Posts by Lucy Tothill

Every year, Microsoft releases updates to its incentive programmes that help shape partner priorities for the months ahead. This year’s guide places particular emphasis on AI adoption, productivity transformation, business process modernisation, and presales engagement. Together, these incentives highlight a clear goal: helping customers realise measurable value from their Microsoft investments while creating new growth…

Every year, Microsoft Build offers a glimpse into where technology is heading. Some years it’s about new tools, other years it’s about major platform shifts. Build 2026 felt different. Rather than focusing solely on what AI can do, Microsoft focused on a more important question: how can AI work the way you work? The event…

Artificial intelligence has moved remarkably quickly from experimentation to everyday business reality. A year ago, many organisations were still exploring the possibilities of tools like Microsoft Copilot, ChatGPT and AI-powered CRM solutions. Today, AI is helping teams write content, analyse data, respond to customers and automate processes that once required hours of manual work. As…

Customer relationship management systems are often associated with sales teams tracking leads and opportunities. While this is one of the most common uses of CRM, many organisations rely on these systems for entirely different reasons, and membership organisations are a good example. For membership organisations, CRM is not primarily about managing sales pipelines. Instead, it…

When people think about sales, they often think about relationships. They picture conversations with customers, negotiations over pricing, and the moment a deal finally closes. While relationships remain at the heart of sales, the reality is that modern sales organisations have become far more complex than they once were. Customers expect businesses to remember every…

AI is rapidly becoming part of everyday business tools, and Microsoft Copilot is one of the clearest examples of this shift. Rather than being a standalone AI application, Copilot is designed to sit alongside the tools people already use, helping them write, analyse data, find information, and automate tasks. For many organisations, Copilot represents the…

Unsure on ideas for summer plans? At Cloud9 we are lucky enough to be only a ten-minute walk away from the seafront. When the summer sun hits the Sussex coast, there is nowhere quite like the Brighton and Hove seafront. The historic promenade comes alive with an infectious, buzzing energy, transforming the beach into the…

For many roles, work happens on the move or on-site with customers, and in those moments going back to a laptop to check or update your CRM simply isn’t practical. That’s where mobile CRM comes in. Modern CRM systems are designed to travel with you. Whether through a dedicated app or a mobile-friendly experience, they…

Why is AI Important? Artificial intelligence has quickly moved from an emerging technology to a standard part of modern business systems. Whether organisations are ready for it or not, AI is already embedded in many of the tools they use every day. The conversation is no longer about whether businesses should adopt AI, but about…

What is Change Management? Implementing a CRM solution or project means also implementing a business change, and implementing a business change requires management. Whenever the way people work is altered there will be resistance, because change disrupts routine, confidence and control. It is not as simple as implementing new technology and everyone happily using it…