Welcome to Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Step by Step! Most likely, your organization has implemented—or is considering implementing—a Microsoft Dynamics CRM system, and you’re ready to learn more about what the software can do.
Whether you’re a sales associate following up with your top accounts, a marketing professional reaching out to prospects and customers, a customer service representative resolving customer requests and issues, or an executive manager seeking to analyze and understand all of your organization’s customer interactions, Microsoft Dynamics CRM can help you do business better.
The intent of this book is to show you how to use key features in the software to understand your customers better, increase sales and productivity, and improve customer satisfaction. It’s important to note that Microsoft Dynamics CRM allows administrators to easily customize the forms, fields, and other options in the software, so some of the names used in this book might not match your environment.
If possible, ask your system administrator about setting up a second Microsoft Dynamics CRM environment—often referred to as a “sandbox environment”—that you can use to step through the exercises in this book. A sandbox environment allows you to modify records without affecting the data in your live system. Your organization might already have a staging or test environment you can use.
The descriptions and procedures in this book are based on the default forms and views in Microsoft Dynamics CRM. As you’ll learn in the chapters that follow, the software also offers several access options: CRM data can be accessed from a Windows Internet Explorer web browser, from Microsoft Outlook by using the Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Outlook feature, or from a mobile device such as a cell phone. Most of the screen shots and examples in this book show the web browser option.
Just like some of the forms, fields, and data described in this book, the security roles referenced throughout this book also might have been modified in or even removed from your system. If you do not have the access needed to view or assign security roles, talk to your system administrator about setting up a few roles for testing. For the purposes of this book, we assume that the default roles included with Microsoft Dynamics CRM have not been modified.
Microsoft Dynamics CRM is a fluid system that can adapt as your business grows and changes. By using the step-by-step processes laid out in these pages, you can explore whatever options you need to match the software with your requirements. We hope you find this book useful and informative as your organization moves into the future!