Keeping Dynamics 365 data relevant and accurate is critical. That’s a given. But it’s best to strike a balance between data collection and sales process. A client tasked us with requiring users to enter specific data on Lead records before conversion. Qualifying a Lead often triggers the creation of a corresponding Opportunity, Account and Contact record. So, confirming things like a valid email, address, and phone number make perfect sense. But (here comes the balance part), our client wanted to keep it easy for sales and marketing to create and nurture Leads. Our solution was a simple Dynamics 365 workflow—no code of Power Automate required.
This example workflow pertains to Lead records but relates to Opportunities, Cases, or any other record status changes in your CRM work process.
This Lead has no email address. We need to capture that email address before the Lead is converted to a Contact.
I start the workflow against the Lead record, then set it to run in real-time. Despite the recommendation to use Microsoft Flow, we’re using the workflow engine inside Dynamics 365 for Sales.
I set the workflow to start when the record status changes.
The workflow creation process lets you check the conditions. I check for a couple of things: the Status change (Qualified) and email address missing data. The next step is to stop and cancel the workflow if it meets the condition above. This sets up the Business Process Error message that you see further below.
Enter a message for the user in Set Properties, “Enter Lead email address before qualifying,” in our case.
You can finish off the workflow with additional criteria (e.g., check for phone number or address). Activate the workflow, and the next time a user tries to qualify a lead without an email address, they’ll receive a message.
This workflow is an excellent way to reinforce the proper CRM process and maintain data integrity. If you have questions or need help with this or other aspects of Dynamics 365, reach out, and we’ll help.
Check out another one of Erin’s blogs about options for converting Lead records.
By Erin Karatkiewicz, Dynamics 365 Application Consultant, Dyn365Pros, Microsoft Partner, San Diego, Southern California
