Cases are used in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 to record customer calls and the related activities created to manage them. You can customize cases to track specific issues such as returns, and then generate reports to collect the data in meaningful charts.
This article contains step-by-step instructions on how to customize the Case form to track returns on products. After customizing the form, you can generate a report to show the list of products and the reasons they were returned. Then, you can export the data to Microsoft Excel and create charts and additional reports.
Add Return as an item in the Case Type drop-down list
This procedure describes how to add a new item to a drop-down list by modifying the schema. In this example, the Return item is added to the Case Type drop-down list.
1.
On the Navigation Pane, click Settings. Under Settings, click Customization.
2.
On the Customization area, click Customize Entities.
3.
In the Customize Entities list, double-click the Case entity to open it.
4.
Under Details, click Attributes.
5.
In the Attributes list, open the casetypecode schema.
6.
On the Attribute: Case Type of Case form, under Type, click Add.
7.
On the Add List Value dialog box, in the Label box, enter Return, and then click OK.
8.
On the Attribute: Case Type of Case form, click Save and Close.
Add a Return Reason drop-down list to the Case form
1.
In the Customize Entities list, double-click Case.
2.
On the Entity: Case form, click Forms and Views, and then in the list, double-click Form.
3.
On the Form: Incident form, select the Overview section, and then under Common Tasks, click Add Fields.
4.
In the Add Fields dialog box, select Return Reason. Make sure that the Overview section is also selected.
5.
Click OK.
6.
Use the green arrow buttons to move the new field under the Case Type field. For balance, you may want to move the Satisfaction field to the left.
7.
Click Save and Close for every form until you are returned to the Customize Entities list.
TIP You can write a script that specifies if Return is selected for the case type, the Return Reason and Product fields are required. For more information, see the online Help topic ”Automate data entry using scripts” and select the “Sample onSave event script” option.
In Microsoft CRM 3.0, you can use Advanced Find to create a query and a Microsoft Excel worksheet to find and display the data about the cases that were opened for returned products. After you create the query and the worksheet, you can save them.
This example shows how to create an Advanced Find query to find all of the cases for returns created in the last two weeks.
1.
On the Tools menu, click Advanced Find.
2.
In the Advanced Find page, in the Look for list, select Cases.
3.
On the Form toolbar, click New.
4.
Click Select, select Case Type, and then click Enter Value on the same line and select Return.
5.
On the next line, click Select, select Return Reason, and then click Equals, and select Contains Data.
6.
On the next line, click Select, select Created On Equals, and then click On and select Last X Weeks. Click Enter Value, and in the text box, enter 2.
7.
To save this query, click Save. In the Query Properties form, enter a name, for example, “Return Reasons”, and click OK.
The following example shows how to convert the data that was collected into a stacked bar chart.
1.
In the Microsoft Excel worksheet you created in the previous procedure, on the Insert menu, click Chart.
2.
In step 1 of the Chart Wizard, under Chart type, select Column.
3.
Under Chart sub-type, select the Stacked Column chart, and then click Next.
4.
In step 2 of the wizard, on the worksheet, select the entire set of data, including headings.
5.
In step 3 of the wizard, in the Chart title box, enter Products Returned, and then click Next.
6.
In step 4 of the wizard, click Finish.
Although the example in this article pertains to returned products, you can use the same concepts to track requests for product information, identify common questions, and find other information that is entered as part of a case.
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