This new site serves as a location for both our blog and our website, making it easier for you to get the information you need about ACT! CRM and all of the great small business software and technologies we help our customers with.
We will leave this site online for the foreseeable future, but will not be adding any new content.
Be sure to visit us at www.CRMSuccessPlans.com and bookmark us there!
Obviously, just joining targeted groups that have members who may be your prospects by itself won’t do you any good. Start reading the conversations in the groups. “Listen” to what is going on.
In particular look for discussions/posts that have lots of comments. These threads will receive more weight as being “important” and will tend to stay toward the top in the list of the conversations.
Also, the more people who have commented, the more people who are monitoring the thread for additional content – i.e. – your comments.
After you have listened, when and where you can, post relevant, helpful comments – remember “lead with value”.
This brings me to the next point:
Have you ever been reading a thread and someone, from seemingly out of the blue, posts a comment that basically repeats something that someone else already stated 5 comments back? Annoying right? Yes! When we are conversing person to person we would never find that acceptable, and we don’t online either. Few things will destroy your credibility within the group as quickly as the practice of not reading the conversation before commenting on it.
Show fellow group members the same consideration you would like yourself – “listen” to the conversation – in its ENTIRITY - before posting anything. Think of that as earning the right to comment.
Don’t be the bore at the party who is only interested in what they have to say. When someone responds to one of your comments, when it makes sense, be sure to respond back, show that you are “engaged” in the community.
Also, “like” your comment after you post it. This will boost the activity of the post and thereby its visibility, and again, that is what you want.
Post an additional comment a day or two later with more relevant content. This will serve to increase activity on the thread.
I hope you find these simple, yet effective methods of enhancing your value from LinkedIn helpful! Let me know.
So, maybe you are just getting started on LinkedIn. Or, perhaps you have been at it awhile, but you aren’t feeling like you are getting the traction out of it you should.
There are approximately 110 million – yes that’s 110,000,000 – users on Linked In these days, and unlike Facebook or Twitter, most of those users are all about business.
Here are a handful of simple, yet effective, tips that you can apply toyour LinkedIn usage starting today!
Ok, I have more to share, which I will in another post, but I’ll stop here for today so you can start your homework.
What LinkedIn tips can you share with us?
This article will provide an overview of the steps you will want to take when cloning your virtual machines to avoid causing Windows to reactivate in the cloned machine. (Note: Be sure you understand your licensing with Microsoft so that you remain in compliance.)
This article assumes a level of familiarity with VirtualBox and working with the virtual drives and machines the program uses. If you are brand new to VirtualBox, this will likely be over your head at first. Note: This outline is specific to VirtualBox 4.0 and above. If you are using VBox 3 or earlier, I do not believe the process is the same and perhaps not even possible with these steps.
Steps to create a virtual machine that you can later clone w/o having to reactivate Windows or Office:
1) Create a new Virtual Machine with a new hard drive – do not install the operating system yet.
2) Use VBoxManage with modifyvm parameter to add a HARDWARE uuid (this is different than a machine UUID which is created at the time you set up the VM initially.)
3) Install Win 7 or Vista. Activate. Install a version of office if you want to have it in your cloned copies and activate it also. I also like to apply all Windows updates and my choice of antivirus/malware protection at this point so as to save time with cloned machines later.
4) Shut down the OS and clone it with VBoxManage.
5) Make a new Virtual machine in VBox using the cloned drive just created – DO NOT START THE VM!!
6) Add the hardware UUID to the newly created vbox file for the new VM – be sure to copy the hardware uuid from the VM that you used as the clone source – this is the key. Windows will see that the UUID is the same, so no activation is triggered.
7) Fire up your new VM – no activation should be needed. Now you have to different VMs to play with. (Be sure you are legal with your licensing.)
Hope that helps! Happy testing.
This time we are focusing on ideas for topics you might want to use:
That’s all for now! Go blog now.
That’s all for now! Go blog now.
One of the things that came to the fore with the introduction of ACT! 2011 this past year, is how ACT! always defaults to a history type of “Call”… Or at least until it did until 2011. Starting with that version, the new default became “Appointment”. If you want to know why – and better yet! – a way to “fix” this, read on…
One of the “big”, new features of ACT! 2011 is the more enhanced synchronization of data with Microsoft Outlook.
In addition to allowing you to exchange your calendars between the two programs, ACT! now supports contact sync also. It is these changes that led to the addition of a new default activity type in ACT! 2011 – “Appointment” to better facilitate exchange with Outlook. (You do know you can create custom activity types in ACT! too, right?)
Well, I am guessing, but I believe that the reason that ACT! defaulted to “Call” when creating a new history in versions prior to 2011 was simply because the list in the dialog box is alphabetical (the defaults come first, and then your customs). When you throw ”Appointment” in the list, A comes before C, thusly, Appointment is the new norm in ACT! 2011.
(By the way, just in case I have lost you, what I am talking about is when you create a history that was not scheduled as an Activity first. You know – on the contact history tab you right click and choose “Record History…”. Stuff that you had previously scheduled always keeps whatever type it was when you clear it. Ok, good, you knew that.)
This can be a hassle, you may not sync with Outlook, and you may never sync and you just don’t care and now you have to click more times…
Well, there’s a fix.
The good folks at Exponenciel have created a little freebie utility – did I mention that it is FREE??! – that will return the behavior to the good old days of ACT! 2010 and earlier – when you create a history, “Call” is once again the default. Whoot!
Better yet, they have gone one further: added the ability for you to select your own default choice along with whatever results you want. And, you can even set it to custom activity types! (Yes, you create a custom activity, but it also allows for creation of those history types. Dig?)
This little gem works for both ACT! 2010 and 2011. So if you upgraded in the last couple of years – you’re in.
If you’re running an older version of ACT!, maybe it’s time to start thinking about making the move. ACT! 2011 fully supports Office 2010 and 32 and 64 bit versions of Windows Vista and Windows 7, amongst all the other updates along the way.
Email or call at 518.822.8860 if you’d like a quote.
Anyhow – here is a link to the “History Fixer” page on Exponenciel’s web site: http://bit.ly/g9dJBv
Go make history!
If you use something more sophisticated than Excel or Outlook, your “problem” with the CRM system is probably not the software.
Don’t waste your time and resources looking for something new. At least not before you’ve poked around a few dark corners.
Find out what’s going on with what you have before the shopping starts.
I mean what’s really going on.
Winnovative’s Top 3 Reasons Why Changing Your CRM Vendor Won’t Matter:
Reason #3: “Our current system just isn’t working for us. The users don’t like it and hardly use it. We use very little of what’s there – I’m sure there’s more we could do, but we’re looking to move to…”
Do you notice any inconsistency here?
This is how it goes: How can you know your system is no good if only 20% of it is actually used?
Who is your “go to” guy/gal?
Someone who really knows what makes things hum? It might be someone internal. More likely it is the consultant(s) who helped you implement it.
Warning: Do not simply rely on the observations of the users. Yes, their input is constructive, but remember: they are busy, have job descriptions that do not include “CRM guru”, and can only be as “tuned in” as their training allows (see more on that point below).
You need an individual who understands the big picture – both of what your system can do, and best case of how your sales operation works. Someone to guide you in defining a plan or roadmap or process – whatever you want to call it – that optimizes how your software should interact with your team. (And maybe they WILL find you need a different system. Maybe, but you can’t know until you go through this.)
Oh, and one final word on this – don’t toss it to the network guys, ok?
While they should be included, never forget, unless the title is CTO, the technology folks see the world from a tactical perspective. We’re talking “world view” right now.
Reason #2: “We had a training 3 years ago when we installed our system. Besides, we don’t have any budget for training and we can’t afford to take them away from <fill in the non reason here>…”
Huh? Ok, let me make sure I get this straight.
You do need to sell what you “do”, right?
You know: A customer gives you money for your product…
Ok, so sales are important!
Good, I was worried there for a moment.
Alright then, the front line folks are important (understatement).
AND, these folks happen to be the primary users of your CRM system (or at least that is what you’re being told – when was the last time you checked?).
Since the company needs sales to survive – better yet – thrive, it’s pretty-good practice to make sure the sales people (and their support) have the best stuff to do what they do: create profitable transactions and profitable customers.
I like it! We’re on the same page. Which leads us to why you invested in your current CRM system: It wasn’t merely to get something “Ok” or “Good enough for now”.
So help me out… Why is there no ongoing training for your system?
I’m sorry, but I have to ask: If there is no commitment to training today, why will that change if the software does?
And now, Winnovative’s #1 Reason That Changing to a New CRM System Won’t Mean a Hill of Beans 12 Months from Now:
“My brother works at Fortune 500 #236 and they just implemented SuperDuper CRM worldwide for 15,452 users and he says it’s really smokin’.
It has this cool thing where it links into their other thing, and then when you open a Word document, it sends an email to the admin and records a history scheduling a call for a week past Thursday…
I think we need that here.”
Swack! So you heard about this awesome CRM system from your acupuncturist or the guy in the row in front of you on the flight to Milwaukee talking about the ad in the inflight magazine. That’s solid due diligence right there.
On a saner note, one size does not fit all, and the honest truth – the one that the CRM vendors hope you won’t notice – is that for most small businesses, the majority of the software out there – the mature stuff – will pretty much handle the lion’s share of what you need.
I posit that your “problem” is not likely your system’s inability to perform, but rather a lack of knowledge about said system that is inhibiting desired results.
Don’t fall for the siren song that some other offering will cure your ailing CRM usage.
Takeaway for ponderment:
There is a good chance that your organization is at least a little guilty, yes a smidge, of all three of these traps.
The media tells us everything can be fixed, or improved, simply by making a purchase.
Although intellectually we know this is bogus, emotionally we fall for it, especially when the folks around us are doing it – and bragging.
I agree, it would be nice if simply writing a check for a new system could suddenly make your sales people close 20% more deals which were 35% larger with customers who were always happy.
That’s not how it works in this reality.
Software is not the answer.
As might be expected there are already quite a few responses. Here are some of the highlights that I found worth sharing (no saying I am necessarily in agreement, but it is food for thought…)
Being that the question is relatively new, no doubt more folks will chime in with their opinions/experiences on this one…
To see the article in full as it continues to evolve: http://bit.ly/fodN8J
It’s this last feature we want to talk about in this article.
For many, many years, ACT! users have had the ability to create Word documents that pull user selected data from the ACT! database, merging it into the correct places in the resulting Word file. Upon printing, Word would dutifully present a dialog box for the user asking if she wanted to save a copy of the printed document to the contact’s record in ACT!. Good stuff! Quick, easy, efficient.
Well, if you have recently upgraded to ACT! 2011 because you had moved to Office 2010 (ACT! 2011 is the only version that Sage officially supports Office 2010. BTW (Updated 6/27/11) - Our sister site – CRMSucessPlans.com – is offering an addon solution for ACT! versions 2009 and 2010 FREE for a limited time that allows your ACT! to work with the Office 2010 programs – Microsoft Outlook 2010, Microsoft Excel 2010 and Microsoft Word 2010, just like the earlier versions of Office – check out this special offer here) and you use the Word integration, you have discovered that the request to save history no longer exists as it did. I.e. – no dialog pops asking what you would like to do with the history.
Here’s the workaround. (This is a known issue.)
In Word 2010, in the upper left corner is the Quick Access Toolbar – see the accompanying image…
Note to the right end of that little toolbar is a drop down arrow – click that. In the resulting list of items, you will see “Quick Print”. Select that. Now you will have a little printer icon in your Word Quick Access Toolbar -
as below…
Now, the next time you want to run a document merge from ACT! to Word 2010, after the merge completes and it is time to print the document, instead of using File | Print – click the Quick Print icon you added to Word’s Quick Access Toolbar, and after printing, your “Create History” dialog will work as expected!
