The Townsend Report

Microsoft recently released a new app for Dynamics 365 (formerly Dynamics CRM) called Social Selling Assistant , to help sales and marketing professionals find and share content on social media.  The product is a free download from Microsoft Appsource  and installs in your instance of Dynamics 365 Sales. Once you install Social Selling Assistant,  you configure your social media accounts and then search for content to share.  By consistently sharing content in your industry, you can build your following by attracting new followers as well as keep your followers engaged with fresh content. I have not used the system long enough to determine the quality of the content or compare it to the results I would achieve using a search engine to find interesting news.  The advantage over posting manually is to have all your social outlets connected to simplify posting. Microsoft Social Selling Assistant adjusts search results based on which articles you choose and reject over time.

Source: https://www.niem.gov/about-niem  My company InfoStrat has developed a number of public sector solutions which include case management for justice and public safety as well as social services, such as SAVIN360 victim notification .  We have adopted a reference model for the data elements called the  National Information Exchange Model (NIEM) .  This standard helps software architects standardize their data definitions so that they use a common language to track the people, things, cases, and other actions which are central to their automated systems. NIEM is a useful companion to Microsoft Dynamics 365 (formerly Dynamics CRM) because Dynamics 365 make it simple to standardize your data model and to rename objects such as entities, attributes, and field labels without programming.  By using Dynamics 365, you have a mechanism to efficiently enforce naming conventions and update your data model as your solution evolves. NIEM is available in XSD and Microsoft Excel formats,

Microsoft offers a range of professional services to help enterprise organizations with their implementation of Microsoft products and technologies. This organization is called Microsoft Services, and consists of a support organization as well as a professional services consulting organization.  The services arm was formerly called Microsoft Consulting Services and is still often referred to as MCS so I will use that shorthand in this blog post as well. MCS has grown to the point that consultants outnumber other staff in the field sales offices in many locations. Microsoft has global reach, so you can find MCS people around the world. Except for this article in Redmond Channel Partner, not much is written about MCS.  Therefore I am sharing my experiences and feedback I have received from customers on how to get the most out of MCS for your implementation. Here are six tips: Use MCS when you need "reachback" to the product team.  MCS offers a unique value due to th

Updated February 14, 2022 As creators of Grants Manager Plus for Dynamics 365, we at InfoStrat receive many questions on the solution.  Here are some of those we receive most frequently: Does Grants Manager Plus work on my version of Dynamics CRM or Dynamics 365? Yes, the solution has been available since version 4.0 and we release the solution for new version of Dynamics as they are released by Microsoft.  Is there a video demonstration I can watch?   Check out the Grants Manager Plus channel on YouTube.  How much does Grants Manager Plus cost?  InfoStrat charges a monthly subscription based on the number of internal users.  How can I integrate with my accounting system?   Grants Manager Plus includes integration points which can be customized and extended to meet your integration needs.   How does Grants Manager Plus handle documents such as attachments to the grant application? Dynamics 365 supports file attachments in Notes and also includes integration with SharePoint, eith

My company InfoStrat offers a special version of the  Quick Start for Dynamics 365  service to help government contractors get up and running with the InfoStrat Dynamics 365 for Government Contractors (GovCon).  The service is completed in one week to help companies gain initial operating capability for their government capture management system. We install the InfoStrat Dynamics 365 for Government Contractors (GovCon) solution in your instance of Dynamics 365. Dynamics 365 for Government Contractors simplifies the capture process by allowing users to follow opportunities through the sales process from proposal and review phases to the final award phase. Dynamics 365 for Government Contractors is built on the Microsoft Dynamics 365 platform to facilitate integration with ERP, accounting, and document management (SharePoint and Office 365). The Quick Start includes initial customization and training to get you going with your capture process.  We have found that one of the

Dynamics 365 introduced a number of new Microsoft products as well as new subscription bundles which combine Dynamics 365 apps for Sales, Field Service, Customer Service and Project Service.   Microsoft has expanded its successful FastTrack program for Office 365 to include Dynamics 365.  Qualified customers can receive Microsoft Dynamics 365 onboarding services , consisting of workshops and tech talks to learn more about the power of Dynamics 365 and how it fits with the business requirements of your organization. Source: Microsoft Microsoft engages with customers throughout the migration and adoption process to increase the success of Dynamics 365. Here are the eligibility guidelines for this program: If you don't meet the FastTrack minimum seats to qualify, consider InfoStrat's QuickStart services for Dynamics 365 . Dynamics 365 FastTrack services include: Initiation Services Getting the Most from Dynamics Services Tenant Administration & Operations

If you have been in the market for a new car or a mortgage or even some electronics products, you have likely experienced nurture marketing - an automated set of processes to provide information at each step in your journey as a customer. For instance, when you search on a car website, such as cars.com or truecars.com, you will start receiving emails based on your searches.  After you test drive a car, the dealer will follow up with emails or text (based on your communication preference) with special offers and car availability. According to lead nurture software company Marketo : On average, 50% of the leads in any system are not yet ready to buy (Marketo). Almost 80% of new leads never become sales (MarketingSherpa). Companies that excel at lead nurturing generate 50% more sales ready leads at a 33% lower cost (Marketo). Nurtured leads makes 47% larger purchases than non-nurtured leads (The Annuitas Group). Setting up a nurture campaign is usually centered around a cust