You probably heard the news Thursday morning about Microsoft getting European clearance to acquire LinkedIn and the acquisition deal closing. Salesforce.com has been kicking and screaming to press regulators not to allow the Microsoft LinkedIn acquisition to go through.

But why would Salesforce not want LinkedIn to be in Microsoft’s hands? Well, the answer from Salesforce is that it would create an anti-competitive environment for Microsoft’s competitors who also focus on sales software.

Salesforce.com and other CRM systems are widely used alongside LinkedIn data to generate leads and connect with prospective customers. Microsoft has its own sales software called, Microsoft Dynamics. Microsoft has been trying to get Dynamics to compete with Salesforce and other CRM systems for a long time, and with this acquisition, Microsoft now has a leg up above the competition with its unlimited access LinkedIn’s data used for sales and lead generation. Of course this would put sales software companies in an incredibly fearsome position. Given that they may not be able to compete with this newly formed behemoth.

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Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella released a statement saying that Microsoft plans to pursue a specific set of integration scenarios with LinkedIn, including:

LinkedIn identity and network in Microsoft Outlook and the Office suite

LinkedIn notifications within the Windows action center

Enabling members drafting résumés in Word to update their profiles, and discover and apply to jobs on LinkedIn

Extending the reach of Sponsored Content across Microsoft properties

Enterprise LinkedIn Lookup powered by Active Directory and Office 365

LinkedIn Learning available across the Office 365 and Windows ecosystem

Deveolping a business news desk across our content ecosysytem and MSN.com

Redefining social selling through the combination of Sales Navigator and Dynamics 365

How Does the Microsoft Linkedin Acquisition Affect the Commercial Real Estate Industry?

CRM users in the Commercial Real Estate field have always had a difficult time finding the right solution for lead generation. Most CRMs like Salesforce and Microsoft Dynamics are not geared towards people in the CRE services industry — however, LinkedIn data is heavily used. If Microsoft blocks or limits the capability of 3rd party CRM systems to use LinkedIn’s data that could be a huge blow to the productivity of commercial real estate users using those systems. If Microsoft blocks these 3rd party CRM systems brokers may have to migrate their existing data to Microsoft Dynamics (which doesn’t work well for their industry) or even potentially risk losing their competitive edge. This acquisition could potentially be a blow to salespeople in the CRE industry and negatively impact agents across the field. Everyone is on the edge of their seats waiting to see how Microsoft behaves after the acquisition.

At Digsy, our inside sales team uses LinkedIn enriched data to find and qualify business owners we can help find office, warehouse or retail space for. So, hopefully LinkedIn data will not be limited and continue to work for us.



How do you feel about the Microsoft LinkedIn acquisition?

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