The ACT! by Sage Journal

Gobbledygook Calculator for Web Site Content

nmerrett — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:46:27 GMT

Okay, I admit it. I’ve been looking at this tool for a while, but felt like talking it about it now just because it has the word “gobble” in it and the timing felt right. (Really? Did she just say that?)

Re: Mining the Information Stream

benhamilton — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 02:41:24 GMT

Thanks for the update, I see a lot of potential with these features, espicially if we can combine them with existing features such as relationships in ACT!

If we could 'visually' see the relationships data (see http://twitter.com/benhamilton/status/5845307418 for more) and drill down into the social media/web pages related to a contact that would make for easier research on contacts.

Mining the Information Stream

alduet — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:09:25 GMT

Ramblings from a Product Manager on the nature of Informaiton and how that influences the features and design of ACT!.

Re: Relationship Building or Six Degrees of Separation in ACT! 2010

roachact — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:06:03 GMT

First, make sure you are on 11.1, which is when the Relationship feature was introduced. In ACT!, click on the Help pull-down menu and select About ACT!, then check the Version. It needs to be 11.1.183.0. If it's not, then click Help | ACT! Update. If an update is available, you will see it in the lower right corner of ACT!, or you will get a polite little message that you already have the latest version of ACT! NOTE: If you are in a multi-user database, ALL machines need to be updated, including the server hosting your ACT! database, at the same time. Because once you apply the update, it will update the database too.

If you are on 11.1, but are not seeing the Relationships tab, you might have to display the tab through the layout controls. Click Tools | Design Layouts | Contact. Then click on the Edit pull-down menu and select Tabs. The column on the left shows Hidden Tabs. You should see a tab called Related Contacts there. (Why isn't it called Relationship? Don't ask me... ) Double-click on that tab name and that should move it over to the right column, which is the list of tabs displayed, and in what order. Once the Related Contacts tab is in that right column, you can click on it and then click the Move Up button to change the order of the tabs and place the Related Contacts tab right where you want it. Then click File | Save and then File | Exit.

You should now see the Relationship tab!

Re: Relationship Building or Six Degrees of Separation in ACT! 2010

szahn@springlaketech.com — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 10:33:53 GMT

Perhaps I am blind... but missed this feature in ACT 2009 (v11). Is there anyone who can show a screen shot or a hint as to where the Relationship Tab is located or how it's accessed.

SBZ

Relationship Building or Six Degrees of Separation in ACT! 2010

tmergel — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 23:28:13 GMT

While you are getting your mind around the social networking aspect of ACT! 2010, a feature that you should also consider using was added to version 2009, the Relationship tab.

Re: Nine Must-Have Drip Marketing Campaigns

handparker — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 22:17:57 GMT

Great Article! I found this just at the right time! I'm beginning to develop drip marketing for my company and I love to prioritize!

Lori, what would be your 4, 5, and 6?

ACT! 2010 is Coming to Canada!

tmergel — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 20:27:04 GMT

We invite you to attend an exclusive Canadian event during the week of November 16th. Join us in Montreal, Toronto, Calgary or Vancouver to learn more about ACT! 2010

Here We Go: Before the opening address of Sage Summit

tmergel — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:18:28 GMT

Sage Summit is a customer event, y'see, so it's fitting that Sage started by recognizing some of its more notable ones. In other words, it was the Sage Customer Awards Program luncheon.

Welcome to my Guest Blog for ACT! by Sage

tmergel — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:20:53 GMT

Over the next couple of months, I’ll be providing you with my perspective on the CRM industry, Sage news, and the state of customer/company dialogue in general.

Announcing the 2009 Sage Customer Awards Winners

scottw — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 19:21:02 GMT

The Customer Awards Program is a great opportunity for customers like you to be recognized for your outstanding achievements. This year, we recognized our 2009 customer award winners on November 9th during the Honors Luncheon at Sage Summit.

Nine Must-Have Drip Marketing Campaigns

tmergel — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 20:16:42 GMT

I have identified nine must-have drip marketing campaigns that every business needs to plug up the holes in their sales follow-up. These campaigns are templates that contain the messages you yourself would send—if you had the time.

Sage President's Circle and Chairman's Club 2009 Winners

jeffreygregorec — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:45:18 GMT

We are pleased to congratulate and announce the winners of the 2009 Partner Advantage Award Series! Sage's prestigious award program rewards our top performers for their diligence in representing Sage products and consistently going above and beyond to achieve sales excellence.

Resurgence of Direct Mail?

bbenneraz — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 13:50:41 GMT

Direct mail is always debated. Is it still effective? Is e-mail better? Now, this article talks about how member communities have become more popular than e-mail in the online world. http://news.cnet.com/8301-13846_3-10200669-62.html. Direct mail used to be the tactic of choice. We were bombarded with piles of letters, postcards, and self-mailers. Then came e-mail and along with it, more junk e-mails clogging up our inboxes than relevant ones. Now, during this Social Media revolution, we have dozens of options to find what we seek: online communities, social media networks, blogs, web sites etc. Along with smaller marketing budgets, direct marketing messages have been diverted to the electronic channels. Is it time for Direct Mail 2.0: the smarter, more-targeted next generation of direct mail?

In the midst of electronic overload, I find myself opening up what little mail I still get at work: a few magazines, an opportunity to get a new white paper or eBook. My personal "open rate" for direct mail is much higher these days than it is for e-mail. So is it time to go out, rent lists and kill lots of trees. Probably not, even if marketing budgets could afford them. The point here is to keep a well-balanced mix of targeted, more personal communications like direct mail and e-mail as well as finding customers and prospects online.

The recent launch of ACT! 2010 incorporated all of these tactics. Direct mail and e-mails are sent to customers and existing prospects (no more rented lists here!). There were also search engine/pay-per-click campaigns. And, for the first time, the ACT! launch was heavily promoted on our social media pages including Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, MySpace, Plaxo, and YouTube as well as on the ACT! Community. We'll be doing even more with the social media sites as that's where all the buzz is right now, but given where we are these days with electronic messages, it might be time to take

another look at direct mail.

Re: How do you make a buck when everyone expects "free"? | P.S. How Jell-O invented branding.

russbc — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 23:30:00 GMT

Great post. If you haven't, watch the video I originally referenced. One of the most interesting ideas that I got out of that address was the fact that companies like newspapers would give out their best and most popular content for free (Wall Street Journal model), but then charge for specialty info. I know this was in reference to companies in the information business, but could that also work (on some level) for ACCs as well?

What if you were willing to come out, fix one of their most vexing problems for free, then charge for follow ups? There's a risk you could donate more time and expertise than you care, but what if you could save the day by repairing, for free, someone's broken database. I'd say you'd be the first to get the call next time there's a problem.

In general, I think "freemium" is trickier when your product is a service as opposed to digital information, but I think the concept has promise. What do you think?

Re: How do you make a buck when everyone expects "free"? | P.S. How Jell-O invented branding.

pfernald — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 23:20:14 GMT

Where I am with the freemium concept is to give to receive but ensure that you give the prospect a carrot and they will knowingly allow you to harness the inherent power of your capabilities as a consultant and enable them to acheive what is it they want to do in a more robust way and at less overall cost.

Free Needs Assessment for example, perhaps waiving the inital onsite fee all in the name of building a relationship and not nickel and diming everything. I think this sends a message that you are not desparate and are alive and well have have something real to offer that others already must know about and they are missing out.

Of couse then they need to pay for the good stuff and perhaps in advance if they want the best deal. Sometimes I sit back and marvel at prospects concerning themselves of a few hundred dollars per user in terms of looking at their options, when the productivity boost pays for it and then some.

There is alot fo oversell in the market and folks are signing contracts and and buying more features that they need and don't use them. Rightsizing seems to be the appropriate response and knowing your competition to say it like it is and then let the client decide who they are going to trust.

Re: How do you make a buck when everyone expects "free"? | P.S. How Jell-O invented branding.

russbc — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 22:11:54 GMT

Mike,

The big win when employing a "freemium" approach is that if you do it correctly, you are building a new relationship based on value and trust. They will be more likely to patronize you and your business once they get to know you. I definitely think taking a look at "programizing" some sort approach for the ACCs might make sense.

Re: How do you make a buck when everyone expects "free"? | P.S. How Jell-O invented branding.

GLComputing — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 08:53:20 GMT

When you give something for free (lost leader marketing or some "quick" support) do you do this to attract customers or improve customer satisfaction or some other reason? If for a positive purpose, does it work?

Or do you feel that it devalues your product or service and you only do it to match a competitor or because you don't know how to charge for it but somehow feel obligated?

I know this is an area that many of us who deal with SMEs (like most of the ACT! Consultants) struggle with.

For example, with ACT! 3.0 (Symantec) and ACT! 7.0 (Sage) the product was so flawed, many consultants felt obligated in doing free support to help customers who had purchased on their recomendation. Fortunately, that's not an issue now... but with competitive market providing "self-help" resources (even Sage provides some good free video training and this site), business decisions need to be made that either match the free offerings with the hope of gaining clients for more personally customised bespoke services OR do they need to justify the investment OR just hope the userstrust you enough and don't want to do the research?

Russ, this might make a useful idea for you to bootcamp with some ACCs to see what works... then, generalise it for a whitepaper for the SME users. From a business perspective, the ACCs are reasonably typical of a significant share of the ACT! user base.

Regards,

Mike Lazarus

Genuine Customer Connections

pbuckley — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 18:07:09 GMT

How to use ACT! E-marketing 'Call Lists' to better match your marketing and sales objectives to the needs of your customers

ACT! by Sage "Looking Large" in Minnesota

jennypeterson — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 23:16:50 GMT

The workshop entitled "Looking Large" was geared towards helping small businesses and start-ups look larger to their prospects and clients so that they can compete on a higher level.