{"slug": "customizing-d365-sales-for-our-own-sales-team-customer-zero-preparation", "title": "Customizing D365 Sales — For Our Own Sales Team (Customer Zero) Preparation", "summary": "The DX team at a company is implementing a 'Customer Zero' strategy by customizing D365 Sales for their own sales team before rolling it out to external customers. The team is adding custom fields and using Power Automate to automate next actions, opportunity velocity monitoring, customer health management, and document flow. This in-house deployment aims to validate the product and create a persuasive success story for client pitches.", "body_md": "\"Customer Zero\" is a strategy used by IT and technology companies in which the company itself becomes the \"0th customer\" (a test monitor) for a new product, AI service, or cloud service before rolling it out to external customers.\n\nKey benefits: faster validation and improvement (using the product in a real working environment surfaces bugs and usability issues early), and more persuasive sales pitches (a proven in-house success story/use case lets you propose to clients with confidence).\n\nWith that in mind, the DX team has kicked off an initiative to get our own sales team using D365 Sales more fully.\n\n| Zone | Content | Implementation |\n|---|---|---|\n| Zone A | Auto-generated Next Actions / detecting stalled deals | Power Automate |\n| Zone B | Opportunity velocity monitoring / large-deal alerts | Power Automate |\n| Zone C | Customer health management / churn prevention / renewal alerts | Power Automate |\n| Zone D | Document flow / chained tasks | Power Automate + BPF |\n\nCustom fields are added from Power Apps using the following steps.\n\n| Step | Task | Details |\n|---|---|---|\n| 1 | Open Power Apps | Go to make.powerapps.com and select the target environment (sandbox) |\n| 2 | Select the table | Left menu \"Tables\" → select \"Opportunity\" |\n| 3 | Add a column | \"Columns\" tab → click \"Add column\" |\n| 4 | Enter field info | Enter display name, data type, and schema name (cr917_xxxxx), then save |\n| 5 | Do the same for Account | Add the corresponding fields to the \"Account\" table the same way (also create the Initiative ② additional fields using the same steps) |\n| 6 | Configure choices | For cr917_customer_type, add a \"new choice\" with the two options \"License-continuation type\" and \"Project type\" |\n| 7 | Add to forms | Open the main form for each table, add the new fields, then save and publish |\n\n*Note: prefixes like cr917_ vary by environment.*\n\n| Field Name | Type | Input Method | Purpose / Description |\n|---|---|---|---|\nProposal Sent `cr917_proposal_sent`\n|\nYes/No (Boolean) | Manual (rep) | Checked by the rep when the proposal is sent. Trigger condition for Zone D-1 flow. |\nPO Received `cr917_po_received`\n|\nYes/No (Boolean) | Manual (rep) | Checked when the PO is received. Trigger condition for Zone D-2 flow. |\nInvoice Sent `cr917_invoice_sent`\n|\nYes/No (Boolean) | Manual (rep) | Checked when the invoice is issued. Flow D-3 auto-sets `cr917_invoice_date` . |\nAcceptance Confirmed `cr917_acceptance_done`\n|\nYes/No (Boolean) | Manual (rep) | Final completion flag. If left unchecked for 30 days, flow D-4 generates a reminder task. |\nInvoice Date `cr917_invoice_date`\n|\nDate and Time | PA auto (D-3) | PA automatically records the date `cr917_invoice_sent` became Yes. Used as the baseline date for the 30-day acceptance check. |\nStage Changed Date `cr917_stage_changed_date`\n|\nDate and Time | PA auto (A-4) | PA updates this with the current date/time every time the stage changes. Used for stall-day calculations in flows A-1 and B-1. |\nNDA Status `cr917_nda_status`\n|\nOption Set | Manual (rep) | For ① NDA Signing. Three choices: Not Submitted / Under Review / Complete. PA monitors status changes to advance the flow. |\nNDA SharePoint URL `cr917_nda_sharepoint_url`\n|\nText | PA auto | For ① NDA Signing. After signing completes, PA automatically writes in the SharePoint storage URL. |\nWBS Approved `cr917_wbs_approved`\n|\nYes/No (Boolean) | Manual (rep) | For ⑤ Offering. Checked once WBS approval is complete. PA then advances to the order-registration step. |\nOrder Registered `cr917_order_registered`\n|\nYes/No (Boolean) | Manual (rep) | For ⑤ Offering. Order-registration completion flag. Checking it generates the flow-completion task. |\nPayment Confirmed `cr917_payment_confirmed`\n|\nYes/No (Boolean) | Manual (rep) | Shared by ④⑥ Renewal/Inspection. Checked after payment is confirmed. If unconfirmed 60 days after invoicing, an alert fires. |\nSP Registered `cr917_sp_registered`\n|\nYes/No (Boolean) | Manual (rep) | For ⑥ Delivery Inspection. Flag for completed SharePoint registration of deliverables. PA checks this as a precondition before triggering invoicing. |\n\n| Field Name | Type | Input Method | Purpose / Description |\n|---|---|---|---|\nRenewal Date `cr917_renewal_date`\n|\nDate | PA auto + manual override | PA auto-sets this to close date + 365 days on a Won close. Rep may optionally adjust it. Baseline date for flows C-3/C-4. |\nLast Activity Date `cr917_last_activity_date`\n|\nDate and Time | PA auto (C-6) | PA updates this to the current date/time whenever a completed activity (call, email, visit, CI-J integration) is created. Baseline date for A-2, C-1, C-2. |\nCustomer Type `cr917_customer_type`\n|\nOption Set | Manual (rep) | 5 choices: License-continuation / Project / Support (spot) / Support (term contract) / Support (time-purchase). 60-day group: License-continuation, Support (term contract). 90-day group: Project, Support (spot), Support (time-purchase). |\nBC Registered `cr917_bc_registered`\n|\nYes/No (Boolean) | Manual (rep) | For ② Partner Contract. Rep records completion of Business Central registration. Interim flag pending full BC integration. |\nContract SharePoint URL `cr917_contract_sharepoint_url`\n|\nText | PA auto | For ② Partner Contract. After the contract is signed, PA automatically writes in the SharePoint storage URL. |\nPO Number `cr917_po_number`\n|\nText | Manual (rep) | For ③ PO Issuance. Rep enters the PO number when it's received; used for reconciliation at invoicing time. |", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/customizing-d365-sales-for-our-own-sales-team-customer-zero-preparation", "canonical_source": "https://dev.to/tecturajpndx/customizing-d365-sales-for-our-own-sales-team-customer-zero-preparation-56f9", "published_at": "2026-06-30 03:12:16+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-06-30 03:49:15.751531+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-products", "developer-tools"], "entities": ["D365 Sales", "Power Automate", "Power Apps", "DX team"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/customizing-d365-sales-for-our-own-sales-team-customer-zero-preparation", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/customizing-d365-sales-for-our-own-sales-team-customer-zero-preparation.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/customizing-d365-sales-for-our-own-sales-team-customer-zero-preparation.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/customizing-d365-sales-for-our-own-sales-team-customer-zero-preparation.jsonld"}}