We are close to the end of this year, and we mostly have important conference dates for the following year. I would like to have all Dynamics 365 (and/or Power Platform) conferences in one place, with all dates planned for 2024. So, you can find them here and start planning your attendance as most of them have early bird:
As I have told you in the previous blog post for part 3, I will introduce you to the Data Synchronization feature, and I will try to explain all capabilities of Data Synchronization.
Before we start creating and explaining how it works, one step needs to be made before we Synchronize Sales Professional and Business Central. You will need to create Synchronization between Dataverse and Business Central first. The procedure of making it is the same. The difference is in the number of tables and the type of synchronization. In Dataverse Synchronization, you will get full sync of Contact, Customer, Vendors, and Currency. It is important to mention that this data sync is easy to set up and work with. As was the case a few years back, you don’t need an Admin User and Integration User (Non-Admin) in Dataverse. Now everything is done through a wizard in Business Central. All you have to do is go to the Assisted Setup in Business Central, choose Set up a connection to Dataverse and follow the steps. You have to pay attention to this setup at the beginning, where you have a question: Would you want to create a Virtual Table? It is up to you. You can switch it off or on, but we will not need Virtual Tables for our Dynamics 365 Sales Professional Synchronization.
Now that we have created Dataverse Synchronization, it is time to focus on our Sales Professional Data Synchronization. After you have created Dataverse Synchronization next step is to choose on the same page in Business Central Set Up connection to Dynamics 365 Sales. What will welcome you is almost the same wizard you got when you were created previously, but as you go through the next page, you will see the possibility of going to the Advanced setup of Synchronization. If you click on advanced, you will see the option to choose some of the tables for sync, my recommendation is to select all of them except Enable Legacy Sales Order Integration, but you will see that if you choose to Enable Bidirectional Sales Order Integration, you will not be able to select Enable Legacy Sales Order Integration.
Now when we choose Finish and let the system do its job, we will end that now we have a much more extensive list of synced tables than previously whit Dataverse synchronization. For example, we have Items, Opportunity, Sales Quote, Sales Invoice… etc. And of course, we see here which type of connection is made to which table, Bidirectional or To Integration Table or From Integration Table, but leaving this on the side more important is now to do coupling criteria. What are we doing here exactly? We are setting which field we want to do, checking duplicates, setting case-sensitive fields, and deciding whether we want to create e New record if he can’t find an existing one.
So, we now have to define Coupling criteria for all tables where the system asks us to do it, and when we finish, we will choose Run Full Synchronization. And the system will do its job, create all records, and match all already existing records on both sides.
Now that we have synced systems and what can we do with them?
In conclusion to this whole blog post, I will give you some examples of what you can do and how you can use the synchronization on and, of course, one CRM (Dynamics 365 Sales Professional) and one ERP (Business Central) for SMB altogether and use the best of both software and to get the best value at the end.
For example, as I have mentioned leads in previous blog posts, this is Sales stuff, and it is good not to mess with Business Central Customers as you may create some Invoices or a lot of financial transactions. So, let’s keep our ERP clear, and those data where we have some contact with somebody, let’s keep it in CRM. But this Lead is getting more interested, and we are getting the possibility to sell something to him (Athens Desk 1896-S, 😊), and he is becoming an Opportunity. We now have Synchronization between ERP and CRM and customer info in both systems. Still, what we can do more from Sales professional because we have Items, UOM, and Sales Quote Synced, we can create a quote in Sales Professional. Now when we want to do Invoicing, we can go to BC and get out the Quote that we made in Sales Professional (because of synchronization), and from that Quote, we will create an Invoice and successfully sell our product to our client. But this is not the end, because we know that in CRM works Salespersons and that for them it is important to understand what we have sold to somebody. This Invoice will be synced back to our Opportunity, and when it is on Opportunity, it will automatically be attached to the Account Table. Each Salesperson will know in the future what this client has bought for what amount and when. This process is called the Lead to Opportunity to Cash business process in two software which works together perfectly.
And one more thing, I’m not persuading you to start using and buying Sales Professional, but I just wanted to show you all the good stuff which comes for you for only 20$ per user per month as an Attached License if you are already a BC user.
And finally, there is always one more question. What if I need to add more tables to the synchronization? The answer is YES! I will stay on this answer because I would not like to rewrite your Microsoft Docs, but I’m giving you the link. In short, you will need a bit of BC development, but you will get it and make extra tables available in synchronization.
We are close to the end of this, and we mostly have important conference dates for the following year. I would like to have all Dynamics 365 (and/or Power Platform) conferences in one place, with all dates planned for 2023. So, you can find them here and start planning your attendance as most of them have early bird:
So, after introduction to this topic, it is time to continue with it and say when you would need to consider extending your Business Central with a license for Sales Professional.
First, what I would like to introduce you to is a small dictionary. The reason is that we have a few of the same, but they have different names. The reason is that Business Central is a financial-focused system, and all data you see in it are focused on your financial transactions with your clients. On the other side, Sales Professional is a Customer-Centric system, and all data in it is focused so that you can have a better view of your clients and make better relationships with them.
Business Central
Sales Professional
Contacts
Contacts (only person)
Customer
Account
Vendor
Account
Items
Products
Unit of Measure
Unit Group
After the dictionary, you probably already have a perspective of the focus of each system, as I have previously mentioned.
But why should we stay on a dictionary when we can split all of the things and dive deep into the actual capabilities of a Sales Professional? You will have a better perspective after seeing what is different and when it would be nice to consider extending your Business Central with a Sales Professional license.
Contacts
So, first of all, if we focus on a Contact table, we will see that Contact can be both Company and Person in Business Central, but in the Sales Professional, Contact is only based on a Person.
But besides this difference key difference is the data that we see in both solutions. Sales Professionals have all data which is essential for a salesperson, for example, all recent Opportunities, general information about clients (Name, Email, Preferred Method of Contact, Address, Marital Status, Contact Preferences, Marketing Information of origin of Contact… etc.) and Timeline which I will explain in a separate section because it is on of the main features which are focused to the Sales Professional users.
We have some of the same information on the Business Central side, but all focus on different users. All data in Business Central is focused on a client’s financial data. Still, of course, it is not only financial stuff, there is some of the information that a Sales Professional has, but the whole UI is different and makes users first see relevant data for one ERP system.
Accounts
If we look at the Accounts (Customers/Vendors) situation, it’s like the Contacts. But the main difference is in the gettering Customer and Vendors to the one record, which is the crucial difference from where we can understand the different focus of these two solutions. As previously mentioned, several times, besides UI focus difference whole solution is for another type of user, and each of the solutions makes you look to the specific data which is most important for key users of each of them.
To better understand the difference, you can see that Sales Professional focuses on the Annual Revenue of the whole company, how many employees the company has, what is the company’s industry of the company… etc. Regarding all of this data, you can see that a Sales Professional focuses on adjusting your sales team to make even better sales to this client.
Lead
Lead does not exist in the Business Central, and Lead is our introduction to the Business Process Flow.
Let’s first start with the actual usage of the Leads, specially Leads for Business Central users. Lead is the first contact with some Account or Contact. This means that the salesperson has just talked with somebody, but they are still unsure if they can make actual sales, so we are creating Leads for the starting status. One of the most important things with leads is that they can be used with existing clients and those you don’t have in the system. Suppose contact has been made with someone you don’t have in the system. In that case, another does not create a Contact or Account until you qualify them for the next stage of negotiations, not synchronized as a Contact/Vendor/Account. You will not have several useless clients from whom you have never sold or bought anything in your Business Central. But for the salespersons, this is most important because they will start to negotiate and negotiate sales from here. While salespersons are trying to make as many sales as possible, there is a graphical process that takes them through precisely defined steps to focus on essential communication with potential clients. This graphical leading is called Business Process Flow.
All salespersons can Qualify or Disqualify a Lead. Qualification takes us to the Opportunity, where Contact and Account will be created if they don’t exist in the system already. And important is that Business Process Flow will continue regardless we are getting on to a different table.
Opportunity
From Opportunity, we are returning to the familiar thing we have in Business Central. Still, from the side of a Sales Professional, it depends on how far we will go with the Opportunity. Would we go to the moment to create a Quote inside Sales Professional, or will we leave all financially focused data to the Business Central?
Sales Professional is fully capable of giving a quote, order, and invoice, but as recommended, we should provide a quote from Sales Professional or leave only on the Opportunity level and go to the Business Central and make a Quote from here.
This is all up to you and your use case. It is important to know that all Items and Units of Measure are synced between both systems. All data is available on both sides, and you will receive it back to Sales Professional if you create Quotes in the Business Central. From the perspective of Business Process Flow, it is always there until you finish with this Opportunity and close it as Won or Lost.
Timeline
Timeline is one of the greatest strengths of Sales applications because you have it on all tables and can see all communication with a client. It doesn’t matter if it is regarding just Account or Contact communication or sales regarding the Opportunity or Lead. You can write it manually or make a Phone Call or Email Appointment. Still, more important, if you connect your Outlook with Sales, what can be created in just a setup connection, you can automatically generate all communication with clients and be informed about every and each communication that happens with a specific client.
And with the new release, you have Teams integration based on the table, which means that you can start the conversation which stays connected to the record, and everyone can see it and be informed of what you have to say about the Client or Sales Opportunity.
Conclusion of part 2.
We have passed key differences in some of the tables most used in collaborations for both systems. In the next blog post, I will explain to you how it is possible to make Data Synchronization and make basic integration of them both so that users can get full capabilities of both solutions and get the correct data in the right solution so that users of both solutions can have the best possible information’s which are related to them and that each company which has both of the solutions can make even usage of them both.
Recently I finished my session about using Dynamics 365 Sales professional with Business Central at Directions EMEA. But there were many questions about D365 Sales Professional capabilities… what is possible, where are limitations…
First, Sales Professional is a CRM solution for SMB companies targeting businesses with more straightforward sales needs with basic sales force automation and limited customizations. But it is still a powerful tool, and I wanted to show you what this app includes using an infographic model. You can see details here:
What more is essential to know? You cannot mix a Sales Professional license with Sales Enterprise (and other Sales licenses)… if you decide to use Sales Professional, you must use it for all Sales users. But if this is not enough for you (at some moment, your company has grown), you can upgrade this license to Dynamics 365 Sales Enterprise.
If you like this infographic, I’ll add a similar one for Sales Enterprise.
As I started to write about Dynamics 365 Business Central with Sales Professional series, you will probably need a few directions on how to test it and about limitations (when to accept them or to go to the Sales Enterprise). As I already wrote about it two years ago, I just wanted to remind you as this is something you will need if you want to track what I’m writing or more about my session in Directions EMEA.
There are two posts you should read if you are interesting for this topic:
You already know Microsoft publishes new releases two times per year (wave 1 in April and wave 2 in October). You can find all news in Microsoft’s release plans. There is also an amazing ecosystem map by Vadim Korepin about all solutions in Dynamics 365 family.
But as I’m most connected with SMB solutions inside Dynamics 365 and Power Platform, I wanted to share more details on what is available for SMB users and companies from Microsoft Dynamics 365 family. Three business applications (Dynamics 365 Business Central, Sales Professional, Customer Service Professional) covered ERP and CRM parts but with plenty of features. I’m sure no other vendor currently can offer more for SMB customers worldwide.
You can look at and download the Ecosystem map for Dynamics 365 SMB solutions I created (resolution is 3840×2160):
I hope this SMB ecosystem map will be helpful for you, and we will have more features and maybe even more solutions here in the future.
I know it has passed since I wrote the first part of this topic, ‘Where is a limit in Business Central CRM capability and when integrating it with D365 Sales (part 1),’ and people expect the second part. But as I’ll speak about this topic on Directions EMEA this year, I decided to postpone the following parts after this event. I would like to keep it interesting and show many of these topics in my session. Of course, as I cannot go so deep into details in 45 minutes, I’ll continue here with publishing my point of view related to this topic.
We know that Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central (previously NAV) is primarily an ERP solution. But even so, this product has some customer relationship management capabilities. And name ‘Business Central’ probably comes because this solution can provide all business activities in one solution. But as this is primarily an ERP solution, the biggest strength comes in ERP, and in other areas, such as CRM or HRM, the level of functionalities is significantly lower. But let us make an overview of what is already in Business Central, but we can say it can be treated as CRM.
First, what we can find are a good customer and contact management. Still, as customers play an essential role in every ERP solution, we can emphasize more about contact management where we have some basic information about contacts and some segmentation.
You can also find some level of creating and tracking opportunities and sales quotes and interactions. You can also have some possibilities to make direct phone calls from BC or send an email. This is more or less what we have, but this is not a small number of functionalities.
Today I’ll not go into details about all these features. I just wanted to show some basic information about them and explain on a high level in which situation you should think about an additional and full CRM solution. As a full and independent CRM solution, I’ll focus on Dynamics 365 Sales Professional:
First, naturally, if you don’t have enough functionalities, you will take a specialized CRM solution, but let’s talk in detail on another occasion.
Second, the price can be an issue. If you have pure CRM users, they still need to pay $70 or even $100 for the license as they must pay a BC license even if they need only CRM capabilities. Sales Professional full license price is $65, and you can get full CRM. But with the new attach license for Dynamics 365 Sales Professional, BC clients can add a full CRM solution for an additional only $20.
Third, as I mentioned in the beginning, Business Central is still primarily an ERP solution, meaning its UI is built for ERP and not for CRM. Even if you have many CRM features, when we compare usage of these features, this is definitely not even close to being useable as in a regular CRM solution.
Dynamics 365 Sales Lead to Opportunity Business Proces Flow
Today I wanted just to make a high-level overview, but in future texts, I’ll try to be more accurate about when CRM in Business Central is enough for you and when you should think about integration with Dynamics 365 Sales.
In my previous post (video), you could learn how to create Dynamics 365 Sales Professional demo environment. If you are experienced with Dynamics CRM solutions you can recognize differences between this solution and enterprise version, but if you are newbie I would like to introduce you with all differences you can find there.
On the first place, we can split them to the two types of clients:
Dynamics 365 Sales Enterprise – full sales capabilities
Dynamics 365 Sales Professional – core sales functions at a reduced rate for businesses with simpler sales force needs
But if you want more details and especially if you need to promise something to your client, you should have details. Let’s start with details. First list is list of all features Dynamics 365 Sales Enterprise has, and Sales Professional has not:
Access via Portal or API
Non-employees only: Work Orders
Non-employees only: Opportunities
Entities (Create, Update, Delete)
Max 15 Custom Entities
Competitors
Embedded Intelligence
Forecasting
Product Families
Product Hierarchies
Product Relationships
Quick Campaigns
Sales Goals
Sales Hub
Sales Literature
Territories
Entities (Actions)
Business card scanning as add-on (10 users/month: pooled at tenant level)
Without custom system reports, charts, and dashboards
Additional Services and Software
Dynamics 365 Gamification (Player & Admin)
Microsoft Forms Pro
Microsoft PowerApps
Dynamics 365 Sales Insights
Max 10 ISV solutions
If your conclusion is that Sales Professional doesn’t have a lot of features it is not a true. Sales Professional has a pretty big number of very good features and it can cover probably the most of SMB company requests.
But let’s add some of advantages of Sales Professional. This list is maybe not so big, but quality of this list is more important than quantity:
Price: full price is 65$ and this is 30$ less then enterprise version
Attach license to Business Central; if you already have Business Central, you need to pay only 20$ for license. As you already have integration in Business Central with D365 Sales, it is a real benefit both a price and functionalities.
UI is better (mostly in configuration) as this is intended for SMB customers.
If you need core CRM functionalities and solution easy to implement, Sales Professional is the right solution for you, but if you need all CRM functionalities you should choose Sales Enterprise.
As I see Sales Professional as a great opportunity for small companies and especially for those who already use Business Central, I’ll be focused on this solutions with the following posts (probably mostly videos).
Totovic Dynamics 365 Blog 