How to create and use mail merge templates in Microsoft CRM?

1. Do you know how to create mail merge template in Microsoft CRM?

   The following instructions to create Microsoft CRM mail merge template require you to have Microsft CRM Outlook add-in installed on your outlook, and you need to open outlook while creating the template:

   1. Go to Settings from Microsoft CRM home page.
   2. Click Templates on the left navigation panel.
   3. Click Mail Merge Templates on right content panel.
   4. Click button New to create the new mail merge template.
   5. Fill in the mail merge template details and leave the File Attachment fields empty.

   

   Figure: Fill in mail merge template details

   6. Click the Save button to save your template.
   7. After you save the template, click the button Create Template in Word to start creating the template content.

   

   Figure: Create Mail Merge Template

   8. A Microsoft Word document will be open on your machine. You'll see a popup about Mail Merge Recipients, click Ok to proceed.
   9. Follow on screen instructions on the right panel of the word document to create the template.

   

   Figure: Follow the instructions to create template content

   10. At the last step of Mail Merge instructions in Microsoft Word, click Upload Template To CRM and click Yes on the popup window to save your template in CRM.

   

   Figure: Save Mail Merge Template To CRM

2. Do you know how to edit a mail merge template?

   1. Go to Settings from Microsoft CRM home page.
   2. Click Templates on the left navigation panel.
   3. Click Mail Merge Templates on right content panel.
   4. Double click the template that you want to edit.
   5. On top of the template details window, click Edit Template in Word.
   6. A word document will be open like when you create the template, from there you can follow on screen instructions to edit the template content.
   7. At the last step of the Mail Merge instructions, click Upload Template To CRM and click Yes on the popup window, to save the template in the current template record that you open in Microsoft CRM.

   

   Figure: Save Mail Merge Template To CRM

3. Do you know how to insert CRM data field in your template?

   While editing your mail merge template in Microsoft Word, you can add CRM data field in the template.For example, I can add the contacts' first name in my mail merge templat

   1. While you're editing your mail merge template in Microsoft Word, click the Mailings tab.

   

   Figure: Click the Mailings tab

   2. Click Insert Merge Field on the Ribbon.
   3. Select the field from Microsoft CRM that you want to insert, in this case I'm inserting contact's first name.

   

   Figure: Insert contact's first name in mail merge template

   4. Finish your editing your template and upload the template to CRM.

4. Do you know how to send email using Microsoft CRM mail merge template?

   You can use mail merge template, to send email to account, contact... Each mail merge template is associated to an entity, and you can only use the mail merge template that associated to the entity you're sending email to. In the following instructions, I'm sending email to the contact entity:

   1. From Microsoft CRM homepage, click Contacts to view the list of contacts.
   2. Search for the contact that you want to send email to.
   3. Highlight the contact that you want to send email to, and click the mail merge button.

   

   Figure: Mail merge button

   4. At Select the mail merge type, select Email.
   5. At Start with a, select either personal mail merge template (this is your own template), or the organization template (this is the template that is used by the whole organizaion).
   6. At Merge, check Selected records on current page check box.
   7. Click Ok

   

   Figure: Fill in the mail merge details

   8. A Microsoft Word document is open, and the Mail Merge Recipients window is pop-up with the list of contacts that you're sending email to.

   

   Figure: Mail Merge Recipients

   Attention

   If you don't see a contact in the recipient list, that means your contact either has Do Not Emails or Do Not Bulk Emails field set to be Do Not Allow

   9. Follow the on screen instructions in Microsoft Word and edit the content of the email that you want to send.
   10. At the last step of the mail merge instructions in Microsoft Word, click Electronic Mail and fill in the subject line for your email.

   

   Figure: Fill in subject line for email

   11. Click Ok to proceed to next step.
   12. Now because we're using CRM outlook, CRM mail merge will give you an option to create the activities that associated to this email. Check Create Microsoft Dynamic CRM Activities radio button, and uncheck the Include an ubsubcribe link in the email message to create the activities.

   

   Figure: Create activies for emails sending out using mail merge

   13. Click Ok to send emails using your outlook.

Acknowledgements

Zune Vien
Adam Cogan