Microsoft CRM 4.0 Ships!

As reported by Micheal Lu and Ben Vollmer from Microsoft, it looks like Microsoft CRM 4.0 (Titan) has shipped!

Stay tuned for more details!

In the mean time, if you would like a preview of Microsoft CRM 4.0, please feel free to contact us.

We'll be happy to demo the new version for you!

New From c360 | BI Analytics for Microsoft Dynamics CRM

I sat in on a totally killer demo today of c360's new BI Analytics toolset. This is a really neat tool which provides the capability (via cubes) to create Dashboards and KPIs within 10-15 minutes. Seriously. The only thing you need to be running in addtion to the regular system requirements for Microsoft CRM is SQL Server Analysis Services (i.e., SQL 2005 SP 2). I've included a couple of screenshots below. More information can be found at c360's website.

Screenshot 1 - Creating A New Cube:

Screenshot 2 - A Finished Dashboard:

What are you waiting for?!? Check with Navint for pricing details.

Microsoft CRM 4.0 (Titan) Features Overview

Microsoft CRM 4.0 is almost here!

Yes, version 3.0 is great but Microsoft CRM 4.0 (code named Titan) rocks. Microsoft finally lifted the NDA restrictions on October 1st so we can finally share with you what we can all look forward to in version 4.0.

If you were lucky enough to attend any of Navint's client summits in New England or New York, then you already saw and heard a bunch of what follows. If not then here's the top ten Titan features list that Mike Cross, Kris Kratky and I put together for Navint's recent client summits.

Note: There's one more Navint client summit scheduled on October 25th in LA for our West Coast clients.

Anyway, here's the the Microsoft CRM 4.0 top ten list. Let us know if you have any questions or if you want to see a demo of the new version.

(Disclaimer: What you are about to see is subject to change prior to Microsoft CRM 4.0's release at the end of this year.)

Navint's /Microsoft CRM 4.0 Top Ten

1) User Interface and Office Integration

- Office 2007 UI
- All CRM Activity Types Integrated with Outlook (get pop-up reminders for phone calls, etc.)
- Background Synch (no more manual synching)
- Word Mail Merge (for the web client too)
- Export to Excel (now includes access to EVERY object schema in Microsoft CRM)
- OneNote Integration
- Presence Management (with integration to Live Communication Server)
- Dynamics (GP, SL, NAV, AX) Integration

2) Architecture

- Multi-Tenant Architecture (CRM Live, Cheaper intra-enterprise deployments)
- Support For Internet Facing Deployment (no VPN needed!)

3) Internationalization

- Multi-Language (user-defined language specific UI)
- Multi-Region
- Multi-Currency (exchange rates are stored within the database)

4) Data Analysis

- Improved Advanced Find (now includes access to EVERY object schema in Microsoft CRM)
- Export to Excel (ODBC live/dynamic link)

5) Workflow and Reporting

- Workflow Manager (web client, added triggers, all entities support stages, Win WF based)
- Report Scheduling Utility
- SRS Report Wizard (create an SRS report in 7 clicks!)

6) Data Integrity and Enhancements

- Data Enrichment (Export CRM data to excel > Update it > Import it to update CRM records)
- Configurable Duplicate Detection (includes cross-enterprise notifications)

7) Data Import and Migration

- Data Import Wizard (supports import of data into ANY entity)
- Asychronous Processing (improve the speed of importing data)

8) Entity Relationships

- Many to Many
- System to System
- Self Referential

(Do you have any idea what this means?! Woo-hoo is all I can say!)

9) Developer Treats

- Server Side SDK
- Offline SDK (improve online/offline consistency)
- Offline APIs (improve online/offline consistency)
- Plug-ins (replace call outs)

10) Resource Center

- New Menu Item
- Find and Share Best Practices
- Access Online Help
- Submit Support Requests (from within the application)

With over 100 new features in Microsoft CRM 4.0, this top ten list barely scratches the surface. Future posts will get into much greater detail. We promise.

Please email us or give us a call if you want to see a Microsoft CRM 4.0 demo.

Also, Microsoft has promised Navint that upgrades to 4.0 are going to be smooth and seamless. More on that subject in future posts. Stay tuned.

What is a Lead in Microsoft Dynamics CRM?

One of the most common issues that crops up during a Microsoft CRM implementation is the confusion around the definition and purpose of the Lead entity, and how it relates to other common terms such as Suspect, Prospect, and Sales Opportunity. Confusion is particularly common among users of ACT!, Goldmine, and other contact managers due to the way these applications are designed.

Let's clear up the confusion once and for all! In this article, I do the following:

• Define a Lead in Microsoft CRM
  
• Explain how Suspects and Prospects are tracked as Leads in Microsoft CRM
  
• Explain how a Lead is converted to a Sales Opportunity, as well as an Account and/or Contact

By the end of the article, you should be able to envision how to use Microsoft CRM to track your leads.

Definition of Lead in Microsoft CRM

A lead in Microsoft CRM is either a Suspect or a Prospect:

• Suspect - a person who might be interested in what you sell but who has not yet indicated any interest. An example might be a list of people purchased from a service such as InfoUSA or D&B, or a list of names compiled from a telephone book.


• Prospect - a person who has expressed interest in what you sell, but who has not yet met the criteria to be considered a Sales Opportunity. An example might be a person who registered to download a whitepaper or to attend a webinar, but whom you have not yet qualified.

That's it! That's all a Lead is in Microsoft CRM.

In Microsoft CRM, Leads are separate from Accounts and Contacts. The main benefit of this design is the ease of segregating people who are very early in the sales process from those who are further along. In some organizations, sales people don't work with Leads in Microsoft CRM. Instead, it is the marketing people who work with Leads, and then once the Lead is converted to an Opportunity, the sales folks take over.

Keeping Leads separate from Accounts, Contacts, and Opportunities also makes it easier to develop workflow rules, reports, and security access.

How Suspects and Prospects are tracked as Leads in Microsoft CRM

Suspects and Prospects are both tracked as Leads in Microsoft CRM. Since this is the case, and since there is no standard out-of-the-box way to classify a Lead as a Suspect or Prospect (which is very important!), each organization needs to determine how to classify a Lead.

The most common method is to add a custom picklist attribute (done very quickly and easily) with two options: Suspect and Prospect. Another option is to add a bit attribute formatted as two radio buttons, with one button for Suspect and the second button for Prospect. See the screenshot below illustrating both options (click on the image to see a larger version).

How a Lead is Converted to an Account, Contact, and Sales Opportunity

Okay, so your lead was first a Suspect, then became a Prospect, and you have now determined that this is Prospect meets the criteria to be considered a Sales Opportunity, with a defined product or service to purchase and estimated buying timeframe. So what do you do with this Lead?

You click a button and convert it to a Sales Opportunity (or just Opportunity in Microsoft CRM).




Here is the ensuing dialog box. Note that with one click of a button, you can create three different records (Account, Contact, Opportunity) copying data from the Lead.




Once the Lead has been converted, this is what it looks like. Note that the fields are greyed-out (signifying that they are read-only) and that the status of "Qualified" appears in the lower left corner of the form.




Conclusion

And that's how a Lead is tracked in Microsoft CRM! There is a lot more to Lead Management than what this article discusses (capturing leads from a website, automating the assignment of leads, implementing a lead nurturing program, lead qualification criteria, etc.), but I hope that this helps you understand how your organization could start to use Microsoft CRM to manage your leads.

Free Guide and Templates for Using Bulk Import Wizard

A couple of weeks ago, I posted an entry on migrating/importing data into Microsoft CRM.

Since then, I have created two tools for our clients:

• Navint Guide to Importing Data into Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 Using the Bulk Import Wizard (Adobe PDF file)
  
• Navint Template for Bulk Import Wizard (Microsoft Excel file)
  

Until I can get these documents saved on one of our websites, you may get your own copy by sending an e-mail to me at mcross (at) navint (dot) com (I'm sure you can figure out the actual e-mail address. It's written this way to minimize harvesting of my e-mail address by spammers).

Just help me out and be sure to have "Free Microsoft CRM data import tools" in the subject of your e-mail.

Also, I will be sending you an e-mail with two attachments. To avoid problems with spam filters, please whitelist my e-mail address and be sure that your spam filters allow file attachments.

Enjoy!

Michael Cross
Microsoft Dynamics CRM Consultant

http://www.navint.com
http://navintmicrosoftcrm.blogspot.com

Using Scribe to monitor queues in Microsoft CRM

Recently, we were working on a project, and one of the requirements the client had was to automatically notify the appropriate users when new items entered each of the queues in Microsoft CRM. The purpose was to ensure that the users monitored the queues in a timely fashion, without having to be logged into CRM or having to remember to check the queues every 5 minutes.

I was thinking of having a developer create a Windows service that ran queries against the queue and queueitem tables, determined if any new items had entered the queue since the last time the service ran, and if so, send notifications to the appropriate people for each queue. Each queue would require its own e-mail message and recipients.

However, this solution required custom programming, and we did not have the time or budget to go this route. Therefore, the only way we could do this was to use workflow rules.

Now, using workflow rules might seem like a good solution...until it's time to implement. Here's the problem we experienced:

Workflow rules are based on a specific entity. In our case, we needed to create similar workflow rules for 6 entities: task, e-mail, fax, phone call, service activity, and case.

So, if we had 6 entities that could be assigned to queues, and we had 5 queues to which these 5 entities could be assigned, that translates into 30 workflow rules! What a royal pain in the rear to create and maintain!

You might think that we could have created workflow rules for the queue entity, and you would be wrong. Queues and queue items are not valid for workflow rules.

Unfortunately, workflow rules were our only option, so that's what we did.

However, since then, I have discovered a much better way.

I just completed my training and certification in Scribe Insight. During the training, I realized that this product could be used to do exactly what our client wanted. Basically, monitor selected queues every 5 minutes. If one or more queue items have entered the queue since the last time the monitoring service ran, then send the appropriate e-mails to the appropriate users.

Here's how to do this using Scribe Insight (click on each image to see an enlarged version):

1. Within the Scribe Console, create a new Collaboration or use an existing Collaboration.

2. For each queue that you want to monitor, create a monitor.

3. Create a source connection to the Microsoft CRM database.






4. Configure the source so it uses a query against the Queue and Queueitem tables. Be sure the Filters tab includes the queue name(s) and the queueitem enteredon field > :LastRunDateTime (variable).

















5. Set the Monitor Interval (e.g., every 5 minutes)








6. Activate the Monitor







7. Set the Alerting Options






8. Assign Items to Queues and Check Alert Log













That's it! Overall, a very simple process. So if you have 5 queues, you would probably need 5 Scribe monitors. However, this would depend on who is monitoring each queue. If one person is monitoring all 5 queues, you could get away with just one Scribe monitor.

Questions? Thoughts? Suggestions? Please post a comment.

How do I migrate/import data into Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0?

OPTIONS
When it comes to importing data into Microsoft CRM, there are a number of options to consider.

As discussed in the article "5 ways to import data", the five primary ways to import data into Microsoft CRM are:

• Bulk Import Wizard
• Data Migration Framework
• Data Migration Wizard for Microsoft Office Outlook with Business Contact Manager
• Microsoft Dynamics CRM Connector for Microsoft Dynamics GP
• Custom programming using the Microsoft CRM Software Development Kit (SDK)

A subset of the the last option, custom programming, involves the use of third-party off-the-shelf tools that are built specifically to use the Microsoft CRM SDK.

Two options for third-party tools are:

• Scribe Insight and the Scribe Adapter for Microsoft Dynamics CRM
• c360 Import Manager

I have used both of these tools, and I love them both.

So how do you decide which of the many options is best?

Well, it's as simple as answering the following questions. These questions identify situations that one or more of the options cannot handle. Therefore, choosing the best option becomes a process of elimination.

• Which entities need to be imported? Do you need more than Accounts, Contacts, Leads, and Campaign Responses?
  
• Do notes and attachments need to be imported?
  
• Do relationships between entities (e.g., contacts and parent accounts) need to be established?
  
• Is it a one-time import, or will the same import need to be done on an ongoing basis (e.g., import leads from multiple trade shows)?
• What is the source of the data?

For the third-party tools, under what circumstances would I choose one over the other?

Well, Scribe Insight and the Scribe Adapter for Microsoft Dynamics CRM can handle both data migration/import AND integration with other systems.

c360 Import Manager can only be used for importing data into Microsoft CRM. It is not applicable for real-time systems integration. As a result of a reduced set of features, c360 Import Manager is less expensive than the Scribe solution.


SUMMARY
I have imported data into Microsoft CRM using every single option listed above, with the exception of the Data Migration Wizard for Microsoft Office Outlook with Business Contact Manager (I have yet to find one business using Business Contact Manager for Outlook).

Each option is appropriate for certain situations. Your job is to figure out the best option for your situation.

Since the best option is not always so obvious, Navint Microsoft Dynamics CRM consultants are available to assist with that determination. Don't be shy! Give us a call or send us an e-mail. We would be glad to share our knowledge.

Should you use Open Source software?

Have you ever wondered if you should choose open source software, then I recommend you read this article on open source software.

You want to get right to the point? Then read the last two paragraphs of the article:

“If you take this path, you become a software development firm, and that kind of company needs to be run differently than a traditional retailer,” says Dustin Roberston, vice president of marketing. “The to-do list for maintaining the site gets so jammed that if you don’t have developers to throw at it, the list just grows and grows.”

Backcountry has 25 developers and engineers on a staff of 260. And Jenkins admits that even open-source software has limitations that the best developers cannot overcome. In those cases, he’s perfectly happy to purchase old-fashioned licensed applications. “I’m not going to go the extra mile just to be the zealot,” he says.

Hmmmm. How about that. Ten percent of the staff is composed of developers and engineers. Can you afford that?

If you don't have developers on staff, but you still want a CRM application that is adaptable and can be customized with minimal programming, then Microsoft Dynamics CRM might be just the ticket.

The design of Microsoft CRM allows non-programmers to customize the application to meet your needs. Microsoft calls this “Affordable Adaptability” and this is one reason why Microsoft CRM is being called an application platform.

Update Rollup 2 manual updates and configurations

Update Rollup 2 contains hotfixes and updates that you have to manually enable or manually configure. These hotfixes and these updates are described in the following Microsoft Knowledge Base articles.

919419 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/919419/) Duplicate queue items are created after you receive an e-mail message that was sent to a queue in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0

923818 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/923818/) Changes to the Type of Behavior option in a relationship entity are not saved after you import customizations in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0

925473 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/925473/) You can view the data of all system users when you click "Find Available Time" in the "Schedule Service Activity" dialog box in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0

925780 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/925780/) The address book provider for the Microsoft Dynamics CRM client for Outlook may take several hours to synchronize if there are many records in entities in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0

917348 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/917348/) You cannot configure a relationship in the "Relationship: Account to Account" dialog box in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0

929634 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929634/) After you upgrade Microsoft CRM 1.2 to Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0, you cannot rename or delete custom attributes that contain extended characters in their schema names

921235 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/921235/) You experience timeouts or slow performance when you reassign records from one user to another user in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0

For more information, see http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=927751

Navint named to the 2007 Microsoft Business Solutions President's Club and Inner Circle

Exciting news to report (at least it's exciting to us)!

Earlier this week we received notice that Navint has been named to both the 2007 Microsoft Business Solutions President's Club and the 2007 Microsoft Business Solutions Inner Circle!

These programs basically recognize partners for their sales performance for the fiscal year. The President Club recognizes the top 5% within each region, while the Inner Circle recognizes the top echelon of partners WORLDWIDE.

What does this mean to our prospects and clients? Obviously, it means that we have sold a lot of Microsoft Dynamics GP and CRM software in the last 12 months.

More importantly for you, it means that you can rely on our extensive experience to ensure that you get the business benefits that you expect to get when you invest in Microsoft Dynamics.

See all Microsoft Dynamics CRM Case Studies

Want to know what other companies are doing with Microsoft Dynamics CRM? Then check out the case studies on the Microsoft website.

You will find case studies on the various modules of CRM (e.g., Sales Management, Marketing Automation, etc.) as well different applications of each module.

Don't be surprised if you see some familiar names in the list.

You can also search for other products. There is even a case study for a SharePoint implementation by Navint.

Designing a Fulfillment Process for Marketing Materials in Microsoft Dynamics CRM

A recent client wanted to design a process using Microsoft CRM to create and fulfill orders for marketing materials such as catalogs and brochures. This post describes the client's requirements and our solution.

My hope is that you will get some ideas on how to use Microsoft CRM to support processes that are not built into the application.

Have comments? Please share them!


Functional Requirements

1) Cover two scenarios/subprocesses:
a) Send catalog to new leads who either request it directly, or who are deemed to be qualified leads by sales person.
b) Sales person sends specific information to specific individuals (leads or contacts).

2) Track two different addresses on both the Lead and Contact: 1) work, and 2) home.

3) Track which address is the preferred address for mailings on both the Lead and Contact.

4) Track fulfillment orders for both Leads and Contacts.

5) Track an unlimited number of requests.

6) Allow an unlimited number of items per request (e.g., catalog, brochure, and voucher all on one request).

7) Capture the following data for each fulfillment order:
a) Who (lead, account, or contact)
b) Preferred Address (home vs. work)
c) Which item(s) to fulfill
d) Quantity of each item
e) Date requested
f) Date sent/fulfilled

8) All fulfillment order records are stored together throughout the life of the person's relationship, starting from the time they were entered as a lead and continuing with them becoming an account or contact. This provides a complete, reportable history of all fulfillment orders.

9) Print labels for each request.

10) Print packing slip for each request.

11) Automate various aspects of the process.

12) Allow for a centralized fulfillment center, where a designated person or people can:
a) Determine all requests to be fulfilled
b) Print all labels.
c) Print all packing slips.
d) Prepare all packages appropriately.
e) Indicate that requests have been fulfilled.

14) Maximize use of standard functionality in Microsoft CRM to minimize costs and maximize speed of implementation.

15) Minimize clicks and typing to maximize speed of data entry.

Design Options
Given the functional requirements, two options were identified. Each option includes the following assumptions.

Assumptions
1) There will be no advanced fulfillment functionality such as tracking of backordered items.

2) Only two addresses will be tracked for fulfillment purposes - Work and Home.
a) Standard address1 fields in Lead and Contact will represent Work address.
b) Standard address2 fields in Lead and Contact will represent Home address.


Option 1
The first option we considered was to use the standard functionality provided by Products and Orders. Unfortunately, this option was not viable because Orders can not be created for Leads. Orders can only be created for customers (Accounts and Contacts).

Option 2
The second option, and the one our client chose, was to create our own version of Products and Orders. This option addresses all specified requirements, and all changes can be made using the standard customization tools and some basic JScript.


Solution
1) Created three custom entities:
a) Items (similar to Products)
b) Fulfillment Orders (similar to Orders) - related to both Lead and Contact entities.
c) Fulfillment Order Items (similar to Order Products, a.k.a. Order Line Items)

2) Customized the forms and views.

3) Added JScript to automate the handling of the preferred address and setting default values.

4) Created workflow rules to automate the processing of the fulfillment orders:
a) Set date fulfilled to current date
b) Change status of fulfillment order to inactive
c) Change status reason to "Fulfilled"

5) Created two reports:
a) Mailing labels
b) Packing slip


Process Flows with New Design

Create Fulfillment Order
1) From open Lead or Contact record, select New Fulfillment Order.

2) Lead or Contact preferred address information will be filled in automatically (using mapping). Status Reason will default to "Draft". In almost all cases, there is no need to manually enter data. Save the record.

3) From Fulfillment Order record, select New Fulfillment Order Item. Using JScript, the Item will default to the catalog item, and Quantity will default to 1. Change information on Fulfillment Order Item record, if necessary. Save the record.

4) Create remaining Fulfillment Order Item records.

5) On the Fulfillment Order record, change Status Reason to "Ready to Fulfill". Close the record.


Process Fulfillment Order
1) Open view of Fulfillment Orders with Status Reason of "Ready for Fulfillment"

2) Select Fulfillment Orders to be processed.

3) Print labels.

4) Print packing slips.

5) Apply workflow rule to:
a) Fill in the Date Sent field
b) Deactivate the Fulfillment Order
c) Update the status reason picklist to "Fulfilled"

6) Prepare and mail packages.

Conclusion
Our client was quite happy with this solution. It gives them the ability to:

1) Easily create fulfillment orders for Leads and Contacts.

2) Track fulfillment orders for a person from the time they are a lead to when the lead is converted to a contact.

3) Track fulfillment orders through their lifecycle.

4) Have a centralized person or group process the fulfillment orders so that the sales people don't waste precious time printing labels or putting together the packages.

5) Ensure that all orders are fulfilled in a timely fashion.

6) Report on which items are most frequently ordered.

This is a good example of what can be done with Microsoft CRM to enable and support a custom business process.

I'm sure there are other ways that this requirement could have been handled. If you have other ideas, please share with us!

Update Rollup 2 for Microsoft CRM v3.0 released Monday, June 25th

Update Rollup 2 for Microsoft Dynamics v3.0

Microsoft CRM Sustained Engineering plans to release Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 Update Rollup 2 Monday, June 25th. Update Rollup 2 is a well tested, cumulative set of updates for Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server 3.0 and Microsoft Dynamics CRM client for Outlook 3.0, including performance enhancements, which are packaged together for easy deployment. Sincere thanks to the many customers, partners, and ISVs who have helped us test this Rollup during our pre-release testing program.
Comprehensive information about this release will be available via the Microsoft Knowledge Base article 927751, which will be simultaneously published with the Rollup packages on the Microsoft Download Center. When published, the Update Rollup 2 packages will be available via http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=81674DA5-FFEF-492A-A7B1-7E1F1951B05F
This update rollup includes packages for Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server and Microsoft Dynamics CRM client for Outlook 3.0 to maintain parity between the client and server components of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0.

Please see Microsoft Dynamics CRM Team Blog for Q&A at:

http://blogs.msdn.com/crm/archive/2007/06/22/update-rollup-2-for-microsoft-dynamics-v3-0.aspx

Thanks Greg Nichols!

On-Premise vs. On-Demand

Although Microsoft Dynamics CRM offers a full range of deployment options including on-premise, partner-hosted, and a subscription based on-demand solution still the question - Which option is better for my organization? - comes up.

Richard Smith offers this useful perspective in a recent Network World article.

Thanks Richard!

PS - Microsoft just lengthened their 30 day online hosted trial of Microsoft Dynamics CRM to 60 days! Check it out here.

Anatomy Of Navint's CRM QuickStart Implementation

Despite what some might like you to believe, implementing any CRM solution requires far more than simply inserting the media into a ready hard drive and clicking through the installation wizard.

While there's no arguing that installation is a critical step in the overall implementation process, the success rate of such "spin-the-disk" implementations is another question.

Leveraging many years of CRM experience across multiple software platforms, clients, and industries Navint has perfected its CRM QuickStart offering.

Moreover, with Navint's QuickStart approach, we have answered our client's and prospect's main concern. That is, does an implementation alternative exist that will effectively accomodate a tight project budget while still addressing my organization's organizational, process and technology requirements? And the answer is, yes.

Navint’s proven CRM QuickStart methodology shortens the regular CRM implementation cycle by focusing on the most essential aspects of the implementation – application installation, setup, and training. Navint's low cost QuickStart approach guarantees immediate business value. A brief overview of Navint's CRM QuickStart Methodology follows.

Requirements Confirmation (1/2 day)

Identify Critical Success Factors
Confirm Technical and Functional Requirements
Gather Application Setup Requirements

Hardware & Software Installation (1/2 day)

Conduct Readiness Assessment Status
Purchase Necessary Hardware & Software
Install and Ready All Necessary Software & Hardware
Install All Required CRM Software
Test Hardware and Software

Application Setup (1.5 days)

Configure Users
Configure Application Settings
Perform System Modifications
Test Application
Execute Simple Data Migration

Training and Support (2.5 days)

Deliver User Training
Provide User Support & Guidance
Obtain Implementation Sign Off

Project Management (ongoing)

For more information regarding Navint Microsoft CRM offerings including our 40-Hour QuickStart implementation, please email us.

Navint Microsoft CRM Blog - Readers From Around The World

After reading a post on Sandor's Friendly CRMonster Blog about a month ago, I was inspired to use the same tool to find out who is reading the Navint CRM Blog. As you can see in the graphic, we've got an impressive list of readers from as far west as Honolulu and as far east as Christchurch. If you happen across this post and see a dot on the map attributed to YOU, please feel free to post a few words in the comments section and introduce yourself. Thanks for reading!

What financial benefits do you get from CRM?

How do you relate business results to your CRM system? By system, I mean everything related to your use of customer relationship management, including strategy, processes, people, and technology.

When you make a financial investment, you expect something in return. What financial return do you expect to get from your investment in CRM?

Do you expect to increase sales from new customers? From existing customers? Back-end sales? More transactions? Higher pricing? Referrals?

Now for the million dollar question: HOW?!? How EXACTLY does your CRM system help you achieve your goals?

It's great that you're collecting more and more data. It's great that you're using your website to capture leads and automatically send that data to your CRM database.

But SO WHAT? How does this help you increase sales and profits?

Are you managing your leads more effectively so that none fall through the cracks?

Are you getting a better conversion rate because your entire sales team is able to use the centralized customer and opportunity information to do a more thorough job during the sales process?

Are you building relationships with customers with some sort of drip marketing program enabled by the CRM technology?

Are you retaining customers by keeping them customers happy by responding to their requests for support faster, and resolving them faster?

Are you reducing variable costs because it is less expensive to win a sales opportunity using your CRM system?

Are you reducing fixed costs because it takes fewer resources to build profitable relationships with more leads and customers due to the automation tools?

How are you measuring all this stuff, anyway? How do you KNOW that you are obtaining the benefits as a result of your CRM system?

If you are considering a CRM system, or if you are using one now, then stop and examine the financial benefits you expect to receive, and be sure to tie the benefits DIRECTLY to specific aspects of the system.

If you don't even have any formally agreed upon expectations of financial benefits, then stop and figure out how to use CRM to get significant and measurable financial benefits.

You'll be glad you did.

Microsoft CRM Blog Directory

Our Dutch CRM friend Ronald Lemmen has created the definitive Microsoft CRM related Blog Directory.

For those of you who are as information-geekish as I am, then you'll love this list.

Thanks Ronald!

Assistive Technology and Microsoft CRM

In the last month Navint has begun to work more closely with an organization whose employee mix includes both visually impaired and blind people. Naturally, this organization's most critical requirement for a CRM solution is that it supports a variety of accessibility features. For example, can the application be fully navigated and/or accessed without a mouse? Does it work out of the box with third party screen reader applications like JAWS?

Despite Microsoft's massive investment in R&D which includes a substantial commitment to pre-built accessibility features and other assistive technologies that work with their products, the results in this area for the current version of Microsoft CRM are mixed.

On the one hand, through a combination of hotkeys and tabbing, Microsoft CRM 3.0 can be fully navigated and/or accessed without a mouse. On the other hand, Freedom Scientific - maker of the popular JAWS screen reader application - has confirmed that Microsoft CRM 3.0 does not contain the necessary scripts required for their screen reader to recognize on-screen Microsoft CRM content.

The good news is Microsoft's CRM product team is working diligently to further address these issues in Titan (Microsoft CRM 4.0) which is expected to be released sometime during Q4 2007. In fact, when we asked, this is what Microsoft said:

"We are making a significant investment in Accessibility
in Titan and have already addressed many of the issues [you have identified]. We
have been fortunate to have the invaluable help of a blind user who has been
testing out portions of the application using JAWS and a brail output device as
we work to improve it."

For more information about Microsoft's commitment to Accessibility and Assistive Technology visit here. And for specific information about how Microsoft CRM stacks against a general list of Accessibility and Assistive Technology requirements see this Voluntary Accessibility Template for Microsoft CRM.

Upstate New York CRM Summit A Success!

On April 17th and 18th, Navint hosted more than 70 guests at the Upstate New York CRM Summit. Keynote speaker, Liz Herbert from Forrester Research delivered a fantastic presentation covering key CRM trends and a ranking of the top 15 CRM suites vendors.

Accordingly, Navint would like to thank all the attendees for their participation in the Summit. The good questions and feedback will be taken into consideration for planning similar events in the future.

And congratulations to the winners of the FREE Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 implementation.

For more information about the Upstate New York CRM Summit or for a copy of Liz Herbert's presentation, please contact Mark Lucas.