What does Microsoft Copilot for Sales offer?

What is Copilot?

In early 2023, Microsoft released its first version of Copilot as a chatbot to replace Cortana, its early-stage virtual assistant. Cortana used the Bing search engine to perform simple tasks for users, such as setting reminders and answering basic questions. Then, Microsoft built Copilot on its Prometheus AI model as a built-in feature for Microsoft Bing and Microsoft Edge.

As the app continued to grow in adoption and functionality, Microsoft recognized an opportunity to support specific functions inside businesses, such as sales enablement. In February 2024, it released Copilot for Sales to bring the tool to productivity apps that sales teams use daily.

What is Copilot for Sales?

Copilot for Sales is an intelligent assistant designed to help sales teams navigate complex activities. The tool natively integrates with Microsoft 365 apps, as well as CRM services, like Dynamics 365 and Salesforce, to assist sales reps with daily tasks. For example, it can automate data entry, summarize customer interactions and offer real-time recommendations to enhance productivity. Sales reps can use the tool to cut down time spent on administrative tasks, and instead build relationships and close deals.

Microsoft designed Copilot for Sales to assist teams throughout the sales pipeline, from prospecting to closing deals. The tool uses language models to analyze vast amounts of customer data such as emails, meetings and other CRM data to extract insights and suggest next steps. It serves as a virtual assistant, offering reps personalized suggestions based on historical data, customer sentiment and prior interactions.

For team leaders, it offers better visibility into the sales pipeline, improves forecasting and enables more accurate decision-making. Copilot for Sales can recommend the most effective next steps in customer interactions to ensure sales reps don't miss an opportunity.

Key features of Copilot for Sales

Copilot for Sales uses generative AI to automate tasks and generate real-time insights. It integrates with CRM systems and productivity tools in the Microsoft 365 suite, so it can help sales teams focus on high-value activities, such as closing deals and building customer relationships, rather than administrative duties. The following features ensure the tool can support sales teams.

1. Content creation

Copilot for Sales can help sales reps create content, such as email drafts, call summaries and follow-up templates. It analyzes customer data and past interactions, so it can draft personalized emails that reflect the tone and context of ongoing conversations. This feature saves time in crafting individualized communications while ensuring customer outreach remains personalized.

2. Next step recommendations

The tool can also suggest the next best actions. Copilot analyzes ongoing deals and offers insights on effective next steps -- for example, to schedule a follow-up meeting, send a specific resource or move the opportunity forward in the CRM. AI models can learn from past successful sales interactions to drive these suggestions.

3. Call analysis and summaries

Sales calls are often rich with information, but manual notetaking can lead to missed details. Copilot can extract key points and customer sentiment to create call summaries and analyze transcripts to highlight important discussion topics for sales teams to follow up on after the call.

4. Sales forecasting

Because Copilot can integrate with CRM data, it offers more accurate sales forecasts. It evaluates historical data, current pipeline trends and customer behaviors to create actionable insights for sales leaders to make informed decisions. This feature also helps sales teams adjust their strategies to meet targets more efficiently.

5. Automated CRM updates

Manual data entry into CRM systems can be time-consuming. Copilot automates this process and logs interactions, updates records and identifies missing or outdated information in the CRM. With these automated updates, sales teams can trust their CRM data is up to date and get a clearer picture of the sales pipeline.

6. Customer insights

Copilot analyzes customer interactions, behaviors and preferences to help sales reps better understand potential buyers' needs and pain points and tailor communications to them. With this feature, sales teams can prioritize high-value leads and focus their efforts where they are most likely to succeed.

Copilot for Sales licensing

Microsoft offers a flexible pricing model to cater to both existing customers and new adopters.

Existing customers

Organizations that already use Microsoft products, such as Dynamics 365 or Microsoft 365, can add Copilot as an integrated tool within their current subscription plans. In these cases, deployment is straightforward.

Existing Microsoft 365 Copilot customers can add the Copilot for Sales license to their subscription for an additional $20 per user monthly, with an annual commitment. Customers who already have a Dynamics 365 Sales Premium subscription would pay an additional $30 per user monthly for Copilot for Sales.

New customers

Non-Microsoft users can explore licensing packages with support services designed for quick deployment and integration, making it accessible to a broader range of businesses. Additionally, Microsoft offers a pay-per-user licensing option, so organizations only pay for the number of users who actively use Copilot for Sales.

Still, new customers need a product license for some version of the Microsoft 365 or Office 365 suites to purchase Copilot for Sales. With an annual commitment, new customers would get the tool for $50 per user monthly.

Ultimately, Copilot for Sales is an add-on to existing Microsoft subscriptions and requires an organization to purchase Microsoft products to gain access to it.

Griffin LaFleur is a MarketingOps and RevOps professional working for Swing Education. Throughout his career, LaFleur has also worked at agencies and independently as a B2B sales and marketing consultant.