The Fresh Ideas Blog - CRM, ACT!, Social Media, and More

Achieve Your Goals Using Sage ACT! Software - Part II

Len Kamerman — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 16:05:00 GMT

Last Friday I started off this series by sharing some things I've learned about goals and how to set them up to increase the likelihood of your success.

Today I want take you through how you might use ACT! to keep track of the info about yourgoals and most importantly, how to plan to take action on those goals.

To start off, I recommend you write your goals on paper. I've been told, and agree, that something about having your goals hand written increases your likelihood of completion by the act of writing the goals themselves and physically having that paper to go back to, regardless of what system you use to keep track of the progress and plot steps on your calendar.

Customizing the Group Record for Goals

Once you've got your goals, there's a little bit of setup to "optimize" the experience. We want to create fields where you can enter information about each goal and not just the steps.

Note that the creation of additional fields is somewhat optional - the most important thing is that you get to using Activities to plot each action that you need to take to move towards reaching your goals. However, having the specifics of your goal close at hand will help you stay on course!

In my system, I have fields for tracking Goals using the GROW model:

Goal Description - the specifics of my goal, making sure that it's a SMART goal
Current Reality - what's the current situation?
Options - what could you do, what are your potential options?
Will - what are you going to do?

With these four fields you can define your goal and course of action. You may also want to add fields for "Complete By", "Status", and "Percentage Complete" if you want those additional details.

You'll want to add these fields to your database's Group records. You need to be an ACT! database administrator to do this. If you're familiar with adding fields, you can just go ahead and add them. Make sure that the GROW fields are Memo fields so that you get multiple lines with lots of space.

I've recorded a short YouTube video to show you how to add these fields:

Using Activities to Plan for Success

Hopefully you went ahead and created the additional Group fields for your goals. I'm positive that you'll have a better system if you've done that, but I know that some who read this may be sharing a database and not have access to do it.

This is probably not a huge surprise, but the most important step you can take towards acheiving your goals is to actually TAKE ACTION towards them.

Here's how to plan your action and track it in ACT!

Create the goal and fill in the GROW information
Again, this is optional but well worth the effort.
Determine each action you'll need to take to reach that goal
On its own, a goal can be overwhelming, but "if you can push it an inch, you can push it a mile". Be specific in the activities you'll need to take. For me, to get back up to running 5 km I planned two runs of 2 km one week, 2 runs of 2.5 km the next, and gradually increased my distance to be able to do 5 km by January 1st. Other goals might have less steps.
On the Activities tab for that Goal (Group record) create an activity for each action.
This is critical - get the actions on your calendar. I've found that I get a lot more traction by actually booking a timeslot vs. putting a task on a particular day. Even then I sometimes slide and move them when something pressing comes up, but I'm much more likely to get an action done if I set a specific block of time for it.

By listing each Goal as a Group, planning out the steps, and assigning them to your Task List and Calendar, you'll have a system where you can mark your progress and plan out steps on the same calendar you use to manage your day!

In the third and final part of this series, I'll give you a tool you can download that will allow you to switch between Layouts so that you'll see the regular Group fields unless you're working on a Goal, in which case the Layout will automatically change to show your Goal fields. Nifty, eh?

If you want more info and ideas on how to get more out of ACT! via the Group records, you can sign up for a three-part advanced ACT! training series where I went into Groups extensively in the first lesson.

Acheive Your Goals using Sage ACT! Software - Part I

Len Kamerman — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 18:31:00 GMT

I'm admittedly not a big fan of New Years Resolutions. It seems like no one keeps them for more than a few days or maybe a month, and we don't hold each other accountable because no one ever really expected a long term commitment.

I've changed my stance a little bit on that and while I'm still skeptical of all the "eat better and excercise more in 2012" talk, it is a great time to hit reset, look at where we are, and make some serious goals for 2012.

Succeeding with Your Goals

So here's the question: how do you create goals in such a way as to set yourself up for success?

I've been studying this a fair bit lately, prompted by a workshop a couple of months ago with my business coach Tony Scutella. I've also been checking out material from John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing, and Dave Ramsey.

I want to share this as a first post of three that I hope will help you to set some goals and then execute on them, using ACT! as a tool that will greatly assist you in writing them down and planning your actions. I've got a unique way of goal tracking that I'll cover more on Part II & III.

If this is of great interest to you, you may want to read up on SMART goals in more detail, but if I can boil it down and formulate it simply I'd do it like this:

SMART Goals

SMART = Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely.

Specific - this is the who, what, when, where, why and how of it. Your goal is much more feasible if you have specifics, like "run 2 miles 3 days per week for 12 weeks" rather than "get more excercise"

Measurable - you must be able to measure when this is accomplished and how you're doing towards it. Can you tick off the "completed" checkbox when you meet certain criteria?

Attainable - this doesn't mean easy, but it means by breaking the goal down into small steps over an appropriate period of time, can you realistically get this done?

Relevant - why does this goal matter? What impact will this have?

Timely - your goal needs to have a deadline to create a sense of urgency, to pace yourself towards it, and to enable some outside accountability to keep you on track.

Beyond all this, you also need some sort of vision - this relates to the R - Relevant, but if your goals do not serve some ultimate purpose, you'll lack the motivation to get it done, regardless of any other factors.

Writing your goals down is a great step towards accomplishing them. What I've found though, is that it's too easy for that sheet of paper to go missing, the Word document to get saved and not opened again, and unless you have some sort of better system, it's challenging to stay on track.

Smashing Your Goals with ACT! Software

That's where using CRM software (like Sage ACT! or Microsoft CRM) comes in - I assume that if you're reading this article, you're using one or the other and further, I hope you're already taking advantage of the ability to track calendar and task items within it to stay organized. Since you're in the software every day, it's a great place to "write" your goals and plan the required steps by actually plotting them on your calendar.

In the next post, I'll show you how to use the Groups function in ACT! to manage each of your goals - and don't worry, if you're sharing your ACT! database you'll be able to make them private if you want to! (but maybe you want the accountability) In the post after that, I'm going to give you a tool that you can use to further enhance your ability to use Groups for goal tracking.

To make sure you don't miss the next post, you can subscribe via e-mail or RSS on the right side of this page!

Note: Microsoft CRM folks, stay tuned, I have a free solution that you can import into your own CRM system that I'll be posting next week that I use to track my own goals.

ACT! 2012 Virtual Road Show

Len Kamerman — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 17:12:00 GMT

We're hosting our first ever Sage ACT! 2012 Virtual Road Show next week Wednesday, September 21st at 11am Eastern / 2pm Pacific.

You'll get my own take on ACT! 2012, Sage ACT! Connect, and attendees can win one of a whack of prizes including free software and support.

Check out all the details on our new exclusively ACT! focused blog:
http://www.exacttactics.com/2011/09/13/act-2012-virtual-road-show/

5 Ways to Blow a Networking Event

Len Kamerman — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 12:00:00 GMT

As much as many of us would like to believe it, using technology to completely automate your lead generation is not always a great idea, though it certainly should be a prominent component of your overall strategy.

I've found that our best customers tend to be referrals, and by best I mean:

pleasant to work with and easier to establish a good relationship
a good fit for our business - e.g. likely to fit out "ideal client" profile
less price sensitive
more likely to be long term, repeat customers

For this reason, I've been working towards making our referral process a little more structured and getting back to attending more networking events. (In my last post, I mentioned the fabulous Speed Networking event put on by the Mississauga Board of Trade).

What was really interesting to me about this event, besides the cut-to-the-chase format and opportunity to connect with many businesses was the fact that a good number of attendees followed up with me after the event. I know that might sound strange, but not everyone follows up.

Now, I'm not going to point any fingers and will leave out names to protect the innocent, but I saw some great follow-up as well as some examples to be avoided. It caused me to do a little digging on networking practices and I wanted to share with you five excellent ways to blow the time you invested in a networking event. You may laugh at some of these, but they're pretty common, from my experience!

Write off attendees based on assumptions
Obviously not everyone at an event is going to be your new favorite client, but keep in mind networking is not just about building a list of prospects. It's about connecting with other business people who have something in common (usually it's geography) and finding out how you can help each other. The person who doesn't seem to fit your profile might have contacts who do, so be courteous and don't cut a conversation short because you don't think they can help you.
Use the event to expand your mass e-mail list
Follow-up is critical, an e-mail is a good way to do that, but you need to be helpful and relevant. In my book, collecting e-mail addresses from a list of attendees or business cards and just adding them to your general mailing list and sending them your generic newsletter is borderline spam.

Contrast someone who does this with an e-mail I got from Terry Holdershaw, from Scotia Entertainment, who is in the Professional DJ, Live Entertainment, and Audio-Visual business in Mississauga. A day or two after the event, he sent an e-mail to attendees talking about the event and including additional information about his business. (Terry's got a great blog and social media prescence going, it's a great example!)
Make the networking all about you
Again, if you go to events with the attitude of doing repeated sales pitches to everyone who will hear you out, you're going to be disappointed with the results. BNI has the saying "givers gain" and they're right - go to events and figure out what you can do for others and give them just enough to pique their interest in what you do. Human relationships seem to work on reciprocity - if you do something for me, I'm going to want to do something in return, be it to be nice or because I feel like I owe you.
Don't follow up at all
This is the "low hanging fruit" approach. Go to events, try to find people who have an immediate need for your services, and concentrate on them and nothing else, because they can provide new revenue. Ignore everyone else, do not build relationships (they take time and effort!) and keep looking for customers who are ready to buy.

Again, I want to reiterate that our best customers are the ones who come by way of referral. Make a point of connecting with people after the event, be relevant, be helpful, and establish relationships that will help fill your sales funnel with referrals.
Keep lousy notes
This is the evil cousin of #4, don't follow up. Unless you have an excellent memory that is far better than mine, you're going to want to jot a couple of notes down for each person you meet. This will be immensely helpful in the days following as you follow up and connect with those you met. It'll make the difference between your ability to craft one generic response vs. including details that show those you met that you remember them and are interested in them individually.

If you need a tool to help you do this (good notes, not lousy notes), consider using software like Microsoft CRM or Sage ACT! software. Our clients use these tools to centralize their customer and prospect information and help them to remember important details.

Have you got any tips or other things to avoid?

Make Referrals Easy with Referral Key

Len Kamerman — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 20:35:00 GMT

Yesterday I was attended a "Speed Networking" event put on by the Mississauga Board of Trade. It turned that out to be a fantastic way to get to meet a lot of great businesspeople in a short time, eliminating a lot of things that can get in the way at typical networking events. I wanted to put together a short post to describe Referral Key, one of the tools that I'll be using to reach out to the people I met at the event, as well as a tip for ACT! users on how to get your contacts quickly added to Referral Key.

My friend and business coach, Tony Scutella, who also invited me to the networking event, tipped me off on this tool. It's essentially a simple tool that lets you connect with your contacts, set up your profile with a bit about what type of customer you're looking for, and exchange referrals with each other.

It even has the option to offer a referral incentive of cash or a few different products like Omaha Steaks (I love steak!). I've set up my profile to help my colleagues identify good clients for us as well as offer $250 cash for successful referrals.

For ACT! software users - uploading your contacts into Referral Key is pretty easy, but not obvious. Here's what you need to do:

Create a lookup of contacts that you want to invite to be a part of your Referral Key network. You might do this by doing a specific search and then tagging the contacts you want, and then creating a lookup of the tagged contacts
On the Contact List screen, click Options and then Customize Columns
Make sure that your selected columns includes First Name, Surname (or Last Name), and e-mail address, then click OK
Use the Export to Excel button to export your list
Open the Excel file and delete all the columns except the First Name, Last Name, and E-mail Address
Change the column headings to be First Name, Last Name, and E-mail Address (exactly as spelled here)
Do a File, Save As and choose to save as type "CSV (Comma Delimited) .csv"
Inside of Referral Key, click the "Add Colleagues" button and follow the instructions for LinkedIn, except instead of exporting contacts from LinkedIn, upload the .csv file you created

Have you used Referral Key? I'd love to hear your success stories or comments and thoughts on this system.

ACT! by Sage and Microsoft Outlook - Quick Tip #1

Len Kamerman — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 12:28:00 GMT

For the most part, I'm happy with how ACT! handles Outlook e-mail integration. There are a few tweaks I'd like, but overall it's easy to use for both recording outgoing e-mail messages as well as selectively attaching incoming messages.

If you're familiar with the Quick Attach feature, you know that it allows you to choose one or more (by using the Ctrl key) messages and then click its button to attach it to ACT! Somewhat of an (understandable) frustration is that you don't have any quick indication of whether or not the sender's e-mail address is in your ACT! database. I suppose if you did, it might not be so "quick", but nonetheless I'd like to make sure everything attaches without having to review the "Attach to ACT! Contacts Progress" window.

Here's what I do when in doubt as to whether someone's address is in ACT! or not:

I select the message
Click the "Create ACT! Activity" icon (looks like a handshake)
If the activity window comes up and shows the sender, I know the address is in ACT! (because ACT! uses the e-mail address to make the match)
If it shows my own record, I know that e-mail address does not exist.

You can also check by using the "Attach to ACT! Contacts" button to do this, but I find that it takes longer to load, especially if you have a large database.

ACT! on iPad Using LogMeIn or Remote Desktop

Len Kamerman — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 11:41:00 GMT

In my last post I gave my take on a couple of options for having full access to your ACT! software on iPad via remote access solutions, namely LogMeIn Ignition and Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP).

Taking this one step further, I'd like to share with you step by step details on how you can set this up for yourself. I've created a PDF document and a couple of videos that you can check out for either method.

Also, Carol from Power of 3 Consulting has posted a part 2 review on using ACT! on iPad with a keyboard.

Here's the link to download the PDF and get links to the videos:

ACT! for iPad? - Cross Border Faceoff

Len Kamerman — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 00:05:00 GMT

I have to admit that more and more I’m becoming a fan of Apple products. I happily made the switch from Blackberry to iPhone and the addition of an iPad to my mobile arsenal has been extremely handy.

Big Freakin’ Problem: I’m a CRM consultant who deals with ACT! (among other CRM applications) that has little Mac support (ACT! for Web works with Firefox), much less works with the iPad.

An iPad Solution for ACT! by Sage?

Carol Gilliland, a San Francisco, California based ACT! Certified Consultant, and I square off in a USA vs. Canada to take opposing sides as we evaluate LogMeIn Ignition and PocketCloud for the purposes of using ACT! remotely. As the Canadian in this duo, I was immediately designated to the role of presenting the positive… eh? See Carol’s article for the critical points.

First, let’s quickly talk about the two solutions we’re working with, where each is appropriate, and then I’ll list what I found to be particularly effective about each as well as using the iPad with ACT! in general. These are two different solutions – the first, PocketCloud, is an app that takes advantage of an RDP connection to either your desktop (if it is set up for Remote Desktop Sharing) or a Windows Terminal Server. The second, LogMeIn Ignition, makes it very easy to access any computer that you have set up for remote access using the popular LogMeIn service.

Update: this topic has been so popular that I've written a step-by-step guide to using ACT! on iPad available for download along with a couple of videos.

Pocket Cloud

OK – first up, PocketCloud (from Wyse, available for both iPad/iPhone and Android) allows you to remotely access an RDP-enabled computer. RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol) can be enabled on most Windows XP or later computers so long as you’re able to open some ports on your Internet router. It’s also used by Windows Terminal Server – which makes this a possible option for IT staff who are looking to support multiple iPad users who want remote access to ACT!

I’ve been using PocketCloud for a couple months now to remotely access clients computers, selecting it after a fair bit of reading up on the various RDP clients for the iPad. Here’s what I like about PocketCloud:

It remembers the connection information and only requires a single click to get connected. (Note: I don’t save the username / password on my iPad, if you do you should definitely password protect your iPad itself)
The on-screen pointer has intuitive controls that make things like right-clicking, copy/paste, and clicking on small areas easier than you’d expect for a touch-screen device
Since the iPad has a resolution of 1024x768, viewing an entire desktop is doable when the resolution is set to the same
It’s pretty fast – response time is good and double clicking is no problem at all

LogMeIn Ignition

Now on to LogMeIn Ignition, which is an app for the iPad that lets you remotely access the computers available to your LogMeIn account. The major advantage LogMeIn has going for it is that it’s really easy to set up and doesn’t require you to forward ports on a router or have any knowledge of things like RDP. You simply create an account with LogMeIn.com (the free version will do), install the software (you’ll be prompted to set up a computer after creating an account) and you’ll be able to remotely access your PC using a web browser or via your iPad after purchasing LogMeIn Ignition for iPad.

Here are the pluses of using LogMeIn Ignition:

Little IT knowledge or assistance is required to get it set up, so long as you’re an administrator on your own computer and aren’t locked down by corporate security policies
Related, there’s typically no firewall changes to be made, just register and install and go
The mouse pointer is easy to use and makes left and right clicks simple (though I prefer the controls in PocketCloud)
Switching between monitors is easy if you’re remoting into a multi-monitor PC

Overall, I’d say that either method is a reasonably decent way to access ACT! on an iPad. Keep in mind the following points when considering either of these setups:

These solutions are good ways to supplement your use of ACT! on a PC. It works well, but keep in mind you’re working on a 10” screen and it’s not a PC replacement
Adding a keyboard to your iPad will add a little weight and an extra device to carry, but allows you to use your entire screen for viewing your PC, instead of letting the keyboard take up space
If you opt to remember your computer passwords, be sure to password protect your iPad

Check out Carol's article as she takes the other side (but ultimately agrees) and focuses on the shortcomings.

image credit 3gstore.de

Logicity - A New Old Favorite ACT! Reporting Tool

Len Kamerman — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 00:58:00 GMT

A major feature that often gets overlooked by people who use ACT! is the ability to generate useful reports for getting great information out of their data.

Built-In Reports

There are a number of useful reports already built into ACT! that can be used right "out of the box" such as the Notes and History Report that I mentioned in my last article. The Contact Report (a summary of information about one or more contacts) and the Phone List (need I explain?) are a couple of the commonly used Contact reports. Among the other reports worth mentioning there are also some simple (but useful) Opportunity reports.

Beyond the Box: Crystal Reports

Now don't get me wrong, the built-in stuff is good but those reports aren't terribly flexible and the trade-off of the ACT! Report Writer being fairly straight forward is that there are a lot of things it isn't capable of doing.

That's where for us, and a lot of other ACT! Certified Consultants, Crystal Reports comes in. Crystal Reports is an industry standard reporting tool and yes, it works with ACT! very well. Simple reports are easy to create and more elegant, complex reports (really anything you can think of) can be designed by someone with an appropriate skill level. Both Claude and I are very competent with Crystal and enjoy writing reports for our ACT! clients.

Logicity Makes Multi-User Reporting Very Affordable

The downside to this powerful reporting tool is that it requires additional software and it ain't cheap. But fear not! I've recently discovered a fantastic (and free) little piece of software called Logicity that lets you run reports created in Crystal. This means that one person can purchase Crystal Reports (as of writing this it's on sale at http://store.businessobjects.com for $395, $100 off) or you can have a consultant write the report and then you can distribute the report to users who run the free report viewer.

If you're interested in using Crystal Reports you might also check out eBay or elsewhere for an older version of Crystal Reports as versions as old as 8.5 will work with ACT! and are supported by Logicity.

I'd love to answer any questions you have about using Crystal Reports with ACT!, just post 'em here or drop me an e-mail.

Logicity Report Viewer: http://www.logicitysuite.com/products/logicity.html

Crystal Reports: http://www.crystalreports.com

ACT! by Sage's Notes/History Report

Len Kamerman — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 15:20:00 GMT

On Wednesday I met with a client in Kitchener to do some ACT! training and one of the issues that came up was that they needed an easy way to print all of the history for a particular contact record. They had been printing history via the Print History option of the right-click menu on the History tab.

I introduced to them the Notes/History report which is a simple, flexible report that a lot of ACT! users don't know exists.

In a nutshell, the Notes/History report allows you to print a report which contains all of the Notes and History during a given timeframe from your ACT! software and allows you to filter on:

What type you want: Notes and/or History
Date range: choose ranges like "Current Week" or pick your own dates
Which contacts: current contact, current lookup, or all contacts
Whose contacts: pick one or more users or all users
Whose notes/history: pick one or more users or all users
If history, what type: history, e-mail, attachments, or all

Since you can choose whichever date range and contacts you like, this report fits most situations where you need to see what's happened with one or more records. Here are some examples:

You've been out of the office for a week and need a summary of meetings, calls, e-mails, etc.
You want to see what one or more employees have done within a given timeframe
You need to have a full history from your ACT! database of interactions and communications with a particular contact

To access this report, choose "Notes/History" from the Reports menu and then set your options.

Have you got questions about this report or ways you've used it you'd like to share?

ACT! Software AddOns From Hero Technical Solutions

Len Kamerman — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 19:53:00 GMT

I've been writing ACT! AddOns for almost as long as I've been working with ACT!, starting seven versions back in the ACT! 6.0 days.

The great thing about being able to write ACT! AddOns is that you can extend ACT! to do just about anything, and doing that has made for some of my favourite projects for our customers - from tools that save hours by automating processes to making ACT! work in a way that mirrors how a business uniquely tracks their sales opportunities to color coding parts of ACT! to make it easier to find information.

A lot of the things I've done with the ACT! SDK (Software Development Kit) have been one-offs that I've written for very specific needs. However, over the last while I've been writing some more generic tools that are reasonably priced and made available online.

Today those AddOns are available online from this website (http://www.YourCRMHero.com) - check out the "Services and Solutions" menu and then "ACT! AddOn Software" to get a list of what's out.

I won't cover the whole list today but will post from time to time as the list grows and for now wanted to mention three tools:

Contact Clipboard
If you often need to copy and paste address and phone info from your ACT! contacts into e-mail, documents, etc. Contact Clipboard makes it really easy to get the fields you want, formatted exactly how you want, and put it into the Windows clipboard.

Company Group Limited Access
If you use Limited Access to restrict access to your data to specific users and teams, you'll want to have Company Group Limited Access. What it does is simple - it allows you to create a lookup of Company Records (or Groups) and assign them all to users at once rather than one at a time - a feature that seems to be missing from ACT! The Extended Edition allows you to set the Record Manager as well as set access to Contacts that belong to the Company or Group.

GUID2Field (a freebie!)
GUID-2-what? This tool copies every contact's GUID (the unique ID used by ACT!) into your User 10 field. You can then export your data knowing that you'll be able to match it back up perfectly when importing again. GUID2Field makes matching up contact data a lot easier! It's currently offered as a free download.

Please check out the AddOns and comment if you have an idea for an AddOn you don't think exists or want to ask anything else about ACT! AddOns

The Truth About Social Media from an ACT! Certified Consultant

Len Kamerman — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 12:54:00 GMT

This morning Claude forwarded me an article entitled "The Sad Truth About Social Media" that was published in yesterday's Toronto Globe and Mail. In the article, Ryan Caligiuri talks about all the hype surrounding using social media to grow your business and claims that social media "shouldn't be used to grow revenue".

I don't disagree with everything in his article - he's right, there are too many "social media gurus" and people that claim that social media is the silver bullet. I also agree that social media works better for some types of businesses than others

That said, his claim that "getting into social media to increase leads and revenue is the equivalent of trying to put a screw through a 2x4 with a butter knife" is out to lunch, as far as I'm concerned.

Can you generate enough leads and close enough business solely from social media to get a brand new business off the ground? No way.

Can you post an offer of $10,000 worth of consulting on Twitter and expect someone to bite? I don't think so.

Can you use a careful mix of blogging, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other social sites to expose what your business has to offer and the types of problems you help to solve to people who are out there searching for you? Absolutely!

The key to using social media is providing great content to people that are out there looking for you - people using search enginges, asking questions on LinkedIn, etc. The folks at HubSpot have a great term for this, called "Inbounc Marketing". The idea is that rather than you shouting through traditional advertising channels, you set yourself up to be found by those that are searching.

We've done this by blogging about ACT! software, small business tips, and anything relevant to the audience we serve - small business owners and sales people who need software to manage their contacts. People are finding us more regularly and we're building a following. It's not instant and it's not easy, but we're getting there.

Do you agree with me or are you with Ryan? Can you generate leads and revenue with Social Media?

The Voice Mail Message – Your Other Business Card

Claude Demers — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 14:00:00 GMT

We meet or are introduced or are referred to someone we think we might like to do business with. Their business card looks great, as does their web site – great design, interesting content. So we call them and get this:

“Hi this is Mike – I can’t take your call please leave a message” or perhaps “Hi this is Mary – I can’t take your call right now because I might be on the phone with someone else, or I might be running an ACT! training session, or out to a client in Toronto……”.

At that very moment our impression of Mike or Mary is being adversely affected. Why?

We can’t tell when you recorded the message and we don’t know how long you might have to wait to hear back from them – are they on holidays, away sick?
The tone of their voice is flat, monotone, and uncaring
Frankly, we don’t need to know what else you’re doing at this particular moment – we just want a call back

First impressions are very important and here are 7 quick considerations that can help you make a good impression on each and every missed call:

Consider recording a fresh message EVERY morning and include the date so that we the caller know that you are around (or not) and care about us. Give us some idea of your turnaround time. If someone answers your calls for you, this is less critical, but if your voicemail is the only contact the caller makes, it’s important for the caller to know when they can expect a response.
Be as brief as possible.
Use a mirror – before you start to record your message, give yourself the biggest warmest smile you can possibly muster and then record your greeting – we’ll all hear the difference, I promise.
Don’t rush your message – pause and vary your voice.
Listen to your recording – if you don’t “hear” the smile and warmth, record a new one.
People hate being told to leave your name and number and the reason for the call. They are smart adults and can figure that out for themselves.
If you get a fair number of calls and you don’t get at least one compliment or good comment about your message (even if it’s only “my, you have such a cheerful voice”) in the first month, you probably need to work on it some more.

Here’s a sample of what this might sound like:

“Good morning, you’ve reached voice mail for Mike. I’m sorry that I can’t take your call at this moment. Please, leave your message, and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.”

What do you think? Your thoughts and feedback are always welcome.

Image credit salimfadhley

How to Prevent the ACT! Survey From Running

Len Kamerman — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 11:21:00 GMT

Before I begin, let me preface this post by saying that in most circumstances, it's a good thing to let ACT! ask you for feedback. Providing feedback helps the product development team at Sage to make improvements, fixes, and features based on feedback from you, the users of the software.

That said, there may be cases where for one reason or another you'd like to not have the survey prompt come up. Perhaps you've got a large corporate implementation or your firewall doesn't let the survey do its thing.

There is no way from within ACT! itself to disable this. Even if you politely choose the option not to answer it, you're told that you'll be asked in another six months.

Here's how to do it - it's pretty simple:

Find your ACT! plugins folder
By default, it is C:\Program Files\Act\Act for Windows\Plugins (or on 64-bit computers, Program Files will be "Program Files (x86)" instead)
Delete the Act.Survey.Plugin.dll file
This is the file that ACT! loads that does the survey magic. Removing it is completely harmless - except of course it voids your ability to provide feedback to Sage.

Three ACT! Database Lessons from Monopoly

Len Kamerman — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 17:55:00 GMT

One of my favorite board games is Monopoly. I started playing it with my parents on Sunday afternoons when I was seven years old. I liked it so much that I got a second set for my birthday because my younger brother and sister were too young to be allowed to play with the family set. There are even claims that I'd play against my stuffed animals when no one else cared to play, but I'll deny it if you ask me about it.

As I was playing Monopoly last night I thought about how some of the strategy used in the game applies to business and even specifically to using your CRM software and decided to use it as a topic of today's blog post.

Here are three lessons about CRM that can be taken from Monopoly:

1. Plan Strategically

At the start of the game, most people buy as much property as possible while they have the opportunity. Then, once you have a few cards you start looking at who you can trade with, what's left for sale, how much money you've got, and what the possibilities are. This helps you to make good decisions. If you simply buy everything you land on and cross your fingers, hoping for a full street, you might be in trouble.

ACT! is a lot like this - it's pretty easy to get started by amassing your contact information, using the calendar, and never getting much beyond having a glorified rolodex.

Here are some things to think about to get beyond the rolodex stage:

What information do I need to track beyond customer information that would help me work smarter, provide better service, or find additional opportunities?
Which processes in my business are repetitive and could be be either automated or made more efficient by using software?
How could I segment my prospect and customer information in a way that allows me to effectively follow up with offers that allow me to sell more?
What sorts of reports and information would help me make better business decisions?

2. Don't Do Everything at Once

In a game of Monopoly sometimes you find yourself in a spot where you have a lot of opportunities but limited resources. You've got a street - now do you put hotels on it right away if you have the cash or gradually build and keep some money in reserve just in case? Do you go for it all or make smart moves?

If you are new starting out with ACT! and are tackling the customization on your own (vs. hiring an ACT! Certified Consultant) there are a lot of areas to cover as you build the ultimate customer relationship management solution for your business. There are fields to customize, groups to set up, templates to create, report templates to develop, third-party software to explore and install, e-mail marketing campaigns, backup schedules, Outlook integration to configure.

Decide what is a priority and what is not - and while this varies from business to business, here are the three things I recommend you take care of right away:

Make sure your backup is configured (see the help within the software or the ACT! knowledgebase)
Decide on what fields should be filled out when entering new contacts and what fields don't exist that you need to create
Set up the Outlook integration so you can record e-mail sent and received into the History in your ACT! database

3. Build As You Need It or When You Can

A lot of strategy in Monopoly has to do with timing - you often need to balance how much cash you have on hand vs. your opportunities to build. Most players will build when an opponent comes close to their properties, focusing their attention on the particular set that holds a good chance of winning them a high rent.

While you certainly should plan what you want to do with your ACT! database, a very practical way to get things done is to focus on the parts that you have an immediate need for. Then round out the rest as needed or as time permits. You'll get the best return on your time invested by building out the parts that you'll use right away.

This might include:

Getting your letterhead set up as an ACT! template
Deciding how to do quotes (in either ACT! or a third-party software like QuoteWerks)
Customizing the database to hold information that you and your staff need frequently in order to have one centralized location for important info

Can you think of any parallels between Monopoly and contact management / CRM systems? What about other board games?

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Get a head start on taking full advantage of your ACT! software by registering for our free ACT! webinar "Maximum Impact: Actionable Steps to Get More From ACT!" on September 30th.

photo credit Mike_fleming

ACT! 2011 Has Officially Launched - Top Six Need-To-Knows

Len Kamerman — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 18:08:00 GMT

ACT! 2011 has officially launched today, bringing some great new features and long-awaited compatibility with Microsoft Office 2010.

Sage has posted a press release over at pitchengine.com including a summary of new features and a number of videos, including this (goofy) product hand-off ceremony including Napkin Mike.

Here are the top six things you should know about the new version:

ACT! 2011 brings compatibility with Office 2010 in addition to supporting Office 2003 & 2007 (ACT! 2010 works with Outlook via a workaround) and works with Windows XP, Vista, and 7.
Smart Tasks are a fantastic new feature that allow the automation of task scheduling and e-mails when contact records meet certain criteria
There are some cool features you might otherwise miss that users have been asking for, including the ability to exclude users from having e-mail history attached to their records, a new and improved back button that makes navigation easier, and
Outlook integration goes beyond e-mail functionality to allow you to synchronize your calendar and some or all contacts between ACT! and Outlook
New import functionality allows you import directly from Excel files and to create character fields on the fly during import.
For those sharing a database via a server, ACT! can be installed without Microsoft SQL on the workstations.

Let us know what you like the most about ACT! 2011 once you've had a chance to try it out or what features you're most looking forward to.

ACT! 2010 Compatibility with Office 2010

Len Kamerman — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 19:00:00 GMT

When Office 2010 was released, a lot of us ACT! users and ACT! Certified Consultants were hoping that we might see an update for ACT! 2010 that would bring compatibility with the new Office product.

We figured that it wouldn't be unreasonable for that compatibility to be included, but alas there is no official support for Office 2010 for ACT! 2010 users. It's not a huge surprise, considering that Microsoft CRM doesn't even offer Office 2010 support at the time of this writing.

However, all hope is not lost for users on ACT! 2010 who opt not to upgrade to ACT! 2011. My friend Joan O'Connell, an ACT! Certified Consultant at CT Consulting and Training recently posted what can be achieved through a workaround provided by Sage.

Additionally, here's the knowledge base article outlining the steps:
http://kb.sagesoftwareonline.com/cgi-bin/sagesoftwareonline.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=26713

Update: for my fellow Canadians, simply follow the directions above but note that you need to download the file from the article, rename it to CAPreferences206.xml, and then replace that file instead of USPreferences206.xml (I have tested this out and it works as advertised!)

Buying a Computer? ACT! by Sage System Requirements

Len Kamerman — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 13:18:00 GMT

People wait in a lot of places. The bank, drive-thru windows, license offices - in front of your computer shouldn't be one of them. If you're an ACT! user, one of the best things you can do to ensure a positive experience is to make sure that your computer is up to snuff for running your contact management software.

To make sure you're not engaging in excessive thumb twiddling, read on and I'll break out the recommendations into specific computer components. This is handy information if either A) you think ACT! could be a little speedier and are considering upgrading or B) you're in the market for a new computer and want to make sure ACT! runs great on it.

RAM (Memory)

My opinion (and that of most other ACT! Certified Consultants) is that you should have at least 1GB of memory, regardless of which version of Windows you're on. If you often have a lot of programs open at once (Outlook, ACT!, Word, your web browser, etc.) you'll likely benefit from having even a little more than that. Most computers now come with at least 2GB, so if you're buying a new machine this is probably not going to be a concern.

Processor / CPU

If you're buying a new computer: just about anything out there will do it, but models with a dual-core processor will often perform better than those without for users who are multi-tasking with multiple applications open.

If you're looking at your existing, older computer: stay away from anything with Celeron in the name (they're dated, but also poorer performing) and make sure your processor is rated at least 1.6 Ghz.

Hard Drive

While this isn't a big factor for most computer applications, because ACT! is a database application it benefits significantly from having a faster hard drive. If you have the option, spring for a 7200 RPM drive over one that is 5400 RPM. This information is not always easy to find but well worth finding out. It will make your ACT! software run significantly faster when entering information and searching your customer database.

Microsoft Office and Windows

Keep in mind that ACT! works with Microsoft Windows XP, Vista, and 7. My personal preference for new computers as it's a recent version of Windows that performs better than its predecessor, Windows Vista. When choosing an edition, Professional is preferred.

For Microsoft Office, ACT! 2010 supports Office 2002 (to be dropped in ACT! 2011), 2003, and 2007. The new ACT! 2011 due out very soon offers Office 2010 support as well, but only when using it in 32-bit mode. This is very important, as most new computers pre-loaded with Office come with Office 2010.

Finally...

For additional information, including server recommendations, see the ACT! 2010 system requirements or work with an ACT! Certified Consultant to make sure you get what you'll be happy with.

Knowing what to look for when buying a computer to use with ACT! won't make the line at the checkout any shorter, but it will help you to be productive!

article credit mastermaq

What Is A Blog?

Len Kamerman — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 22:41:00 GMT

If you're browsing our site and came across this article, chances are you're already familiar with what a blog is and this article isn't for you. I recommend you check out some of the other articles on things like linking QuickBooks with ACT!, great ACT! Resources, or options for getting ACT! Support

If you want to know what a blog is and a little bit about the Hero Technical Solutions blog, here's what you need to know:

a blog is a website or part of a website that is regularly updated with articles written by one or more authors
you can read blog articles by visiting the blog's site or using an RSS Reader like Google Reader or sometimes subscribe via an e-mail option
blogs typically provide useful information and while one particular blog generally has a particular focus, people blog on anything from commentary on current events to more educational content like how-to's and tutorial videos

On the Hero Technical Solutions blog, we bring information that we believe will be useful to the types of customers that we serve. This includes everything from small business topics to software-specific tips to reviews and recommendations of local businesses.

Please subscribe by RSS or fill in your e-mail address in the box to the upper right if you prefer an e-mail notification of when new articles are published.

ACT! Software Training Tip - ACT! and Outlook Integration Options

Len Kamerman — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 18:01:00 GMT

One of the most useful features of ACT! by Sage is the ability to integrate ACT! with Microsoft Outlook in order to record e-mail history inside of ACT! By tracking sent and received messages, you (and others in your business) can see a history of e-mails exchanged in the same place that you keep history of calls, meetings, etc.

A lot of people are familiar with that functionality but what sometimes gets skipped over is that you can change how much detail ACT! keeps when you record history. By default, it records the date and time the message was sent along with who sent it, what the subject was, and the body of the message. In addition, ACT! has options to simply record the sender, date/time, and the subject (no body) or you can actually attach a copy of the message itself including attachments.

You can get at this setting via the Tools menu, then Preferences, then E-mail Tab and then E-mail System Setup.

Which e-mail recording option is best for you?

Unless all you want to see is a record that an e-mail was sent, I recommend you don't use the "E-mail Subject Only" option and that you make your decision between "E-mail Subject and Message" and "E-mail Subject, Message, and All Attachments". While the latter option lets you save attachments, the trade-off is that you won't be able to see the body text of an attached e-mail message inside of the history tab's preview window - you'll have to actually double-click and open it up. So, if attachments are important, go with the latter else stick with the subject and message option.

Lastly, note that this preference can be changed on the fly for outgoing e-mail messages by changing an option in the Outlook message window. If you're on Outlook 2007, this will be hidden on the "Add-Ins" tab.

If you have questions about this or there are other topics about ACT! and Outlook integration you'd like to see covered on our blog, please post them in the comments section.

Want to learn more about making ACT! sing with Outlook? Download our free "Unofficial Guide to Using Outlook with ACT! by Sage"

My ACT! 2011 Guest Post on the ACT! by Sage Journal

Len Kamerman — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 18:46:00 GMT

I recently wrote a guest blog post for the ACT! by Sage Journal and it was posted today. It's the first of a two part article that gives some insight as to why I am so excited about the Smart Tasks feature of Sage ACT! 2011.

Check out the article for more details, but in a nutshell you are now able, with some careful planning, to "put ACT! on auto-pilot" and schedule activities and send e-mails on your behalf.

Want a to do created when your customer's contract is due to expire in 60 days? Like to send a happy birthday e-mail to a customer? Suggest you make a phone call to customers who have bought over $10,000 in the last year that you haven't spoken to in 90 days?

Read the ACT! 2011 Smart Tasks article

With Smart Tasks in ACT! 2011, you'll save time, uncover opportunities, and be able to automate your business to do the things you always wanted to implement (like a new customer thank you e-mail) but didn't have time for. It's like having your own sales and marketing robotic assistant!

Want to learn more about ACT! 2011? Register for our 30 minute sneak peak at 2pm on Tuesday, August 24th here:

ACT! 2011 and Sales Automation Using SmartTasks

Len Kamerman — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 19:36:00 GMT

I am super excited about the new feature called "Smart Tasks" that is part of the new ACT! 2011 release due out next month.

Basically, Smart Tasks bring sales automation to small business CRM by allowing you to automatically take actions when your contacts meet certain criteria.

For a further explanation of SmartTasks and some great examples, check out Liz Hendon's article on the ACT! by Sage Journal with a few great examples.

I've been invited to contribute to the journal as well, and in the next couple of weeks you'll see a couple articles from me about this new feature as well and why I'm so excited about it.

ACT! Software Training Tip - Manage Activities and History

Len Kamerman — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 18:09:00 GMT

Today's tip is a quick review of using activities, history, and follow-up properly in your ACT! software to make sure you don't miss a beat when managing your tasks and taking care of customers.

Activities

Activities are items that you schedule in advance that show up in a few places: on your Task List, your calendar, and on the record for the contact that you've scheduled an activity with. To schedule an activity, first look up the contact that you want to schedule with, then choose the "Schedule" menu and choose the type of activity that you want to schedule or use the toolbar icons.

Pretty straight forward, right? If you're an ACT! user you're likely already using activities. But - are you clearing your activities and creating history records?

History

History items are the details of e-mails sent, meetings held, calls completed and other interactions between you and your staff and your contacts.

To create a history record when you've completed an activity, simply right-click the activity and choose "Clear Activity..." and you'll get a window that allows you to fill in the results of the activity. It's important that you fill in the details so that later, when you or other ACT! users need a reminder, the information is there.

If you want to record history, but didn't schedule an activity first - for example: the phone rings and a customer calls, you skip the activity creation and just record a history. You'll find this option on the Contact menu as well as on the History tab in the contact detail view. Again, make sure you fill out the details otherwise this information will not be useful.

Follow-up

More often than not, when you've finished one thing and are clearing the activity, you'll want to schedule the next thing to be done. E.g. you clear a meeting but now need to schedule a call to follow up. The "Follow-up" button will help you do this and saves time by pre-filling the contact and regarding line for you from the previous activity.

If you'd like to share about using activities in ACT! or suggestions for future training tips, please comment!

5 Reasons to Link QuickBooks with ACT!

Len Kamerman — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 12:22:00 GMT

Until several months ago, there was a lack of a good link to allow you to integrate ACT! and QuickBooks. Especially if you were in Canada, on a slightly different version than our friends in the US, the link has been non-existent for years. That has changed and there are now a number of third-party ACT! and QuickBooks links on the market.

The QuickBooks link that we really like, recommend, and use ourselves is QBSalesData, from Effective Solutions because it is easy to use and has a pretty remarkable feature set.

Here are five reasons why I think it makes sense to link QuickBooks with ACT!

Eliminate Duplicate Entry
In our small business, I'm also the one who does the invoicing. When we invoice a new customer for the first time, one click in ACT! allows me to take the contact's name, company, and address and create a new customer in QuickBooks
Share Account Information Without Sharing QuickBooks
The way that QBSalesData works, customer details (invoices, sales totals, account balances) can be shared with whichever ACT! users you choose, even if they are not QuickBooks users or have a remote database. Your account managers or sales reps can be given access to this information at your discretion, as only the users who have QBSalesData installed on their computer will see the data.
Determine Who Your Best (and Worst) Customers Are
By storing sales figures in ACT!, it is incredibly easy to create a group of your best customers. Want to know which customers generated more than $10,000 in sales last year? With the data in ACT! you can easily create a lookup or a group that is automatically populated with customers who match your criteria. Also see who purchased under a certain amount or who has outstanding invoices.
Create Invoices from Sales Opportunities
Not only can you save time by not having to reenter customer details into ACT!, but you can also convert Sales Opportunities into Invoices for those users who have access to both ACT! and QuickBooks. Avoid reentering what was sold when creating invoices by simply pulling the sale from the closed deal in ACT!
See What a Customer Has Purchased
Seeing what a particular customer has bought in the past typically requires access to QuickBooks and searching through invoices to find the information. By having invoices and details inside of ACT!, you can quickly see at a glance what a customer has bought or even do a search to return a list of customers who have purchased a specific item.

Integration of your accounting software and ACT! can be a huge time saver and make it much easier to share important customer information without needing to give everyone access to your accounting software and is another way that your business can boost productivity.

Have you integrated your CRM software with your accounting system? Are there additional benefits you'd like to share with others who are considering setting this up?

Create a Map of Your Contacts from ACT! by Sage

Len Kamerman — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 13:06:00 GMT

Create the Lookup of contacts that you want to plot on the map (I'll assume you already know how to do this and leave it at that)
What you need to do next it to get a list of Contacts into Excel with the following fields: Address, City, State (or Province), ZIP Code (or Postal Code), and Company.
1. From the Contact List View, click "Options" in the upper right corner and choose "Customize Columns"
2. Choose just the fields listed above to be included in your list
3. Click OK to go back to the Contact List View
Click the "Export Current List to Excel" button to get your Contact List in Excel
Highlight the whole works, all the rows and the headings and everything and press Ctrl+C to copy them, or right-click and choose Copy
Go to www.batchgeo.com and click inside of the "Source Data" window and then press Ctrl+V or right-click and choose Paste
Click Map Now (or click Validate & Options for some tweaks) and BatchGeo will crank through your list and display a map for you.

If you're going to use this on a regular basis, consider a donation as that's how Phillip supports and runs the site.

(Also, if you think this is slick, stay tuned - I'm halfway done a tool for ACT! that will eliminate the need to export to Excel and will put the data in your clipboard and launch the site for you with a single menu command.)