One of the beautiful parts of Microsoft CRM is that it handles sales and service. This integration enables your organization to coordinate activities from both sides of that fence. Salespeople, in the middle of trying to close a deal, won't be blindsided by some raging customer support issue, and customer service people will know enough to provide that little extra help when a major sale is about to go down.

Customer service is one of the hot buttons in CRM, and it's an area in which Microsoft CRM shines. When a customer calls with an issue, it's logged as a case (which we discuss in Chapter 22).

Managing your database of subjects is handled in Chapter 23. You can use CRM to manage your organizational knowledgebase, and that's discussed in Chapter 24. Cases and tasks are put into a queue for orderly disposition and management by staff members (which we discuss in Chapter 25).

Microsoft CRM even includes contract administration, so everyone can see what type of support a customer is entitled to and the software can properly decrement contracts and advise when renewals are in order (as we explain in Chapter 26).