So you purchased ACT! Software for yourself, your team, or your company and now you need to know the best way to learn how to use the program for your business. Choosing the right training solution is a balance of resources: time and money.
After installing ACT! Software you will find several included training tools located on the program’s Help Menu:
Reading and viewing all the included content can take days, weeks or even months and may not translate to your real world use of the program.
- Help Topics is a source for information about using ACT!, use the Contents, Index, and Search tabs to find the information and includes step-by-step instructions for specific tasks
- ACT! New User Quick Start Guide is a 116 page PDF file, covers the basics of using ACT! for new users
- Feature Tours are online flash videos that show how to use an ACT! feature
The fastest and most comprehensive way of learning ACT! Software is to participate in a hands-on training session. Live classroom training frees you from workplace distractions so you can focus on learning the program and hands-on provides practice that reinforces the skills and aids in retention. In 4-6 hours you can learn the basics of the program to get started. Many training companies not only have basic training, but also advanced sessions to increase your knowledge and utilization of the software program.
Before investing in any training make sure the training company has ample experience with the ACT! Software products. Prior to hiring our company, a client spent $5,000 with a national training company for an ACT! 2009 for Web hands-on training session for 10 employees. What they actually received were training materials for ACT! 2008 for Windows (a completely different version and product) and an instructor, who had no previous experience with the software product, did not know the differences between the windows and web products, and found it difficult to answer any student questions. Needless to say the client did not find the session to be the best use of their training dollars.
The key to getting the best value for your training budget is to find a training company with an instructor who is an ACT! Software expert. The instructor should know the feature differences between the products and versions, with real world experience to be able to answer any questions on your business use of the software. Sources to find training companies with experienced ACT! Software instructors are http://www.actplatinum.com/CRMA.html or http://www.act.com/partners/apt/index.cfm
If you want to save time in learning the ACT! Software program invest in hands-on training, if you don’t want to spend money you will need to invest your time.
