2003 to 2007 Structured References
Working with formulas and functions has not always been the most intuitive process. In Microsoft Office Excel 2003, multiplying gross revenue by the profit margin might mean typing something like =B7*E14. In Microsoft Office Excel 2007, structured referencing enables you to use the column headers in table data to build your formulas. Instead of cryptic cell locations, you can simply multiply =[Gross Revenue]*[Margin].
To use structured referencing, you first need to format your data as a table.
1. Click Format as Table in the Styles section of the Home tab.
2. Select the My table has headers check box.
3. After you have a table, click the cell where you want to insert the formula, and then type the left bracket ([).
4. Select the column that you want to use from the list that appears, press the TAB key, and then close it with the right bracket (]).
5. Repeat as you build out your formula.
Your MSCRM system no doubt holds a wealth of key data such as sales opportunities, accounts and key contacts. In the majority of cases your sales team will make heavy use of this application and certainly use it to track their sales opportunities. They may also make use of an intranet site for either the department or company as a whole. In the case of a sales team this site would likely contain details such as price lists, targets, supporting sales documentation etc. A direct connection from the sales opportunity screen in MSCRM to this webpage could make your sales team more efficient by providing them with access to all their key data from a single location.
One way of achieving this is via a quite straightforward modification to your MSCRM Opportunity window. Bear in mind of course that this is only an example and that the same logic can be applied to other windows.
This modification involves the creation of a new tab within the window and attaching an IFrame to that tab. Some JavaScript code is also required to dynamically specify the IFrame URL in the form load event.
Looking at the example above our potential customer is Jones Brothers Ltd and we have an opportunity to replace their accounts system. There are five tabs currently showing on this opportunity window, General, Administration, Notes, Sales Portal and Estimated Resources. The Sales Portal tab has been added as described above and when the sales person selects this tab they are presented with the following webpage view.
In this case the tab opens up an internal web portal site for the sales department which houses all of the key information that the sales person needs.
Of course this type of link could be configured in any number of ways and to any number of different websites. One similar application seen in a recent Microsoft blog is the idea of linking an MSCRM record to the LinkedIn business networking site, via a combination of xml and JavaScript. For those not familiar with LinkedIn, this site allows you make connections to other people and take advantage of relationships based on those connections – think Facebook in a business context. It is possible to create a connection from your MSCRM window to the LinkedIn site that automatically searches for your prospect on LinkedIn. This would then show the connections that your prospect has within the LinkedIn site. This ‘web’ of relationships could prove useful in a sales context, as for example you may find that your prospect has a business relationship with a person that you also know. The screenshot below shows my recently set-up LinkedIn page, currently showing four connections to others.
As you can hopefully see there are many applications for this kind of customisation to MSCRM. The product is created specifically to encourage this kind of add-on work and hopefully you can appreciate how useful a simple piece of bespoke work to an existing system can be to your organisation.
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