Microsoft Corp. today says that Century Martial Arts Supply, the world's largest manufacturer of martial arts, mixed martial arts, boxing and fitness equipment, has selected Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 to provide customer information on a more detailed level than was available with its previous systems. Century's customers include thousands of martial arts schools globally for which the company supplies equipment, curriculum programs, trade-show events and customized products.
Century, with more than 300 employees based at its Oklahoma City manufacturing and distribution center, sells products through catalogs and the Web as well as through sporting- goods chains.
"We wanted to get to know our customers better," said Paul Webb, vice president of Information Technology at Century Martial Arts. "Dramatic differences exist among our customers � for example between a karate school and a jujitsu school. We wanted to know how to help them better with their businesses, and that meant we had to understand their needs and buying patterns over multiple dimensions � sizes, colors and versions. Microsoft Dynamics CRM will dramatically improve our understanding of each customer on an individual basis."
Previously, Century had examined historical purchases, buying trends, surveys and feedback from customers and focus groups to gather business intelligence, compiling spreadsheets, reports and analytics. Century needed more extensive reporting, however, to achieve its goal of taking a more proactive approach in suggestive selling to customers, and to increase brand loyalty. Century Martial Arts considered Salesforce.com and SugarCRM open-source software before determining that Microsoft Dynamics CRM would best meet its needs.
"Besides being competitively priced, Microsoft Dynamics CRM integrated into our existing Microsoft architecture, its functionality and ease of use were attractive, and other Microsoft Dynamics CRM customers that we interviewed gave it extremely high marks on productivity," Webb said.
Century Martial Arts anticipates that Microsoft Dynamics CRM will benefit the organization by supporting growth, improving return on marketing investments and saving time.
