Tag! You’re the new CRM guy (or girl!)
Even before I began to deliver professional training, I knew the value of it. I’d like to think that I am never finished learning and if I can bring that out into the professional world I live in, that’s great.
Like any new endeavor starting in Dynamics CRM can be tough. Sure, it looks, feels and kinda acts like Outlook, so you feel comfortable as soon as you log in, but do you really know what you’re doing? How not to break things? Where do you get training? There is certainly not enough material available for CRM training and there is a distinct lack of organization around what is out there. I will try to give some pointers and a path for folks needing to learn.
1. Regardless of your role on the CRM team, you need to know how it works. There’s a few courses at Pluralsight that I made that gets you in the door on that. At a minimum, you need something of this level. I hate when a new developer works so hard making this great thing, only to find out it’s already in CRM and that is time wasted. We are still working on making more CRM-focused content for Pluralsight. (Full disclosure: it is a paid service and I do get royalties based on views of my course(s).) The product team has a YouTube channel, others have loads of how to’s on YouTube as well. But, I haven’t found a curriculum outlined anywhere. So finding the content and its relevance to you could prove challenging. And by the time I did the research and gathering of info and put it into a curriculum, we’d have a new CRM version and need new training.
2. Join user groups. There are a few ways to do this. I co-run xRMVirtual. It’s for CRM developers, and as the name suggests, we’re virtual. The group meets monthly and covers a wide range of current topics for CRM developers. You could also join the folks at CRMUG. They cover other parts of the CRM team experience. User, admins, etc. They have virtual groups, regional on-ground groups and paid training available. Then there’s always good ole traditional .NET developer user groups, head over to INETA to find one near you. Oh, and besides joining, you need to attend the meetings, ready to learn!
3. There is no better lesson than doing something wrong. So, get a trial of CRM and mess around. Try out your new ideas, see how things work. Screw it up, then fix it.
4. Look at the sites where people have questions. You might learn something. When I have a question, I head to the CRM forums. Chances are if you have the question, someone else will too. And if by chance you’re the first, ask it here, there are loads of smart people that respond. In no time, you might just be that smart person answering the questions too.
5. Learn enough about the product to offer suggestions for enhancements, then offer them. Connect.microsoft.com
6. Find a way to do what you want if the suggestions you make don’t happen.
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