Microsoft Dynamics™ CRM 4 For Dummies®

Microsoft Dynamics™ CRM 4 For Dummies®

by
Released July 2008
Publisher(s): For Dummies
ISBN: 9780470343258

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Book description

Customer relationship management, or CRM, is certainly a hot topic in business today. If you have a small or medium-sized business, chances are you’re already aware of all it can do for you. But with so many options and so much to think about, how do you get a CRM system in place with a minimum of hassle? Well, Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4 For Dummies is a great place to start!

Written by veteran CRM experts Joel Scott and David Lee, this friendly guide will have you understanding and using Microsoft’s CRM solution in a jiffy. Whether you’re considering a CRM system for the first time or you’ve decided to switch from another system to Microsoft Dynamics CRM, this book will make it easy to:

  • Maintain and manage all your customer informationw

  • Personalize Microsoft CRM to work for your business

  • Set up CRM to support sales, marketing, and customer service

  • Use the Outlook client

  • Manage territories and business units

  • Create and manage activities

  • Generate quotes and invoices

  • Implement and manage a marketing campaign

  • Work with contracts, and much morelistitem

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4 For Dummies is packed with information on the latest version, It will help you get a unified view of your customer information and interactions through integrated sales, marketing, and customer service features. And that, as every business owner knows, is important to improving your bottom line!

Table of contents

  1. Copyright
  2. About the Authors
  3. Authors' Acknowledgments
  4. Introduction
    1. How CRM Fits in the Market
    2. How to Use This Book
    3. Foolish Assumptions
    4. How This Book Is Organized
      1. Part I: Microsoft CRM Basics
      2. Part II: Setting Things Up
      3. Part III: Managing Sales
      4. Part IV: Making the Most of Marketing
      5. Part V: Taking Care of Your Customers
      6. Part VI: The Part of Tens
    5. Icons Used in This Book
    6. Where to Go from Here
  5. I. Microsoft CRM Basics
    1. 1. Taking a First Look at Microsoft CRM 4
      1. 1.1. Tracking Your Contacts
      2. 1.2. Communicating with the Outside World
      3. 1.3. Integrating with Accounting
        1. 1.3.1. Why integrate?
        2. 1.3.2. Other accounting systems
      4. 1.4. Setting Up Business Processes
      5. 1.5. Coordinating Microsoft CRM with Your Success Plan
        1. 1.5.1. Defining your goals
        2. 1.5.2. Implementing a pilot program
      6. 1.6. Live versus On-Premise
        1. 1.6.1. Security
        2. 1.6.2. Access
        3. 1.6.3. Total cost of ownership
      7. 1.7. Being Mobile
      8. 1.8. Server Editions
        1. 1.8.1. Workgroup
        2. 1.8.2. Professional
        3. 1.8.3. Enterprise
        4. 1.8.4. Migrating from one version to another
      9. 1.9. Using Microsoft CRM Successfully
    2. 2. Using the Outlook Client — Or Not
      1. 2.1. The Microsoft CRM Online Outlook Client
      2. 2.2. The Microsoft CRM Offline Outlook Client
      3. 2.3. The Microsoft CRM Web Client
      4. 2.4. What's New in Microsoft CRM 4 Outlook Client
    3. 3. Navigating the Microsoft CRM System
      1. 3.1. Whirlwind Tour of the Screen
        1. 3.1.1. Navigation pane
        2. 3.1.2. Status bar
        3. 3.1.3. Window
      2. 3.2. First Things First — Signing On
      3. 3.3. The Workplace Is Your Starting Point
        1. 3.3.1. Navigating at the application level
        2. 3.3.2. Navigating at the record level
        3. 3.3.3. Your first navigation lessons
      4. 3.4. Filtering and Searching for Records
        1. 3.4.1. Filtering records
        2. 3.4.2. Searching with the magnifying glass icon
        3. 3.4.3. Searching with the Form Assistant
        4. 3.4.4. Searching with the Advanced Find feature
      5. 3.5. Using the Resource Center
  6. II. Setting Things Up
    1. 4. Personalizing Your System
      1. 4.1. Tailoring the System to Suit Your Needs
        1. 4.1.1. General tab: Customizing a variety of user preferences
        2. 4.1.2. Workplace tab: Simplifying your navigation pane
        3. 4.1.3. Activities tab: Displaying appointments and setting your work hours
        4. 4.1.4. Formats tab: Adapting CRM to your part of the world
        5. 4.1.5. E-mail Templates tab: Speed the process of handling e-mails
        6. 4.1.6. E-mail tab: Routing your CRM messages
        7. 4.1.7. Privacy tab: Indicating when to report errors to Microsoft
        8. 4.1.8. Language tab: Choosing the language you see onscreen
      2. 4.2. Establishing Your User Profile
        1. 4.2.1. Providing general information about yourself
        2. 4.2.2. Joining teams to share records
        3. 4.2.3. Viewing security roles
        4. 4.2.4. Announcing which hours you'll be working
        5. 4.2.5. Monitoring workflows
    2. 5. Managing Territories
      1. 5.1. Setting Up Sales Territories
      2. 5.2. Managing Territories
    3. 6. Managing Business Units and Teams
      1. 6.1. Managing Business Units
      2. 6.2. Managing Teams
        1. 6.2.1. Creating teams
        2. 6.2.2. Assigning users to teams
    4. 7. Using the Product Catalog
      1. 7.1. Overview of the Product Catalog
      2. 7.2. Getting to the Product Catalog Window
      3. 7.3. Creating a Discount List
      4. 7.4. Creating a Unit Group
      5. 7.5. Creating a Price List
      6. 7.6. Adding Products
    5. 8. Understanding Security and Access Rights
      1. 8.1. Security Overview
      2. 8.2. Setting Restrictions with User Privileges
      3. 8.3. Further Defining Permissions with Access Levels
      4. 8.4. Looking at Predefined Roles
      5. 8.5. Assigning Roles
      6. 8.6. Sharing Information with Others on Your Team
        1. 8.6.1. Defining a team
        2. 8.6.2. Sharing and assigning
        3. 8.6.3. Unsharing
      7. 8.7. Sharing and Not Sharing Data
        1. 8.7.1. Sharing records
        2. 8.7.2. Sharing multiple records
        3. 8.7.3. Unsharing records
        4. 8.7.4. Assigning records
        5. 8.7.5. Streamlining the assignment of permissions
    6. 9. Implementing Business Rules and Workflow
      1. 9.1. Workflow Components
      2. 9.2. Limitations of Workflow
      3. 9.3. Creating Workflow Rules
        1. 9.3.1. Testing a new rule
        2. 9.3.2. Creating On-Demand (manual) rules
        3. 9.3.3. Creating follow-up rules
        4. 9.3.4. Testing a manual rule
      4. 9.4. Monitoring Your Workflow
      5. 9.5. Workflow Glossary
        1. 9.5.1. Events
        2. 9.5.2. Conditions
        3. 9.5.3. Actions
        4. 9.5.4. To workflow infinity and beyond...
    7. 10. Creating and Running Reports
      1. 10.1. Adding Report Categories
      2. 10.2. Navigating the Report Area
      3. 10.3. Using Viewing Options
      4. 10.4. Exporting and Printing Your Report
      5. 10.5. Accessing the Report Wizard
      6. 10.6. Report Settings
      7. 10.7. Editing Reports
      8. 10.8. Creating Excel Reports
  7. III. Managing Sales
    1. 11. Setting Sales Quotas and Dealing with Forecasts
      1. 11.1. How a Manager Sets Up Quotas
        1. 11.1.1. Fiscal year settings
        2. 11.1.2. Setting up a salesperson's quota
      2. 11.2. Entering Sales Forecasts
      3. 11.3. Updating Your Forecasts
      4. 11.4. Examining the Forecasts
        1. 11.4.1. Printing a report
        2. 11.4.2. Using Excel to examine forecast data
    2. 12. Handling Leads and Opportunities
      1. 12.1. Processing Leads from Suspects
        1. 12.1.1. Getting to the Leads window
        2. 12.1.2. Creating a lead manually
        3. 12.1.3. Modifying a lead
        4. 12.1.4. Giving up on a lead
        5. 12.1.5. Resurrecting a lead
      2. 12.2. Turning a Lead into an Opportunity
      3. 12.3. Handling Opportunities
        1. 12.3.1. Creating and modifying opportunities
        2. 12.3.2. Assigning and sharing opportunities
        3. 12.3.3. Relating opportunities to activities or other records
        4. 12.3.4. Managing stages and relationships
        5. 12.3.5. Closing, reopening, and deleting opportunities
    3. 13. Working with Accounts and Contacts
      1. 13.1. Adding and Editing Contacts
      2. 13.2. Adding and Editing Accounts and Subaccounts
        1. 13.2.1. Exploring account records and their four sections
        2. 13.2.2. Setting up subaccounts
      3. 13.3. Finding and Viewing Account Information
        1. 13.3.1. Finding an account by name
        2. 13.3.2. Using Advanced Find to perform a more sophisticated search
      4. 13.4. Assigning and Sharing Accounts
        1. 13.4.1. Assigning accounts to users
        2. 13.4.2. Sharing accounts
    4. 14. Creating and Managing Activities
      1. 14.1. No Outlook Here
      2. 14.2. Viewing Your Calendar
      3. 14.3. Viewing Your Activities
      4. 14.4. Creating an Appointment for Yourself from the Activities Screen
      5. 14.5. Scheduling for Other People
      6. 14.6. Assigning an Activity to Someone
      7. 14.7. Completing an Activity
    5. 15. Using Notes and Attachments
      1. 15.1. Creating Notes
      2. 15.2. Creating Attachments
      3. 15.3. Deleting a Note or an Attachment
    6. 16. Generating Quotes, Orders, and Invoices
      1. 16.1. Creating and Activating Quotes
        1. 16.1.1. Creating a quote
        2. 16.1.2. Activating a quote
      2. 16.2. Associating Opportunities and Quotes
      3. 16.3. Printing a Quote
      4. 16.4. Converting a Quote to an Order
      5. 16.5. Generating Invoices from Orders
    7. 17. Setting Up Sales Literature and Dealing with Competitors
      1. 17.1. Adding Literature
      2. 17.2. Modifying Literature
      3. 17.3. Relating Literature to Competitors
      4. 17.4. Adding and Tracking Competitors
    8. 18. Implementing Sales Processes
      1. 18.1. The General Principles
        1. 18.1.1. Alerts
        2. 18.1.2. Escalation
        3. 18.1.3. Feedback and analysis
      2. 18.2. Planning Your Sales Stages
  8. IV. Making the Most of Marketing
    1. 19. Targeting Accounts and Contacts
      1. 19.1. Targeting the Right People
      2. 19.2. Developing and Saving Marketing Lists
        1. 19.2.1. Creating marketing lists
        2. 19.2.2. Adding members to the marketing list
        3. 19.2.3. Populating a marketing list using Advanced Find
      3. 19.3. Editing a Marketing List
      4. 19.4. Removing Records from a Marketing List
      5. 19.5. Merging Mail from Marketing Lists
    2. 20. Managing Campaigns
      1. 20.1. Developing Your Campaign
      2. 20.2. Creating Campaigns
      3. 20.3. Planning Tasks
      4. 20.4. Defining Campaign Activities
      5. 20.5. Distributing Campaign Activities
      6. 20.6. Recording Campaign Responses
      7. 20.7. Relating Campaigns to Each Other
      8. 20.8. Working with Quick Campaigns
    3. 21. Integrating Your Web Site
      1. 21.1. Sending E-Mail to a Queue
      2. 21.2. Creating Records with Programming
      3. 21.3. Creating a Web Portal
  9. V. Taking Care of Your Customers
    1. 22. Working with Cases
      1. 22.1. Case Management Overview
      2. 22.2. Working in the Cases Window
      3. 22.3. Creating Cases
        1. 22.3.1. Filling in the General tab
        2. 22.3.2. Filling in the Notes and Article tab
      4. 22.4. Assigning and Accepting Cases
      5. 22.5. Tending to Cases
        1. 22.5.1. Resolving a case
        2. 22.5.2. Reactivating a case
    2. 23. Managing Your Subjects
      1. 23.1. Tips for Defining Your Subjects
      2. 23.2. Accessing the Subjects Window
      3. 23.3. Adding a Subject
      4. 23.4. Editing a Subject
      5. 23.5. Removing a Subject
      6. 23.6. Relating Subjects to Other Entities
        1. 23.6.1. Relating subjects to cases
        2. 23.6.2. Putting the case link to work
        3. 23.6.3. Relating a subject to a knowledge base article
        4. 23.6.4. Putting the article link to work
        5. 23.6.5. Relating a subject to the product catalog
        6. 23.6.6. Relating a subject to sales literature
    3. 24. Creating and Using the Knowledge Base
      1. 24.1. Organizing Information for Your Knowledge Base
      2. 24.2. Creating Article Templates
      3. 24.3. Creating a Knowledge Base Article
        1. 24.3.1. Submitting a draft article
        2. 24.3.2. Approving an article
      4. 24.4. Searching the Knowledge Base
    4. 25. Managing Queues
      1. 25.1. Queue Overview
      2. 25.2. Looking at Personal and Public Queues
      3. 25.3. Creating a Queue
      4. 25.4. Working with Cases and Activities Assigned to Queues
        1. 25.4.1. Assigning an activity to a queue
      5. 25.5. Accepting Queue Assignments
    5. 26. Working with Contracts
      1. 26.1. Creating a Contract Template
      2. 26.2. Understanding Contract Status
      3. 26.3. Creating a Contract
      4. 26.4. Adding Contract Lines to a New Contract
      5. 26.5. Renewing a Contract
      6. 26.6. Creating a Case and Linking It to a Contract
  10. VI. The Part of Tens
    1. 27. The Top 10 (Or So) Add-on Products for Microsoft CRM 4
      1. 27.1. Checking Spelling with Google Toolbar
      2. 27.2. Automating Processes and Generating Alerts
      3. 27.3. Increasing Your Productivity with c360
      4. 27.4. Increasing Your Productivity with Axonom's Powertrak
      5. 27.5. Migrating and Manipulating Your Data
      6. 27.6. Accessing Instant Advice, Tips, and Tricks
      7. 27.7. Displaying Data in Graphical Formats
      8. 27.8. Upgrading Your Service Area
    2. 28. Ten Ways to Get Help
      1. 28.1. Using Microsoft CRM's Built-in Help
      2. 28.2. Reading the Blog
      3. 28.3. Accessing the Resource Center
      4. 28.4. Getting the Straight Story from Newsgroups or Forums
      5. 28.5. Finding an Expert
      6. 28.6. Using Technical Sites for Developers
      7. 28.7. Investing in Training
      8. 28.8. Selecting Microsoft Packaged Service and Support
      9. 28.9. Getting in Touch with Us
      10. 28.10. Accessing General CRM Resources Online
    3. A. Converting to Microsoft CRM
      1. A.1. Developing a Process for the Conversion
      2. A.2. Evaluating the Current System
      3. A.3. Defining Expectations
      4. A.4. A Word on Reports
      5. A.5. Designing the System
      6. A.6. Implementing the Design
      7. A.7. Testing the System
      8. A.8. Cleaning the Data
      9. A.9. Migrating the Data
      10. A.10. Training the Staff
    4. B. Managing Your Data
      1. B.1. Tips for Creating Duplicate Detection Rules
      2. B.2. To Dot or Not to Dot, That Is the Question
      3. B.3. Defining Duplicate Detection Rules
      4. B.4. Creating a Duplicate Detection Rule
      5. B.5. Editing a Duplicate Detection Rule
      6. B.6. Putting the Rule to Work
      7. B.7. Importing and Exporting
        1. B.7.1. Creating data maps
        2. B.7.2. Editing data maps
        3. B.7.3. Importing records
        4. B.7.4. Exporting and re-importing data

Product information

  • Title: Microsoft Dynamics™ CRM 4 For Dummies®
  • Author(s):
  • Release date: July 2008
  • Publisher(s): For Dummies
  • ISBN: 9780470343258