DNA Diagnostic strengthens sales leadership with Dynamics 365 Sales and Cepheo

When DNA Diagnostic set out to strengthen its commercial execution and create greater transparency in sales, it quickly became clear that the existing CRM approach did not provide management with the insight needed to lead a complex and global sales organization.

By moving to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales, DNA Diagnostic has taken an important step toward a more data-driven, structured and scalable sales organization, supported by Cepheo as its implementation partner.

DNA Diagnostic develops and produces diagnostic solutions such as test kits for global markets, helping to safeguard human health and animal wellbeing and enable safe food production. The business spans multiple product areas, regulatory requirements, go to market models and industries.

As the company grew and sales processes became more complex, new demands emerged for how sales activities, customer knowledge and pipeline data were managed.

From individual tool to shared management platform

Historically, DNA Diagnostic operated without a dedicated CRM system. Later, Pipedrive was introduced as an operational tool for individual salespeople to manage notes and activities. While it worked well for a time, its limitations became clear as the organization grew.

“Pipedrive was an effective tool for individual sellers, but it did not provide the shared visibility, structure and governance needed in a growing sales organization. We lacked transparency and a common language for our commercial work,” says Steen Damgaard, Chief Commercial Officer at DNA Diagnostic.

Customer information, contracts and sales history were spread across multiple systems, folders and personal notes. This made the organization vulnerable and made it difficult to move toward a more consistent and data-driven way of working, especially in a business with long and complex sales cycles.

A strategic focus on commercial excellence

The ambition was not to just replace a system, but to increase commercial maturity. DNA Diagnostic wanted to work more systematically with commercial excellence, where CRM would function as an active tool for both sales and management.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales was selected because it provides a scalable and future-ready foundation for structure, data-quality and insight, and because it fits naturally into the company’s existing Microsoft environment.

“We needed a system that gave management real visibility, not just a tool for salespeople. With Dynamics 365 Sales, we now have a shared foundation for managing sales across the business, and a system that can grow with us,” says Steen Damgaard.

Implementation focused on learning and ownership

Based on Cepheo’s experience from similar CRM projects, the implementation followed the Cepheo Agile MVP approach. The focus was on establishing a value-added core set-up based on standard functionality that the organization could use immediately and then expand over time.

Standard functionality was prioritized, and the organization played an active role in building the solution. Instead of a fully automated data migration, core customer and sales data were transferred through dedicated workshops with the sales organization.

This approach ensured high data quality and strong ownership and was actively prioritized by DNA Diagnostic’s management to anchor CRM as a shared management tool.

According to Steen Damgaard, the decision proved valuable. By working directly with data and processes, the sales organization gained a deeper understanding of structure, data-discipline and dependencies.

“It required time and effort, but it created ownership and strengthened our culture around how the system should be used. When you help build the data yourself, you understand and use the system differently,” he explains.

CRM as a management tool and cultural driver

Cepheo’s focus on management use cases has been critical in ensuring that CRM is actively used in sales leadership and not just as a reporting tool. Pipeline, activities, and forecast are now based on shared real time data rather than individual reports or gut feeling.

The system is used actively in weekly sales meetings and serves as the shared reference point for dialogue, prioritization, and follow up. A key principle is simple: if it does not exist in CRM, it does not exist in the shared sales view.

At the same time, the solution has supported a cultural shift where standardized processes and transparency have replaced individual ways of working. This increases continuity in sales execution and strengthens organizational knowledge retention, improving relationships with customers.

Why Cepheo was chosen as partner

Cepheo was selected based on their deep expertise in the Microsoft platform and their ability to quickly understand DNA Diagnostic’s complex business.

For Steen Damgaard and DNA Diagnostic, it was important to start with an out-of-the-box solution built on standard configurations that could be introduced quickly. From the beginning, the collaboration was characterized by an agile approach, described by Steen Damgaard as setting the sails while sailing.

“Cepheo quickly understood our business and translated our needs into a practical and usable solution without long analysis phases. We were constructively challenged and guided toward strong decisions based on standard functionality rather than unnecessary complexity,” he says.

The collaboration has been close and trust-based, with Cepheo also working effectively alongside DNA Diagnostic’s other IT partner on integrations and the overall system landscape.

An ongoing journey

The implementation of Dynamics 365 Sales is not an end point, but an important milestone in a broader digital journey. DNA Diagnostic continues to strengthen the connection between systems, data and processes and is already exploring next steps, including integrations, reporting and greater use of data for decision making.

“For us, it is not about one system, but about continuously creating better conditions for commercial success. Cepheo acts as a long-term sparring partner, helping us prioritize next steps and ensure the solution evolves in line with the business,” concludes Steen Damgaard.