Microsoft Dynamics™ CRM 4 For Dummies®

Chapter 23. Managing Your Subjects

Now you can slice and dice your data without a Ginsu! Subjects are great way to organize and relate data. In Microsoft CRM, you can relate subjects to cases, products, and knowledge base articles. Subjects are like buckets. Associate a case, for example, with a subject, and it goes into that subject bucket. Over time as cases build, you can run reports based on subject bucket. For example, a computer laptop manufacturer may decide to create three subjects: Hard Drive, Screen, and Keyboard. When a customer calls and opens a case regarding her laptop's malfunctioning screen, the case is associated with the Screen subject.

By tracking the subject of a case, an organization's support manager can then report on the number of cases open by support technician by subject. Additionally, support organizations can route cases by subject, ensuring the most qualified support technician is assigned to the case.

If subjects are arranged in buckets, it's possible for buckets to contain other buckets. This is called nesting. Subject nesting allows one bucket to reside inside another bucket. For example, the hard drive bucket could be found in the laptop bucket. Another, hard drive bucket could be found inside the desk-top computer bucket.

Also remember that Microsoft CRM subjects can not only be products but also services. For this chapter, we use Bikes, Clothing and Accessories, and Company Information as our subjects.

Structuring your subjects and their relationships ...