CRM (Customer Relationship Management) can be complex, but I wanted to break it down into what any software package can do. Watch this brief (2:45 min.) video for a quick overview.

So one of the challenges in CRM, whether it’s ACT!, SageCRM or SalesLogix,  is data entry.   Let’s face it. Sales people do not want to be data entry clerks.

One of the great features of a CRM system is its ability to inspect for trends and act (ACT!) upon them.  With ACT!, you can use CTRL-H and get the “record history” dialogue.

A hidden challenge lies here.  It may be easy or second nature for IT professionals or those fluent with PCs to quickly whip through drop-down menus to make the right choices; however, some people believe that’s too much work.  Why bother with the details ? After all, the quota remains more important that data entry.

Now, the sales person puts in a quick history in ACT!, Result: Call Completed. Details: LM.  Now, ACT doesn’t know LM means “Left message”.  So, reporting will be skewed.  Now, the sales person has to go through another dialogue to schedule a follow up in two weeks with an alarm.  That may not happen as the sales person rushes to the next task.  Now, there is a chance for a sale to slip through the cracks.

This could also apply to field changes and managing opportunities.  CRM systems like ACT need to have clean data to  in order measure trends coming out.

So, why not make a single button like this in ACT! ?  Well, since there are many potential combination’s of macros including: History Result (Call Completed, Call Left Message, Meeting Held etc.), Regarding (Custom entry Here), Duration and the follow up activity can have a wide variety of answers, Sage didn’t make a “macro maker” or the ability to make “one button” replace “10+ clicks”.  The list of combination’s becomes quite large.

My solution around data entry for ACT was to use KPI (Key Performance Indicator) by Effective Solutions.

In about 30 minutes, I was able to create 10 macros which help my client measure outbound sales call performance.  My client does not want his rep to waste time detailing “A Cold Call” versus “Customer Service Call”. So, we made several buttons reflecting the different possible outcomes.

Then, I integrated Top Line Dash by TopLine Results to create effective dashboards whereby the company owner can see multiple reps’ performance with one click as well.

With an investment of $50 per User for KPI and $150 for each manager that uses Top Line Dash, my client spends less time on data entry while allowing management to instantly inspect for trends and act (ACT) upon them.

Mark R. Mondo
ACT! Certified Consultant
MondoCRM
v: 312-527-3133
e: mark@mondocrm.com

As we stretch our dollars, one investment you can stretch is ACT! 6.0. 

There are pre-existing conditions to make this work. 

1) Don’t upgrade to Windows Vista or Windows XP 64 bit
2) Don’t upgrade to Office 2007
3) Continue reading the article.  I found a solution

By now, you have seen some of ACT! 6.0′s shortcomings including:

1) No phone support is available from Sage
2) No more new licenses can be acquired
3) Synchronization and VPN access won’t be effective
4) You cannot add custom tables.  For example a sewing manufacturer would still manage equipment service records and serial numbers in separate system or spreadsheet
5) Integrating ACT! 6.0 with Outlook had its share of problems because you had to manage an intermediary program
6) Sales forecasting has severe limits.  For instance, I cannot do a lookup of opportunities with a 75% chance of closing in the next 30 days.  Instead I have to build a custom report and extend it to paper output.
7) Security is easy to breach and does not offer much variety

So, how in the world can I use still ACT! 6.0 to maintain a competetive edge when others have upgraded to the latest technology ?

There is a product still available called “WiredContact for ACT!”.  It turns ACT! 6.0 into a web-enabled application, and they were able to extend ACT! 6.0′s lifespan by adding these benefits:

1) It’s web-based so remote access is available and you can secure it so none can export the ACT 6 database
2) You can lock down field level and contact level security by team or user
3) It works with Web-enabled PDAs such as a Blackberry.  No, I haven’t tested an iPhone.  I remain a fan of Blackberry over iPhone
4) I can extend custom tables for equipment manufacturers, insurance providers, ad agencies etc.
5) It offers in own tool to send out e-mail complete with mail-merge capabilties for one or 1000 contacts
6) I can extend the opportunity reporting and lookup capabilities
7) I can lock the database down so no one can delete contacts, notes, history or even access certain reports
I can dynamically change the screen based on which user logs in to WiredContact

These are just some the benefits WiredContact offers to help you extend the life out of ACT! 6.0. Expect to invest $300 per license and you don’t have to change ACT! 6.0′s structure. It just connects to the ACT! 6.0 database with its own control panel.  Professional services to customize WiredContact with extended features could range from $1000 to $3000.   ACT! 6.0 and WiredContact run concurrently.

As the economy recovers and your CRM needs to expand; then, you can head into two directions.  You could upgrade to the SQL versions of ACT! (Version 2005/7.0+), or you can say, “This web stuff is cool, and WiredContact has its own system, WiredContact Enterprise, which expands your database capabilities because you’re not limited by the ACT! 6.0 architecture’s limitations. 

Imagine intgegrating accounting data with your customer service and sales department.  Meanwhile, the PCs and PDAs are easy to setup because its browser-based.  WiredContact allows you to create a competetive edge when when it comes to CRM.

Throughout my career, I have been fortunate enough to tweak ACT! in a variety of ways for a variety of people including a yoga temple that trains disciples to a private capital investment firm.

Since ACT! cannot possibly “all things to all people” right out of the box, here are some my favorite addons.

10. TableMaker Pro

In a matter of one hour, I solved a problem for an air cleaner manufacturer that’s plagued them for 2 years. TableMaker Pro allowed me to create a custom table (grid) that can track whether a customer has purchased one or more air cleaners. For 17 years, ACT! users either had to make a difficult grid or track it in yet another system. Now, my client can quickly extract important marketing data that allows their marketing to become more targeted.

9. One-Click KPI

Management wants reports. Sales people, generally, don’t like the entering in minutia. So, why not make a macro that works across multiple sections of ACT! ? With one button, I can create a “service call” custom activity and schedule a follow up for 10+ days with an alarm.

Data Entry. Done.
Reporting. Done.

8. Oak! Merge

ACT! import tools are efficient for new leads, but what happens if you want to update only one or two fields with external accounting data ? Within ACT!, it’s a gamble. With OAK! Merge, I have confidence it will match as expected. I can run different previews, save my import maps and even create an automation script. With OAK!Merge I can merge a ticketing system’s “home address” fields;then, update a check-box to see if they have attended a certain type of show.

7. Calendar View Plus

Some of my clients use the “print calendar” feature when they leave the office. ACT!’s calendar printer does not offer flexible options. With Calendar List Plus, I was able to solve an administrative assistant’s repetitive tasks in about 10 minutes with Calendar List Plus.

6. Crystal Clear Essentials

ACT!’s built in report writer cannot effectively tell me how many calls each sales rep made, sorted by date. In 20 minutes, I install Crystal Clear Essentials. Problem solved. They offer several more reports, but I use this one right away.

5. TopLine Dash

When I want to empower my clients to get easy-to-build custom reports, I turn to TopLine Dash. In about 30 minutes, I was able to generate a report that displays both the number of history records and future activities on one screen. What plagued the president of the company for 1 year was solved in an afternoon. Now, they can dig in to the program any time and acquire hundreds of custom combinations.

4. Company Wizard

One of my clients went from a ‘contact-centric’ view of ACT! to a ‘company-centric’ view of ACT! rather quickly. After we taught them how to duplicate contacts at each company, how was I going to tell them to manually match up thousands of contacts to dozens of companies ? Another client imports data from InfoUSA then she needs to create company records and link to them.

Rather than telling a client more manual labor needs to be done, I install CompanyWizard. In about 45 minutes, I can save them days of data cleaning.

3. CompanionLink & HandheldContact

My clients run out and buy the latest PDA; then, ask me if works with ACT!. Companionlink allows me to have greater flexibility on how the data arrives on the handheld and supports more devices than the links that come out-of-the-box. I have been able to hookup iPhones and Blackberry’s to ACT! Another great application is I can send the contact data to Outlook; then sync it to an unusual PDA like a Motorola Q or Psion.

Handheld Contact allows me to constantly update my ACT! database while I am on the road, and it’s always “on” and I don’t have to wait for ACT! to load up on my PC if I need a phone number. As companies rely more on the sales rep to enter data, the Blackberry allows me to update meeting notes immediately after the meeting. I know after a long day of travel, the last thing I want to do is data entry as a whole separate process.

2. Durkin Toolkit

I can finally rename the contacts, companies, opportunities and group tables of ACT!. I can build custom tables and I have to unwrap its potential. For the non-programmer like me, I see this tool as the “deepest” tool to redesign the ACT! interface. For instance, I can finally customize the “Edit Opportunity” screen and re-arrange the fields as I see fit.

1. SwiftPage E-Mail

Many of my clients want to do e-mail marketing. ACT!”s built in merging program works with 200 records at the most. It’s tedious and difficult to deliver large campaigns via ACT! alone. SwiftPage allows me track my success rates by creating call lists, creating a score cards, managing surveys and managing opt-outs. The program has more capabilities than I list here; however, the most underlooked feature is I can manage one list. Rather than managing lists from multiple databases, my clients can effectively e-mail market their clients.