Crm Mvp Podcast

The Coronavirus Pandemic has affected millions of businesses around the world, one of those businesses is Dynamic Communities, Inc. The organization that runs the user groups globally and the organizer of many marquee events such as the User Group Summit that I've attended every year since 2012. This year the organization has been under heavy criticism for actions like cancelling or drastically changing events at the last minute and refusing to provide full refund to attendees. In addition to the horrible customer service some users experienced, the company laid off about 90% of their employees, and is currently trying to shift gears in an effort to stay alive. Is COVID-19 to blame for what is happening at DCI? Join me as I discuss with former VP, Program Team and GM of CRMUG Tony Stein and former Director of Global Dynamics 365 Community and GM of AXUG Heather Williams, who share their perspective and details behind some of the decisions that ultimately led DCI to this point. Guests: Tony Stein: https://www.

The Product Catalog in Microsoft Dynamics 365 is a polarizing piece of functionality. Some people love it and some people swear they'll never use it, some think it's too complicated and some think it's not complex enough, some companies rely on it where others avoid it at all costs, so I invited Microsoft MVP and Solution Architect Gustaf Westerlund to dive deep into the Product Catalog and share all of our lessons learned and best practices to those of you wondering how it all works and how it could benefit your business. Special Guest: Gustaf Westerlund: https://twitter.com/crmgustaf

How scary would it be to end up with a failed CRM Implementation that costs your company hundreds of millions of dollars? This is exactly what happened on Halloween of 1999 to Hershey. Let's talk about this failed implementation and what we can learn from it.

Dealing with data is one of the most challenging aspects of owning a CRM Solution. Whether you are using Dynamics 365 or Power Apps, I wanted to share a list of 10 things you can put in place to make sure your data quality is always high. I also share a 10-question data readiness quiz to see how healthy your organization is in terms of data quality and data management...listen in and see how your organization scores!

There are countless online articles titled something like "Here are the secrets *insert profession or industry here* don't want you to know", and it gave me the idea for this episode. Here are ten secrets you probably didn't know about us, the Microsoft MVPs.

In this episode, I cover 10 quick and easy improvements you can add to Dynamics 365. Some of these are simple settings that most people never enable, and some require special (but free) tools to enable them but all of them are super simple and can make a HUGE difference for your users' experience.

There are things we learn from others, and things we learn on our own by making mistakes or missing opportunities and learning from them. Amey Holden is a Microsoft MVP and she is sharing the 10 things she wishes she knew early in her Business Application career. Hopefully you can learn something in this episode that you won't have to learn the hard way in the future. Follow Amey: https://twitter.com/AmeyHolden Links: Pimp my LinkedIn Profile: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUbrBBiv8mBqfklikU7wbYg Ask the Experts LIVE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUgbvXSAJLQ

Dynamics 365 Sales Insights enables organizations to bring together the art and science of selling. Engage buyers like never before with seller intuition and AI working in concert. Lisa Crosbie is back hosting the show and she dives deep into Sales Insights, its features and capabilities, and her Top 10 features! More info: https://dynamics.microsoft.com/en-us/ai/sales-insights/

Implementing Dynamics 365 can be tricky, there can be so many moving parts, but some of the things that you do on every Dynamics 365 Implementation must be done at the right time to maximize value. If you do something too early you may have to deal with it for the duration of the projects, constantly struggling to keep it up to date, but if you do something too late you might delay a project because you didn't start soon enough! Here are my Top 10 things most people get WRONG in terms of timing when implementing Dynamics 365, and why it is so important to get it right.

July was full of surprises, starting with a positive COVID-19 test on July 3rd, my battle against a virus that took me to the hospital twice and almost killed me, plus I talk about Dataflex announced at Microsoft Inspire, and a new free tool available to the Dynamics 365 and Power Apps community, Power Text! Link to Podcast episode I mentioned on the show: http://divetalkmedia.com/episode-15-this-is-why-we-havent-posted-for-a-month

This is episode is hosted by Lisa Crosbie, a new Microsoft MVP for 2020 who wanted to share her perspective regarding the "MVP Process" and add some best practices for aspiring MVPs. Follow Lisa: https://twitter.com/LisaMCrosbie  

In this episode we discuss the alarming signs of low user adoption and discuss how we can handle them. The article reviewed in this episode: https://academy.whatfix.com/alarming-signs-crm-is-underutilized-and-how-to-deal-with-it/

When it comes to becoming or being a Dynamics 365 Consultant, and more specifically a Functional Consultant, there are a few things you should know. So, I put a list together of 10 things a Functional Consultant should know, and if they know these things they can get a job as a Functional Consultant pretty much anywhere! I hope this episode does two things: It helps current Functional Consultants identify potential gaps in their skillset and fill them. It helps aspiring Functional Consultants identify what they need to learn to get the opportunity they are striving for. Looking forward to hearing what you think of this list!

For our 3rd Anniversary episode, I wanted to talk about changes that I've seen over the last 3 years and share my thoughts around why some people should not become a Microsoft MVP. I also talk about Impostor Syndrome and what can you do to deal with it. Jonny Kim: https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/jonny-kim/biography

Depending on where you work as a Solution Architect you might be expected to be involved with a project from begining to end, or maybe just for bits and pieces during the project execution. Neil Benson, a Microsoft MVP and Agile Implementation expert invited me and Joel Lindstrom to discuss the role of a Solution Architect within the projects we normally implement. From small to large enterprise implementations, roles and responsibilities vary so we wanted to share what we've seen over the years. Is your company leveraging you as a Solution Architect the right way? It's time to find out! Hosts: Neil Benson: https://twitter.com/customery Gus Gonzalez: https://twitter.com/GusGonzalez2 Joel Lindstrom: https://twitter.com/JoelLindstrom

This is part two of my review of businessThink, a book that transformed my career as a Solution Architect. I thought I could review the book and give you a ton of examples and best practices within an hour or so, and by the time I stopped recording more than 3 hours had gone by. This episode is Part 2 of 2, and it focuses on the last 4 rules described in the book. These rules will make you a better Consultant and Solution Architect. Applying these rules in my Solution Architecture career took me to the next level, and they will also take yours. Get ready to take some notes! Buy the Book: businessThink: Rules for Getting It Right-Now, and No Matter What!: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0471219932/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_d5KHEbW18FGYM

This is part one of my review of businessThink, a book that transformed my career as a Solution Architect. I thought I could review the book and give you a ton of examples and best practices within an hour or so, and by the time I stopped recording more than 3 hours had gone by. This episode is Part 1 of 2, and it focuses on the first 4 rules described in the book. These rules will make you a better Consultant and Solution Architect. Applying these rules in my Solution Architecture career took me to the next level, and they will also take yours. Get ready to take some notes! Buy the Book: businessThink: Rules for Getting It Right-Now, and No Matter What!: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0471219932/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_d5KHEbW18FGYM

In this episode, 4 Microsoft MVPs walk through the Top 10 things they hate in our industry. We talk about things we hate to see other MVPs, Microsoft, Partners, ISVs, and even ourselves doing! No one is safe. Guests: Daryl LaBar: https://twitter.com/ddlabar Joel Lindstrom: https://twitter.com/JoelLindstrom Gustaf Westerlund: https://twitter.com/crmgustaf

For this episode, I wanted to focus on the common mistakes new professionals - specially consultants - make when they get started in their new role. This list comes from mistakes I made personally, and mistakes I've seen former colleagues and people in the industry make. How many of these mistakes have you made in the past?

Jocko Willink, a former US Navy SEAL Commander has a motto: "Discipline Equals Freedom", and if we apply this motto to Dynamics 365 we can see a connection between the discipline to maintain a successful Dynamics 365 Solution equals to a ton of freedom when it comes to being constantly "putting out fires" within the system. Even the most successful Dynamics 365 implementations can die if the team supporting the solution becomes complacent and undisciplined. These are my TOP 10 situations where COMPLACENCY can KILL your Dynamics 365 solution.