CRM 4.0 Email Tracking Options for the User

In addition to the myriad of options available for HOW an email will make its way into CRM from a user mailbox, there are options available for the user to determine WHICH emails will be tracked into CRM automatically. These options seem intuitive, but recent testing has flushed out an interesting result.

The Email options are found in the Email tab in the Options screen for CRM Client for Outlook, as well as the Tools | Options in the web client. They are as follows:

• All e-mail messages
• E-mail messages in response to CRM e-mail (default)
• E-mail messages from CRM Leads, Contacts and Accounts

Now, these aren't rocket science.

As you can imagine "All e-mail messages" is likely to be a poor choice for most users as every incoming e-mail received will be tracked into CRM and could be searched. Most users engage in some non-business from their work e-mail, so invitations to happy hour, possible job invitations, and other undesirable e-mails will find their way into CRM.

The default OOTB selection is the "E-mail messages in response to CRM e-mail" which is a holdover from the CRM 3.0 days when tracked e-mail messages had a token and non-tracked messages did not. If a message is tracked (with or without a token) into CRM, and responses where the subject is unaltered and the email addresses are known from the initial e-mail, will be tracked into CRM with the original message.

The last option, "E-mail messages from CRM Leads, Contacts and Accounts" is a nice addition, but may not work EXACTLY as intended. As the name suggests, emails started by an e-mail address known to CRM to a user of CRM will be tracked into CRM. As with the first option, this may increase the number of tracked e-mails and may result in some unintended tracking. For instance, Joe works for Microsoft and has a client called McDonalds for whom he frequently works. If his long time contact at McDonalds decides to attempt to lure Joe away from Microsoft with an e-mail, in this scenario, that e-mail would be automatically tracked.

Recently during some testing, we wanted to answer the question of if any method was mutually exclusive or inclusive of other rules. Obviously, All means All so it is inclusive of the other 2 rules. Beyond this, the results were a bit unexpected. If Joe has his settings for "E-mail messages from CRM Leads, Contacts and Accounts" and sends a tracked e-mail message to a non-crm e-mail address, the replies he receives are NOT tracked into CRM automatically. So the third rule excludes possible second rule candidates. Obviously, if Joe tracks an e-mail to a user that IS represented in CRM, the replies would be tracked. So Rule 2 "E-mail messages in response to CRM e-mail" is neither exclusive nor inclusive to rule 3.

This only represents a challenge that should be overcome with user training, but one worth noting when discussing these e-mail options.