If you don’t have Windows 7 yet, no worries… I’ve also posted the same wallpapers used in the theme.  Enjoy!

Microsoft Dynamics CRM Theme (v1)

Microsoft Dynamics CRM [...]]]> I recently got a Windows 7 upgrade on my work laptop.  To celebrate, I created a couple Windows 7 Themes and decided to share them here.

If you don’t have Windows 7 yet, no worries… I’ve also posted the same wallpapers used in the theme.  Enjoy!

Microsoft Dynamics CRM Theme (v1)

Microsoft Dynamics CRM Theme (v2)

¡Socorro!

The other new international discussion groups will be excellent support resources for [...]]]> There are new discussion group resources available in your quest for answers regarding Microsoft Dynamics CRM, most notably a CRM Online forum.  Engage with the MVP Experts and discover a solution to that one support or development issue that’s been gnawing at your patience all week.

¡Socorro!

The other new international discussion groups will be excellent support resources for our Spanish, Italian, German, Russian and Chinese brethren.

See all Dynamics CRM discussion group links below, and be sure to bookmark the ones you’ll need!

Link to all Dynamics discussion groups, including Dynamics GP:
http://social.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/category/dynamics/

CRM
Forum for discussions with Microsoft CRM experts, MVPs, and Partners.

CRM Deployment
Forum for discussing Microsoft CRM deployment questions.

CRM Development
Forum for discussing customization, add-ins, and integration with Microsoft CRM.
 
CRM Online
Forum for discussing Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online specific questions.

CRM Chinese
CRM community space for an international audience, these new forums will be monitored by the CRM MVP team.

CRM Italian
CRM community space for an international audience, these new forums will be monitored by the CRM MVP team.

CRM Spanish
CRM community space for an international audience, these new forums will be monitored by the CRM MVP team.

Microsoft Dynamics AX/NAV/CRM
Microsoft Dynamics AX, NAV and CRM Russian Discussion Group.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM (German)
Mit Microsoft Dynamics CRM optimieren Sie all Ihre kundenorientierten Geschäftsprozesse. Diskutieren Sie mit anderen Anwendern oder stellen Sie ihre Frage rund um die Installation, Anpassung und Entwicklung von Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

Q: Suppose you have a new contact from an existing customer [...]]]> I recently received an e-mail from El-Noor Rashid with several interesting “what-if” scenarios on what is and what isn’t a Lead and Opportunity in Dynamics CRM.  I gave him my interpretation of what qualifies, but feel free to rehash these scenarios and give your own feedback.

Q: Suppose you have a new contact from an existing customer base (already an customer Account) that has an interest in your product/service and gives you his biz card. Is this a Lead or an Opportunity?

On the one hand this brand new contact has an unqualified interest in your products/services, but you are dealing with an existing Account.  My opinion is that this would be a Lead until there is sufficient interest to make them a qualified Lead and then you can move them to an Opty to generate a Quote.

A:  The way I would define that situation is to first add the new Contact to the Account, then create an Opportunity from the Account (or Contact).  The fact that you already have an established relationship with the Account elevates that Lead instantly to a new Opportunity.  The Opportunity can start at the initial sales stage, with a modest probability percentage (even 0%).

In my view, the Lead entity in an out-of-the-box CRM deployment is really designed for those you haven’t contacted yet and have minimal information.  The beauty of CRM, though, is that it can be customized any way you interpret the sales process.

A special case would be a contact-centered organization, like a doctor’s office.  A new person you just met that is interested in your medical services would start off as a Lead, until they book their first appointment; after which, they can be considered as a Contact with a history of sales records.

Q: What if you are dealing with a existing Account AND and existing Contact (for that account). That person is interested in learning more about a specific product or service. Is this considered a Lead because the interest is still general, yet qualified or because both the Account AND Contact existing in the CRM, that this is automatically an Opty?

A:  Again, I would still say it is automatically an Opportunity, albeit at its most initial sales stage.  You already have some established relationship with both the existing Account and Contact.

Q: Similar to the above question. What if the both the Account and the Contact existed, but the Account is Prospective because the orginal Opty was Lost, everything else is the same as the previous questions. Lead or Opty?

A: Still a new Opportunity.  Though the Account hasn’t yet contracted your services and isn’t officially a customer, you’ve probably already emailed, called or met the Contact from the previously lost Opportunity.

Q: If we have a new Lead (new Account), the general rule of thumb is when the Lead is qualified, it turns into a ‘Prospective’ Account + Opportunity + Contact. When the Opty is ‘Won’ then you would set the status to ‘Customer’ for that Account; otherwise if it is ‘Lost’, keep things the way they are. Is this how you see the progression of a Lead?

What worries some people is that the Account table will be contaminated and dominated with so many ’Prospective’ Accounts? What would be the response to these people to allay their fears or is a legitimate concern?

A:  The sales process you described is what I believe the natural order of things in Microsoft CRM.  I agree that the Account table will have many Prospective Accounts, but the important factor is that you have established communication with the Account, though it wasn’t successful.  This sales process aligns with the “Customer Relationship” philosophy in CRM.

The best method to allay your users fears of a cluttered Account database is to modify the default Account view.  Simply create two different views, something like “Active Customers” and “Prospective Accounts”.  Modify the filters for both to only show those relative accounts, then set the “Active Customers” view as Default.  After these steps, your users will only see Active Customers right away instead of the whole Account database.  If they just want to see Prospective Accounts, they’d simply select that view.  From their point of view, CRM would be cleanly partitioned.

Lately the big news in the browser world is that Microsoft recently released beta version 2 of Internet Explorer.  Since it’s still in its beta version, there’s bound to be some applications and websites that it does not yet support. Unfortunately, that includes Microsoft Dynamics CRM (for now).

Martin Jenson of the [...]]]>

Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2

Lately the big news in the browser world is that Microsoft recently released beta version 2 of Internet Explorer.  Since it’s still in its beta version, there’s bound to be some applications and websites that it does not yet support. Unfortunately, that includes Microsoft Dynamics CRM (for now).

Martin Jenson of the Dynamics CRM Team recommends that CRM users “do not install Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 on any machine used to access any version of Microsoft Dynamics CRM.”

In conclusion, the better scenario right now is to wait until Internet Explorer 8 goes RTM (Release To Market), after Microsoft has ironed out the compatibility issues.

UPDATE:  My installed version of IE8 Beta 2 renders CRM 4.0 just fine on my workstation.  See below for a screenshot of the Settings page.

IE8 Beta 2 works with CRM 4.0, but is likely not supported until the RTM version.

If you’re looking to test out IE8 Beta 2 yourself, you can download the installer at this link:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/internet-explorer/beta/worldwide-sites.aspx

Download a PDF copy, or visit the online magazine [...]]]> Wow, lots of CRM news to catch up on this week!  Destination CRM Magazine has an excellent piece regarding the history, competition and future of Microsoft CRM.  There’s a Steve Ballmer interview discussing the concept of “xRM”, an interview with Microsoft CRM General Manager Brad Wilson, and more.

Download a PDF copy, or visit the online magazine at the second link.

• Destination CRM Magazine, July 2008, “Is Microsoft Winning the CRM Race?” [PDF] 4.8MB
  
• View the magazine in your browser:
  • http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/crmmedia/crm0708/#/22

This is perfect for data migration planning, when you’ll need to see the list of attributes (aka fields) per each entity, along with their existing relationships. [...]]]> This ICU MSCRM blog article reminded me of the little known SDK website called the CRM Metadata Browser, where you can access a nicely summarized view of your CRM metadata.

This is perfect for data migration planning, when you’ll need to see the list of attributes (aka fields) per each entity, along with their existing relationships. All of this data is neatly formatted per entity page. Hope it turns out useful for you!

Whether for CRM 3.0 or 4.0, browse out to…

• http://YourCRMWebsite/sdk/list.aspx
• Example: http://crm/sdk/list.aspx

CRM Metadata Browser: screenshot of the Contact entity

According to the description:

Update Rollup 3 is a tested, cumulative set of updates for [...]]]> Thanks to Larry’s Taco Talk, I was informed this morning that the latest Update Rollup for Dynamics CRM 3.0 was released today! Great for those who haven’t taken the plunge yet with CRM 4.0… despite the many reasons one should!

According to the description:

Update Rollup 3 is a tested, cumulative set of updates for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 Server and Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 client for Outlook, including performance enhancements, that are packaged together for easy deployment.

There are two separate downloads:

• CRM Server update – CRM3.0-KB935364-v2-Server-ENU.exe (6MB)
• CRM Outlook Client update – CRM3.0-KB935364-v2-Client-ENU.exe (10.2MB)

Check out the link for the full KB article summary and download links.

Update Rollup 3 for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 (KB 935364)