Week 7 & 8 CRM Fusion (Introduction)

So I finally feel like this week we are able to delve a bit deeper taking a look at the toolset provided by CRM Fusion available on the Appexchange. One of the added benefits to utilizing cloud computing technology is the ability to easily install new "apps" to enhance your current use of the platform. The next few weeks we will examine both People Import as well as CRM Demand Tools for enhancing data management (both available on the app exchange). Typically these apps require fee based memberships (avg cost $5,000), however non-profits organizations (which includes Higher Education) receive these tools at NO COST :)

Below is a brief description as to the capabilities of these valuable tools.

People Import

• PeopleImport is a Windows based app that is designed to allow the end user to develop customized import scenarios.
  
• These scenarios include customized passes to ensure duplicates are not created, but rather that existing Leads, Accounts or Contacts are updated
• The People Import app walks you through 5 stages (some stages contain several steps) to map a spreadsheet of prospective or current students to a record that already exists within salesforce or create a new record.

DemandTools

• Provides a suite of 4 modules to enhance data management of all salesforce objects
• Maintenance - Contains a number of very useful advanced tools to import, update, and maintain your data
• Zipfix - ZipFix can suggest and correct the two digit state name and the spelling of the city name associated with that zip code.
  
• MassChange - The MassChange module is the easiest way to mass manipulate data in salesforce.com because no import or export of data is required.
• MassChangeBatch - The MassChangeBatch feature extends MasChange capabilities allowing you to create rules and develop schedule routines to execute in mass
• Other tools within this group include MassEffect, MassImpact, and MassBackup.
• Cleansing - Provides single & multi table dedup tools as well as mass lead convert features
  
• Verification - Verifies address against USPS address
  
• Discovery - Compares data in external data sources outside of salesforce and returns matching records (no data modified)

**Both People Import & CRM DemandTools are stand alone windows applications so users can feel free to download the app without the need to request integration to the live CRM environment.

Although salesforce does offer some standard data management tools within the platform to import, update, and manage your data, I found CRM Fusion Tools offer much more flexibility.

I have posted a more detailed introduction to People Import & CRM Demand Tools in a PowerPoint presentations located on the salesforce user guide site. Over the next few weeks I intend to add detailed presentation on both tools including a step by step features guide. In addition I will be recording short videos to demo some of the above.