointed communication channels. The platform's comprehensive features resolved these issues by:

Centralizing sales data within Dynamics 365 and Dataverse.
Automating lead distribution by geography, eliminating disputes and ensuring fair allocation.
Reducing sales cycle times, enabling five times more proactive sales activities.
Doubling customer retention rates through personalized engagement strategies.
Boosting Sales Team Efficiency
Microsoft Dynamics 365 ERP also integrates seamlessly with tools like Microsoft Teams and Outlook, enhancing collaboration and productivity:

Sales teams can update records directly within Teams, eliminating the need to switch platforms.
Outlook integration allows for auto-tracking of email communications, ensuring a complete record of customer interactions.
“Pairing Teams and Outlook with Dynamics 365 ERP has significantly improved our sales team’s productivity and collaboration,” says Sai Narendiran, Manager of Enterprise Systems at DP World.

Transforming the future of business with Microsoft Sales Copilot, Dynamics 365 Customer Insights, and top ERP system cloud migration solutions
Microsoft's innovative Copilot is breaking down data silos, transforming insights into actionable steps, and providing businesses with compelling reasons to embrace the top ERP system and move to the cloud.
Since March, when we introduced Dynamics 365 Copilot—the world’s first copilot for customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise resource planning (ERP)—and Copilot in Microsoft Power Platform, over 63,000 organizations have experienced its capabilities. With companies like Campari Group, Leatherman Tool Group, and Northrop & Johnson, Copilot transforms both front and back-office operations. By surfacing critical business data and delivering insights, Copilot allows employees to focus on the most impactful parts of their jobs. Given this AI momentum, now is the perfect time for businesses to leverage the top ERP system in the cloud.
Introducing Microsoft Sales Copilot
Today, we announce Microsoft Sales Copilot, a role-based AI assistant that enhances seller productivity and personalizes every customer interaction. Sales Copilot integrates seamlessly into the tools sellers already use, like Outlook, Microsoft Teams, and Dynamics 365 Sales, and can also connect with other CRM systems like Salesforce.
With features like CRM task automation, real-time insights, and AI-assisted content recommendations, Sales Copilot empowers sellers to close more deals while saving time. For example, real-time customer insights, meeting summaries, and follow-up email generation are just a few of the ways Sales Copilot helps sellers enhance customer engagement.
Sales Copilot is now generally available as a standalone subscription or included with Dynamics 365 Sales Enterprise and Premium licenses. New capabilities such as auto-generated opportunity summaries and contextual email creation are also rolling out this month.
AI-powered Customer Insights and Journeys with Dynamics 365
Delivering exceptional customer experiences requires deep insights into the customer journey. However, many businesses struggle to harness customer data effectively. Dynamics 365 Customer Insights provides a unified solution by combining customer data platform capabilities with personalized journey orchestration.
In March, we launched copilot features like content ideas and query assistance, enabling marketers to optimize email campaigns, create targeted segments, and gain deeper insights into customer data. Two new copilot features, rolling out next month, allow marketers to style email forms in line with brand guidelines and easily orchestrate customer journeys across channels. These new features will enhance customer engagement and improve satisfaction rates.
AIM for the Future with Cloud Migration and the Top ERP System
At Microsoft, we are committed to helping businesses migrate from legacy on-premises solutions to AI-powered, cloud-first systems. Today, we are introducing AIM (Accelerate, Innovate, Move), a comprehensive program designed to accelerate cloud migration to the top ERP system. AIM offers tailored assessments to help businesses understand the value of migrating and access expert guidance throughout the transition process. With AIM, companies can innovate faster, optimize operations, and future-proof their business with AI-driven capabilities.
AIM is an all-encompassing solution that reduces costs, fosters innovation, and ensures secure, resilient business operations. It includes access to a dedicated team of migration advisors, exclusive offers, and tools to facilitate a seamless transition to the cloud.
Next Steps
Learn more about Microsoft Sales Copilot, and if you're already using Dynamics 365 Sales, Marketing, or Customer Insights, explore the new capabilities in preview. For businesses still operating with on-premises ERP and CRM systems, now is the time to migrate to the top ERP system in the cloud and unlock AI-powered technologies with AIM.

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For over six decades, the Natuzzi name has stood for more than just high-quality furniture. It is synonymous with beauty, craftsmanship, and comfort that appeal to the senses. What began as a producer of sofas and armchairs has now evolved into the Natuzzi Group—a globally renowned brand for luxury furniture that seamlessly blends design, function, aesthetics, and ethics.
Our goal is to bring beauty and timeless harmony to people worldwide. By partnering with Microsoft Dynamics 365, we’re able to craft an elevated experience and empower our global team.
Business Challenge
In the past ten years, Natuzzi has seen its luxury brand rapidly expand globally, attracting a younger, online-savvy audience and even earning recognition from industry influencers. While this growth has been welcomed, Natuzzi’s core strength lies in its personalized in-store experiences, which their long-standing customers have come to cherish.
As a brand committed to creating harmony in the home, Natuzzi wanted to extend that harmony to every customer interaction, regardless of the medium. Whether customers engaged in one of the 1,200 retail locations, commercial offices, or online platforms, Natuzzi aimed to deliver consistent, bespoke experiences.
Their vision was to elevate the customer journey, cutting through typical marketing clutter to evoke sophistication and beauty. Natuzzi aspired not just to deliver furniture but to create harmony for its customers. To achieve this, they reimagined every aspect of their business, from store design to customer service and staff development.
To bring this vision to life, Natuzzi turned to Microsoft Dynamics 365, which helped unify their fragmented systems and deliver a seamless experience. They specifically utilized Dynamics 365 Customer Insights and Dynamics 365 Marketing to gain a comprehensive view of their customers and engage with them thoughtfully, at the right moments, across their preferred channels.
Antonio Achille, CEO of Natuzzi, explains: "We want to bring beauty and timeless harmony to people around the world. Working with Microsoft Dynamics 365 enables us to deliver a well-crafted experience and empower our global team."
Creating Harmonious Experiences
Natuzzi focused on:

• Establishing personalized, one-to-one customer relationships.
• Engaging with audiences at the right time in their journey, regardless of the channel.
• Integrating loyalty management to enhance lifetime customer value.

With the help of Power BI, Natuzzi initially gathered insights into inventory and customer behavior, but they needed a platform to unify data from their POS system, ERP, and Dynamics 365. By merging their B2B and B2C data, Natuzzi could gain deeper insights and engage their audiences more effectively.
Using Dynamics 365 Customer Insights, Natuzzi consolidated demographic, transactional, and behavioral data from various sources, creating a 360-degree view of each customer. This allowed them to segment customers more precisely and build highly personalized engagement journeys through Dynamics 365 Marketing.
This platform enabled Natuzzi to tailor customer experiences across all channels—whether through physical stores, events, or digital platforms. Their marketing and digital teams could now collaborate more effectively to enhance the customer journey globally.
Business Use Cases
Natuzzi has transformed its customer engagement approach, creating elegant experiences that reflect the luxury of its products. By leveraging customer data, they nurture relationships through personalized campaigns, delivering emails, SMS messages, promotions, and appointment reminders. Moreover, Natuzzi’s operational teams have gained the ability to collaborate more efficiently between headquarters and retail locations.
To further expand its customer base, Natuzzi uses data to segment audiences, including:

• New contacts from digital channels, segmented by geography, interests, and requests.
• Active customers who have recently made multiple purchases.
• Inactive customers with high potential lifetime value (LTV).

Digital Customers and Reengagement Campaigns
Natuzzi uses Dynamics 365 to manage new digital contacts, creating personalized customer journeys. By grouping contacts into clusters based on attributes such as age, geography, and product interest, Natuzzi delivers targeted experiences without overwhelming customers.
They have also launched successful reengagement campaigns to reconnect with previous customers. For instance, a recent campaign reached customers who had made purchases a decade ago, resulting in a 35% reengagement rate and a significant increase in in-store appointments.
Digital Events and In-Person Engagement
During the pandemic, Natuzzi embraced digital events to launch new products and gather customer feedback. They used personalized journeys to enhance engagement and participation. Post-pandemic, Natuzzi significantly increased its in-person event presence, particularly at Milan Design Week, where they exceeded engagement goals four-fold by targeting high-value customers and influencers.
Trade and Lead Capture
In the growing contract manufacturing space, Natuzzi has successfully captured and nurtured trade leads using Dynamics 365 Marketing and Sales. By leveraging customer data, they’ve learned which campaigns drive the most engagement and worked together to deliver results for their high-value customers.
Continual Improvement and Impact
Natuzzi’s journey with Dynamics 365 began in early 2021 and has grown steadily. By integrating Dynamics 365 Customer Insights, Marketing, and Sales, they’ve replaced numerous outdated systems and processes. The company has input around 40 million data records and created over 350 dynamic customer segments, all driving personalized marketing campaigns.
The use of Dynamics 365 Customer Service has enhanced the check-out process on e-commerce platforms, while Dynamics 365 Field Service supports seamless, connected on-site services. These investments have driven higher customer retention and satisfaction.
Business Value and Growth
Since the implementation of Dynamics 365, Natuzzi has seen measurable improvement in its store performance. Targeted campaigns have successfully turned contacts into prospects and prospects into customers. With a growing first-party data set of nearly 650,000 customer profiles, Natuzzi is better equipped to build lasting customer relationships.
Natuzzi’s global team—its "Harmony Makers"—now spends more time delivering on the brand promise rather than navigating disconnected systems. The unified customer data and targeted campaigns help marketing and sales teams tailor offers and interactions, ensuring a premium customer experience worldwide.
Next Steps
Natuzzi is continuing to expand its use of Dynamics 365, incorporating AI-driven models, real-time journey capabilities, and natural language processing to further personalize customer engagement. These advancements will allow them to scale their harmonious customer experience even further, delivering the sophistication and connection that customers expect from a luxury brand.
Pierangelo Colacicco, Chief Information Technology and Digital Innovation Officer, summarizes it best: "Dynamics 365 is helping us build more direct relationships with our customers and bring harmony into millions of homes around the world."

As part of our ongoing dedication to making Microsoft Azure the top platform for SQL Server and Windows Server, we are thrilled to announce that SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machines has achieved groundbreaking performance benchmarks. According to a GigaOm report, Azure now offers SQL Server performance up to 57% faster while being up to 54% more cost-effective than AWS EC2. These gains are possible through the Azure Hybrid Benefit and a three-year commitment. As Pam Lahoud notes, this continuous improvement results from substantial investments in Azure infrastructure, including the Ebdsv5 virtual machine series and the introduction of faster Premium SSD v2 storage, which has seen performance improve by up to 70% over the past year.
In addition to hardware advancements, Azure provides unparalleled savings and manageability features for Windows Server and SQL Server. Migrating to Azure using Azure Hybrid Benefit can save up to 85% compared to standard pay-as-you-go rates. Azure helps optimize costs over time through tools like Azure Advisor, ensuring ongoing efficiency.
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