Managing Accounts and Contacts

In Microsoft Dynamics CRM, you can manage, share, and collaborate on accounts Companies that might do business with your organization. and contacts People who represent customers or potential customers, or individuals related to accounts. For example, an individual who purchases products or services for their own use, or an employee of an account. A contact may also be a person involved in a business transaction, such as a supplier or a colleague. within your organization. You can enter them individually, or import lists into the database.

Deciding between Using Accounts and Contacts

Accounts are companies, but contacts are individuals. You can have one or more contacts associated with a single account, but only one primary contact.

You can create a relationship between accounts and contacts, specify the type of relationship between them, and define the relationship role A definition of one side of a business relationship that exists between accounts, opportunities, or contacts. that the account or contact has with regard to the primary record.

Adding Sales Transactions

You can start a sales transaction, such as a quote A formal offer for products or services, proposed at specific prices and related payment terms, which is sent to an opportunity, account, or contact., order A confirmed request for delivery of goods or services based on specified terms. An order is a quote that has been accepted by a customer., or invoice An order that has been billed. An invoice is also a record of a sale to a customer, including details about the products or services purchased., from within an account or a contact record. The advantage of starting sales transactions this way is that much of the information is automatically entered based on the account or contact data.

Adding Services

You can create a case A customer service issue or problem reported by a customer and the activities that customer service representatives use to resolve it. or contract An agreement to provide support during specified coverage dates or for a specified number of cases or length of time.When customers contact customer service, the level of support they receive is determined by their contract. from within an account or contact record. When you save the record, it is automatically linked to the account or contact.

Managing Customer Records for Campaigns

You can add customer records to marketing lists Lists of accounts, contacts, or leads that match a specific set of criteria. that already exist as part of your marketing efforts directly from the account or contact form. You can also view related campaign A marketing program that uses many communication vehicles to accomplish a specific result. For example, using advertisements and direct mail to increase market share, introduce new products, or retain customers. information from within a customer record. In addition, you can use a quick campaign A communication method that creates a single activity for distribution to a group of accounts, contacts, or leads, or to a single marketing list. Contrast with campaigns, which support end-to-end marketing programs that have multiple activities. to run an activity for either a selected customer record, a page of customer records, or all customer records for a particular view.