Special Edition Using® Microsoft® CRM

Special Edition Using® Microsoft® CRM

by Laura Brown, John Gravely
Released August 2003
Publisher(s): Que
ISBN: 9780789728821

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Book description

A sophisticated yet easy-to-use software program, Microsoft CRM handles the full range of Sales and Customer Service functions, and allows the user to access key customer and sales information from Microsoft Outlook and the Web. It is designed for rapid deployment, ease of use, and integration with Microsoft Office and Microsoft Great Plains' back-office solutions, increasing information reliability, employee usage and productivity.

Special Edition Using Microsoft CRM shows sales, service, and business development specialists how to manage small businesses with the sophisticated technology that, until now, has been reserved for large corporations. Based on the author's real-world experience building CRM systems, this book provides the expert advice that MS CRM users need. To make the move to customer-centric operations using MS CRM, companies need an in-depth guide to managing the process, using the software, and making the implementation decisions that are required.

Table of contents

  1. Copyright
  2. About the Authors
  3. Acknowledgments
  4. We Want to Hear from You!
  5. Reader Services
  6. Introduction
    1. Who Should Read This Book?
    2. A Multilevel Reference
    3. Special Features in the Book
    4. Summary
  7. CRM Basics
    1. CRM Is a Business Strategy
    2. Effects of E-business and Evolving Capabilities
    3. Microsoft's CRM Product
    4. Interacting with CRM Systems
    5. Summary
  8. The CRM Landscape: Why Now?
    1. CRM System Evolution
    2. Marketing Department Changes
    3. CRM and Transaction Processing
    4. Change Management and Market Strategy
    5. The Technology of Microsoft CRM
    6. Summary
  9. Microsoft CRM Functional and Conceptual Overview
    1. Microsoft Business Solutions, Microsoft, and Microsoft Great Plains
    2. Microsoft CRM Product Positioning
    3. Microsoft CRM Versions and Licensing
    4. Microsoft CRM User Interfaces
    5. Named User Licensing
    6. CRM Platform
    7. Microsoft CRM Concepts
    8. Opportunities and Cases
    9. Core CRM Objects
    10. Use Case Corner—Expediting Activity Record Creation
    11. Summary
  10. Setting Up Microsoft CRM
    1. Arriving at Consensus
    2. Global Settings
    3. Microsoft CRM Organization Structure and Security
    4. Delete Versus Deactivate
    5. Microsoft CRM, Exchange Server, and Active Directory
    6. The Microsoft CRM Exchange Connector
    7. Owners, Assignment, and Sharing
    8. Subject Hierarchy in Microsoft CRM
    9. Product Catalog
    10. Template Manager
    11. Use Case Corner
    12. Summary
  11. Home Page, Workplace, and Navigation
    1. The Microsoft CRM Home Page
    2. Microsoft CRM Navigation Map
    3. Setting the Miscellaneous User Options
    4. Microsoft CRM Info Views and Searching
    5. Workplace
    6. Errors in Microsoft CRM
    7. Use Case Corner—Navigation to Other Resources Through a Simple Quick Launch Customization
    8. Summary
  12. Sales Force Automation (SFA)
    1. B2B Versus B2C
    2. Leads
    3. Sales Territory Manager
    4. Quotas
    5. Opportunities
    6. Products
    7. Competitors
    8. Activities and Sales Process
    9. Marketing Functionality
    10. Use Case Corner—Tracking Marketing Campaigns
    11. Summary
  13. Microsoft CRM Sales for Outlook
    1. Offline Concepts
    2. The Microsoft CRM Sales for Outlook Interface
    3. Mailboxes and Folders
    4. Typical Microsoft CRM Configuration
    5. Going Offline/Synchronizing
    6. Synchronization Under the Hood
    7. Configuration and Customization
    8. Deployment Considerations
    9. Use Case Corner—Mobile Portal: Extending the Reach of Microsoft CRM
    10. Summary
  14. Customer Service
    1. Customer Service Concepts
    2. Understanding Customer Service Object Relationships
    3. Contract Templates
    4. Service Contracts
    5. Cases
    6. Queues
    7. Use Case Corner—Gracefully Transitioning a New Customer to Your Service Department
    8. Summary
  15. Microsoft CRM Reports
    1. Report Navigation
    2. Report Creation and Modification
    3. Use Case Corner—c360 SearchPac for Microsoft CRM
    4. Summary
  16. Configuring Microsoft CRM
    1. Why Configure?
    2. Configuration Tools
    3. Deployment Manager
    4. System Customization
    5. Customizing Forms
    6. Status and Status Reason
    7. Use Case Corner—Adding Java Script to the OnChange Event of Picklist Fields
    8. Summary
  17. Workflow
    1. Workflow Manager
    2. Workflow Actions
    3. Workflow Conditions
    4. Creating a Sales Process
    5. Workflow Monitor
    6. Workflow Security Settings
    7. Use Case Corner—Automating Business Processes Through the Microsoft CRM Workflow Monitor
    8. Summary
  18. Microsoft CRM Integration and Data Conversion
    1. Integration Basics
    2. Integration Components
    3. Integration Points
    4. Integration Deployment
    5. Integration Architecture
    6. Integration Settings
    7. BizTalk Document Tracking
    8. Initial Data Migration
    9. Use Case Corner—Scribe Migrate for Microsoft CRM: Data Migration
    10. Summary
  19. Customizing Microsoft CRM
    1. Microsoft CRM Configuration Files
    2. Links Customization
    3. Web Resources Customization
    4. Microsoft CRM SDK
    5. Clone Customization
    6. Activity Summary Customization
    7. Summary
  20. Redesigning Your Business for Customer-Centricity
    1. Make the Customer the Basis for CRM Design
    2. Integrate CRM Across the Enterprise
    3. Adopt the Strategic View
    4. Manage Customer Information as an Asset
    5. Fuse Traditional and e-Channels
    6. Utilize CRM Across Business Models
    7. Understand Your Business Process
    8. From Business Ambiguity to Technical Precision
    9. Enabling Customer-Centric Processes with Microsoft CRM
    10. Architecting a Shorter Time-to-Market
    11. Use Case Corner
    12. Summary
  21. Managing Your Service Vendors
    1. Establishing Your Requirements
    2. Finding the Best Products and Services
    3. Communicating Your Requirements
    4. Integrate Your Vendors
    5. Tying It All Together
    6. Partnership Model
    7. Use Case Corner
    8. Summary
  22. Installing and Maintaining Vendor Software and Services
    1. Set the Direction
    2. Implementation Strategies for CRM Projects
    3. Handling Changes and Continuous Improvement
    4. The Validation and Verification Processes
    5. Use Case Corner
    6. Summary
  23. Understanding the CRM Marketplace
    1. Market Dynamics
    2. Microsoft's Reseller Partner Channel
    3. Three Aspects of Corporate CRM
    4. Data Warehousing
    5. Other Services Related to CRM
    6. Solutions for the Small and Mid-Sized Business
    7. Use Case Corner
    8. Summary
  24. Accessing the CRM Online Community
    1. Online Communities
    2. CRM Communities Benefits
    3. Translating from Corporate CRM to Microsoft CRM for the SME
    4. Categories of Sites
    5. Sites by Category
    6. Summary
  25. Selecting a Consultant for Help Implementing Microsoft CRM
    1. Reasons to Hire a Consultant
    2. What to Look for in a Business Technology Consultant
    3. Due Diligence
    4. Defining Specialists
    5. What to Expect after You Sign
    6. Summary
  26. Future Directions for Microsoft CRM
    1. Background
    2. Market Timing
    3. The Next Step—Microsoft Business Framework (MBF)
    4. Short- and Long-Term Direction
    5. Summary
  27. About the CD-ROM
    1. What's on the CD-ROM
    2. Windows Installation Instructions
    3. License Agreement
  28. Index

Product information

  • Title: Special Edition Using® Microsoft® CRM
  • Author(s): Laura Brown, John Gravely
  • Release date: August 2003
  • Publisher(s): Que
  • ISBN: 9780789728821