Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2016 Now Available

https://community.dynamics.com/b/msftdynamicsblog/archive/2015/11/30/microsoft-dynamics-crm-2016-now-available-ushering-in-a-new-era-of-intelligent-customer-engagement

10 Deadly Sins of CRM User Adoption by CRMGamified

Here's a great article by our friends at CRMGamified about the 10 Deadly Sins of CRM User Adoption. http://crmgamified.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=254f798dd1c11be0ea59a2e72&id=c054c54560&e=b3eb8e89e4

Microsoft has updated its pricing for Microsoft CRM Online

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics/crm-purchase-online.aspx

Check out the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2016 Release Preview Guide

http://www.dynamica.cz/uploads/CRM2016_preview_guide/Microsoft_Dynamics_CRM_2016_Release_Preview_Guide.pdf

What to expect in Dynamics CRM 2016

Interested in what's coming in CRM 2016? Here's a quick 2min video that highlights some of the key features to expect: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCyIKZ6wEm0&feature=youtu.be

If your organization has a dispatch center or provides services to your employees, Microsoft Dynamics CRM Service Scheduling may be something for you to look at.  Here's an interesting overview of how it works from a Customer's perspective:

https://youtu.be/_-hD9I6tP64

What's coming in the Fall 2015 release for Microsoft Dynamics CRM?

Coming in Fall 2015

At Convergence, Microsoft announced a number of enhancements that will be part of the fall release of CRM.  Here are a few of the highlights:

• Offline mobile – data will synchronize with your mobile device so that you can still use CRM when you are not in a network area.
• Predictive analytics – Microsoft is adding predictive capabilities to CRM to identify best prospects and products automatically.
• OneDrive integration – file management, but also for having private files in CRM that are only shared with selected users.
• XRM – it appears that Microsoft is getting serious about making CRM a development platform for entirely new applications and will not only roll out a number of developer tools, but also new licensing options. Dare we hope that Microsoft will finally include record types as an extension of multiple forms?  Or a vastly improved report designer?
• Search – the search capabilities that appeared in CRM 2015 will gain more intelligence and flexibility.
• Delve / Office Graph – Delve is a new product available from Microsoft that is somewhat like FlipBoard, but it summarizes news generated within the business (I am not clear on what Office Graph is or how it differs from Delve – the two seemed to be used synonymously during the demo, so I left both here for reference). This integration appears simple enough, but in my opinion this will be one of the game changers in how people interact with CRM and how executives collaborate with the front lines.
• Outlook – even more updates will come to the CRM for Outlook application and, it appears, mobile email as well.

The Big 6 (+3) Dynamics CRM Marketing Automation Tools

Here's an interesting article that compares several of the top Marketing Automation tools that work with Dynamics CRM.

https://community.dynamics.com/crm/b/encoreblogdynamicscrm/archive/2014/02/06/the-big-6-3-dynamics-crm-marketing-automation-tools

Overview of Mobile Application for Smart Phones for Microsoft Dynamics C...

Display Activities in a Calendar within CRM

Did you know that you can display your Activities as a Calendar in CRM?  In CRM go to Sales - Calendar to display the calendar.  You can also display it as on a Dashboard by adding it as an iFrame.  Here is the URL you'll need to edit for your org: https://<ORGNAME>.crm.dynamics.com/workplace/home_calendar.aspx?sitemappath=SFA%7cTools%7cnav_calendar

For On Premise Customers, here's the link you'll need to edit and use:
http://[IIS-SERVER-NAME/ your org name here ]/workplace/home_calendar.aspx?sitemappath=SFA%7cTools%7cnav_calendar

What's new for administrators and customizers in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015 and CRM Online

For Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online organizations, the following features are available only if your organization has updated to Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online 2015 Update 1. These features are not available for Dynamics CRM (on-premises).

• Form rendering enhancements
  
• “Older Than X” clause improvements
  
• Use server-based authentication with CRM Online and SharePoint
  
• Enable Web API Preview
  
• Change the color scheme or add a logo to match your organization’s brand
  
• New behavior and format of the date and time field
  
• Calculated field enhancements
  
• Rollup field enhancements
  
• Clear field values with business rules
  
• Move back to the previous stage of the process flow on a different entity
  
• Call custom actions from workflows or dialogs
  
• Create alternate keys for referencing records in Microsoft Dynamics CRM
  
• Easy navigation with the remodeled navigation bar
  
• Set up knowledge management in Microsoft Dynamics CRM
  
• Full-featured phone and mobile app and phone-specific customizations
  
• Provision and enable Office 365 Groups
  
• Enable CRM integration with Outlook Web App
  
• Switch or delete an instance of CRM Online
  
• Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Good
  
• Enable track changes to control data synchronization
  
• Map Exchange folders with CRM records to automatically track emails in CRM

Full details are available at the following site:
https://technet.microsoft.com/library/dn531078.aspx#BKMK_prevstage

Microsoft Announces General Availability of the Spring 2015 Release for Dynamics CRM Online and MDM

General Availability for Spring 2015 Release of Microsoft Dynamics CRM and Microsoft Dynamics Marketing

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/crm/archive/2015/05/04/general-availability-for-spring-2015-release-of-microsoft-dynamics-crm-and-microsoft-dynamics-marketing.aspx

Can I do that in Dynamics CRM?

10 Tips for Designing a Great User Experience in Dynamics CRM

Here's a great article on designing for a great user experience:
http://survivingcrm.com/2014/09/10-tips-designing-great-user-experience-dynamics-crm/

The Jetsons, Self-Driving Cars, and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Success

The Jetsons, Self-Driving Cars, and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Success

Series: Part 1: Salespeople Love Using CRM…. NOT!

Series: Part 1: Salespeople Love Using CRM…. NOT!

Convincing Users to Actually Use Your CRM

This is a really interesting article by Chris Hooven at OSF Global Services.
http://www.crmintegrator.com/convince-users-use-crm

How can we boost User Adoption with Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015?

I just read a very interesting article from Pace Productivity.  The title was How Sales Reps Spend Their Time By Mark Ellwood President, Pace Productivity Inc.

http://paceproductivity.com/files/How_Sales_Reps_Spend_Their_Time.pdf

I thought it was really interesting that a typical outside sales rep spends only 22% of their working time on selling!  (According to Pace Productivity)  The rest of the week is spent on other tasks.  This is a great reminder that as we implement CRM solutions, we need to ensure we are making our users MORE productive not less.

 

Tribridge's Adoption Essentials program was designed to help customers focus their systems on exactly that point.
http://www.tribridge.com/adoption-essentials

In the modern era, CRM applications need to be working harder than the users to ensure they have what they need when they need it.  Today, there are oceans of information on all topics.  People spend countless hours just trying to sort through it all when well designed and integrated business applications could take out huge chunks of that effort.

 

5 Reasons to be really excited about Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online 2015 Update 1!

There are a lot of reasons to be excited about Update 1 for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015.  My personal mission is to increase User Adoption through Ease of Use and Productivity Gains, so my Top 5 reasons to be excited about the spring release are very user focused. 
There is a link to the full list of enhancements at the bottom of this article as well.

1. New Navigation Bar - The redesigned Navigation Bar removes the horizontal slide forever that was simultaneously cool & really annoying in the past.


2. Recently Viewed Items button - See your most recently viewed records from any entity in one location.



3. Form Navigation Drop-down - Shortcut to tabs on the form.  This enables users to jump to a specific spot on the form without scrolling to it.


4. Completely redesigned Export to Excel - With a single click in the web client or in CRM for Outlook, you can export your data as an Excel document, which can be opened anywhere, including the desktop version of Excel (2007 and later), Excel Online, and other Excel clients. When you export, all formatting is preserved, so you can do your calculations in Excel, and then reimport the data to CRM.

5. Custom Themes - Create a uniform look and feel across all your applications with themes. For example, add a company logo or change default colors for entities or links.


There are many more updates and enhancements coming.  Here's the full list.
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics/crm-customer-center/what-s-new.aspx