World's Largest Producer of Martial Arts Gear Will Punch Up Its Marketing Programs...

World's Largest Producer of Martial Arts Gear Will Punch Up Its Marketing
Programs With Microsoft Dynamics CRM
With Microsoft technology, Century Martial Arts expects to improve the way it
meets customized needs of thousands of martial arts schools.

REDMOND, Wash., June 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Microsoft Corp. today
announced 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.
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Microsoft Dynamics CRM provides powerful, role-based customer relationship
management capabilities. Century will integrate it with the company's current
Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 business management solution and its Microsoft
Office and Microsoft Exchange Server.
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 selected Microsoft Gold Certified Partner Tribridge Inc. to assist
with the implementation of the technology. Working with Tribridge, Century
will plan implementation of the marketing aspects of Microsoft Dynamics CRM
that will be used by the marketing and sales staff members conducting outbound
calls and visits. Century expects to refine its marketing campaigns to ensure
that they are reaching the right customers and prospects, that the marketing
messages are timely and appealing, that their efforts are compelling to
customers, and that they build the company's brand.
Century Martial Arts anticipates that Microsoft Dynamics CRM will benefit
the organization in a number of ways:
-- Support for company growth. Microsoft Dynamics CRM is expected to help
Century increase sales, because the company will be able to hone its marketing
efforts to the unique needs of various sectors of its customer base. The
technology will form one of the pillars of the company's ability to gather
information that will equip its sales and marketing staff members more
effectively than before.
-- Improved return on marketing investments. The company will be able to
spend marketing and advertising dollars more wisely and thereby should obtain
a higher return on the resources it invests in those areas. It also will have
the capability to introduce new marketing methods in the future through e-mail
campaigns and other programs based on Microsoft Dynamics CRM functionality.
-- Time savings. The organization expects to be able to analyze its
results more readily and respond more rapidly to developments in the
marketplace. When it runs a marketing campaign, Century will be able to
measure its effectiveness quickly and fine-tune subsequent campaigns. This
heightened effectiveness also is expected to save the company money in its
marketing budget, because it will be able to target its programs more
precisely.
-- Improved reporting. Microsoft Dynamics CRM will furnish Century with
timelier reporting at a more detailed level than was previously available to
the organization. With dashboards, it also will provide better and more
up-to-date business intelligence than the company previously could gather.
With the reporting from Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Century will be able to
analyze the buying patterns of different schools and work with customers on
missed opportunities for volume discounts and other savings.
-- Better data management. Century anticipates that its new Microsoft
technology will increase the integrity of its data as well as the amount of
data the organization can manage.
-- Better planning data. Over time, as Century records more information in
the Microsoft Dynamics CRM database, it will gain insights to help it plan and
execute sales, marketing and advertising better than before, because
executives will be able to see which campaigns and offers are working the
best.
-- Integration across the company. All aspects of the company are expected
to benefit from Microsoft Dynamics CRM and the way it will integrate with
Microsoft Dynamics AX and Century's forecasting capabilities.
-- Improved use of IT staff. Because Microsoft Dynamics CRM will allow
sales and marketing personnel to produce their own reports and make most
changes to formatting, such as adding a tab or a field, the administrative
burden on Century's IT staff is lightened. The IT staff now can work on
transitioning to new technologies and capabilities while non-IT staff takes
ownership of their own data.
"An organization like Century Martial Arts, which operates as a
manufacturer, distributor, wholesaler and retailer, requires a deep and
individualized understanding of its thousands of customers, each with its own
needs," said Michael Park, corporate vice president for U.S. Dynamics business
at Microsoft. "Microsoft Dynamics CRM provides the customer with intelligence
and ease of use that make such a deep comprehension of customer preferences
and buying patterns possible in a timely manner."
About Century Martial Arts
What started 30 years ago as a passion for the martial arts and an
opportunity to market uniforms has evolved into what is now Century Martial
Art Supply, LLC, the world's largest martial arts supplier. Our 30 years of
innovation, attention to detail, and customer service is unmatched in nearly
any industry. Our customers know we serve them with unparalleled experience,
knowledge and professional expertise. For more information, visit
http://www.centurymartialarts.com.
About Tribridge, Inc.
Tribridge is a Gold Certified, nationally recognized Microsoft consulting
firm that implements, secures and supports business applications and was
recently named Microsoft Dynamics U.S. Partner of the Year. Tribridge experts
deliver proven products and services bringing together experienced
professionals and established methodologies to generate practical results for
customers. Since inception nearly a decade ago, Tribridge has a 100% "go live"
rate on business application implementations including Microsoft Dynamics ERP,
Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Microsoft SharePoint, custom software applications and
infrastructure and security technology. For more information, visit
http://www.tribridge.com.
About Microsoft Dynamics
Microsoft Dynamics is a line of financial, customer relationship and
supply chain management solutions that helps businesses work more effectively.
Delivered through a network of channel partners providing specialized
services, these integrated, adaptable business management solutions work like
and with familiar Microsoft software to streamline processes across an entire
business.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) is the worldwide leader in
software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their
full potential.
SOURCE Microsoft Corp.

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