Aalborg Energie Technik structures sales process and sees measurable results with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales

Aalborg Energie Technik is a Danish company that designs and builds advanced plants across Europe that convert biomass into energy. In 2020, the company established a new business area focused on aftermarket services, providing maintenance, consulting and upgrades for existing plants. This enables the company to use its expertise not only during construction, but throughout the full lifecycle of its customers’ assets.

Nicolai Møller, Chief Aftermarket Officer at Aalborg Energie Technik, quickly realized that the sales process needed to be more structured.

“Since we started the aftermarket business, our primary tools for managing the sales process have been Microsoft Outlook and, above all, Excel. But Excel simply isn’t designed for that. It’s the digital version of sticky notes,” he explains.

Committed to Microsoft

It quickly became clear that Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales was the right choice.

Instead of spreading efforts across multiple platforms and ecosystems, the company decided to fully commit to Microsoft technology. This decision gives Aalborg Energie Technik the flexibility to scale the solution with new components and functions over time, without leaving the Microsoft ecosystem or relying on custom integrations.

“We wanted a solution that is anchored across the entire organization, where we can collect and share information across marketing, sales and our aftermarket division. This allows us to manage customer interactions and consolidate communication history,” says Nicolai Møller.

“Our goal was to move away from depending on Excel and other tools that, while excellent in themselves, are often used for tasks they were never designed for. We wanted a solid CRM system that provides structure and documentation and gives us a clear view of our customers, as well as of our successes and mistakes.”

The right solution within the right framework

Together with Cepheo, Aalborg Energie Technik made a detailed analysis process to assess its needs and opportunities. This included a CRM assessment with 27 targeted questions to a representative group of employees, which gave valuable insights into the company’s CRM readiness, challenges and improvement areas.

“The structure and thoroughness of the analysis-phase helped us confirm, and in some cases disprove, a number of assumptions about both functionality and framework. The key was to move away from assumptions and instead take an objective, structured look at things. That’s one of the areas where Cepheo really made a difference,” says Nicolai Møller.

The process also highlighted an important factor: the human side of implementing a new IT solution.

“People have their daily routines and ways of working. If you ‘force’ change upon them, you risk resistance, and that can undermine the potential the new solution is meant to deliver. It became very clear to us how important it is to consider how we introduce and anchor the solution,” he explains.

The conclusion of the analysis was a simple and scalable Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales solution, implemented with minimal adjustments or add-ons.

“From the beginning, we wanted to stay as close as possible to an out-of-the-box standard solution. Every small customization adds complexity, which impacts both project timelines and future maintenance,” says Nicolai Møller.

Trust and confidence in the partnership with Cepheo

Throughout the sales, analysis and project phases, one thing stood out in the collaboration with Cepheo.

“We truly felt listened to. Cepheo’s people were curious and skilled at translating our business needs into concrete IT solutions,” says Nicolai Møller.

The structured approach and insights from the analysis made it an easy decision for Aalborg Energie Technik to choose Cepheo as its implementation partner for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales.

“Cepheo demonstrated a deep understanding of our business, our industry, and our goals. That created a high level of trust and confidence. We could clearly feel that we were on the right track, and that choosing Cepheo was the right decision,” he adds.

That confidence has only grown throughout the project and into the operational phase. The collaboration has resulted in a solution that not only works technically but also creates real business value in the daily operation of the sales organization.

Expectations met and exceeded

The Dynamics 365 Sales solution went live in autumn 2023, and the results have fully met expectations.

“Our sales people were tired of managing multiple Excel sheets where errors were common and version-control was uncertain. Of course, there was a short adoption period, but once people started discovering the system’s possibilities, the benefits became clear,” says Nicolai Møller.

Employee feedback from weekly meetings has shown increased engagement and satisfaction within the sales team, along with strong support for developing processes further through the CRM system.

“Job satisfaction has improved. Few sales people enjoy administration, so the time they previously spent updating Excel sheets can now be used for what they do best – selling,” he explains.

The solution provides the sales team with a much clearer view of each customer and their shared history. This is particularly valuable when new sales people take over accounts. Instead of starting from scratch, they can quickly get up to speed and continue customer relationships on an informed basis.

“We now have control over our pipeline and a much sharper focus on prioritization,” says Nicolai Møller.

One practical example is the use of the so-called ‘Go/Get%’ analysis, which compares the probability of winning a deal (Go) with the likelihood of actually securing the order (Get). By combining this analysis with weighted revenue, contribution margin and expected time investment, the team can now make far more informed decisions about where to focus their efforts.

“It helps both individual sales people and me, as sales lead, to make the right choices. We can see where we have the best chances and where our efforts create the most value,” says Nicolai Møller.

The system now supports the team’s daily work, giving them the tools they need, designed for the tasks they actually perform.

The right tools for the right tasks

For Aalborg Energie Technik, the journey from Excel to a structured CRM system has been about more than technology. It has been about creating the right framework for the sales organization, with tools built for purpose, processes aligned with the customer journey and the visibility needed to make better decisions.

“We now have the right applications for the right tasks, and that makes all the difference,” concludes Nicolai Møller.

With a fully operational Dynamics 365 Sales solution, an engaged sales team and measurable results to build on, Aalborg Energie Technik has created the foundation it needed. With Cepheo as a trusted partner that understands their business, the company is well equipped to continue developing its sales organization – a journey that is already delivering tangible value.