CRM 2011′s Must-Use Feature: Use Dialogs to Save Time and Standardize Processes

David Buggy, Beringer Associates, Inc.

Workflows were a big part of MSCRM 4. They allowed you to perform actions which were triggered by events in the system. This enabled the system to make changes, send notifications, and create records without having to manually do so.

In MSCRM 2011, Microsoft has expanded on the workflow concept. In addition to Workflows, Dialogs have been added to the system. Both can now be found in the Settings area under Processes in the Process Center.

So what exactly is a Dialog?

In its simplest form, it is a way to capture information from users by a Prompt and Response method. When creating a Dialog, you add Stages (like a Workflow) and then you can create Pages. Each Page can hold one or numerous Prompt and Response steps. After the information has been captured through the dialog, it can then be used in Workflow-type steps that can be added to the Dialog as well.

How can dialogs be used?

Using sales lead qualification as an example: For every Lead in the system, we would like a better way of capturing consistent information when leads are entered.

A dialog can easily be created to handle this. The dialog would include Prompt and Response steps to capture this information. Fields such as Product or Service Interest, Number of Employees, Industry, etc. can all be captured from the user through the Dialog process. This streamlines the entry of the most important profiling info when entering leads.

Once the information is gathered from the Dialog, the workflow steps of the Dialog will now populate/update the data on the Lead from which the Dialog was run.

Dialogs are basically step-by-step scripts to direct users through a process. Other examples of using dialogs:

• Guide service representatives through a process for case resolution and case escalation.
• Standardize sales processes such as opportunity qualification and lead scoring.
• Walk users through a process for things like product returns, billing issues etc.
• Very useful tool to help standardize processes and data collection.

Another benefit of the Dialog process includes the ability to branch your Prompt and Response Pages based on previous responses from the running dialog.

Once you start using Dialogs, you will see many more uses for them other than just gathering information. With the combination of both Dialog and Workflow steps, it becomes a powerful tool to automate many aspects of your customer management system.   Beringer is a solution provider for Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

Beringer Associates – New Jersey Microsoft Dynamics CRM Gold Partner

CRM 2011′s Must-Use Feature: Use Dialogs to Save Time and Standardize Processes is a post from: Distribution Software Blog

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