We are in the process of gearing up for all over the country. Our consultants around the country have been meeting weekly to review many of the enhancements in Dynamics CRM 2011 as we prepare for these events and the upcoming launch of the new product. A couple of the features that we really find most compelling are…
- Dialogs – The ability to create scripts that assist the user in gathering information. This will be useful in many ways, but the most obvious is the call center. One of our demonstrations is around showing how the dialog can assist in gathering information for the purpose of lead scoring. Another demo shows how you can use it when closing opportunities to gather critical information that many times does not get collected.
- Personalization – The new release lets users make the application their own. Whether it is a custom look and feel or personal dashboards, the application can be tailored by individuals. For example, If I want to see all my opportunities with past due close dates, I can set them in red so that in a list, these opportunities pop out. Also, I can create my own dashboards and share them with others.
- Goal Management – Another new feature in CRM 2011 is the ability to create goals against any entity. For example, create goals for your call center on average call time, first call resolution, etc. Or for sales, average sales price, average margin, QTD sales, etc.
- Improved social media connections. See LinkedIn or Facebook profiles for contacts right in CRM. This is now an out of the box capability. More information allows sales teams to be more effective in creating relationships.
- Role tailored forms – Many times there is the need for forms to be tailored based upon who is using the form. For example, maybe only certain people can see outstanding A/R information, in the past, this capability required coding, with CRM 2011 you can create role tailored forms with configurations, not code. Another huge improvement in 2011.
Every week our team learns about new interesting features. There is almost too much to take in. As you begin exploring Dynamics CRM 2011, you might find yourself overwhelmed with how to best use the application. To get the most from your trial or proof of concept testing, . They can best show you how to apply all of the new features to gain business benefit. Otherwise, you might not be taking advantage of features that can help your business and that are easy to configure. So if you get a chance, take in a Sneak Peek event near you and see what the buzz is about.
By: Mike Nafziger, RSM -
