Enhancements for Sales Users in the Microsoft Dynamics 365 2020 Release Wave 1

There are many upcoming enhancements with the Microsoft Dynamics 365 2020 Release Wave 1 that salespeople will enjoy and benefit from.

Among the most exciting include:

Opportunity Kanban View

This feature will provide a nice visual for salespeople to manage their Opportunities even more effectively in Microsoft Dynamics 365, accommodating different work styles and user preferences.

In Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales, salespeople will now be able to:

• Easily toggle between the existing grid view and the new Kanban view
• View their opportunity pipeline by sales path on the Kanban board
• Move opportunities into a different stage with a simplified and intuitive user experience
  • This also allows salespeople to move Opportunities from one stage to another just by dragging them

Microsoft reminds users that this is only available in the Unified Interface, and the capability is available in Dynamics 365 Sales Enterprise and Dynamics 365 Sales Professional.

RESOURCE:

• Relnotes. “Work with Opportunities in the Kanban View – Dynamics 365 Release Plan.” Dynamics 365 Release Plan | Microsoft Docs, Microsoft Dynamics 365, 2020, docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365-release-plan/2020wave1/dynamics365-sales/work-opportunities-kanban-view.

Saving/Creating PDF Documents directly within Microsoft Dynamics 365 or Microsoft SharePoint

In the 2020 release wave 1, users will now be able to run a Word Template from right inside Microsoft Dynamics 365 and attach the results directly to an email or place into SharePoint.

This greatly reduces the effort of running the Word Template, saving the document to a local drive, manually inserting it into an email or manually uploading it to SharePoint.

Microsoft encourages salespeople that this feature will help salespeople to:

• More quickly save standardized PDF documents created from Microsoft Word Templates as attachments in Microsoft Notes
• Save standardized PDFs based on Word Templates in Microsoft SharePoint

Microsoft reminds users that this is only available in the Unified Interface, and the capability is available in Dynamics 365 Sales Enterprise and Dynamics 365 Sales Professional.

RESOURCE:

• Relnotes. “Save Standardized PDF Documents to Dynamics 365 Sales or Microsoft SharePoint – Dynamics 365 Release Plan.” Dynamics 365 Release Plan | Microsoft Docs, Microsoft Dynamics 365, 2020, docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365-release-plan/2020wave1/dynamics365-sales/save-standardized-pdf-documents-dynamics-365-sales-or-sharepoint.

Email Improvements

Version 9 provided more functionality to email directly from inside of CRM, but this release provides more flexibility with email. The improvement comes in two parts: Contextual Email Communication and an easier selection of Email Templates.

Contextual Email Communication

This lets salespeople create an email in a window that allows you direct access to records in CRM to copy and paste information or to review it while composing the email.

There are many benefits of Contextual Email Communication. It provides salespeople with:

• A rich text editor and a pop-up, non-blocking window
• The ability to write email with context of the record they are working on
• The ability to navigate between records
• The ability to have multiple active draft emails open simultaneously
• The ability to preview content before sending
• The ability to add attachments
• and the ability to use email templates to optimize commonly used tasks

Microsoft notes that this feature was first available for public preview in October 2019. It is available with the Unified Interface only and the capability is available in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales Enterprise and Sales Professional.

RESOURCE:

Adding Products onto Opportunities

This enhancement makes the experience of managing products much easier. While many customers have yet to utilize this tool, the enhancements made in this upcoming release are poised to allow for a speedy adoption.

In this release, Microsoft has “simplified and expedited matching products to opportunities, reducing friction and motivating salespeople.”

With the new enhancements, salespeople can add products “quickly and intuitively, with minimal effort.”

With this feature, salespeople can:

• “Look up products directly from the catalog”
• “Explore product details inline and compare products to make an informed selection”
• “Add multiple products at once”

This feature is available with the Unified Interface only and the capability is available in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales Enterprise.

Sales Forecasting

Microsoft has yet to release the entire forecasting improvement plan but encourages that sales forecasting helps everyone on the team.

• Salespeople can “manage their pipeline and focus time more effectively by identifying the deals the need to close to meet quotas.”
• Sales managers can “plan sales team execution and meet sales forecasts more confidently with greater flexibility,” gaining “a clearer view into bottom-up projections,” which means they gain a “deeper understanding of those opportunities that impact the business.”
• Sales enablement managers can “benefit from greater flexibility to offer more granular and meaningful guidance that accurately reflects sales execution.”

Follow this page for more updates to come on Sales Forecasting as the release gets closer, on April 1, 2020.

RESOURCE:

Get information on important Microsoft Dynamics 365 2020 Release Wave 1 dates here.

If you’re having trouble navigating or need more help preparing for the transition, reach out to the experts at Ledgeview for help. We are happy to assist you to keep you invigorated with the technology you’ve invested ample time and resources in.

You can also get answers to some of the most frequently asked questions in the Microsoft Dynamics 365 user group community here.