Mastering Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement

An advanced guide to developing and customizing CRM solutions to improve your business applications, 2nd Edition

Deepesh Somani

• Publisher: Packt Publishing
• Year: 2019
• Edition: 2
• eBook ISBN:
  9781788993838
• Topic: Computer Science
• Subtopic: Project Management
• Index: Computer Science

A comprehensive guide packed with the latest features of Dynamics 365 for customer relationship management

Key Features

• Create efficient client-side apps and customized plugins that work seamlessly
• Learn best practices from field experience to use Dynamics 365 efficiently
• Unleash the power of Dynamics 365 to maximize your organization's profits

Book Description

Microsoft Dynamics 365 is an all-in-one business management solution that's easy to use and adapt. It helps you connect your finances, sales, service, and operations to streamline business processes, improve customer interactions, and enable growth. This book gives you all the information you need to become an expert in MS Dynamics 365.

This book starts with a brief overview of the functional features of Dynamics 365. You will learn how to create Word and Excel templates using CRM data to enable customized data analysis for your organization. This book helps you understand how to use Dynamics 365 as an XRM Framework, gain a deep understanding of client-side scripting in Dynamics 365, and create client-side applications using JavaScript and the Web API.

In addition to this, you will discover how to customize Dynamics 365, and quickly move on to grasp the app structure, which helps you customize Dynamics 365 better. You will also learn how Dynamics 365 can be seamlessly embedded into various productivity tools to customize them for machine learning and contextual guidance.

By the end of this book, you will have mastered utilizing Dynamics 365 features through real-world scenarios.

What you will learn

• Manage various divisions of your organization using Dynamics 365 customizations
• Explore the XRM Framework and leverage its features
• Provide an enhanced mobile and tablet experience
• Develop client-side applications using JavaScript and the Web API
• Understand how to develop plugins and workflows using Dynamics 365
• Explore solution framework improvements and new field types

Who this book is for

Mastering Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement is for you if you have knowledge of Dynamics CRM and want to utilize the latest features of Dynamics 365. This book is also for you if you're a skilled developer looking to move to the Microsoft stack to build business solution software. Extensive Dynamics CRM development experience will be beneficial to understand the concepts covered in this book.

Section 1: Introduction to Sales, Service, and Marketing Modules with a Unified User Interface

This first section will introduce you to sales and service life cycles in Dynamics 365. Your knowledge of these topics will be supplemented with applicable scenarios. Further on, you will learn how the marketing module works. Finally, you will come to understand the new UI and its usability, which makes the new version of Dynamics 365 better, more convenient, and more efficient, as well as attractive to use.

The following chapters will be covered in this section:

• Chapter 1, Working with Sales
• Chapter 2, Working with Service
• Chapter 3, Working with Marketing
• Chapter 4, Understanding the New Unified User Interface

Working with Sales

The main purpose of the Dynamics 365 Sales module is to support the typical sales cycle followed in any organization. It automates the entire process, starting with the acquisition of a new lead, until its logical conclusion, in the form of either a lost or won opportunity.

The Sales module in Dynamics 365 helps organizations provide effective selling capabilities. It helps the organization track sales activities and see its Sales pipeline.

Some examples of sales activities are as follows:

• Creating a lead for potential sales in an organization
• Adding notes and activities to the lead while trying to sell a product or service to the customer
• Qualifying a lead to opportunity
• Generating quotations and orders
• Capturing competitor information

The stages of the sales process

A typical sales process consists of the following stages:

• Lead-generation: This involves generating potential customers who may be interested in the products that the organization has to offer. Leads may be generated via different means. They could either be generated by the CRM Marketing process or by activities such as phone calls, emails, appointments, and so on.
• Qualifying leads: After the leads are captured, each lead needs to be evaluated to understand their requirements in detail and the related products or services that the organization has to offer. Based upon the interaction with the lead, the lead may be converted into a viable opportunity.
• Demonstrate value: After an opportunity has been identified, the next step is to identify the resources and the personnel that will pursue the lead prospect. They will try to capture different information, such as the main customer contact details, requirements, and the list of competitors. They may also do a SWOT analysis to compare their product with that of their competitors.
• Quote creation/negotiation: Finally, after proper calibration, the organization may share a quote with the client. A quote basically consists of the product information and the associated price, along with other major information. The client may ask for some negotiation, and accept or reject the quote.
• Closing out the quote: When the client finally accepts the quote, the organization issues an invoice to the client. An invoice is a formal contract consisting of product information, associated cost, and support details. It should be on the same lines as that of the quote. The buyer must then sign the contract and pay the organization as agreed in the contract. At this stage, the lead is identified as a won opportunity.
• Supporting the customer: After the lead is converted to a won opportunity, the organization must manage the customer as per the agreement details in the contract. If the customer requires any support, the organization creates service requests either at the client's onsite location or via a call.

Entities in Dynamics 365

Dynamics ...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Copyright and Credits
• About Packt
• Contributors
• Preface
• Section 1: Introduction to Sales, Service, and Marketing Modules with a Unified User Interface
• Working with Sales
• Working with Service
• Working with Marketing
• Understanding the New Unified User Interface
• Section 2: Understanding Customization and App Design
• Designing Unified Interface Apps
• Customization Enhancements in Dynamics 365
• Business Process Flows and Rules in Dynamics 365
• Section 3: Development Enhancements and Code Improvements in Dynamics 365
• Client-Side Scripting
• Plugin Development with Dynamics 365
• Working with the XRM Framework
• Mobile Enhancements in Dynamics 365
• Virtual Entities in Dynamics 365
• Section 4: Learning about the Portal, Configuration, and Security Enhancements in Dynamics 365
• Working with Dynamics 365 Portals
• Configuration Enhancements in Dynamics 365
• Analytics with Dynamics 365 (Word and Excel Templates)
• Other Books You May Enjoy