ACT!ion eNews: Fall 2010 #SageACT [ Edited ]

[eNews_ACT…]

Fall 2010

SAGE ACT! COMMUNITY You are viewing this ACT!ion eNews edition in the Sage ACT! Community

Listen to Your Sage ACT! Guru Does Sage Business Info Services for ACT!1 make sense for your business? Your Business in Mind Outdated contact information can sink your sales and marketing ROI What's New with Sage ACT!? Extra, extra: Read all about Sage ACT! 2011! Spotlight on Sage ACT! Customers Z-Axis Improves Company Communication and Increases Marketing Efforts with Sage ACT! From the Sage ACT! Vault Webcast: Sage Business Info Services for ACT!, powered by Hoovers™ Sage ACT! Technology Corner Importing just got a little easier in Sage ACT! 2011

Get real time answers to your questions.

SAGE ACT! SUCCESS STORIES See how our customers are making the most of Sage ACT!

SAGE ACT! WEBCASTS Register to attend live, or view a recorded Webcast at your convenience

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1 Requires additional subscription Important Note: Import functions for Sage Business Info Services for ACT! must be performed on the web server when using Sage ACT! Premium (access via web). © 2010 Sage Software, Inc. All rights reserved. Sage, the Sage logos, ACT!, and the Sage product and service names mentioned herein are registered trademarks or trademarks of Sage Software, Inc., or its affiliated entities. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners

[eNews_ACT…]

Welcome to ACT!ion eNews

ACT!ion eNews

Fall 2010

What's New in this Issue

• Listen to Your Sage ACT! Guru
• Your Business in Mind
• What's New with Sage ACT!?
• Spotlight on Sage ACT! Customers
• From the Sage ACT! Vault
• Sage ACT! Technology Corner

Sage ACT! Online Community

You're viewing this ACT!ion
eNews edition in the
Sage ACT! Online Community

Get real time answers to your questions.

Sage ACT! Success Stories

See how our customers are making the most of Sage ACT!

Sage ACT! Webcasts

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ACT!ion eNews> Fall 2010

Sage ACT! Technology Corner:

Importing just got a little easier in Sage ACT! 2011

Sage ACT! 2011 introduces many new improvements to help you import data more easily and quickly, so you can increase your productivity.

New file format support

Sage ACT! has always supported a few file types that allow you to get data into Sage ACT!, including txt (text) and csv (comma separated variable) file types. Sage ACT! 2011 introduces support for importing popular Excel® file formats as well as two new proprietary formats. Here is a rundown of the new formats that can be imported into Sage ACT!:

• XLS, XLSM, XLSX—These are all file types for supported Microsoft® Excel versions. If you currently use Excel to store contact or company data, this will allow you to easily get data into Sage ACT! using our import feature. Note: These files are most commonly imported from our main menu under “File->Import…”.
• AEX—This is a new Sage ACT! import file which is used by Sage Business Info Services for Sage ACT!¹. What’s special about this file type is that Sage ACT! can be launched with a file of Type AEX. This format also skips many of the normal import steps as it denotes to Sage ACT! (by use of the unique AEX extension) that it’s a contact import that accepts default options without the need for user intervention. This file type enables the simple one-click import of contact data. A discussion of how this can be leveraged appears later in this article.
• AEC—This is also a new Sage ACT! import file used by Sage Business Info Services for ACT!. Everything described for the AEX format also applies to the AEC files with one exception: It’s used for importing companies, not contacts.

Read the full story

Brian Mowka
Development Manager
Sage

Did you find this article useful? Let us know by posting your thoughts here in the Sage ACT! Online Community. You must be a registered member to reply or post. To reply, click on the reply link at the top of this post.

Important Note: Import functions for Sage Business Info Services for ACT! must be performed on the web server when using Sage ACT! Premium (access via web).

¹Requires additional subscription.

[eNews_ACT…]

Welcome to ACT!ion eNews

ACT!ion eNews

Fall 2010

What's New in this Issue

• Listen to Your Sage ACT! Guru
• Your Business in Mind
• What's New with Sage ACT!?
• Spotlight on Sage ACT! Customers
• From the Sage ACT! Vault
• Sage ACT! Technology Corner

Sage ACT! Online Community

You're viewing this ACT!ion
eNews edition in the
Sage ACT! Online Community

Get real time answers to your questions.

Sage ACT! Success Stories

See how our customers are making the most of Sage ACT!

Sage ACT! Webcasts

Register to attend live, or view a recorded Webcast at your convenience

ACT!ion eNews> Fall 2010

From the Sage ACT! Vault:

Webcast: Sage Business Info Services for ACT!¹, powered by Hoovers™ (Recorded Webcast)

Your sales efforts require a reliable source of high quality, current sales leads. In this recording, we cover the benefits of Sage Business Info Services for ACT!. This cloud-based subscription service for Sage ACT! enables you to search for leads based on the specific qualities your company targets in a prospect. There are over 40 methods for narrowing the data to create your list of leads. During this webcast, senior product manager Brandon Balsley covers:

• Things to consider when you’re looking for new leads.
• How Sage Business Info Services for ACT! works.
• Why Hoover’s has become the industry leader for business information.
• Benefits for sales and marketing professionals.

You’ll also see a short demonstration of Sage Business Info Services for ACT!. This recorded webcast is geared toward customers who are using Sage ACT! 2011.

Watch this Webcast
Running Time: Approximately 40 minutes

Brian Benner
Marketing Director
Sage

Did you find this article useful? Let us know by posting your thoughts here in the Sage ACT! Online Community. You must be a registered member to reply or post. To reply, click on the reply link at the top of this post.

Important Note: Import functions for Sage Business Info Services for ACT! must be performed on the web server when using Sage ACT! Premium (access via web).

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¹Requires additional subscription

[eNews_ACT…]

Welcome to ACT!ion eNews

ACT!ion eNews

Fall 2010

What's New in this Issue

• Listen to Your Sage ACT! Guru
• Your Business in Mind
• What's New with Sage ACT!?
• Spotlight on Sage ACT! Customers
• From the Sage ACT! Vault
• Sage ACT! Technology Corner

Sage ACT! Online Community

You're viewing this ACT!ion
eNews edition in the
Sage ACT! Online Community

Get real time answers to your questions.

Sage ACT! Success Stories

See how our customers are making the most of Sage ACT!

Sage ACT! Webcasts

Register to attend live, or view a recorded Webcast at your convenience

ACT!ion eNews> Fall 2010

Spotlight on Sage ACT! Customers:

Z-Axis Improves Company Communication and Increases Marketing Efforts with Sage ACT!

Z-Axis is a highly acclaimed legal presentation and trial consulting firm. Z-Axis is known for their trial presentation and forensic animation expertise in aviation, patents, engineering and construction, biotechnology, and disasters and catastrophic events. The company has produced presentations for many high-stakes, landmark cases, including the Oklahoma City bombing trials, the Crash of Delta Flight 191, Eolas vs. Microsoft, and the World Trade Center litigation.

When deciding on a Contact and Customer Manager, Z-Axis executives looked at a number of solutions including Microsoft®, GoldMine®, and Salesforce® before choosing Sage ACT!. Z-Axis executives felt that Sage ACT! was better suited for their needs based on the available features, ease of use, and the additional benefit of the connected service Sage E-marketing for ACT!¹. This cloud-based email marketing service enables them to execute sophisticated campaigns, while leveraging and building on their existing Sage ACT! data. Sage E-marketing for ACT! provides Sage ACT! users with a better method for creating, delivering, and tracking email marketing campaigns while allowing companies to easily design branded messages from scratch, or import and edit existing templates using a simple online editor.

“Sage ACT! has expanded our capabilities in marketing with Sage E-marketing for ACT!. It has also improved our efficiency and productivity in sales, and allowed us to reach more people within one software program.” – Stephanie Kelso, President, Z-Axis

Read the full story

Jennifer Holm
Product Marketing Manager
Sage

Did you find this article useful? Let us know by posting your thoughts here in the Sage ACT! Online Community. You must be a registered member to reply or post. To reply, click on the reply link at the top of this post.

Important Note: Sage E-marketing for ACT! is powered by Swiftpage™.

Customer is a participant in the Sage Customer Reference Program and may be eligible for participation-based incentives. For more information regarding the Customer Reference Program, please click here.

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¹Requires additional subscription.

[eNews_ACT…]

Welcome to ACT!ion eNews

ACT!ion eNews

Fall 2010

What's New in this Issue

• Listen to Your Sage ACT! Guru
• Your Business in Mind
• What's New with Sage ACT!?
• Spotlight on Sage ACT! Customers
• From the Sage ACT! Vault
• Sage ACT! Technology Corner

Sage ACT! Online Community

You're viewing this ACT!ion
eNews edition in the
Sage ACT! Online Community

Get real time answers to your questions.

Sage ACT! Success Stories

See how our customers are making the most of Sage ACT!

Sage ACT! Webcasts

Register to attend live, or view a recorded Webcast at your convenience

ACT!ion eNews> Fall 2010

What’s New with Sage ACT!?:

Extra, extra: Read all about Sage ACT! 2011!

The latest release of Sage ACT! has generated a lot of positive media reviews that we’re excited to share with our Sage ACT! customers. Here are some of the recent articles and blogs highlighting the exciting new benefits in Sage ACT! 2011:

Sage ACT! Premium 2011
PC Magazine, Samara Lynn, September 20, 2010
Sage ACT! 2011 receives a 4.5 out of 5 rating and an Editor’s Choice award in this review from PC Magazine!

Sage Beefs Up Services In ACT! 2011
CRM Magazine, Lauren McKay, September 13, 2010
Analyst Paul Greenberg explains why Sage ACT! “keeps getting better” to associate editor, Lauren McKay.

ACT 2011: Outlook® Integration is the Key
Examiner.com, Kurt von Behrmann, October 14, 2010
This review places special emphasis on the value of improved Outlook® integration.

Message Perspectives: Sage and Nimble
3rd Idea Blog, Marshall Lager, September 20, 2010
This blog considers the social CRM capabilities of Sage ACT! for SMBs.

Automation and Qualified Leads from ACT! 2011
Small Business Technology, Ramon Ray, September 8, 2010
Ramon Ray provides his Sage ACT! 2011 observations, highlighting new Smart Tasks, Sage E-marketing for ACT!¹, and ACT! Mobile live².

Sage ACT! Enables SMBs To Work Smarter, Not Harder
Customer Interaction Solutions, Brendan Read, September 1, 2010
This article explains how new features and enhancements save time and improve productivity.

Sage ACT! 2011 Coming In September
Accounting Today, Seth Fineberg August 6, 2010
This preview of Sage ACT! 2011 quotes Sage senior vice president of CRM, Larry Ritter, on the value of incorporating ideas from the Sage ACT! customer community into the software.

Get out your iPods!

Larry Ritter recently joined Jim Blasingame on The Small Business Advocate radio show for two conversations about CRM. Access these audio files on your PC or iPod:

CRM software is important for your business

Is CRM software better on the desktop or in the cloud or both?

Candace Farina
Product Marketing Manager
Sage

Did you find this article useful? Let us know by posting your thoughts here in the Sage ACT! Online Community. You must be a registered member to reply or post. To reply, click on the reply link at the top of this post.

¹Important Note: Sage E-marketing for ACT! is powered by Swiftpage™.

²Requires additional subscription.

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[eNews_ACT…]

Welcome to ACT!ion eNews

ACT!ion eNews

Fall 2010

What's New in this Issue

• Listen to Your Sage ACT! Guru
• Your Business in Mind
• What's New with Sage ACT!?
• Spotlight on Sage ACT! Customers
• From the Sage ACT! Vault
• Sage ACT! Technology Corner

Sage ACT! Online Community

You're viewing this ACT!ion
eNews edition in the
Sage ACT! Online Community

Get real time answers to your questions.

Sage ACT! Success Stories

See how our customers are making the most of Sage ACT!

Sage ACT! Webcasts

Register to attend live, or view a recorded Webcast at your convenience

ACT!ion eNews> Fall 2010

Your Business In Mind

Outdated contact information can sink your sales and marketing ROI

Whether you are prospecting by telephone or sending out a direct mail or email campaign, inaccurate contact information can increase your costs and reduce the effectiveness of your marketing. That leads to a diminished return on your investment (ROI) in sales and marketing activities.

According to the Small Business Administration, over 550,000 new small businesses open each year and over 600,000 close, for a turnover of approximately 10% of all U.S. businesses. Additionally, many businesses change locations or phone numbers in the course of a year. Within each business, several key sales contacts may be hired or leave the company during any given year. So it’s easy to see why static lists of leads quickly become filled with inaccurate name, address, and telephone contact information.

If you sell products or services directly to consumers, the news isn’t much better. The U.S. Census Bureau reports that over 27 million people over the age of 18 moved to new addresses between March 2008 and March 2009. That’s nearly 10% of the total U.S. population.

You can calculate your ROI for any sales and marketing campaign by dividing your total sales directly attributable to the campaign by your total costs to plan, create, and deliver it. So in the case of a sales letter, your total costs would include the cost of:

• Your list of leads.
• Writing and designing the mailer.
• Printing and postage.
• Time spent by sales to follow up and close the deal.

Outdated contact lists can negatively impact your ROI in several ways. Obviously, it is a waste of time and money to try to contact companies that have gone out of business. You could also miss opportunities with new startups in your targeted geographic area or industry. If you send mail with the wrong name, it will either get thrown away or delivered to someone else who will be less likely to respond. Incorrect names on your phone list result in wasted time and frustration during sales calls. Finally, out of date mailing addresses produce undeliverable mail, increasing your costs for printing and postage while driving down your response rate.

As you can see, it’s important to keep contact information as fresh as possible for both new prospects and your existing customer database. Remove duplicates and append the contacts in your database as often as you can. Instead of relying on one-time purchases of marketing lists or corporate directories, you may want to consider using a dynamic source of leads such as Sage Business Info Services for ACT!¹, powered by Hoover’s™. That way, you have access to continuously refreshed contact information for your existing database and a reliable source of new leads for prospecting.

Jennifer Osborne
Owner
Osborne Communications

Did you find this article useful? Let us know by posting your thoughts here in the Sage ACT! Online Community. You must be a registered member to reply or post. To reply, click on the reply link at the top of this post.

Important Note: Import functions for Sage Business Info Services for ACT! must be performed on the web server when using Sage ACT! Premium (access via web).

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¹Requires additional subscription.

[eNews_ACT…]

Welcome to ACT!ion eNews

ACT!ion eNews

Fall 2010

What's New in this Issue

• Listen to Your Sage ACT! Guru
• Your Business in Mind
• What's New with Sage ACT!?
• Spotlight on Sage ACT! Customers
• From the Sage ACT! Vault
• Sage ACT! Technology Corner

Sage ACT! Online Community

You're viewing this ACT!ion
eNews edition in the
Sage ACT! Online Community

Get real time answers to your questions.

Sage ACT! Success Stories

See how our customers are making the most of Sage ACT!

Sage ACT! Webcasts

Register to attend live, or view a recorded Webcast at your convenience

ACT!ion eNews> Fall 2010

Listen to Your Sage ACT! Guru

Does Sage Business Info Services for ACT!¹ make sense for your business?

When thinking about whether Sage Business Info Services for ACT!, powered by Hoover's™, makes sense for you, it's important to ask yourself these three questions.

How much time do I spend finding new leads currently?

When speaking to current Sage ACT! customers, we found that some users spent from 8 to 24 hours a week finding new leads through various methods, including searching the Internet or calling through business directories. One customer, an administrator assistant, reported that she spent 8 hours a month using search engines to identify and find approximately 150 new leads per month. To calculate the total cost of this effort we can take her hourly wage, $20/hr x 8 hours = $160 a month or $1920 a year. Using Sage Business Info Services for ACT!, she was able to cut this time down to 15 minutes a month, and ended up with more highly targeted leads than she was able to cull from the Internet. Also, she was able to identify the specific name of the contact she needed to speak with, further cutting down the time it took to get a hold of the prospect. Overall, using Sage Business Info Services for ACT!, this company will be able to save $1200 a year plus the found time this administrative assistant will have to focus on other tasks.

How do I identify my target market?

Have you ever heard the saying "you don't know what you don't know?" Well, when speaking to beta users using Sage Business Info Services for ACT!, we often heard that users were able to identify new opportunities that they didn't know existed using the Build a List feature in Sage Business Info Services for ACT!. Build a List lets you enter demographic criteria, like region, industry, size of company, keyword, etc., and returns a list of matching companies. This particular beta tester sold specialty roofing materials to manufacturers and was able to identify an entire new market of similar companies to the ones that they sold to in the past, but were not currently pursuing. At an average deal size of $100k + this new market could be very lucrative to this specialty roofing company.

What is the value of a new customer sale?

Using Sage Business Info Services for ACT! is a great way to identify new opportunities and then gain insight through the in-product views powered by Hoover's™ business data. You can create new opportunities and close business faster, resulting in higher revenues. When thinking about the ROI (Return on Investment) with Sage Business Info Services for ACT!, you'll want to consider what the value of a new customer sale means to you.

Brandon Balsley
Sr. Product Manager
Sage

Did you find this article useful? Let us know by posting your thoughts here in the Sage ACT! Online Community. You must be a registered member to reply or post. To reply, click on the reply link at the top of this post.

Important Note: Import functions for Sage Business Info Services for ACT! must be performed on the web server when using Sage ACT! Premium (access via web).

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¹Requires additional subscription.