Dynamics 365 Sales and Marketing Consulting for Cleveland Teams Whose Customers Are Plants, Ports, and Labs
Most Dynamics 365 partners implement Sales and Marketing as two separate projects handed to two separate teams. We implement Dynamics 365 Sales and Customer Insights - Journeys as one funnel, so a lead Marketing calls qualified is a lead Sales actually works. For Cleveland businesses, built and delivered by our Hilliard, Ohio team.
What Is Dynamics 365 Sales and Marketing Consulting?
Dynamics 365 Sales and Marketing consulting is the work of implementing and connecting Microsoft's CRM application, Dynamics 365 Sales, with its marketing automation platform, Dynamics 365 Customer Insights - Journeys (formerly sold as Dynamics 365 Marketing), so they run as one lead-to-revenue system instead of two apps that happen to share a data model. That includes configuring both applications around your actual sales process, building the lead scoring and handoff rules between them, migrating data from whatever you're on today, and building the reporting layer both teams actually look at. Sunflower Lab runs this as a full implementation engagement, not just the layer on top.
For Cleveland teams, one buyer may be a plant, a port terminal, or a university lab, and each runs on its own purchasing calendar, so the customer record has to carry that calendar. Scoring, follow up, and reporting then start from what the buyer needs next, not from the last form they filled out. Our team works from Hilliard, about 145 miles from Cleveland, and delivers by video with working sessions at your site by arrangement.
Sales and Marketing Are Built to Share a Platform. Most Companies Still Run Them Like Strangers.
Sales and marketing alignment has a measurable revenue impact, and the gap isn't a culture problem, it's a pipeline leak. In Cleveland the leak often opens when the buyer calendar, not yours, sets the timing, such as a shipping season, a plant shutdown, or a grant deadline.
None of that is a licensing problem. Dynamics 365 Sales and Customer Insights - Journeys are built to run on the same Dataverse. The gap shows up when they're implemented as two separate projects with nobody responsible for what happens between them, and it's usually the part that gets rushed or skipped.
Two systems, two truths
Marketing runs its own definition of a qualified lead. Sales runs its own pipeline. Nobody agreed on what "qualified" actually means, so the handoff breaks every time.
The handoff has no owner
A lead clears marketing's bar and sits in a queue no rep is watching, or lands with a rep who has zero context on what that lead already engaged with.
Reporting stops at MQL
Marketing reports on leads generated. Sales reports on closed revenue. Nobody can trace a closed deal back to the campaign that started it, so budget decisions get made on gut feel.
If any of that sounds familiar, that's exactly where we start.
Dynamics 365 Sales and Marketing, Implemented as One System
We run Dynamics 365 Sales and Customer Insights - Journeys implementations from discovery through go-live, and we build the alignment layer most partners treat as an afterthought.
CRM Implementation Built Around Your Process
We configure Dynamics 365 Sales around how your team actually sells, not the out-of-the-box pipeline stages. We work on:
- Lead, opportunity, and pipeline configuration mapped to your real sales stages
- Product and pricing catalogs so quotes don't require a spreadsheet on the side
- Email integration and Server-Side Sync so activity logs itself instead of relying on reps to type notes
- Territory, security roles, and forecasting set up so a pipeline review reflects what's actually happening
Marketing Automation on the Current Platform
Microsoft removed the older batch-and-blast Outbound Marketing model in May 2026 in favor of Real-Time Journeys, and we build on the current architecture from day one. We work on:
- Real-time journey and segment setup replacing manual send lists
- Forms and lead capture connected directly into Dynamics 365 Sales, not a separate database waiting on an export
- Consent, unsubscribe, and compliance data structured so marketing can prove it's following the rules
- Campaign and journey performance tracked at the contact level, not just aggregate opens and clicks
- Rebuilding the journeys, segments, and forms that ran on the removed Outbound Marketing model, starting with the ones tied to revenue
The Layer Most Partners Skip
This is where most Sales and Marketing implementations actually fail. We build it deliberately:
- Lead scoring built on your actual conversion data, not a default template neither team believes in
- Automated handoff rules so a marketing-qualified lead lands in the right rep's queue with context attached
- Power BI dashboards blending marketing engagement data with sales pipeline stages, one funnel view both teams look at
- Campaign attribution tied through to closed revenue, not just clicks and form fills
Automation and Apps Around Both Systems
Once the foundation is solid, we extend it with the rest of the Power Platform:
- Power Automate workflows keeping campaign and pipeline data in sync without manual exports
- Power Apps for the exception workflows neither app's standard forms cover
- AI-assisted lead summaries so a rep walks into a call already knowing the touchpoints that got them there
How Cleveland Businesses Use Dynamics 365 Sales and Marketing
Six Cleveland sales motions where the buyer calendar sets the timing, from a lake shipping season to a grant deadline.
Electrical and mechanical contractors in Cleveland, Lakewood, and Brook Park
General contractors and architects are accounts, and each invitation to bid is an opportunity with a due date and a project type. Cleveland bid lists often mix hospital, university, and public work, so owner type is saved as its own field. Customer Insights - Journeys sends project updates and prequalification reminders to the right general contractors by trade and project size. A rep logs the bid result and the reason, and Power BI shows win rate by general contractor and by owner type, which tells estimators whose invitations are worth the hours.
Regional accounting and law firms in Cleveland, Beachwood, and Westlake
Security roles limit who can open a client record to the partners and managers on it, so a client list stays confidential inside the firm. Each proposal is an opportunity with a service line, and the referral source, such as a banker or a former client, is saved on it so a partner can see which relationships bring work. Customer Insights - Journeys sends seminar invitations and year end checklists by industry and fiscal year end. Power BI shows proposals by partner and source. Client files and billing data stay in the practice system. Your firm reviews message wording against its own advertising rules.
Great Lakes marine, dock, and port service companies around the Port of Cleveland and the Flats
Your buyers are vessel operators, terminal owners, and shipping agents, and their year follows the lake shipping season, which slows in winter when ships are laid up for repair. Each customer is an account, and the vessels or docks you service are records in a custom table (a record type added to Dynamics 365 for information the standard tables do not hold). A repair or refit quote is an opportunity dated to the layup window it has to fit. Customer Insights - Journeys sends a layup planning notice in the fall and a readiness reminder before the season opens. Power BI shows quoted versus booked winter work by customer. Vessel safety and inspection records stay in your operations system.
Scrap metal recyclers and industrial waste service companies serving plants in Cuyahoga Heights, Brook Park, and Euclid
Your customer is a plant that produces metal chips, scrap, or waste on a schedule, and the sale is a recurring pickup with a price that moves with the metal market. Each plant is an account, and each dock or yard is a site record with the container type and pickup frequency. A new plant is an opportunity with the material and expected monthly volume. Customer Insights - Journeys sends a price update to plants by material, such as steel, aluminum, or copper, and starts a check in journey when a plant misses two pickups. Power BI shows volume by plant and by material. Scale tickets and invoices stay in your weighing and billing system.
Scientific instrument, lab supply, and research services companies selling to labs in University Circle and across Greater Cleveland
University and hospital labs buy from grant funds, so the sale follows a funding calendar as much as a need. Each lab is an account with the principal investigator, the lab manager, and the purchasing contact, and each quote is an opportunity with a funding source, a requested purchase order date, and the fiscal year end by which the money has to be spent. Customer Insights - Journeys sends consumable reorder reminders by instrument model and a quote reminder ahead of fiscal year end. Power BI shows quotes by funding month. Grant numbers and award terms stay with the lab, and your team records only what it needs to ship and invoice.
Building product makers selling through architects, contractors, and distributors in Cleveland, Beachwood, and Independence
The architect who specifies your product, the contractor who installs it, and the distributor who ships it are three different accounts on one project. Each project is a record with the owner, the architect, and the bid date, and a specification is logged as an opportunity before any contractor asks for a price. Customer Insights - Journeys sends product updates and lunch and learn invitations to architects by building type, and bid day reminders to contractors on projects where you are specified. Power BI shows specified projects that never reached a quote, which tells reps where to call. Product data and submittal files stay in your document system.
Planning Your Dynamics 365 Sales and Marketing Implementation
Discovery & CRM/Marketing Audit
We map your current Sales pipeline configuration, your marketing automation setup, and exactly where the handoff breaks today. For Cleveland teams, we start with a video session, can meet at your plant or office by arrangement, and list the buyers whose timing is set by a calendar you do not control, such as a shipping season or a grant deadline.
Alignment & Implementation Design
We agree on one lead scoring model and one handoff SLA before any configuration starts, with a fixed-price roadmap.
Build & Migrate
Our certified Power Platform developers configure Sales and Customer Insights - Journeys, migrate existing data, and connect Power BI reporting. Typically 4 to 8 weeks depending on scope.
Optimize & Scale
We stay on to tune scoring thresholds, extend journeys, and add the Copilot/AI layer as adoption grows. After your first full sales cycle, our Hilliard team reviews score thresholds, protected account lists, and rebuilt journeys with you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Talk to our Dynamics 365 Sales & Marketing experts
Free 30-minute discovery call. We'll audit your current CRM and marketing automation setup, map the handoff gap, and scope a fixed-price implementation plan.
