Microsoft CRM 3 for dummies

by Joel Scott and David Lee

Microsoft® CRM 3

FOR

DUMmIES‰

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by Joel Scott and David Lee

Microsoft® CRM 3

FOR

DUMmIES‰

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Microsoft® CRM 3 For Dummies®

Published by

Wiley Publishing, Inc.

111 River Street

Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774

www.wiley.com

Copyright © 2006 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published simultaneously in Canada

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2006920630

ISBN-13: 978-0-471-79945-0

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About the Authors

Joel Scott is president of the Computer Control Corporation, headquartered

in Connecticut. Since 1991, Computer Control Corporation has been focused

on designing and installing high-quality CRM systems. Well known in the

industry, Computer Control has garnered numerous industry awards for

sales, training, and CRM best practices.

Mr. Scott has authored several editions of GoldMine For Dummies and numer￾ous articles and white papers on client retention systems. Mr. Scott can be

reached by e-mail at [email protected].

David Lee founded Vertical Marketing Inc. in 1983. He has more than thirty

years of business experience in CRM and information systems industries.

This is his first Dummies book, although he has written several white papers

on CRM and the industry. He can be reached at [email protected].

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Authors’ Acknowledgments

Joel Scott: No one writes a book alone. Perhaps it’s possible for a work of fic￾tion. But even then, a collection of editors and technicians all have some say

in the appearance of the work. It seems unlikely that one or two people can

bring a book from the starting line to the finish line by themselves.

First and foremost, I need to thank my co-author, Dave Lee. Our early brain￾storming sessions about this book and continuing communications made this

writing easier.

I also want to thank everyone in my office and at home for taking up the slack

while I was so often sitting in my room moaning and groaning over words I

had written and rewritten so many times.

David Lee: Of all the books and articles that I have ever written, this one took

the most teamwork. I could never have completed this book and still run

Vertical Marketing without a huge amount of help from my secretary, Jennifer

Slusher. She reviewed all my work, did all the screen captures (a much

tougher job than you might imagine), and updated text based on feedback

from the editor and the technical editor. She now knows Microsoft CRM so

well that I will probably have to make her a trainer or a designer.

I also need to thank my friend, partner, competitor, and co-author, Joel. He

was willing to risk a more than ten-year friendship by asking me to co-author

this book. Despite the late nights and deadlines, I still like the guy.

Our technical editor, Ben Vollmer, is also a personal friend. As a Microsoft

employee, he has a different perspective on the system. His advice and sup￾port have been invaluable.

Susan Pink, our editor, must have the patience of Methuselah. Wiley Press

has some pretty specific editorial rules. Working with both Joel and me in

that framework has to be harder than herding cats. She somehow managed to

keep us on track and pretty much on schedule.

I would also like to thank my staff. With the new release of Microsoft 3.0, we

have been extremely busy. They have taken up the slack whenever they were

asked so that I could have the time I needed to write.

Finally, I would like to thank you for your interest in Microsoft CRM. CRM is

my passion (I am a pretty dull guy), and it is people like you who allow me to

do the work that I love.

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Publisher’s Acknowledgments

We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments through our online registration form

located at www.dummies.com/register/.

Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following:

Acquisitions, Editorial, and

Media Development

Project Editor: Susan Pink

Acquisitions Editor: Bob Woerner

Technical Editor: Ben Vollmer

Editorial Manager: Jodi Jensen

Media Development Manager:

Laura VanWinkle

Editorial Assistant: Amanda Foxworth

Cartoons: Rich Tennant

(www.the5thwave.com)

Composition Services

Project Coordinator: Tera Knapp

Layout and Graphics: Andrea Dahl,

Mary J. Gillot, Stephanie D. Jumper,

Barbara Moore, Heather Ryan,

Ron Terry

Proofreaders: John Greenough, Leeann Harney,

Joe Niesen, Techbooks

Indexer: Techbooks

Publishing and Editorial for Technology Dummies

Richard Swadley, Vice President and Executive Group Publisher

Andy Cummings, Vice President and Publisher

Mary Bednarek, Executive Acquisitions Director

Mary C. Corder, Editorial Director

Publishing for Consumer Dummies

Diane Graves Steele, Vice President and Publisher

Joyce Pepple, Acquisitions Director

Composition Services

Gerry Fahey, Vice President of Production Services

Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services

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Contents at a Glance

Introduction .................................................................1

Part I: Microsoft CRM Basics.........................................7

Chapter 1: Taking a First Look at Microsoft CRM 3........................................................9

Chapter 2: Navigating the Microsoft CRM System .......................................................19

Chapter 3: Using Microsoft CRM Online and Offline....................................................37

Part II: Setting the Settings.........................................49

Chapter 4: Personalizing Your System...........................................................................51

Chapter 5: Understanding Security and Access Rights...............................................63

Chapter 6: Managing Territories, Business Units, and Teams....................................73

Chapter 7: Developing Processes...................................................................................83

Chapter 8: Implementing Rules and Workflow .............................................................89

Chapter 9: Creating and Using the Knowledge Base..................................................105

Chapter 10: Setting Up the Product Catalog ...............................................................117

Chapter 11: Running Reports........................................................................................131

Chapter 12: Sending Announcements..........................................................................143

Part III: Managing Sales...........................................147

Chapter 13: Working with Accounts and Contacts ....................................................149

Chapter 14: Managing Your Calendar ..........................................................................161

Chapter 15: Setting Sales Quotas and Generating Forecasts....................................171

Chapter 16: Using E-Mail................................................................................................181

Chapter 17: Handling Leads and Opportunities.........................................................207

Chapter 18: Generating Quotes, Orders, and Invoices ..............................................223

Chapter 19: Setting Up Your Sales Literature..............................................................233

Chapter 20: Using Notes and Attachments .................................................................241

Part IV: Making the Most of Marketing ......................247

Chapter 21: Targeting Accounts and Contacts ...........................................................249

Chapter 22: Managing Campaigns................................................................................263

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Part V: Taking Care of Your Customers .......................283

Chapter 23: Working with Cases...................................................................................285

Chapter 24: Scheduling Services ..................................................................................301

Chapter 25: Managing Your Subjects ...........................................................................319

Chapter 26: Managing Queues ......................................................................................333

Chapter 27: Building Contracts ....................................................................................343

Part VI: The Part of Tens ...........................................355

Chapter 28: Ten Add-Ons...............................................................................................357

Chapter 29: Ten Ways to Get Help................................................................................365

Index .......................................................................375

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Table of Contents

Introduction..................................................................1

How CRM Fits in the Market ...........................................................................1

How to Use This Book .....................................................................................2

Foolish Assumptions .......................................................................................2

How This Book Is Organized...........................................................................3

Part I: Microsoft CRM Basics.................................................................3

Part II: Setting the Settings....................................................................3

Part III: Managing Sales..........................................................................4

Part IV: Making the Most of Marketing ................................................4

Part V: Taking Care of Your Customers ...............................................4

Part VI: The Part of Tens .......................................................................4

Icons Used in This Book..................................................................................5

Where to Go from Here....................................................................................5

Part I: Microsoft CRM Basics .........................................7

Chapter 1: Taking a First Look at Microsoft CRM 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

Tracking Your Contacts.................................................................................10

Communicating with the Outside World.....................................................10

Integrating with Accounting .........................................................................11

Why integrate?......................................................................................11

Other accounting systems ..................................................................12

Setting Up Business Processes.....................................................................12

Coordinating Microsoft CRM with Your Success Plan...............................14

Defining your goals ..............................................................................14

Implementing a pilot program ............................................................15

Deciding Whether Microsoft CRM Fits Your Needs ...................................16

Using Microsoft CRM Successfully...............................................................17

Chapter 2: Navigating the Microsoft CRM System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19

Whirlwind Tour of the Screen.......................................................................19

Menu bar................................................................................................20

Toolbar...................................................................................................21

Navigation pane....................................................................................21

Status bar ..............................................................................................22

Window..................................................................................................22

First Things First — Signing On....................................................................24

The Workplace Is Your Starting Point..........................................................25

Navigating at the application level.....................................................25

Navigating at the record level.............................................................25

Your first navigation lessons...............................................................27

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Filtering and Searching for Records ............................................................29

Filtering records ...................................................................................29

Searching with the magnifying glass icon .........................................30

Searching with the Form Assistant ....................................................33

Searching with the Advanced Find Feature ......................................33

Chapter 3: Using Microsoft CRM Online and Offline . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37

Functionality...................................................................................................38

The Outlook Client.........................................................................................38

Using Microsoft CRM functions ..........................................................39

Outlook client mail merge ...................................................................40

Outlook client e-mail............................................................................41

Synchronization Settings...............................................................................43

Synchronizing the Outlook client with your server.........................44

Setting data group (sync) filters.........................................................44

The “last one in” rule ...........................................................................47

Setting Up the Outlook Client Workplace ...................................................48

Part II: Setting the Settings .........................................49

Chapter 4: Personalizing Your System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51

Tailoring the System to Suit Your Needs.....................................................51

General tab............................................................................................52

Workplace tab .......................................................................................54

Activities tab .........................................................................................55

E-mail Templates tab............................................................................56

Your User Profile ............................................................................................58

Information............................................................................................59

Teams.....................................................................................................60

Roles.......................................................................................................60

Quotas....................................................................................................60

Work hours............................................................................................60

Chapter 5: Understanding Security and Access Rights . . . . . . . . . . . .63

Security Overview..........................................................................................64

User Privileges................................................................................................64

Access Levels..................................................................................................64

Defining Roles.................................................................................................65

Assigning Roles ..............................................................................................67

Sharing Information with Others on Your Team ........................................67

Defining a team .....................................................................................68

Sharing and assigning ..........................................................................68

Unsharing ..............................................................................................68

Sharing and Not Sharing Data ......................................................................68

Sharing records.....................................................................................69

Unsharing records................................................................................71

Streamlining the assignment of permissions....................................72

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Chapter 6: Managing Territories, Business Units, and Teams . . . . . .73

Setting Up Sales Territories ..........................................................................73

Managing Territories .....................................................................................77

Managing Business Units ..............................................................................78

Managing Teams.............................................................................................80

Creating teams......................................................................................80

Assigning users to teams.....................................................................81

Chapter 7: Developing Processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .83

The General Principles ..................................................................................84

Alerts......................................................................................................84

Escalation ..............................................................................................84

Feedback and analysis.........................................................................85

Planning Your Sales Stages ...........................................................................86

Chapter 8: Implementing Rules and Workflow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .89

Describing the Limitations of Workflow......................................................90

Creating Workflow Rules ...............................................................................91

Testing a new rule ................................................................................96

Creating a manual rule.........................................................................96

Creating follow-up rules ......................................................................97

Testing a manual rule...........................................................................99

Monitoring Your Workflow............................................................................99

Workflow Glossary.......................................................................................101

Events ..................................................................................................101

Conditions ...........................................................................................101

Actions.................................................................................................102

Chapter 9: Creating and Using the Knowledge Base . . . . . . . . . . . . .105

Organizing Information for Your Knowledge Base...................................105

Creating Article Templates .........................................................................106

Creating a Knowledge Base Article............................................................108

Submitting a draft article...................................................................111

Approving an article ..........................................................................112

Searching the Knowledge Base ..................................................................114

Chapter 10: Setting Up the Product Catalog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .117

Overview of the Product Catalog...............................................................117

Getting to the Product Catalog Window....................................................118

Creating a Discount List ..............................................................................119

Creating a Unit Group ..................................................................................121

Creating a Price List.....................................................................................124

Adding Products...........................................................................................127

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Chapter 11: Running Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .131

Identifying Report Categories.....................................................................132

Accessing Reports .......................................................................................133

Report Filtering ............................................................................................135

Using Viewing Options ................................................................................138

Exporting and Printing Your Report ..........................................................139

Exporting Records to Excel ........................................................................140

Chapter 12: Sending Announcements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .143

Creating an Announcement ........................................................................143

Viewing Announcements.............................................................................145

Part III: Managing Sales............................................147

Chapter 13: Working with Accounts and Contacts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .149

Adding and Editing Accounts and Subaccounts ......................................150

Account records and their four sections ........................................150

Setting up subaccounts .....................................................................154

Finding and Viewing Account Information................................................155

Find.......................................................................................................155

Advanced Find ....................................................................................156

Assigning and Sharing Accounts................................................................158

Assigning accounts to users .............................................................158

Sharing accounts ................................................................................159

Adding and Editing Contacts ......................................................................160

Chapter 14: Managing Your Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .161

No Outlook Here...........................................................................................162

Viewing Your Calendar ................................................................................163

Viewing Your Activities ...............................................................................164

Creating an Appointment for Yourself.......................................................166

Scheduling for Other People.......................................................................167

Assigning an Activity to Someone..............................................................168

Completing an Activity................................................................................170

Chapter 15: Setting Sales Quotas and Generating Forecasts . . . . . .171

How a Manager Sets Up Quotas .................................................................171

Fiscal year settings.............................................................................172

Setting up a salesperson’s quota......................................................173

Entering Sales Forecasts .............................................................................174

Updating Your Forecasts.............................................................................177

Examining Your Forecast Data....................................................................178

Printing a report .................................................................................179

Using Excel ..........................................................................................179

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