🧩 Dynamics 365 CE: Sales vs. Marketing – Side-by-Side Summary
| Feature Area | Sales | Marketing |
|---|---|---|
| Goal | Convert leads into closed deals | Generate and nurture leads for sales |
| Users | Sales Reps, Sales Managers | Marketing Managers, Campaign Creators |
| Key Output | Opportunities → Won Deals | Qualified Leads to hand off to Sales |
| Main Focus | 1:1 customer relationship and deal closure | Mass outreach, customer segmentation, brand awareness |
💼 Dynamics 365 Sales – Deep Dive
🔑 Core Components
| Component | Description |
|---|---|
| Lead | Unqualified potential customer |
| Opportunity | Potential revenue with a qualified lead |
| Account | Company you're selling to |
| Contact | Individual within the account |
| Quote | Price offering for a product/service |
| Order | Confirmed purchase request |
| Invoice | Billing document |
| Product Catalog | List of products/services with pricing |
| Sales Pipeline (BPF) | Stages: Qualify → Develop → Propose → Close |
| Forecasting | Predict sales performance and quota progress |
🔁 Sales Process Flow
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Lead Creation
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From form, manual, or imported list
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Qualify Lead
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Converts to: Account + Contact + Opportunity
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Develop Opportunity
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Add products, track interactions, schedule meetings
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Propose Solution
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Create quote, revise if needed
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Close Deal
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Close opportunity as Won or Lost
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Convert quote → order → invoice
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🧠 Sales Productivity Tools
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Copilot (AI): Auto-summarize opportunities, suggest next steps
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Relationship Analytics: Track engagement
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Email Tracking + Templates
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Teams & Outlook Integration
📢 Dynamics 365 Marketing – Deep Dive
🔑 Core Components
| Component | Description |
|---|---|
| Contact & Segment | Target audiences based on behavior and attributes |
| Customer Journey | Automated path with emails, events, and triggers |
| Marketing Email | Branded, personalized emails |
| Forms & Landing Pages | Capture leads from websites |
| Lead Scoring | Rank leads based on engagement (opens, clicks, submissions) |
| Event Management | Organize webinars, in-person events |
| Real-time Marketing (new) | Triggered actions via SMS, push, email instantly |
🔁 Marketing Journey Flow
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Create Segment
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E.g., “All contacts in India who opened last email”
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Build Customer Journey
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Email → Wait → Condition → Send SMS → Assign Lead
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Design Emails & Forms
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Drag-and-drop builder
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Launch Campaign
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Emails, social, SMS, or event invitations
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Track Engagement
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Open rate, click rate, form submissions
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Score & Route Leads
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High-score leads automatically handed off to sales
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🧠 Marketing Intelligence Tools
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A/B Testing
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Email Heatmaps
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Real-time Analytics
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AI Content Suggestions
🔄 Sales & Marketing Integration
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Marketing captures and nurtures leads
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Once lead is qualified, it is handed to Sales
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Sales team follows up and closes deal
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Shared database ensures smooth handoff
💡 Real-World Example
📧 Marketing sends a webinar invite to 1,000 contacts.
👤 100 people register → 30 interact heavily → lead scores increase.
🤝 Top 10 leads are auto-assigned to Sales team with full history.
💼 Sales rep calls and books demo → Sends quote → Wins deal.