ACT! PlatinumCARE Release-Huh?

ACT! just released this new product offering PlatinumCARE. It has taken me a bit to get my arms around what they are offering. Even for partners, they are sending us information in multiple e-mails, each with 4-5 documents attached explaining different parts of the program.

For me I like to see things all in one place so I can analyze what the deal is. Well I finally put it all together on my Platinum CARE web page and I think it is a pretty nice offering (only available until 9/30/2008). If you are already an ACT! 2008/10.0 user, the deal is sweetest for you. You can upgrade to version 11 for about a third of your normal upgrade pricing, plus get a whole bunch of bonuses. If you own an older version of ACT, they are throwing in the bonuses for the regular upgrade pricing.

If you are remotely interested in upgrading, then you might want to check out the offer while it stands.

Yeah, It’s Finished

The final pdf, edited version of “The Official ACT! by Sage QuickStudy Guide” (for ACT! 2009 software) is off to the printer. In order for me to write, I need to have long periods of uninterrupted time. I don’t see clients. I limit my access to emails (a very easy distraction). I sit on the couch cross-legged with my PC on my lapdesk and write away. My family brings me meals and then clears them away so I can continue on with unbroken chains of thought. I eat popcorn when I am stumped with how to more clearly explain features. Some years I gain more weight than others. (Regardless, it is back to the gym for me.)

When I have been this isolated, it is also a little hard for me to get back to working with people again. I start with the overflowing emails in my Inbox that need to be answered and then move to starting to work with clients again. There is always some project waiting for me. Maybe some documentation for Swiftpage’s new Drip Marketing. Hmm.

ACT! Tips on Video

ACT! asked me to write the lead article for their e-newsletter (being released tomorrow). Entitled “Three Quick Tips for the New Year”, it covers how to create and send an e-mail merge template for quick follow up with clients and prospects. The article also include instructions on creating groups based on queries for quick lookups that are always automatically updated by ACT!. Finally I included a reminder that by even learning just a few new tips and tricks using “The Official ACT! by Sage QuickStudy Guide” that readers could make a huge difference in their productivity for the year.

While some readers are content to see the numbered steps on how to accomplish a task, many like to see the steps performed. So I also included links for some quick flash videos that demonstrate the concepts. You can also see these videos on YouTube.

Creating Mail Merge Templates (no audio)

Creating Groups Using Criteria (no audio)

Which Sales Rep is Using ACT! ?

One of the earlier posts included a comment from someone who wanted to know if there was a way to track which sales reps had logged into ACT! by Sage and how long they had used it. However, I’m pretty sure that who is logged on and how much time they spend is probably now what the manager really wanted to know (at least I hope not). One sales rep could spend hours looking at ACT! and never get anything done. Yet another sales rep can look up a name and phone number in their Treo (that was synced to their ACT! database), make a call, and close a deal without ever actually opening ACT on the desktop.

One of the things that I love about ACT! is that it is so flexible that it can support many different ways of working. Everyone has their own way of getting the job done. There are those that like to plan their entire day the night before (and ACT! will help them do that). There are those that come in without having made any plans at all and just start calling (they can “Record History” without ever having scheduled anything if that is the way they like to work). There are successful people in both work styles, but most of us work somewhere in between… scheduling some of our work and making spur of the moment contact decisions.

I think what this manager really wanted to ensure (regardless of the work style of his reps) was that they were recording the results of their contacts with clients and prospects. Now you CAN track that in ACT!.

Use the Edit Date field to create a lookup of all records that have been edited during the time period you are interested in. Then in Contact List view, add the “Last Edited By” field to the column display (right-click in the view and select “Customize Columns”). Now click on the column header to sort by the “Last Edited By” field. Ta-Dah! There is your basic list of who has been working their clients. Run the Notes/History Report on the current lookup to get a better idea of what has been going on.

Attaching Outlook Email to an ACT! Contact

How many of us just click right through the install messages of new software because we are anxious to get started. It is easy sometimes to click so fast that you miss important install instructions.

A long-time ACT! user contacted me after hearing my podcast with BusinessWeek and wanted to know how to attach emails in Outlook to his ACT! contacts. The ACT! 2008 by Sage (version 10) installation walks you through connecting these two softwares to allow you to do things like this. However, earlier versions informed you during the install that you would need to manually complete an additional step to create a link between ACT! and Outlook. If you are one of those that missed setting up an Address Book in Outlook, follow these simple instructions.

First, to see if your link is already set up, in Outlook, click Tools, Options. Do you see an ACT! tab? If so, then the connection between ACT! and Outlook has already been set up and you can stop reading.

1. In Outlook, click Tools, E-mail Accounts… (or Services if you are using an earlier version of Outlook)
2. Select Add a new directory or address book and click Next>
3. Select Additional Address Books and click Next>
4. Select ACT! Address Book and click Next>
5. Your ACT! database and user name should be displayed here. Browse to select a different database if you like.
6. Enter your User name and any associated password.
7. Click OK, OK to acknowledge that you need to restart Outlook and Finish
8. File, Exit from Outlook and then open Outlook again. The Atach to ACT! Contact(s) icon is added to the Outlook toolbar.

But wait, we’re not finished yet. You need to also set up a default history option.

1. In Outlook, click Tools, Options.
2. On the Mail Format tab, verify that Use Microsoft Word to edit e-mail messages is not checked.
3. On the ACT! tab, click the History Options button.
4. Select a default history.
5. OK.

OK, now we’re done. So, try attaching any email in your Inbox to an ACT! contact (select the message, click on the new icon on the toolbar, select the contact and click OK). You can now delete the email from the Outlook Inbox. A copy of the email is now attached to your ACT! contact.

Roadrunner

I noticed when it was time to send out yesterday’s tips newsletter that I still have quite a few email addresses that are @houston.rr.com. Those email addresses will be going away sometime later this year (since Comcast has taken over the local Roadrunner operations.

I realize that it is probably hard for people who have those addresses to remember who they need to send updates to. So I created a quick template that said:

I notice that you have one of the Road Runner email addresses that will be expiring soon. Don’t forget to let me know your new email address when you get it.

Once I had the simple template completed, all I needed to do was a lookup. In the newer version of ACT (what would you expect me to be using?), I clicked…

1. Lookup, Advanced, Advanced Query
2. Created the query that says Email Address “Contains” “houston.rr.com”
3. Clicked OK.
4. Then I clicked, Write, Mail Merge…. well you can probably take it from there.

So now I have people emailing me back with their new email addresses.

If you are using an older version of ACT!, you could click Lookup, Keyword Search, in the “Search for” area, type houston.rr.com. In the “Search in” area, uncheck all options by ”E-mail Addresses.” Clicking Find Now will give you the list that you need.

ACT! 2008 Dashboard

What many might not realize is that you can change your Preferences to make the Dashboard your default opening view in ACT! (instead of the normal Contact Detail view where you see your own name each time you open ACT!). This way, I can see my days schedule at a glance and a few other important views. 

I have modified my Dashboard view so that I also have an activity list of only the calls that I need to return. I have a component that shows only the scheduled appointments for our key consultants in the coming week so I can keep track of everyone’s availability. And finally I have a panel that shows the things that I am behind on. It is a great way to start my day (except for viewing the list of things I am behind on).

ACT! 2008 Releases

I’ve been working daily on the ACT! 2008 beta software since late March. It has been an amazingly stable product. Installed great. You can read about the primary new features on my website.

Using Opportunities in Other Ways

This week I worked with an accounting firm that wanted to track how they handled documents sent to them by their clients. They weren’t actively using the Opportunities feature, so I helped them to rework (and re-program) that feature in ACT! to meet their needs. As each document comes in the door, it’s arrival is entered into ACT! as an Opportunity… tracking the type of document, indicating what forms or letters must be completed on the client’s behalf, what accountant in the firm is responsible for the completion, and what stage the document is currently in. When the document/form is returned to the client, the opportunity is closed. Now they can use the Opportunity List view to actively track the status of all their in-house projects by staff member. The Days Open feature can also help them track the average turn-over rate for all their work by firm employee.

Back Up Your Database

The new year is always a time for me to consider new habits. One that I know we could all get better at is protecting our data. So many times we take our ACT database for granted. If your computer were to crash right now or your laptop stolen, would you have a copy of your database anywhere? I worked with a Financial Consultant one time who hired a summer intern to help clean up the database and the intern deleted the entire database…there were no backups anywhere…years of work were gone in only a few minutes. I’ve been to larger corporations where the staff was sure that IT was backing up their database nightly only to find out that that backup was not working properly or that the ACT database had not been included in the list of files to backup and the most recent backup they had was more than a year old. Backups usually only take a few minutes. Do you know when and where your last backup occurred? Resolve to back up more frequently!

Backing Up

      For all versions of ACT
When you backup your database, the data is compressed into a .ZIP file. Versions 2005 through 2007 do not require that everyone be out of the database prior to backing it up. However, older versions (2004 or 6 and older) will require that everyone be out of ACT.

1. File, Backup (if you are using 2005/2006/2007, select Database)
2. Click Browse 
3. Select a location (not the A:\). If you are connected to a network, it is preferable to select a folder on a different computer (like the F: drive) for saving your backup files. If you are not connected to a network, then select a location on your desktop and then copy the .zip file to a CD or USB Flash Drive. 
4. Add a date to the end of the suggested name. That way the current backup file will not overwrite any other backups.
5. Click Save
6. OK or Start * In older versions (6/2004 and older) you may click the Options tab first to select what you would like to include in the backup. In versions 2005 through 2007, everything is automatically backed up.

Go forth and backup! (That sounds like conflicting advice.)