Configurating Dynamics 365 CRM

Getting Dynamics 365 CRM configured correctly from the start saves time, reduces frustration, and drives user adoption. This session walks through the key configuration steps — from entity setup and security roles to workflows, dashboards, and integrations — so your CRM works the way your business does.

Agenda

· Setting up accounts, contacts, leads, and opportunities

· Configuring the sales pipeline and business process flows

· Security roles and team-based access control

· Customizing forms, views, and dashboards

· Building workflows and automation with Power Automate

· Email integration with Outlook and server-side sync

· Integrating CRM with Business Central and Power BI

· Best practices for data import and migration

by Doug Heaton

CRM 101

Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM helps your sales team manage customer relationships, track opportunities, and close deals faster. This session is designed for teams new to CRM or evaluating Microsoft's platform — you'll see the key screens, dashboards, and workflows that make CRM easy to adopt and immediately productive.

Agenda

· The 5 key screens: Accounts, Contacts, Opportunities, Leads, Dashboards

· Navigating the sales pipeline and opportunity management

· Activity-based selling: tracking calls, emails, and meetings

· Sales forecasting and pipeline analytics using AI

· Copilot in CRM: AI-generated summaries and next-best actions

· Dashboard views for sales reps, managers, and executives

· Integration with Outlook, Teams, and Business Central

· Getting started: licensing, setup, and quick wins

by Doug Heaton

Scheduling Service Workers

Managing a mobile workforce requires real-time scheduling, dispatching, and visibility. This session covers how Microsoft Dynamics 365 Field Service helps you schedule, dispatch, and track service workers — optimizing routes, reducing downtime, and improving first-time fix rates.

Agenda

· Overview of Dynamics 365 Field Service scheduling

· Setting up the schedule board and resource management

· Drag-and-drop dispatching and automated scheduling

· Optimizing routes and travel time for field technicians

· Work order lifecycle: creation to completion

· Mobile app for technicians in the field

· Using Copilot for scheduling recommendations

· Real-time tracking and customer notifications

by Doug Heaton

Roadmap for CRM

This session reviews the Dynamics 365 CRM roadmap (Customer Engagement), explaining Microsoft’s release wave model and highlighting what’s coming across Sales and Customer Service, with a focus on Copilot, AI agents, automation, and analytics so organizations can plan adoption and prioritize the features that deliver the most business value.

Agenda:

· How the Dynamics 365 release wave model works

· Understanding planned vs released features

· Overall CRM investment areas from Microsoft

· Sales roadmap and Copilot direction

· AI agents for sellers and pipeline execution

· Embedded insights and next-best actions

· Customer Service roadmap and agentic support

· Case management and routing enhancements

· Analytics, dashboards, and research experiences

· Platform, security, and governance considerations

· How to plan pilots and phased rollout

· Key takeaways and next steps

by Doug Heaton

CRM Dashboards

This session demonstrates Microsoft’s prebuilt Dynamics 365 Sales dashboards delivered through Power BI apps, how those dashboards can be accessed and consumed inside Dynamics 365, and how the Data Exploration Agent enables users to ask questions, explore trends, and understand drivers behind sales performance without building reports from scratch.

Agenda:

· Overview of D365 Sales dashboards and Power BI apps

· Where the Microsoft dashboards come from and how they are installed

· Key sales KPIs included out of the box

· Exploring pipeline, forecast, and activity data

· Using filters, slicers, and drill-downs

· Visualizing Power BI dashboards inside Dynamics 365

· Asking questions with the Data Exploration Agent

· Identifying trends, outliers, and performance drivers

· Custom creation of Power BI dashboards

· Sharing insights with sales managers and reps

· Next steps and adoption considerations

by Doug Heaton

What is XRM? Using Dynamics 365 to Manage All Communication

Microsoft XRM manages and strengthens customer relationships by centralizing customer data to improve sales, marketing, and customer service processes. It provides a unified platform for businesses to track leads, manage sales pipelines, automate tasks, and gain insights through analytics and AI (Sales Copilot) to enhance efficiency and customer engagement.

Agenda: How Microsoft XRM helps businesses

· Sales:

Helps sales teams manage their sales pipelines from lead to close, manage opportunities, and track customer interactions. It provides dashboards with data insights and uses AI to assist with tasks and predict outcomes.

· Marketing:

Enables businesses to run marketing campaigns and manage customer-related data to personalize interactions.

· Customer Service:

Empowers customer service teams to manage cases, automate ticketing, and quickly resolve issues with AI-powered tools.

· Field Service:

Supports field agents by providing them with the information they need for jobs, allowing them to communicate with colleagues and customers, and optimizing their routes for efficiency.

· Centralized data:

Creates a single, centralized database for all customer information, including contacts, leads, and vendor data, which can be accessed across different teams and departments.

· Analytics and AI:

Uses built-in analytics and AI-powered features to help forecast sales, monitor customer sentiment, and provide insights to make better, data-driven decisions.

· Automation and efficiency:

Streamlines daily work through task automation and AI-assisted tools, reducing manual effort and improving overall efficiency.

by Doug Heaton

Copilot for CRM Service

Learn about the growing trend of AI in customer service and how your organization can use intelligent technologies to personalize customer experiences while reducing costs. We will cover the 3 CRM service modules (Service (Cases), Field Service, and Operations for Projects)

What we’ll cover:

· Introduction & strategic benefits of AI for your service team (30% labor savings)

· AI-driven service management

· Customer engagement and personalized insights

· Integration with Microsoft 365 (Outlook, Teams, Excel, Power BI)

· Prompting tips and best practices

· Pricing & licensing overview

Rather than replace people, AI works alongside customer service teams to automate routine tasks and deliver intelligent support. AI in customer service gives teams more time to focus on complex, high-value tasks and generates insights needed to personalize interactions, resolve issues, and drive satisfaction

by Doug Heaton