Dynamics CRM 2013 – Handle Bounced Emails

If you have a lists of email addresses that returned as bounced, how can you update your Dynamics CRM contacts?  Easy!  Create a new entity and put the power of Dynamics Workflows to use.

The first thing we’re going to need is a new Entity – let’s call it “Email Bounce”.  Let’s keep this entity super-simple and turn off all of the Communication and Collaboration options.

Before we hit Save, let’s change the Primary Field so we can use it to store a text version of the email address.  Rename it to Email and set the length to 200.

After you save your entity, open the Form and add a new Lookup field for Contact.  Save and Publish your entity.  Now on to the workflow.

Create a new Process - either in your Solution, or in the Processes subarea of the Settings menu.

Now you have a decision to make…well, that is if you are using CRM 2013.  I chose to create a Real-Time Workflow because I am planning to Deactivate my Email Bounce records once a matching Contact is found.  I will be uploading these emails using a spreadsheet, and I know there will be times when my email address does not find an exact match.  If two contacts are found, or none, I’d like the Email Bounce record to “hang around” so we can manually investigate.  With a Real-Time Workflow, when the Contact Lookup is populated, the screen will refresh and my Email Bounce will be Inactive, signaling success.  If I used a regular workflow, the record would be inactive, but the user wouldn’t see it unless they manually refresh their view.  Score one for CRM 2013!  Here’s how I setup my workflow.  Note, mine runs on Create and Update (of the Contact field)

Now, if you’ve never used CRM’s Import features, you are in for a real treat!  Check out Part 2 –Data Import Tricks.