Topic: ‘Reports’

We don’t blame you! Marketing functionality within the newest version of Dynamics CRM, the 2011 version, is more robust than ever before. Whether you’re currently partnered with IBIS, thinking of switching, or thinking about implementing Dynamics CRM, getting up to speed on the possibilities available to you from a marketing standpoint is a valuable choice:

• Learn how to create Static and Dynamic Marketing Lists
• Learn how to create Campaigns & related Campaign Activities
• Learn how to distribute responsibilities to your sales representatives or teams Read the rest of this entry »

How To: Creating Custom Reports with Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 using BIDS Fetch XML Extension

The Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 architecture enables report developers to create and customize reports even more than before. Prior to this release, reporting was usually created by using the report wizard within the CRM application. It was not as customizable or flexible as the new version. Here are the steps to create a custom report with Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 via the Microsoft SQL Server Business Intelligence Development Studio (BIDS) Fetch Extension:

Requirements:

• Microsoft SQL Server 2008 or 2008 R2 Business Intelligence Development Studio (BIDS) installed
• Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 BIDS Fetch Extension installed
• Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Online account Read the rest of this entry »

How many Leads are generated from our marketing efforts? How many high priority cases are being escalated? The charting functionality in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 will help you find the answers to these questions and many more. Let’s take a look at the possibilities.

Inline Charts

New to 2011, you can view a chart right inside a CRM view just by clicking the chevron here: Read the rest of this entry »

Creating personal Advanced Find views from within the Dynamics CRM application is a very helpful analytical tool. You can leverage preferred column headers and filter criteria, and you can access the views anytime you need to without having to recreate the criteria. Sharing is simple, allowing you to give other members of the CRM application access to the filter criteria that you’ve created. But static analysis of your CRM data can only be so beneficial – especially for those of us who rely on more visual analytics.

Now, it’s good to know that from within the 2011 version of Dynamics CRM, you have access to charting, which allows you to leverage a visual depiction of your CRM listviews. There are numerous out of the box charts that provide value, and you have the ability to create new charts if you wish to do so. There are some limitations, such as multi-series charts and scatter graphs, but the options available are very robust. Read the rest of this entry »

Fetch XML has a few limitations still which will quickly surface as you start building reports. You need to be aware of these:

• You cannot specify left outer joins – e.g. The following is not supported: “Select all Accounts who do not have a related Completed Appointment record”
• You cannot specify group by/sum queries – e.g. The following is not supported: “Select Account Name, count(*), sum(est. value) from Account Group By Account Name” – You can only select the records in detail and then perform the aggregation in your report. But…
• Fetch XML queries return a maximum of 5000 records. Read the rest of this entry »

For simple exports to Microsoft Excel, you can use the Advanced Find functionality to find the records, and then export. But keep in mind that you can only get one data set per Excel file. What about when the requirement is to export data from CRM to a multiple-tabbed Excel file where each tab is a different data set? Read the rest of this entry »

A new study by Forrester Research, a top information technology research company based out of Cambridge, Massachusetts, concludes that Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 not only reduces marketing, sales, and service costs throughout organizations using CRM 2011, but also increases revenue productivity and collaboration throughout the company.

Using a risk-adjusted ROI cost analysis method, Forrester determined that organizations can see a total return of investment in as little as 4.1 months. After gathering information and feedback from executives currently working for 9 Dynamics CRM 2011 customers in their initial implementation phases, Forrester conducted a composite case study with 50 CRM users working for an organization with 2,000 employees. Read the rest of this entry »

Underestimated are those reports that come without a hefty price tag (e.g. additional development work) – for example, the OOTB Campaign Performance Report inside of the new version of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011. This report, present inside of the previous CRM version (4.0) as well, outlines very well the makeup and outcome of one or more Campaigns inside of your Dynamics CRM application.

The report highlights each Campaign included in the report, from basic Details and Time Parameters to target Marketing Lists and Campaign Activities – all information that is handy to see rolled up into one report. Each of these items allow for drill-down capability, providing further insight into the information contained inside of the Campaign report.

Another favorite part of this report that I feel is worth mentioning is the calculation of Campaign Response value. This section, immediately above the first donut graph of Response Code information, contains the Total Number of Contacts Targeted, the Total Number of Reponses, along with the Response Rate calculation AND a Cost per Response calculation. These calculations are imperative for marketing analytics, and the provision of this information without development work is phenomenal.

For a company on a budget, this report – along with numerous others inside of the new Dynamics CRM 2011 version – provides invaluable analytical insight into CRM information and data. However, there is no such thing as a free lunch – the reports do have their caveats.

The main thing that is frustrating is the ROI calculation functionality in the report. I feel this information is imperative for a company that wants to fully understand how valuable their sources are. For a few minutes, I actually struggled with the reasoning behind this – how do I make the Revenue ROI Per $100 show up in the report? Based upon the Cost and Revenue charting provided in the report, I found out that the calculation is actually based upon the value of placed Orders. This basically means that ROI cannot be calculated unless the Sales Order Processing (SOP) functionality is utilized inside of CRM – which is not used as frequently as the basic sales pipeline functionality, like Leads, Accounts, Contacts, and Opportunities. A majority of clients use another Accounting software platform, like Microsoft Dynamics GP, to store and manage financial data.

As a rule of thumb, I would advise all companies who use – or are going to use – CRM for their sales & marketing platform to take a look and explore the OOTB reports provided by Microsoft. They have a lot of value! However if anything just isn’t what you’re looking for – or if the information isn’t in line with how you’re using the application, SSRS reports can provide further definition and analytics, including dashboards, custom calculations, and BI incorporation like KPI’s.

I really like this post by the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Team. It gives readers a quick overview of just how easy it is to modify existing or create new charts inside of CRM2011. By modifying the XML in just a few places, you can transform a boring, one-dimensional sales pipeline funnel into an engaging, colorful, 3-D version.