Customizing D365 Sales — For Our Own Sales Team (Customer Zero) Preparation

Miwa J — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 03:12:16 +0000

What is Customer Zero?

"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.

Key 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).

With that in mind, the DX team has kicked off an initiative to get our own sales team using D365 Sales more fully.

Scope

Zone	Content	Implementation
Zone A	Auto-generated Next Actions / detecting stalled deals	Power Automate
Zone B	Opportunity velocity monitoring / large-deal alerts	Power Automate
Zone C	Customer health management / churn prevention / renewal alerts	Power Automate
Zone D	Document flow / chained tasks	Power Automate + BPF

Implementation Order

Create custom fields (12 on Opportunity, 6 on Account)
4 internal-processing Power Automate flows (write-back portions of A-4, C-5, C-6, D-3)
3 Zone A alert flows (A-1, A-2, A-3)
3 Zone B alert flows (B-1, B-2, B-3)
6 Zone C alert flows (C-1–C-6)
4 Zone D document flows (D-1–D-4)
Enable and verify the Outlook Add-in
Reorganize dashboard views

1. Creating Custom Fields (12 on Opportunity, 6 on Account)

Custom fields are added from Power Apps using the following steps.

Step	Task	Details
1	Open Power Apps	Go to make.powerapps.com and select the target environment (sandbox)
2	Select the table	Left menu "Tables" → select "Opportunity"
3	Add a column	"Columns" tab → click "Add column"
4	Enter field info	Enter display name, data type, and schema name (cr917_xxxxx), then save
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)
6	Configure choices	For cr917_customer_type, add a "new choice" with the two options "License-continuation type" and "Project type"
7	Add to forms	Open the main form for each table, add the new fields, then save and publish

Fields added to the Opportunity entity

Note: prefixes like cr917_ vary by environment.

Field Name	Type	Input Method	Purpose / Description
Proposal Sent `cr917_proposal_sent`	Yes/No (Boolean)	Manual (rep)	Checked by the rep when the proposal is sent. Trigger condition for Zone D-1 flow.
PO Received `cr917_po_received`	Yes/No (Boolean)	Manual (rep)	Checked when the PO is received. Trigger condition for Zone D-2 flow.
Invoice Sent `cr917_invoice_sent`	Yes/No (Boolean)	Manual (rep)	Checked when the invoice is issued. Flow D-3 auto-sets `cr917_invoice_date`.
Acceptance Confirmed `cr917_acceptance_done`	Yes/No (Boolean)	Manual (rep)	Final completion flag. If left unchecked for 30 days, flow D-4 generates a reminder task.
Invoice Date `cr917_invoice_date`	Date 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.
Stage Changed Date `cr917_stage_changed_date`	Date 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.
NDA Status `cr917_nda_status`	Option Set	Manual (rep)	For ① NDA Signing. Three choices: Not Submitted / Under Review / Complete. PA monitors status changes to advance the flow.
NDA SharePoint URL `cr917_nda_sharepoint_url`	Text	PA auto	For ① NDA Signing. After signing completes, PA automatically writes in the SharePoint storage URL.
WBS Approved `cr917_wbs_approved`	Yes/No (Boolean)	Manual (rep)	For ⑤ Offering. Checked once WBS approval is complete. PA then advances to the order-registration step.
Order Registered `cr917_order_registered`	Yes/No (Boolean)	Manual (rep)	For ⑤ Offering. Order-registration completion flag. Checking it generates the flow-completion task.
Payment Confirmed `cr917_payment_confirmed`	Yes/No (Boolean)	Manual (rep)	Shared by ④⑥ Renewal/Inspection. Checked after payment is confirmed. If unconfirmed 60 days after invoicing, an alert fires.
SP Registered `cr917_sp_registered`	Yes/No (Boolean)	Manual (rep)	For ⑥ Delivery Inspection. Flag for completed SharePoint registration of deliverables. PA checks this as a precondition before triggering invoicing.

Fields added to the Account entity

Field Name	Type	Input Method	Purpose / Description
Renewal Date `cr917_renewal_date`	Date	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.
Last Activity Date `cr917_last_activity_date`	Date 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.
Customer Type `cr917_customer_type`	Option 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).
BC Registered `cr917_bc_registered`	Yes/No (Boolean)	Manual (rep)	For ② Partner Contract. Rep records completion of Business Central registration. Interim flag pending full BC integration.
Contract SharePoint URL `cr917_contract_sharepoint_url`	Text	PA auto	For ② Partner Contract. After the contract is signed, PA automatically writes in the SharePoint storage URL.
PO Number `cr917_po_number`	Text	Manual (rep)	For ③ PO Issuance. Rep enters the PO number when it's received; used for reconciliation at invoicing time.