Integrating ActiveDEMAND with Microsoft Dynamics CRM

ActiveDEMAND provides a bi-directional connection Microsoft Dynamics CRM. ActiveDEMAND adds some killer features to Microsoft Dynamics:

Contact insertions
Click to call from within Microsoft Dynamics
Prospect Insights
Scheduled contact sync
Lead scoring
Automated task scheduling
Appointment scheduling
etc


As Microsoft Dynamics forces assignment of a lead to a specific sales person in Microsoft Dynamics, you will require at least one sales person in Microsoft Dynamics to have an account in ActiveDEMAND.

The Basics

ActiveDEMAND is used to market to prospects, nurture leads, and report on marketing/sales results. Not all data from ActiveDEMAND should go to Microsoft Dynamics ... there are many very early stage actions that a prospect may take that are not yet ready for sales engagement. Using Automation, you can determine which prospect activities are ready for Microsoft Dynamics and which are not. The base case: Data flowing to Microsoft Dynamics from ActiveDEMAND happens when a prospect does something that ActiveDEMAND is tracking. For example, a prospect fills out a form, this could create a new deal in Microsoft Dynamics.


Note: The flow of data FROM ActiveDEMAND to Microsoft Dynamics is controlled in the Lead Processing workflows (Automation-Lead Processing).


If we can make the assumption that marketing 'assumes' a lot of things about a prospect, and that the sales people 'know' what is going on with a prospect, then we can assume that the data in Microsoft Dynamics is 'more accurate' than that in ActiveDEMAND. Thus when a contact updates in Microsoft Dynamics, we should tell ActiveDEMAND about the contact.

Note: Data flowing FROM Microsoft Dynamics to ActiveDEMAND is handled automatically using the Import Scheduler (Contacts-CRM Contact Updates).

The CRM Contact Update system sets up the connection between Microsoft Dynamics to ActiveDEMAND. It is not a scheduler ... there is a real-time update from Microsoft Dynamics to ActiveDEMAND whenever a contact is updated in Microsoft Dynamics.

Setting Up Microsoft Dynamics and ActiveDEMAND Communication

In ActiveDEMAND

Step 1:

Browse to Administration-Account Settings. Click on the 'Integrations' tab..






Step 2:

Whenever a contact is pushed to Microsoft Dynamics from ActiveDEMAND, the standard and custom fields in ActiveDEMAND can be mapped to the standard/custom fields in Microsoft Dynamics. You must set this mapping up for ActiveDEMAND to know which fields to update in Microsoft Dynamics. In the Account Settings (Administration-Account Settings), scroll down to the Integrations Tab.



You can map ActiveDEMAND fields to Microsoft Dynamics Fields:




Step 1:

In ActiveDEMAND, under Automation-Lead Processing you can customise your lead distribution and lead management. If you have access to the Sales Lead Notifications or Phone Call Sales Notification workflows, you now will see a new workflow item in the Workflow Actions.


NOTE: If your Sales Lead Notifications workflow is read only, send an email to support@acticedemand.com, they will add the Microsoft Dynamics workflow element to your workflow for you.




This action will give you the ability to post/update a contact in Microsoft Dynamics.

Importing Contacts From Microsoft Dynamics - ActiveDEMAND

After Microsoft Dynamics has been linked to your account, importing contacts is easy. In ActiveDEMAND, browse to Contacts-Import Contacts. You should see an option for pulling contacts from Microsoft Dynamics:




You will be given full control over what to do if contacts exist, what fields map to what, etc.

Automatically update contacts in ActiveDEMAND from Microsoft Dynamics

One of the more powerful features of the ActiveDEMAND-Microsoft Dynamics integration is the ability to update contacts in ActiveDEMAND automatically. To automatically push changes from Microsoft Dynamics to ActiveDEMAND, use the contact import scheduler (Contacts-CRM Contact Updates ). Microsoft Dynamics will update ActiveDEMAND on a scheduled basis. The import scheduler filter system allows you to have full control over what gets data and which contacts are automatically updated in ActiveDEMAND.

Note: as with any import, ActiveDEMAND will never delete data as a result of an import. Most fields will 'update' as a result of an import with the exception of phone numbers and email addresses. As a contact can have more than one email address, an import will add email addresses and phone numbers to the existing list.

Automatically Schedule Tasks in Microsoft Dynamics

If you are looking to have marketing email sends and marketing email opens in Microsoft Dynamics, you will want to use the Activity Scheduler workflow item.


In ActiveDEMAND
In any workflow you can use automation to schedule tasks in Microsoft Dynamics. Drag the Microsoft Dynamics Task onto the workflow.




Click To Call
As ActiveDEMAND is a call tracking platform, you can do outbound call tracking from within Microsoft Dynamics.

Using the Chrome Extension

Install The Chrome Extension


In ActiveDEMAND

Step 1:

Buy at least on call tracking number. (Assets-Call Tracking Numbers).

In Microsoft Dynamics:

You do not have to do a thing!! You are set. No magic. Purchase a call tracking number in ActiveDEMAND and you are set.

Updated on: 04/11/2022