Individual customisations in Dynamics 365 Sales: options, integration with Power Platform and suitable licensing models

Sales processes are different in every company – be it due to industry-specific processes, individual KPIs or special customer communication requirements. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales offers the necessary flexibility for this: from simple form customisation to the development of your own apps or automated workflows, the solution can be tailored specifically to your own organisation.

But what customisations are possible? How complex is their implementation? And what role do Power Apps, Power Automate and the underlying licence model play? This article provides practical answers to precisely these questions.

1. Customisation options in Dynamics 365 Sales

Dynamics 365 Sales is based on the Microsoft Dataverse – a flexible data platform that allows structures, processes and user interfaces to be changed and expanded in a targeted manner.
Examples of customisations:

• Forms: Show or hide fields, define mandatory fields, customise sections
• Views & dashboards: Customised list views with filters and KPIs, role-based dashboards
• Entities: Create new tables and relationships
• Automation: Business rules and simple workflows for data validation or notifications
• Extensions: Plug-ins in C#, Power BI embedding or interfaces to third-party systems

2. Customise the lead process

The lead process is a central element in day-to-day sales – from capture to qualification and forwarding to sales. This process can also be fully customised:

• Forms: Add, customise or define fields such as “Lead source”, “Industry” or “Lead score” as mandatory
• Business process flow (BPF): rename phases, add new steps, define rules for progression
• Automations: Automatically assign leads to sales teams, trigger email notifications, recognise duplicates
• Validation & logic: warnings in case of missing data, automatic status change in case of inactivity
• Conversion: When qualifying a lead, the process can be customised to automatically create a project, task or opportunity

3. Power apps: own applications with CRM data

With Power Apps, companies can create their own business applications based on the same data platform – the Dataverse. These apps run in parallel to Dynamics 365, but are fully integrated into the data structure.
Examples from practice:

• A mobile-optimised app for field service
• A partner portal for lead entry or opportunity management
• An internal application for controlling discounts, promotions or bonus systems

4. Automations with Power Automate

Power Automate helps to reduce manual tasks and make processes more efficient. It is particularly suitable for recurring processes that are based on specific triggers.
Typical scenarios:

• Sending a notification when an opportunity status is changed
• Creation of a new Microsoft Teams channel upon conclusion of a deal
• Automatic creation of tasks or calendar entries

5. How complex are individual customisations?

The complexity depends on the objective. Some customisations can be implemented directly and quickly, others require developer expertise. Here is an overview:

6. Licence models and what they enable

The decision for a specific licence model has an influence on which customisations are possible – especially in conjunction with Power Apps and Power Automate.
Overview:

Conclusion

Dynamics 365 Sales provides a strong foundation for customised sales processes. The combination with Power Apps and Power Automate creates an ecosystem that is designed for both efficiency and flexibility. Many customisations can be implemented without developers – from lead forms to the automation of complex processes. With the right licensing strategy, nothing stands in the way of building a customised CRM solution.