Productivity Tip – Microsoft Dynamics CRM Outlook Integration Features: Part 3 – Using the Quick Step Feature

For those of us who spend quite a bit of our day in Outlook managing email communications, I would like to share a tip on how to easily transition an email into an activity which can then be tracked in your Microsoft Dynamics CRM database.

Flagging an email is a very helpful Outlook feature; however, it falls short when you need to track these items in your Microsoft Dynamics CRM system.  The email message is added as a to-do in the task section of Outlook and the email can be tracked in CRM, but you do not have a record of the action you performed on the email. 

To transition the email message to an activity, you can create a custom task using Quick Steps.  In the Quick Steps area of the ribbon, scroll down until you see the Create New command. 

In the Edit Quick Step dialog enter a name for your Quick Step like, “Create a Task.”  Click on the drop down arrow in the Choose an Action field.  Scroll down and select create a task with the text of this message.  Notice there are many other actions available to choose from to help you with managing your email.  

You can select a shortcut key and enter a tooltip in the Optional section of the dialog, then chose Finish.  

Now we are ready to use our newly created Quick Step.  As an example, you receive an email inquiry from a customer which requires you to do some research before you respond.  You may not have enough time to do the research immediately, so it would be helpful to create a task that will be linked to the contact record in CRM.  Select the email from your inbox, and select our new Create a Task Quick Step. 

Your email message will be converted to an Outlook task and you now have the option to track the item as a CRM task or phone call.  The Set Regarding feature allows you to link this to the actual entity in CRM like the contact record.  The activity is now visible in the CRM system and can be completed so the email message and the next action are both recorded.  This feature will help you stay organized with the tasks you need to complete and also provide an easy mechanism which tracks all activities back to your Microsoft Dynamics CRM database – it’s a win,win!