The word “engage” is being thrown around quite loosely these days, so I want to expand upon this term and encourage you to open your mind about some new possibilities. The other day, I was instructing a class titled “Sales and Marketing Techniques for Today’s Business” at the MI Small Business Technology Development Center. During our discussion, it was clear to me that many in the audience, made up of small business owners and entrepreneurs, were very interested in the topic of engagement and how businesses engage with their customers. Have you ever thought about the new and diverse ways in which you interact with people today? Or the way that organizations interact with you? Ten years ago, would you have thought that your interactions with others could occur in media other than in person, advertisements, or on the telephone? Today, you might interact with someone through a text message, a blog or Facebook post, picture sharing, video sharing or FourSquare, just to scratch the surface. Our options to interact are multiple and diverse. Yet with all of these new means of interacting, it might seem that we have less time to interact with our customers, or do we? As a ...<< MORE >>

Think, for a moment, about the impact the personal automobile had on humankind. It revolutionized the way we live, the way we work, the way we built our nation. Now consider the contribution of the telephone. Communication by wire across town and across culture redefined the way people interacted. Think about the personal computer and then the Internet. Information became like air, invisible but everywhere it was needed.

Mobile CRM can alter the path of mobile salesforces along similar scales. It might sound hyperbolic, but access to CRM data on handheld Internet-capable devices is the wave of the future. Perhaps it is time to consider investing in the next big thing. With Microsoft Dynamics CRM Mobile Express, your mobile sales force has access to customer information with up-to-the-minute accuracy. Marketing, sales, and customer service information can be summoned when your workforce is on the road, in meetings with clients, or on service calls.

CRM Mobile Express is simply an extension of Microsoft Dynamics CRM. It allows users to view, create, and modify CRM data on any Internet-capable device. It can be used with any mobile web ...

<< MORE >>

The other day I woke up and realized, hey, I’ve been in sales for 18 years! Yes, time does fly, especially when you are doing something you really enjoy. As I look back on my career, I can point to two traits that have been my greatest asset in succeeding in sales. Number 1 is a positive attitude. This trait is, by far, the one most important asset to have in sales. It is a positive attitude that always has me asking, “What if?” “Why not?” and "What opportunity will I discover today?". Almost any sales book or veteran in sales will agree with this and in looking back, I can confirm, a positive attitude is paramount to success.

Running a close second in my book, is the ability to listen. Yes, really listen. To be able to understand your client’s needs as expressed like only they can express them has been a very critical skill which has built relationships and led to my ability to understand real opportunities. I have found that this skill has set me apart from many competitors. It might sound simple, but it really is difficult to listen, not just in sales but in almost every facet of life. If you want to improve your ...

<< MORE >>

Last week EHTC's CRM team hosted a CRM Users Group meeting at our office. Over 25 people and 20 different organizations came together to discuss best practices in CRM technology and also discuss the future direction of Relationship Management.

It was clear by the show of organizations in the room, that some very prominent non-profits, for profit businesses, and government organizations are building a foundation for customer information to propel their organizations forward. The participants in the room are forging new ground in prioritizing the “customer” by tracking relevant information about their customers and then leveraging that information to provide better service and generate revenue. As we discussed strategies for relationship management, it reminded me of some of my customer discussions earlier in my career, about 18 years ago, when business leaders were strategizing on the future of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions.

Like CRM technology today, ERP technology was a game changer. It advanced operations productivity and supply chain to a new level of efficiency. CRM will change the game in advancing how organizations retain customers and service them.

Our event generated discussions on some of the advances in CRM technology which included how social ...

<< MORE >>

Following up on the last post regarding Gartner’s recent CRM industry analysis... I wanted to point out the Bomb that they dropped in this report. Kind of a silent bomb because not very many people will notice something that is not in the report. But I did, because it is coming from an authoritative source and I have read every version of this report for the past 10 years or so. In their July 2011 – “Magic Quadrant for Sales Force Automation”
http://www.gartner.com/technology/media-products/reprints/microsoft/vol14/article23/article23.html

Microsoft scores in the Leadership Quadrant.
They added Microsoft Online as a separate product.
Dropped from the list are Maximizer and Goldmine.

Holy Cow! Goldmine and Maximizer have finally gotten “Delisted.” This is kind of like when a stock value goes so low they go off the New York Stock Exchange and go over to the penny stock ...

<< MORE >>

Gartner is an independent IT analysis firm. I would say that they are not just "a" firm but more like "the" firm that CIOs and business owners turn to for advise. This company offers their advice based on a subscription model. Basically you pay them along with a bunch of other companies and they go out and research all kinds of complex ideas and strategies that would be difficult for a single company to dedicate resources to. Their methods allow them to see trends in industries over time and their analysts are able to bring a long-term perspective to the success and failure of various IT strategies. If you are a member you are also able to submit questions and they will come back with studies and advice based on their research. Not a cheap organization to belong to. I was in a company once that was a customer of theirs and we paid about $50,000 a year for this advise back in the mid 90s. So when they speak and make recommendations most organizations follow that advice. In many ways they are the determiner of IT best practices in the United States and abroad. 

With all of this said, I have been reading ...

<< MORE >>

Social CRM is a hot topic. Here are several recent videos that help us better understand the tactics and use of social media to help us retain valuable relationships. 

This interview with Patrick James from Capgemini  is about Social CRM and how social engagement with customers is making an impact in his clients' organizations. 

Here is a great conversation with Bill Brand, Brent Leary, and Paul Greenberg about Social CRM. 

My take about Customer Service and Social Media is wrapped up in this video by Phil Van Hooser. Acknowledge customers immediately. If you are managing a brand or customer service, Social is just a new channel for interacting with your customers — to listen to their concerns, and interact with them in the media that they choose. Bottom line, it is about acknowledging the customer and working to offer them the very best service you can. ... << MORE >>

As one of the Top CRM partners in Michigan we are happy to announce that we have started a Users Group that is focused on CRM and West Michigan. We have an upcoming meeting planned and would love to invite all of you.
 
Even if you are unable to attend this first meeting, we will still like to invite you to join the group thru our LinkedIn page http://ow.ly/5uRJ2. Here you will see lively discussions and hear about upcoming events, and product and platform changes that effect you. 

WHEN      Wednesday July 27, 2011 8:30 - 11:00 am
WHERE      EHTC Technology Solutions
                     5136 Cascade Rd Ste 2A
                     Grand Rapids, MI 49546

RSVP           Click here:  Registration or contact Jane Hayden at 616-575-3482
TOPICS

• Introductions - Meet Each Other and EHTC's CRM Team

• Building Engagement with Social Media and CRM

• Realizing Efficiencies with Automated Workflow

• Dashboard Tools & Tips

• Microsoft Dynamics CRM Statement of Direction

We look forward to seeing you!

We will ...

<< MORE >>

Five years ago, our family took a trip to Disney World.As any parent would do, I bought our family’s first video recorder and we set on our way to explore Disney, complete with sunscreen, my new video recorder, a cell phone, and of course my standard camera.Yes, this was just five years ago, in 2006. Today of course, my iPhone contains all of these essential recording devices and then some.Capturing video today is as easy as clicking a few buttons and uploading to YouTube.

Now that video is readily available, our society is expecting to interact with video clips—ones that are under 1 minute in length. We can thank ESPN sports highlights, partly,  for this. To many, this may seem like quite a leap in communication; however, video is quickly becoming our preferred method of informational intake and marketers are taking note. Businesses and organizations that are using video as part of their overall communications and marketing plans are reaping the rewards for this.

Examples of effectively using video are everywhere. For instance, Stryker, which provides solutions for knee replacement, effectively uses video on its website to show how this complex procedure is done (knee ...

<< MORE >>

Sometimes a 4 year old can explain basic self motivation better than anyone!<< MORE >>

One of the unintended consequences of the move to cloud computing, and the disintermediation that drives the positive economic impact of the Software As A Service (SAAS) model, is the diminished role of a distribution channel for software. The computer industry has always been built as a strong three-legged table: Users, Resellers or Consultants, and Manufacturers. Customers typically work with Partners like EHTC or CDW, etc. to deliver IT solutions from the Hardware and Software manufacturers. As organizations search for ways to be more competitive with their pricing and find additional profit, they have looked to building efficiencies in the supply chain for much of their gains. The Computer Resellers were the first to see this squeeze back in the 90s as companies like Computerland and Inacom were pressured from computers being more readily available in the Retail channel. Direct sales by companies like Dell and Compaq put a bow on it and effectively killed the hardware reseller business. Most resellers that survived emphasized their expertise in designing and delivering the solutions instead of focusing on getting profits from the logistics of delivering the boxes. So a culture of the “Certified Expert”  exploded, and has continued until today. That's because to deliver complex applications you needed an army of ...

<< MORE >>

With all the hype over the last few months about phones and Microsoft Windows Phone 7 I thought I would show you the newest phone that I just got from our friends in Redmond Washington. It is Microsoft's new phone. It has gotten lost in the mix of messages, but I have been using one of these for the past 2 weeks. It is awesome!

... << MORE >>

5 Steps to CRM Success

CRM projects are more often plagued with organizational challenges than they are with technical issues. Here are 5 steps to addressing the organizational issues that arise from implementing technologies that improve your relationships with customers. When you are sitting in the driver's seat, it is helpful to remember these 5 things.

1) Establish a sensible vision of the future.The implementation of CRM in your organization needs to be viewed as a culture-change initiative. Resistance to the CRM culture change means catastrophe. Quantify the value that the CRM project will bring to the organization. Being able to say "reducing the time that it takes for us to respond to a customer request of information by 30% will reduce customer defection by $50,000 per quarter" or "standardizing our sales process will increase the time sales reps can spend on prospecting by 1200 hours next year" goes a very long way to increasing adoption, because everyone's eyes are on the prize, and when the going gets tough you will have this vision to hold yourself accountable for the results. When someone asks "why do ...

<< MORE >>

Earlier this week a customer asked me to build them a MSMQ or Microsoft Queue to trap successful transactions after Scribe successfully commits a transaction. This sounds very reasonable because if we trap errors why not have an “Audit Trail” of the successful changes too. As mentioned before, if nothing is specified in the Job Properties then the processed XML message is thrown away and a copy is kept in a field in the SQL event log. This is an ok idea in the test/Dev environments. But keeping all the successful transactions in your production system will come back to bite you a bit later and here is why:

1. MSMQ has an inherent limit with a total amount of messages — we are not able to query the queue to find specific messages like you can in the event log viewer where we can pick a date range, DTS, and see success and failures, and recover a specific message.
   
2. There is no maintenance process to clear out old messages in Microsoft or Scribe.
    
3. If any one of the Queues fill up then you Crash. This is because Microsoft actually ...

<< MORE >>

We wanted to let all of our customers and readers know about an upcoming webinar.We will be seeing examples of real world campaigns using Microsoft Dynamics CRM. You will see how CRM was used to:

• Double a newsletter list in two weeks using a unique approach toward email marketing and lead scoring
• Develop an easy way to improve web traffic by understanding the quality of visitors by traffic sources
• Implement a strategy for creating great content that positions your firm as a leader
• Apply simple tips for search engine marketing and search engine optimization
• Provide sales with easy-to-use automated prospecting and marketing tools to make them more effective and efficient
• Identify how to best use the right social channels to drive business value

This webinar is lead by John Gravely. He is the author of the First Microsoft Dynamics CRM book and a brilliant marketer. He is going to share with you successful tactics for a variety of sales and marketing situations.

Click here to Register (CLICK)

<< MORE >>

One of the sessions I attended at Convergence 2011 focused on transforming customer service. This session discussed some of the changes occurring in today’s customer service world and as a consumer, it was a refreshing message to hear.

Today’s consumer has the potential to communicate one bad experience, instantaneously, through social media, resulting in significant PR damage to organizations and businesses. This dynamic has forced organizations to rethink how they provide service.

Efficiency versus Effectiveness?  Today’s customer service thought leaders are transforming their service center to address effectiveness. Call centers are being redesigned to empower customer service reps with the right tools and information to address customer needs on the spot. In the past, the metric for call centers was time, the new metric is resolution.Successful service centers are empowering their agents with information at their fingertips, such as purchase history, service history, sales trends and billing information, all viewable in one system.

Service Centers are also off-loading service tasks to their website and integrating web chat, email, text and blogs within the service center toolkit. The complexities of routing service inquiries has increased dramatically but so have the expectation levels of today’s consumer.

... << MORE >>

In the world of business-to-business sales, the proposal is still at the heart of the sales process. In fact, in today’s competitive business world, I would argue that the proposal is actually more important than ever before.

There are countless examples regarding the shortening of the sales process. We have less time to interact, less time meeting in person, and our prospects spend far more time researching your solution, without you present. So as we continue to talk about the dramatically changing process by which we sell and market our solutions, the proposal becomes elevated in importance as it remains the one last chance we have to influence the purchasing process. Long after we have left the presentation table, the proposal remains with our prospect and leaves a lasting impression of our understanding of their needs and a representation of who our company is.  

When we talk about what has changed in the sales process, there are a couple things I can guarantee. First, your prospect has been able to find 2 or 3 competitors and has asked them to bid on the opportunity, even if they don’t tell you. It is just far too simple these days to ...

<< MORE >>

Last month, part of the EHTC team participated in Convergence 2011 in Atlanta, GA. This was the second highest attended Convergence Event with over 13,000 Microsoft Partners, customers and employees. We even had the opportunity to hear a case study from Amway, a Grand Rapids company that is deploying Dynamics CRM to transform their call center and optimize the Independent Business Owner (IBO) experience. Bob Briggs, CRM Systems Amway, discussed how the Dynamics CRM solution was the centerpiece in their strategy to serve and support over 3 million IBOs. The jam-packed week also featured keynote addresses from the Microsoft Leadership team, including Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. The overall message from the top was very positive as << MORE >>

Wow - what a quick few days. It is Tuesday morning and I am sitting in the learning center with a few extra minutes and a good Internet connection so here is the update from the first day of Convergence 2011. First and most obvious are the Keynote speakers.

Kirill Tatarinov acted as the host to the 9,800 attendees here in Atlanta...this is the second largest Convergence. Microsoft is celebrating a pretty substantial milestone for the Microsoft Dynamics business, the 10-year anniversary of Microsoft delivering business applications to business customers. Ten years ago this month, Microsoft entered this business by acquiring Great Plains.

A Complete video can be seen @ http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/exec/steve/2011/04-11Convergence2011.mspx

The demo portion was the best part of the morning. They showed a few scenarios relative to Dynamics AX, CRM, and we even saw the CRM demo using CWR’s CRM mobility tool on Window Phone 7. The coolest part was the use of Kinect for shop floor interaction with a large display. Instead of having a touch screen on the 50” plasma display, you can add a $150 Kinect and make any display work similar to a touch screen. These demos start at about 1:45 ...

<< MORE >>

Hey guys, just wanted to give you all a preview of what we will be up to next week at Convergence 2011. We would like to extend an invitation to come with us to Convergence 2011 in Atlanta next week. Pierre will be presenting the Caveman CRM session during the CRMUG DayOne events on Sunday. We will be attending the Dynamics SL Breakfast on Monday. The rest of the week is filled with sessions, meetings with customers, Microsoft staff, and other peers from around the world. If you are not able to attend, check back with the Blog for daily updates. You can also follow us on Twitter @InfuseMe or @SalesProf. Also, the #CONV11 hash tag will let you tune into all tweets regarding Convergence... << MORE >>

Scribe has just released a new version of their Dynamics CRM Adapter: Version 5.0. This comes on the heels of a March update to Scribe Insight, 7.0.2, which you will need to install to get this adapter working well. This is an update to support the Dynamics CRM 2011 end point. Dynamics CRM 2011 lets you use WCF-based web services instead of the old ASP.NET-based web services. Scribe has been working on this adapter for the past year or so to make sure that it supports this new model. As CRM 2011 still supports the 4.0 integration methods, there isn't a major need to rush; if you are using the 4.4 version of the adapter. The CRM 2011 endpoints have introduced a few issues with the integration that are highlighted in the release notes.<< MORE >>

Product development and production efficiency have garnered much attention over the last few decades as business competition increased. And while there are always areas to improve in production, today’s competitive advantages are being realized on the sales and marketing side of the business. Has your business been caught off guard, while competitors generate leads and close opportunities faster and more efficiently?

For many generations, a quality sales process was addressed by hiring great sales people. There was little or no focus placed on lead generation effectiveness nor marketing and sales processes. Marketing campaigns were executed with modest ways of tracking success. As long as a sales organization met or exceeded its sales goals, a true investigation into the effectiveness of the sales and marketing process rarely occurred. So after a 10 year lull in a recession-changed economy, successful businesses must take a closer look at the sales and marketing processes, and start to measure their effectiveness. Whatever your sales model is today, it likely will require a shift to capture new business and market effectively.

In a white paper, produced by Aberdeen Group, titled “Streamlining the Top of the Funnel, How Inside Sales Teams Source, Qualify and Close ...

<< MORE >>

Joe Miller, the leader of the Dynamics SL Users Group, recently shared a list of Dynamics SL Support Links.     Thanks for the info! Dynamics SL – Main Page with overview of product. http://www.microsoft.com/dynamics/en/us/products/sl-overview.aspx CustomerSource Page – Dynamics support site with KnowledgeBase and Downloads for product among other things. http://www.microsoft.com/dynamics/en/us/customersource.aspx Dynamics Community – Microsoft sponsored site, has forums which can be helpful but are mostly end user focused. http://community.dynamics.com/default.aspx Dynamics SL Newsgroups – Old NNTP newsgroups, predecessor to forums above, however they are still operational. I have had good luck with these as there are lots of technical people on them. https://community.dynamics.com/content/slnewsgroups.aspx?groupid=29 Dynamics Users Group SL LinkedIn Group – There are discussions boards on LinkedIn. http://www.linkedin.com/groups?home=&gid=64633&trk=anet_ug_hm Dynamics Users Group Home Page – Group for SL users, have annual meetings with lots of content about SL. http://www.dynamicsusersgroup.com Microsoft Dynamics Forums – Independent site, has some good info, more technically inclined users lurk here. http://www.microsoftdynamicsforums.com/forums/default.asp ...<< MORE >>

Today I visited the American Marketing Association of West Michigan to hear Bob Marcusse, President and CEO of the Kansas City Development council. Bob discussed the incredible turnaround his region has experienced due to the focus on branding their unique city, which is split between two states.

At the heart of their turnaround was the development of their brand:

 

The Development Council encourages local businesses to use the logo in helping to promote their products and solutions, while also helping to promote the KC area. The response has been incredible. Before they knew it, the KC logo was being used to dot i’s or replace o’s in brands all over the area, such as:

.

By promoting the brand together, the area has attracted $2.6 Billion dollars in investment. Their success in transitioning a once abandoned city into a community, can be viewed in a documentary, “The Next American Dream – Kansas City” ...

<< MORE >>

UR 16: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=5ad652f9-d81d-4f12-b9ca-883816806634
Highlights of Update Rollup 16

• IE 9 support
• Performance improvements for Organization Import
• CRM Client synchronization fixes
• 22 customer escalated issues (see KB for details)

General Information of Update Rollup 16

• UR 16 is the 14^th release since moving to the 8-week release schedule. 15 on time releases!
• KB is located at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2477743.

... << MORE >>

EHTC CRM practice manager, Pierre Hulsebus, to present session at Microsoft Convergence 2011:

A Caveman’s Guide to Microsoft Dynamics CRM Configuration

Even the novice CRM user can make simple changes and customizations to enhance the friendliness and usefulness of Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Join Pierre Hulsebus from EHTC , and Bob Peskin, from Infinity Info Systems, as they cover some easy examples of what you can do right away, and share ideas of what else can be done to help make CRM an invaluable tool for your daily workload.

EHTC will be presenting, along with our friend Bob Peskin, simple configurations that one can do to make the system even more usable out of the box. You do not need to be a developer to make these modifications, hence the “…even a caveman can do it” title. We will also talk about resources that are available to get your users up to speed.  Between Bob and I, we have many hundreds of CRM deployments under our belts. ...

<< MORE >>

Lauren Carlson, CRM Market Analyst at Software Advice informed me that the Software Advice Blog (http://www.softwareadvice.com/articles/) is posting a series of videos about CRM. The first one is an interview with Brad Wilson, general manager of Microsoft Dynamics CRM. He discusses the state of the CRM software market. Check it out at:  http://tinyurl.com/4rsnqgo .

@CRMLady did a nice summary write-up here:  http://ht.ly/1byjxX

... << MORE >>

If you run a help desk operation then this should be of interest to you. Often we want to have customers send an e-mail into our system and have it create a Case, assign the case to the correct person, and then send the customer an e-mail indicating that their case has been received and has been assigned to a person for resolution.The Workflow engine within CRM is powerful in that it can manage the assignment, notification, and generation of the case with out major development effort. However, if you look into solving this issue, you will quickly find out that there is an important element missing from the mappings in the CRM workflow. The resolution of the inbound email to the Contact record is not available in the Workflow Mapping. Typically we would create a workflow plugin to solve this issue, or deploy a server service that reads the queue and creates a case on the fly. Both of which we have done in the past using the C360 e-mail to Case tool, and the CRM Queue manager solution from CodePlex. However, because the workflow engine in CRM 2011 Online sits in shared space, one cannot ... << MORE >>

Last week a customer had a CRM server crash resulting from a hardware failure.The IT department reinstalled CRM and downloaded the most current service pack, Rollup 15. Coincidently, later that week we added a new entity to their system, and reconfigured the Scribe Publisher to see this new entity. Immediately the Publisher stopped working for all of the users. However, the CRM admin account worked just fine. After some digging thru stack traces, Scribe support found that a hidden permission that was removed in Rollup 15 that prevents Scribe from publishing. Scribe support was very helpful in getting to the bottom of the issue.It seems to happen only if you make a change to the publisher. When the config file for the publisher is recompiled it will break. So if you don't change anything it will work fine...<< MORE >>

Recently, I was preparing a presentation for business owners and sales directors to discuss marketing and sales tools and methods for today’s business.  In preparing for this class, I was provided with numerous presentations that have been given in the past and coupled with recent experiences in consulting with various businesses, I realized that the sales and marketing processes in many companies are vague and undefined.  Not that this is such a bad thing, as most would agree, that freedom and flexibility provided to a sales team often leads to strong performances and ultimately solid relationships that drive revenue for extended periods of time. However, it is becoming more and more critical to examine the processes and methods in sales and marketing efforts.  Having spent most of my career in helping organizations improve efficiencies in their business, I can tell you that the majority of discussions evolved around the production and operations side of the business.  Today, the way we communicate is becoming more and more complex due to two primary drivers.  One, technology is dramatically changing the ways we build and maintain relationships.  Second, people have access to more information while having significantly less and less time.  Because ...<< MORE >>

Rising gas prices. Concerns in the middle east. High unemployment. And the DOW stock market levels similar to the mid 1970s. Now I can barely remember waiting in gas lines during the 70s (I was still in grade schoo), however, economists are noticing similar trends in economic indexes and other trends that existed in the mid 70s. The other week I attended the Economics Club luncheon at the Amway Grand to hear Jason DeSena Trennert, Managing Partner of Strategas, a leading Wall Street Research firm, describe the “Good, Bad and the Ugly” of our economy today.

Jason Trennert presented charts and graphs highlighting the economic trends of our sluggish economy offering some glimmer of hope and an overall glum perspective on the direction of our country’s economy. Some positive trends pointed out by Trennert include corporate profits at an all-time high, a stock market that has weathered severe punishment is back to pre 9/11 levels, and a political climate that seems poised to make economic growth a priority.

On the bad side, however, Mr. Trennert pointed out our high and extended unemployment rate, our incredibly high debt ratios for individuals and government and our leverage with China is deteriorating.Add ...

<< MORE >>

2011 is filled with some great opportunities.We are looking forward to the launch of Microsoft CRM 2011 in about a week or so. We have upcoming CRMUG sessions, and are planning for CRM Evolution in August, and Microsoft Convergence in April. Plus the project work continues to grow in quantity and complexity.  

• First up is from Microsoft. Although the online application marketplace has been around for several years with the Apple “App Store,”  Microsoft continues to move forward with plans to use a similar delivery model for CRM applications. This is not so much of a “Me Too” but a response to the marketplace to deliver products in a new way, much more streamlined with the application framework. Here is a video from Microsoft showing how to get your apps posted to Microsoft Marketplace:  http://blogs.msdn.com/b/girishr/archive/2011/01/09/listing-your-app-in-the-dynamics-marketplace.aspx
  
• Our Friend Mitch Milam, Microsoft CRM MVP, has released a utility that helps migrate Java Script from CRM 4 to CRM 2011. There will be quite a bit of work over the next few years migrating the code as the new version of CRM uses some different calls to the application, and some ...

<< MORE >>

You can download the Release Candidate version of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 from the Microsoft download servers at http://downloads.microsoft.com. Here are the specific links to the various bits that can be downloaded.<\p>

Server: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=c3f82c6f-c123-4e80-b9b2-ee422a16b91d<\p>

Client: ...<< MORE >>

I grew up with hot rods and road trips. As a young boy, my mind was filled with the fanciful visions of a cross-country road trip with my father. My mother told me that I was born in the back seat of a dragster. I was in fact born, I discovered later, in an actual hospital in 1965 in Salt Lake City, Utah. But my father was truly addicted to cars and racing.

Aside from the Saturdays at the drag races, he would take us on summer road trips. We would drive cross-country most summers from Michigan to the distance shores of the USA.

So, this week when I ran across a Google Video of 2 guys taking a virtual road trip from Los Angeles to New York City in Google street view, it really caught my eye. I wondered how quickly they could make this trip. Well it took them 90 hours. Shockingly slow - that works out to 32 miles per hour. Wow. It doesn’t look like the Google Street View is built for speed at all.

 

This caught me a bit by surprise ...

<< MORE >>

What’s New in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 training materials (draft) are available for download on Customer Source for customers. These materials explain the new features and functionality found in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011.

After completing this material, individuals will be able to:

· Describe the new application features and enhancements

· Identify enhancements to the user experience

· Examine customization and extension capabilities

· List the installation, upgrade, and hardware requirements

· Show how to manage settings and administration 

EHTC Technology Solutions is working on a project that will go live on release day. So, we have been using the application for quite some time now. It is a very impressive platform! Contact me if you'd like to learn more about what we're doing with Dynamics CRM 2011

... << MORE >>

How was your revenue last year? Undoubtably, like many companies in today’s business climate, you are dealing with a reduction in revenues. Likely, you are considering ways to turn things around and are probably reassuring yourself that the good days will come roaring back before long. It is great to remain positive, but if we are really honest with ourselves, the opportunity we will have in the next few years comes down to solidifying our relationships with our customers. Let’s face it, if you have made it this far during the past few years of economic misery, you have achieved a significant accomplishment... you have survived. Be thankful for that, and now it is time to get to work!

As the dust settles during this recession, successful companies and professionals are taking note of what got them through these times. It is our best customers. Treat them right and take care of them. Today it is not enough to provide a good product or service; taking the time to add that extra touch will create loyal and engaged customers, and it will be critical to survival in these tough economic times.

Take ...

<< MORE >>

A weekly roundup of articles around the web regarding Dynamics CRM, Scribe, and Social Media from the mind of EHTC’s CRM team.

 

CRM 2011 Style Templates

Darren Liu is at it again with sharing his vast expertise on the subject of Dynamics CRM. This week he shared CRM 2011 Style Templates. This is a great find if you are doing design work on a web site that is build to integrate with CRM or building out “Web Parts” that integrate with CRM. One can download the bits from CodePlex here.

http://darrenliu.wordpress.com/2010/12/03/crm-2011-style-templates/

 

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Applications Exam (MB2-632) – My Top Ten Tips

Louis Alderton from Magnetism in New Zeeland shares his tips for passing the CRM Applications Exam. I have taken this exam and it does require time to study. Many of the partners have been talking about this exam recently given the changes in certification that we have all had to go thru. So this is certainly timely. By the way, I have taken the application exam on 1.2, 3.0, and 4.0,  so I know his pain. http://twitter.com/#!/MagnetismNZ

... << MORE >>

Salesforce.com and Microsoft have been fiercely competing for new customers. It has become very clear that end users desire to use Outlook as their primary interface for CRM on the PC platform. This is a true lynchpin in any CRM adoption strategy. So it has been interesting to watch both organizations struggle to “nail” the Outlook integration. In the upcoming version of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 there has been a radical change in the user experience. I have been very pleased with their forward thinking, pushing the Outlook experience to new heights. SFDC (SalesForce.com), on the other hand, has really struggled to give their users an integrated Outlook experience.

Recently StreamSol has detailed the specific issues with the SFDC integration. Click Here for Full Article Some of the items I found surprising are:

1. Email attachments aren’t added to Salesforce.com.
2. Salesforce for Outlook doesn’t currently support single sign-on (SSO).
3. If you rename tabs in Salesforce.com, such as changing Contacts to Candidates, those new names aren’t reflected in Outlook nor the scopes and filters of data sets.

... << MORE >>

A challenge with managing integrations is troubleshooting why an integration failed.Infuse integration troubleshooting is broken up into three levels: Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced. Basic troubleshooting steps focus on the causes that can be identified with minimal effort and technical knowledge. Intermediate troubleshooting steps take place after the Basic steps are followed, and the problem requires a more technical approach. Intermediate steps require a higher level of knowledge about the Scribe Insight, Windows Server, and SQL Server systems. Advanced troubleshooting steps are followed after going through the Basic and Intermediate troubleshooting procedures. Advanced steps require a high level of technical expertise in all components of the integration including, but not limited to, Scribe Insight, Windows Server, SQL Server, Dynamics CRM, and Dynamics SL.

Here is a practical example of how to troubleshoot an integration between Dynamics CRM and Dynamics SL for the Sales Order object.

So first we we know that an integration has failed because there is an Activity Status of 99. So we'll start the troubleshooting from there.

Look in the Log for the Time.Most Infuse error messages ...

<< MORE >>

Cool new feature in CRM 2011 allows you to export data to Excel, then manipulate it, save the resulting Excel file, and then import it back into CRM.A great feature to clean up records.

However, when you click here to make it work 

You may get this error in Excel.

I have ran into this issue on several occasions.This a a security issue in Excel, which is apparently going to be addressed in Office 2010 SP1

To work around this issue, save the file before you open it.

If the file still does not open, do the following:

1. Add the CRM URL to your browser’s Trusted site security zone.

2. Unblock the security in the downloaded Excel file.

          a. Right-click the downloaded file, and click Properties.

          b. On the General tab, ...

<< MORE >>

United States Air Force European Command (USAFE) uses Task Management Tracker to align directorate; tool expands to over 60,000 users across 23 government organizations.

I met some guys on this team several years ago.I know they have been working on this solution for several years.It was ambitious then, it is very impressive now.This great example on how an XRM project benefits from the inherent security, and mobility systems within Dynamics CRM. They have built out a system for the Air Force to manage “Tasks.” It looks like Microsoft is looking to monetize their investment in this solution.

Microsoft just released the info

“A familiar and easy-to-use environment integrates with software tools you use every day, such as Microsoft Office Outlook and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server. From executive staff to action personnel, the solution improves communication and collaboration using simple and a more secure e-mail mechanism and private online workspaces.”

http://www.microsoft.com/industry/government/solutions/task_management/default.aspx

Check it out on ...

<< MORE >>

Some pretty amazing stuff in in the pipeline from  a bunch of folks using the Kinect hooked up to PCs, Macs, and Linux boxes.From several sources I have read, it seems like MSFT is not going to “go after” Kinect Hacks.So the door to open source development on the Kinect is wide open. Here are a few videos that have been uploaded in the past few days.This thing has only been out for a few weeks, so I think this is a very impressive start.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lF8OJoWogY&feature=player_embedded

... << MORE >>

How did an iconic company, Eastman Kodak, transform from a $15 billion camera and film company into a $10 billion digital company? It is a fascinating story and those of us who attended last week’s Social Media Confab in Grand Rapids, MI, got to hear from the former Chief Marketing Officer of Eastman Kodak discuss today’s reality in business: engaging with customers is paramount.

Jeffrey Hayzlett (www.hayzlett.com) is the former CMO of Kodak.He is a thought leader in marketing, communications and social media.He is one of the top 10 C-level Tweeters and was instrumental in the transformation of Kodak, to the company it is today.He described the challenge of refocusing Kodak on their core values and reigniting a passion for their product internally — a passion that is profound in the market place. As Jeffrey describes it, “We have one of the few products that people will run into a burning building to save.” 

Not too long ago, purchasing film was on many shoppers weekly list. It was prominently displayed in check outs and in almost every store in America.When was the last time you bought film? The story of Kodak is one of the greatest ...

<< MORE >>

The Professional Services industry is a multi-billion dollar industry. Its largest segments are legal services, engineering services, computer-related services, accounting, management consulting, advertising, and architectural firms. Most professional firms are small and the vast majority have a single office. As they try to compete and win business, firms in this industry face a number of challenges.

Increased competition

During the past ten years, foreign and new domestic players in the market have skyrocketed, significantly increasing the number of services providers.

More sophisticated and demanding clients

Clients have become much more sophisticated about how they buy and manage professional services.Because of their experiences with unsuccessful projects in the past, clients have improved their internal project management capabilities. They now demand accountability from professional service organizations (PSOs), including meeting milestones and budget estimates.By doing this, they have developed sophisticated procurement policies when dealing with both domestic and foreign PSOs.

Increasingly complex project environment

As clients and projects have become more global in nature, PSOs face new challenges managing their clients. In addition, PSOs ...

<< MORE >>

Set this date aside on your schedule – November 17th 9am – 12:00 pm EST – Lunch is provided, and you have a chance to win a copy of Office 2010

Although Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 is not launching until January, as a trusted partner of Microsoft, EHTC Technology Solutions is offering our customers a sneak peek of this exciting new version. This will be is a unique opportunity for business professionals to see what's new in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011. As an integration provider, we have been keenly interested in making sure that our solutions will work correctly and that customers will be happy with the next generation of Dynamics CRM. As a development and testing partner, we were under strict non-disclosure regarding new features and functions within the platform. But with recent announcements from Microsoft, we are now allowed to share what we have learned about the upcoming release. So join our CRM team for a deep dive into the Pre Release of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011. 

Agenda

<< MORE >>

I Would Like a Proposal…..NOW.

As our society becomes more and more transparent (sharing pictures, thoughts, documents, ideas, games and various business applications), our devices are adapting to search out resources on multiple databases, located in different places on the Internet and in private networks. This change is dramatically transforming the outside sales process and the expectations our prospective clients have.

Not too long ago, it was perfectly acceptable to meet with a client one day, discover what their needs are, go back to the office, prepare a proposal and set up another appointment to present a bound paper proposal. There might also be additional visits by various personnel and support staff. The sales process could take weeks, if not months. That, my friends, is no longer going to cut it.

As client-facing representatives, we need to find more responsive ways to provide information to our buyers, and we need to do it faster and more efficiently.

Today, our clients are doing so much more with so much less, and time is their most valuable asset. To spend hours and hours discussing needs and solutions is a luxury no ...

<< MORE >>

Last week, I spent one of my lunch hours attending a great event put on by Grand Rapids Area Professionals for Excellence (twitter #GrapeGR) and hosted at Amway HQ in Ada, MI.

The topic was “The Changing Face of Corporate Communications, Tools and Technologies.” Ok, we all know what we are talking about here, Twitter, Facebook, Linked In, Blogging, and more to come for sure. During this panel discussion, we got to hear from two companies that are grappling with how to handle social media (Meijer and Amway), a communications and web development firm (Spearia), and a journalist from FOX 17.

The core of the message among all of the panelists was that the communications game has changed before our eyes and corporations are now charged with managing and responding to unlimited, uncontrolled, and very public expressions from their customers. Expressions can be positive or negative, but they will show up and this is just the beginning.

Companies refer to this as Sentiment Management and it is imperative that companies consider the kind of feedback which is following them in the marketplace.

Another theme discussed throughout the panel discussion ...

<< MORE >>

MEETING Time: Thursday, November 11th, 4-6 pm  for the CRMUG Michigan Regional Chapter Meeting Address: Southfield Town Center – Microsoft Regional Office 1000 Town Center Dr., Suite 1930 Southfield, MI 48075 Phone: (248) 827-2000 Topics for session:  What We Learned at Summit 2010. 4:00 - 4:15 Welcome and Introductions 4:15 - 4:45 Customer Showcases: TBD 4:45 - 5:45 Presentation 5:45 - 6:00 Wrap-up and Planning Session Registration will be on the CRMUG site very soon.  - http://www.crmug.com/events/CRMUGMichiganRegionalChapter111110 ...<< MORE >>

Join us in Grand Rapids on November 11, 2010 for a CRM to QuickBooks presentation at the West Michigan's QuickBooks® Users Conference. Pierre Hulsebus will be presenting at a session scheduled for 11:00 am - Noon This session will discuss the value of using a Customer Relationship Management business strategy to help you identify, acquire, and retain your most valuable asset, customers. We will review options, applications, and strategies for integrating CRM systems with QuickBooks.    We have reviewed several options for integrating CRM applications with Quickbooks,  additionally we will review the native Intuit CRM solution.  It will be a great time to discuss the value of CRM as a business strategy, and how to leverage to technology to add value to your customer relationships. More Detailed information link here (http://www.ehtc.com/ehtc/QB/QBConferenceHome.htm) ...<< MORE >>

This week there has been an explosion of Microsoft CRM 2010 blog reviews, praises, tweets, and sneak peeks. 

Track your Data Using Microsoft Dynamics CRM Dashboards – from Microsoft’s Official CRM Team Blog -  In this article they review how to create Visualizations in Dynamics CRM 2011

 The Outlook Social Connector -   The Outlook Social Connector (OSC) provides a communication hub for personal and professional communications.By selecting an Outlook item such as an email, you can see in the People Pane the activities, photos, status updates and connections of the person (or people) you are communicating with.Customer Effective has a great review - http://blog.customereffective.com/blog/2010/10/a-look-at-the-outlook-social-connector.html  . They also give us insight into who that mysterious silhouette is.

 CRM User Group Summit 2010 – http://www.crmug.com/summit-2010  A reminder Post from Jim Glass that the Summit is coming up in a few weeks. EHTC will be ...

<< MORE >>