Can I customise the drop-down fields (eg Source of Lead) in BCM?

[Simon Quarmby]

There are a number of drop-down list fields in BCM (eg "Source of Lead",
"Sales Stage", "Territory") which are pre-populated when BCM is installed.
But, it would be advantageous to be able to customise these lists to make
them fit my business better. Can this be done, and how?

 

[audeyt [MSFT]]

You cannot modify the forms that come with Microsoft Office Outlook 2003
with Business Contact Manager.

The forms that are installed by Outlook 2003 with Business Contact Manager
cannot be modified. The fields and list choices are predefined and are used
by Outlook 2003 with Business Contact Manager for the generation of reports
and other forms of output.

 

[Joey Archer]

This is pretty disappointing that is does not allow you to edit the list.
How are we supposed to accurately track our marketing and source of leads if
we cannot customize the results to fit the way our business receives them.
This add great value to the program but instead it is a disappointing
feature.

 

[Tim P via OfficeKB.com]

Joey,

Welcome to the wonderful world of BCM where "One Size Fits All" has been the
governing value with regard to design and function! Someone in charge of the
design of this turkey has apparently allowed this reality to be "good enough"
for over 2.5+ running now.

-THP

This is pretty disappointing that is does not allow you to edit the list.
How are we supposed to accurately track our marketing and source of leads if
we cannot customize the results to fit the way our business receives them.
This add great value to the program but instead it is a disappointing
feature.

You cannot modify the forms that come with Microsoft Office Outlook 2003
with Business Contact Manager.

[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]

 

[Tim P via OfficeKB.com]

That was meant to be 2.5+ ... YEARS!!

-THP

Joey,

Welcome to the wonderful world of BCM where "One Size Fits All" has been the
governing value with regard to design and function! Someone in charge of the
design of this turkey has apparently allowed this reality to be "good enough"
for over 2.5+ running now.

-THP

This is pretty disappointing that is does not allow you to edit the list.
How are we supposed to accurately track our marketing and source of leads if

[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]

 

[mamu]

I've changed the Territories drop-down. Maybe I'm doing it the "difficult
way", but this is how I accomplished it:

1. Close Outlook
2. Change the territories in the MSDE database - the rows you want to modify
(or add/delete) are in the table "PickLIstsMasterList". If you want to add a
territory, make sure you use FieldMAPIID 36882
3. It's time to modify the Outlook form - this is where I got stuck in the
past (Outlook crashes as soon as you try to modify the form). What you have
to do is rename the DLL called
"Microsoft.BusinessSolutions.eCRM.OutlookAddIn.dll" (located in the BCM
Installation folder) to something else, such as
"Microsoft.BusinessSolutions.eCRM.OutlookAddIn.dll3".
4. Open Outlook, go to "Tools", "Forms", "Design a Form", select "Personal
Forms Library". Click "Open". The form will come up without crashing outlook
- the territories pick list is in the "Details" tab. Right-Click on the
combobox, select "Properties" and change the available properties so that it
matches the property names in the Database
5. PUBLISH (!!) the form back to the Personal Forms library. If you're
distributing the form to other computers, make sure to also save a .OTF
version of it (Accounts.otf) and when you install it on other computers,
remember to clear the Forms cache beforehand.
6. Rename the DLL that you renamed in Step 3 back to its' original name.
7. Execute EnableBCM.exe (also located in the BCM installation folder)

This worked for me and I now have categories that apply to my business (in
my case, this is "Europe, North America, South America, South East Asia, Asia
Pacific, Middle East, Worldwide".

Is there an easier way? Please let me know.


Max

 

[Raul]

Hi

Great workaround by the way how did u change the territories in the MSDE
data base did you open it up using SQL ?

 

[mamu]

Yes, I'm using SQL Server 2005 Management Studio. Not sure if you can use SQL
Server 2000 Query Analyzer as well, but there should be some tools out there.

Next step is to make it work with SQL Server.