As Art Russ mentioned in the last post, the new Sage ACT! 2011 supports sync with Microsoft Outlook 2010 32-bit (but not Outlook 2010 64-bit). Outlook sync now a built-in feature in ACT! 2011, but CompanionLink has offered this solution for the past 10 years. We encourage you to try the native Outlook sync in ACT! 2011 – if your needs for Outlook sync demand additional flexibility, try CompanionLink.

We support ACT! 2011 sync with all versions of Microsoft Outlook 2000 and higher, including Outlook 2010 32-bit AND 64-bit. CompanionLink also supports syncing ACT! 2011 contacts, calendar activities, opportunities, to-dos, notes and histories with a wide variety of platforms, including BlackBerry, Android, iPhone & iPad, Palm webOS, Windows Mobile, Google, and other PC applications such as GoldMine or Lotus Notes. For more details on all of CompanionLink’s sync options for ACT! 2011, visit www.companionlink.com/act

Most software packages, including the new version of ACT! 2011, don’t currently supporting the 64-bit version of Microsoft Office 2010.  However, ACT! 2011 does work with the 32-bit version of Microsoft Office 2010, Office 2007 and Office 2003.  Check out the compatibility and system requirements for both ACT! 2011 and Office 2010, and then check with your ACT! software consultant for additional information. I have included a link to the Microsoft website where you can read for yourself. What is making it difficult and expensive for software developers, like Sage to support the 64-bit version of Office 2010? 

Since 64-bit servers and desktops are becoming main stream, a lot of people are thinking they need to jump on the band wagon, and install the 64-bit version of Office 2010. Hold your horses! By default the 32-bit version of Office 2010 is installed even on 64-bit computers. That’s good because if you use any third party software add-ins or plug-ins, most of these programs are written for 32-bit computers. In fact developers are still writing the tools that are needed to write the 64-bit add-ins for integration with MS Office 2010.

Stay tuned; I am pretty sure Windows Mobile phones still can’t sync with Outlook 2010 at all. Remember there was a version of Office 2003 for 64-bit computers. Was there a 64-bit version of Office 2007? Answer is no. So take your time do some homework before you decide to install Office 2010.

Back to reality, if you’re like most of my customers you’re not opening 2 gig or larger spreadsheets in Excel. If you are opening huge spreadsheets, and you don’t rely on any integration from any third party developers, you should consider installing 64-bit version of Microsoft Office 2010. By the way 32-bit version of Excel 2010 will open 2 gig and larger Excel spreadsheets. Go ahead upgrade!

For more in-depth information use this link from Microsoft. http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee681792.aspx This article was written back in May 2010, so some information maybe a little dated. Trying to find one source for good information was tuff. This link should save you trying  to sift through dozens of articles. Quick note of appreciation goes out to fellow Act! Certified Consultant Susan Luongo Stellar Technology Consulting, she found the above link.

I am thinking Sage ACT! 2011 is slightly ahead of most of the CRM competitors at this point, with the soon to be released ACT! 2011 which is supporting the 32-bit version of MS Office when released. Not even MSCRM claims to integrate with either the 32-bit or the 64-bit version of Office 2010 to date. System requirements for ACT! 2011 are available at the following link http://www.act.com/2011/system/actpro/

Arthur G. Russ
Act! Certified Consultant
Indiana
agruss@exec-info-services.com
317-843-0186
Member of the National CRM Alliance

Every year around this time I find myself answering the same question for my clients:  

Should I upgrade ACT!??

Over the last five or six years, Sage Software has followed the same trend in regards to ACT! and upgrades.  In the early summer, Sage Software begins presales for the latest and greatest version of ACT!.  As part of the presales process, Sage Software discounts ACT! making it an attractive investment for people who need to upgrade. At the same time, Sage Software also announces that come late fall they will no longer support the version of ACT! that was released three years prior.

For companies running their business on ACT!, deciding whether or not to upgrade can be a stressful decision to make.  If  you have been tasked with deciding whether or not to upgrade ACT!, there are a few questions that you should be asking:

1. Is the version of ACT! I am using  supported by Sage Software and/or by the ACT! Certified Consultant I work with?
2. If my version is no longer supported, what does that mean for my business? What are the possible implications if ACT! were to suddenly stop working tomorrow? What would the cost of that downtime be to my business?
3. Can I still purchase additional licenses for the version I am on? Depending on the version of ACT!, it may be supported but Sage Software may no longer sell the licenses for it.  If the software is no longer available, do I have enough licenses to cover any growth that could occur in the next 12 to 18 months?
4. Am I planning to upgrade my hardware or other software in the next 12 to 18 months? If so, will my version of ACT! run on it?  Windows 7, Windows Server 2008, and Office 2010 are all prevalent out on the market and come installed on most new machines.  However, if ACT! does not work on it, what does that mean for me?
5. Is my existing hardware capable of running the new version of ACT!? This is a common pitfall for the people who love to upgrade every year and can end up being a budget gotcha when factoring in the cost of the new hardware that may be required to run the latest version of ACT!.
6. Will the new features included in ACT! make my business run better/more efficiently?  What areas of ACT! need to be improved for my business to run better? Will the new version address those  issues?

In working through the answers to the questions above, you will discover the answer to whether or not upgrading ACT! makes sense for your business. 

 Still unsure about what to do?  Reach out to your ACT! Certified Consultant and seek their advice.

Every successful company I have dealt with invests heavily in systems and processes to insure their customers have a positive experience when dealing with them. These investments include Customer Relationship Management software such as ACT! to extensive customer service training.   It’s not often that I come across one who shoots themselves in the foot repeatedly yet remains in business for a long period of time.  Recently I came across one that I’d like to share with you.

I have been a happy Audi car owner since 2004 and recently traded in my 2007 for a 2010. Over the years, I have relied on a car broker to source my cars since I really can’t stand the process of buying a car from a dealer.  Over the years, I developed a relationship with McDonald Automotives Audi service department in Denver  for warranty work.  The people were always nice, but numerous times the loaner I had reserved wasn’t available when I arrived which cost me about two hours of my working day each time this happened?  It could have easily been avoided had they called me on the morning of the appointments to tell me they were short cars.  Another time they actually crashed my car while fixing it.   

So it’s time to trade in my leased 2007 and I decided I would put the exact model out to bid.  During this process, I heard about the American Express Dealer network.  I received 3 prices from the dealers, including one from McDonald Audi.  I went with the low bidder who made a deal with us, who agreed upon ALL the figures, yet we when the car arrived, they added more costs – and I quote them “there are $489 in undisclosed fees we don’t tell people about” until they sit down to pay for the car. The fee is for Document preperation.  

Then came the insane part of the transaction.  This manager named Christian stated the fee is non-negotiatiable, but that they don’t want to sell me a car unless I’m happy.  He went on to explain how important is was that when I was at a party, picnics, etc and talked about my experience with McDonald, they I tell everyone how great they are and the worst thing that could happen was me giving them negative feedback.   I ordered this car and waited months for it.  I had the money, but was arguing based on the pricinicapl.  Do you think I’d walk away at this point?  

For $489, he bought all the negative feedback in the world. 

I shouldn’t be surprised even though we agreed upon figures that were “all inclusive”.  Despite their constant marketing, occasional calls and nice people, they lost a customer forever.  No wonder McDonald Automotive Audi is one of the worst ranked Audi dealers in the country.

In our business, we’d write off $500 in a minute if we over charged someone after coming to terms with them rather than lose a customer and have them bad mouth us.  

How do you handle this sort of thing?

John Kaufman, Principal
The CRM Connection
Denver, CO

Last article I discussed creating a Facebook Page for your business - so now what?  The next step should be to get people to your company’s Facebook Page and start interacting with your visitors.  Some ideas to generate interest are to offer a special deal, a contest or better yet something for free.

Facebook Pages come with standard tabs (Wall, Info, Photos, etc…) and adding your special offer might get lost if you post it on one of these tabs.  By using an application (app) called Static FBML (Facebook Markup Language) you can add a custom tab just for your special offer.  To add the tab, log into Facebook and navigate to http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=4949752878 (we also placed a link on our Facebook Page’s Favorite Pages area at www.facebook.com/ACTPLATINUM).  Click the ‘Add to my Page’ link on the left navigation bar below the Static FBML logo.  Once the app has been added click the ‘Edit Page’ link below your Company’s logo on your Page, then select  the ‘Edit’ link under the Static FBML app. You will be able to add a title to your tab and the content, formatting the content is similar to HTML and a good reference is located at:  http://wiki.developers.facebook.com/index.php/Allowed_FBML_and_HTML_Tags

You can add a form to your FBML tab to request and capture information about your visitors.  If you are a Swiftpage or ACT! E-marketing customer you can embed a survey and to ask for specific data from your visitors, we have an example on our Facebook Page at:  http://www.facebook.com/ACTPLATINUM?v=app_4949752878
Once the visitor completes your survey you will receive their form data via email to let you know they are interested in your offer.

If you are a Pro or Team subscriber for Swiftpage or ACT! E-marketing you will have a powerful integration feature for your surveys and ACT! database.  You will be able to link your survey fields to your ACT! database fields and be able to download your survey responses as new contact records to your database.  Once in ACT! you will be able to segment the contacts for targeted sales and marketing efforts and use the Smart Tasks feature new to ACT! 2011.  List building made easy!

A new add-on for ACT! that works with QuickBooks was introduced last year called QB Sales Data and is being adopted quickly in the marketplace.  A good friend of mine, Don Grubor and his top notch developer designed the program and it really takes integrating applications to a new level.  Not only should an application be easy to use but also it should continue to evolve and surprise customers with new functionality in a timely manner.  The best part is that this functionality is affordable compared to alternative Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solutions, hey but that’s why ACT is so popular in the first place!

QB Sales Data integrates ACT! with QuickBooks

After working with the QB Sales Data program and testing it over the last year and consistently receiving updates with increasing levels of new functionality, now when I log in to ACT! and open QuickBooks, I benefit from a growing list of new business efficiencies that once seemed elusive:

- No more double entry!  Push existing QuickBooks records to ACT! or create new ones and link them over to QuickBooks.
- Automatically synchronize updates between ACT! and QuickBooks using Transaction Sync and Windows Scheduler.
- Up sell existing customers based on purchase history synchronized from Quickbooks into ACT!, by product or date.
- Send corresponding email promotions to prospective customers using ACT! E-Marketing, track interest and follow-up to qualify leads.
- Enter new opportunities in ACT! with the QuickBooks product list, send out quotes and convert to invoices.
- Monitor past due balances, review terms and purchase history and know the overall value of a customer!
- Data is located in ACT! fields so it syncs to remote laptops and or smart phones with supporting software.

It t took a lot of work to bring QB Sales Data to life and I am thankful that Don took the time to do it right.  Learn more about how you can save time and money, create awareness and increase sales – all at the same time, by contacting Atlantic Database today www.atlanticdatabase.com/qblink.

Peter E. Fernald, MSIM, MBA, DSCI
pfernald@atlanticdatabase.com
866-636-3527

Title: When Opportunity Knocks – ACT! Rocks! (Sage ACT! 2011 Event)
Location: Talking Stick Resort, Scottsdale AZ
Link out: Click here
Description: If you are finding your Networking efforts fizzling instead of sizzling – come to our first \”Networking: When Opportunity Knocks – ACT! Rocks!\” seminar. This no-cost seminar is designed for every business that could use more business. We will show you that by making connections and using the great tools found in ACT! (the #1 Contact Management program) will allow you to make the most of every opportunity and convert your leads into more closed sales. Plus with the release of ACT! 2011 days away, you will be the first to see the new enhancements that will save you time and money. There will be an outstanding speaker that will share their Networking expertise with plenty of tips to make you a better networker. Following the seminar you are invited to walk across the hall and attend the hugely popular Networking Phoenix\’s Signature event, where you can connect with other amazing business owners and professionals, have fun and grow your business.

Inviting business owners, entrepreneurs and professionals to an afternoon packed with information and tips that you can use right away. This seminar is ideal for current owners of ACT! software or if you are looking at implementing ACT! for your business.

Here\’s what to expect:

-> Learn how every business can use an ACT! CRM solution to save time and money to grow their bottom line

-> How to go from lead to close, using tools available to you

Social Media – learn more about the people you meet and do business with
E-mail and Drip Marketing – E-marketing right from your ACT! database
Opportunity Pipeline and Sales Management – gain control and win more business

-> See what\’s new for ACT! 2011

Smart Tasks – automate your follow-up activities
Hoover\’s Integration – get more targeted leads into your database
Outlook Contacts and Calendar Sync – eliminate double entry

-> Q&A

-> Guest Speaker with networking tips that will get you energized for the NetworkingPhoenix.com event following

-> Lots of Prizes, Giveaways and Discounts

Sign-up today at www.actplatinum.com/event.html

We look forward to seeing you September 1st!

Start Time: 14:00
Date: 2010-09-01
End Time: 18:00

More and more businesses are incorporating Facebook into their social media portfolio as a communications and  marketing tool, capitalizing on Facebook’s traffic. It’s another point of presence for your business as Facebook Pages are public and search engines will display them in their results, best of all it’s free.

Facebook has Profiles and Pages, Profiles are used by individuals and Pages are for businesses.  One item to note is that you must have a Facebook Profile to create a Page for your business.  My company recently created a new Facebook Page for our business and we wanted to provide some tips to help avoid some of the pitfalls we discovered when we set up our original business Page. 

Creating a Page is easy, log in to Facebook and navigate to http://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php.   You will need to select a category for your Page; “Local business”, “Brand, product, or organization” or “Artist, band or public figure”.  The selection you make here will determine what information about your business you will be able to display on the Info Tab of your Facebook Page.  When we created our first Page we chose “local business”. This selection has the limitation of only being able to display Website and Parking options for the Detailed Info on the Page’s Info Tab.  Once you make your category selection you cannot change it and why we chose to create a new business Page, this time selecting the “Brand, product, or organization” category.  With this selection we are able to display our Website, Company Overview, Mission, and Products details on the Page’s Info Tab – allowing you to enter a lot more information and searchable content.

Another important item is your Page Name. Unless you are a well known brand, you will want to use your company name and include a description of your products or services, for example ours is “ACTPLATINUM.com – ACT! by Sage CRM Consulting, Training and Software Sales”.  By doing this your Page will display on the Facebook search results for any of the words used in your Page Name.  Once you have at least 25 people “Like” your Page, you will be able to create a custom username to easily access your Facebook presence – for example ours is www.facebook.com/ACTPLATINUM.

Check the box stating you are the official representative and click the Create Official Page button – you have just created the Facebook Page for your business.  Now let everyone know.

The next step should be promoting your company’s Facebook Page and start interacting with your visitors.  Some ideas to generate interest are to offer a special deal, a contest or better yet something of value for free. 

“Like” us on Facebook  and you will receive a free Lookup Bad Email Addresses Utility for ACT! 2010 and ACT! 2009.  With more and more companies using e-mail marketing and with the introduction of ACT!’s new E-marketing feature powered by Swiftpage E-mail the email address field in your database is very important. This is a great tool to quickly clean up the email address field for ACT!.  Be sure to share your experience in using the utility with other ACT! users on our Facebook Page!

There are many solutions to sync ACT! with a smartphone. One of the most cost-effective solutions is wireless sync through Google. The free Google Sync service offered by Google is compatible with the latest mobile devices including BlackBerry, Android, iPhone, iPad, Windows Mobile, and Palm webOS devices. It allows two-way sync of contacts and calendar with your phone. The challenge, then, is getting your ACT! data into Google.

CompanionLink can sync ACT! contacts, calendar activities, notes and histories between ACT! and Google. Once data is in Google, it will wirelessly sync with your phone. The beautiful thing is that there are no recurring monthly costs! Google also serves as a handy backup for your data in case of a computer crash.

All of this can be done for a one-time cost of $49.95 (for CompanionLink Express). For more info and to download a 14-day free trial, visit www.companionlink.com/act

Sometimes the things that seem so obvious to me aren’t quite as obvious to the typical ACT user.  A case in point is sending a fax directly from within ACT. 

 Ten years ago one of the first things I showed new ACT users was how to modify the existing ACT fax coversheet.  Back then most of my clients were using WinFax to link ACT to their fax machine, or printing out a coversheet and feeding it into their fax machine manually.  Today many of my clients are opting to use an online fax service such as MyFax or eFax for the few times that they actually need to fax.  Ironically, those ACT users often spend countless hours wrangling with the service’s interface to create a coversheet when they could just as easily use the ACT fax coversheet.

 The process is a simple one.  Here’s all you need to do to get started:

 Start by editing ACT’s existing fax cover page.  If you’ve previously set Word as your word processor preference you’ll be working in familiar territory here.

1. From the fax recipient’s contact record click the Write menu, choose the E-mail Message (from template) option and then select Fax Cover Page.  For me this is the cool part because I can choose to either print or email any of the ACT templates that I’ve created or modified.  In this case a new e-mail message will appear with your fax cover information in the body of the message.
2. Fill in the subject line following the instructions of your e-fax provider.
3. (Optional) Attach the document that you want to fax.
4. Click Send.

 Boom.  Your fax is sent.  Best of all, a record of the transaction will appear on the recipient’s history tab.

 Karen Fredricks
Karen@TechBenders.com
www.techbenders.com