Yes, the way you grow and expand your Dynamics 365 system matters. Here’s why.
Have you ever neglected the positioning and layout of new fields to save time and effort on your forms or disregarded data that just wasn’t clean?
What about neglecting to create new business rules or improving your processes?
Your users probably won’t say much about it, but it might affect the value of your Sales Professional experience in a very noticeable way.
What’s the problem, doc?
Your system is costing you money.
Think about the average monthly pricing of your Microsoft Product. Also, think about the initial hesitation between stakeholders when the potential introduction of Microsoft products was first discussed. There were most likely many people to convince to use your new system. In other words, it was and still is an investment.
Therefore, a bad return on said investment doesn’t make sense in the long run, especially if you pay monthly. If your system currently looks nothing like what it looked like the day of your demo, that is a good sign that your system needs a good cleanup. Not to mention that human errors, time and effort by staff and potential loss of trust with your suppliers or partners all cost a big portion of your already limited budget.
How your system is built affects productivity, time, and effort.
Let’s think about the way your system should be functioning. You should be able to find the things you want in as little time as possible without being an expert. Doing otherwise would completely defy the use of such a capable yet simple service. The more fields you put on your pages, the more time and effort your brain will take to process anything it sees. That can be applied to anything in your system, from views that should be customized to what works for you to the template you use. Practically speaking, the harder your system is to navigate, the less work will get done on time, and that’s a game changer when this concerns your business and your customers.
It’s time to empower those who work with your system.
It’s more likely than you think that system users already formed an opinion about how the system works. They might see that new opportunities need more time to enter or that issues arise by having obsolete or unused fields. The duplicate records might pile up, or the solution engineered to suit your needs (Automated flows or Business Processes) has become obsolete. It might be time to get those people in a meeting room and discuss all the problems and prevent those that might still happen. Your proactivity will be appreciated by those who have grown frustrated and will be rewarded with better, more efficient processes.
Now, onto the fix…
Minimize when you don’t use it.
This applies to any fields, sections, tabs, records, tables and other data you don’t use. There are so many options and capabilities out there, and more features are rolling out regularly for Dynamics 365. That doesn’t mean you need to use all of them or make room to use all the features. Hide or delete anything your system doesn’t require, and limit and improve the data/metadata you use. (Don’t worry; hiding the features on your application doesn’t remove anything and is still accessible in the Tree view of your editor).
Designing better-looking forms and views is smart, not just pretty.
Have you ever thought a product could have so much potential if only the feature advertised worked the way it’s meant to, or wished the designers thought of the user a little bit more than is required when making a product? The same goes for your system-designing and editing pages; they need to make sense and keep the user in mind. Is your subject field expected to be at the top, yet it’s at the bottom or in the middle of similar-looking fields? Does it take longer to fill out a simple form than it does to log in to your favourite social media? Although one can get carried away with ensuring the system looks perfect, spending more time visually editing your data is recommended.
It is also a great idea to comply with having your system be accessible to people predisposed to having difficulties interpreting information or a visual impairment, such as colourblindness, low vision, dyslexia and further disabilities.
Business rules and other tools are space savers.
You might be guessing by now that the look of your system is a key visual representation that connects you to your valuable data and new insights and shouldn’t be neglected. Although business rules might look complicated, they are crucial to:
- Validate your data. The less false or incomplete data, the better.
- To show only the fields you need.
- Assist your users with getting to know the system, regardless of the experience.
- Prevent errors and improper use of your application.
There are many more uses of business rules, but one thing is certain: when used effectively, they can transform how you do business. The same applies to the use of Power Automate, Power BI, Power Apps, AI Capabilities and much more. The more tools you introduce with effective practice, the more your system can work in your favour.
Make time and assign people to maintain
Even if you don’t have an in-house developer team or a consulting contractor ready to maintain your solutions, Dynamics 365 has been built to be used by anyone. If you are running out of people to take care of system maintenance, consider training or recruiting more staff to ensure your processes are running smoothly, and that all your data is cleaned and looked after. It’s also a good idea to stick to an ongoing maintenance schedule to validate new records, improve on existing oversee the big picture of your applications.
Do it right (The first time)
Anyone can tell you prevention is the best solution. If your system came out of the box and was then worked on by other people, there’s a good chance you might not know what’s in the ACTUAL structure of your solution. There might be improper practices used, the solution was built to be unsustainable or maybe the people just used the cheaper, less effective options. Either way, whether you are trying to find the right person to work on your solutions or the damage has already been done with lousy consulting, it’s always good to know when to ask for help. Our company, Technomancy, has as much experience as CRM has been a tool, so when it comes to preventing big problems, business users and stakeholders should get the right advice from the right people, like us and other great, trustworthy consultants. After all, the difference between whether your business is running smoothly will be up to the decisions you make and how much investment you will put into your Dynamics 365 experience.
To contact us or get professional advice, leave your contact details in the form below, and we will reach out to you to help with technology solutions for your business challenges.
