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© 2011 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. Microsoft SQL Server, Windows Vista, and the Windows logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of the Microsoft Corporation group of companies in the United States and/or in other countries. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners. |
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Welcome to ACT!ion eNews
ACT!ion eNews
Fall 2011
What's New in this Issue
CONNECT WITH US
Get real-time answers to your questions.
SAGE ACT! EVENTS
The 7 Secrets to Nailing the Appointment hosted by Wendy Weiss, The Queen of Cold Calling™
November 10, 2011
11 a.m.-12 p.m. Pacific
2 p.m.-3 p.m. Eastern
Register to attend
TOP COMMUNITY POSTS
What's the buzz in the Sage ACT! Community?
ACT!ion eNews> Fall 2011
Fast Tip Friday Roundup
Learn to use Sage ACT! more efficiently
Every Friday, I write a quick how-to for customers to help you get started with new or enhanced features and learn to use Sage ACT! more efficiently. You can read these short lessons, called "Fast Tips" on Fridays in the Sage ACT! Journal.
Below, you'll find links to the most recent Fast Tips, including a series I wrote on how to get started using the integration capabilities of Sage ACT! 2012 with Google® Apps.
Fast Tip: Getting Started with Google® Integration
With Sage ACT! 2012, you don't have to check two different places or manage two different calendars for a complete view of your business and personal lives. Sage ACT! works seamlessly with tools like Gmail®, Google Contacts, and Google Calendar™, so you can keep all or just a subset of your emails, contacts, and activities updated in both places. In this tip, you'll learn how to manage application authorization in Google. Read more...
Fast Tip: Integrating with Google® Contacts
Sage ACT! 2012 includes Google integration capabilities so you can manage business and personal contacts from Sage ACT!. In this tip, you'll learn how to integrate your Sage ACT! and Google Contacts, so you can be confident your changes to a contact in either application are current, regardless of where you look! Read more...
Fast Tip: Integrating with Google Calendar™
With Sage ACT! 2012, you don't have to check two different places or manage two different calendars for a complete view of your business and personal lives. In this tip, you'll learn how to integrate your Sage ACT! and Google Calendar, so you are always aware of upcoming tasks and activities! Read more...
Select the links below to read even more Fast Tips, or visit the Sage ACT! Journal to see them all.
- Sharing Made Easy
- Connecting to New Services
- Stop Looking and Start Finding with Universal Search
- Take Note of the Sage ACT! Scratchpad!
- Export to Excel
- Quickly Lookup Contacts on an Opportunity
- Import Your Product List
Brian Whalen
Senior Trainer
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.
Welcome to ACT!ion eNews
ACT!ion eNews
Fall 2011
What's New in this Issue
CONNECT WITH US
Get real-time answers to your questions.
SAGE ACT! EVENTS
The 7 Secrets to Nailing the Appointment hosted by Wendy Weiss, The Queen of Cold Calling™
November 10, 2011
11 a.m.-12 p.m. Pacific
2 p.m.-3 p.m. Eastern
Register to attend
TOP COMMUNITY POSTS
What's the buzz in the Sage ACT! Community?
ACT!ion eNews> Fall 2011
Sage ACT! Technology Corner
Getting Down to Business With Sage ACT! 2012 Analytics
Sage ACT! provides a wealth of reports that can be customized to access information about your customers and sales. Nonetheless, sometimes you may have a need that goes beyond standard reporting: a need to slice and dice data, to perform ad-hoc queries, and deeper analysis. Sometimes there is a need to answer specific business questions, such as "Month over month, how many activities are each member of my sales team involved in, and what type of activities?" Or perhaps you want to know "How do my opportunities vary over time, and do they vary by geographic location?"
These and other types of questions can be answered using Sage ACT! 2012 analytics enablement technology. Sage ACT! analytics provides the foundation to let you conduct analysis using third-party products, like pivot tables in Microsoft® Excel®. Unlike expensive and complicated business intelligence products, Sage ACT! 2012 analytics is simple to set up and perform ad-hoc analysis.
Two analysis areas available with Sage ACT! 2012 utilizing analytic enablement technology are history and opportunities. That means you can slice and dice data related to these entities to help answer some of your business questions. For instance, let's suppose you have a hunch that the state of Arizona is contributing more Won Opportunities than it has in the past. Sage ACT! 2012 analytics will let you quickly produce a chart to confirm this:
After that, you might like to see a breakdown of sales performance in Arizona during 2010, broken down by zip code. Sage ACT! 2012 analytics makes that easy, too:
The data available for analysis is aggregated from across the Sage ACT! database, so you must be an administrator to perform this function. What's cool is the visibility into patterns and trends across all Sage ACT! users and periods of time. If needed, you can use filters to reduce data and make it more manageable as you perform your analysis.
To learn more and get started using Sage ACT! 2012 analytics enablement technology, download our technical FAQ.
Xavier Musy and Tom Kallal
Sage ACT! Development Team
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.
Welcome to ACT!ion eNews
ACT!ion eNews
Fall 2011
What's New in this Issue
CONNECT WITH US
Get real-time answers to your questions.
SAGE ACT! EVENTS
The 7 Secrets to Nailing the Appointment hosted by Wendy Weiss, The Queen of Cold Calling™
November 10, 2011
11 a.m.-12 p.m. Pacific
2 p.m.-3 p.m. Eastern
Register to attend
TOP COMMUNITY POSTS
What's the buzz in the Sage ACT! Community?
ACT!ion eNews> Fall 2011
Business on the Go—Trends in Mobility
Get Your Sage ACT! Contacts and Calendar in the Cloud
Are you among the 70% of Sage ACT! users that have a smartphone? If so, consider a subscription to Sage ACT! Connect, a new service that delivers Sage ACT! contact and calendar details to a variety of mobile devices, including BlackBerry®, Windows Mobile®, and Android™ devices, even web browsers for access from your laptop and tablet, like the iPad®1.
With Sage ACT! Connect, your contact details, notes, history, meetings, and activities are stored safely in the Cloud. So, instead of running Sage ACT! Connect yourself, it runs securely in a Cloud-based data center managed by Sage. This makes it fast to get started, eliminates the need for additional equipment, and enables you to get to the details you need from virtually anywhere.
More specifically, Sage ACT! Connect gives you (and your team) access to critical Sage ACT! contact and calendar details from popular smartphones, or via a web browser, including Internet Explorer®, Firefox®, Google Chrome™, and Safari® on your laptop and tablet, like the iPad®.
Interested in learning more?
Try it free for 30 days.
Watch the video tour on YouTube.
Watch a recorded webcast about Sage ACT! Connect to gain a better understanding of:
- What "the Cloud" is
- Mobile device market trends, including the growing popularity of tablets
- User profiles that will help you determine if this service is right for you
- Benefits of using Sage ACT! Connect
- Live demo from the product manager who has been instrumental in defining this service
- Compatibility with Sage ACT! versions
- Initial customer feedback
Special Bonus! If you have a Sage Business Care Gold support plan, Sage ACT! Connect is included. Learn more about Sage Business Care.
Brandon Balsley
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.
1Review Sage ACT! Connect system requirements to confirm supported mobile phones, tablets, and web browsers.
Welcome to ACT!ion eNews
ACT!ion eNews
Fall 2011
What's New in this Issue
CONNECT WITH US
Get real-time answers to your questions.
SAGE ACT! EVENTS
The 7 Secrets to Nailing the Appointment hosted by Wendy Weiss, The Queen of Cold Calling™
November 10, 2011
11 a.m.-12 p.m. Pacific
2 p.m.-3 p.m. Eastern
Register to attend
TOP COMMUNITY POSTS
What's the buzz in the Sage ACT! Community?
ACT!ion eNews> Fall 2011
Best Practices in E-marketing
The ROI of Email Marketing
The Email Marketing Census 2010 by econsultancy.com found that 39% of companies are unaware of their organization's return on investment (ROI) from email marketing. Yet, 75% of companies have rated email as "excellent" or "good" for ROI. As perhaps the most consistent marketing channel in an organization's mix, the price of using an email marketing service is relatively low. For this article, we will calculate the ROI of a single monthly email blast to 2,000 contacts.
Investments:
$35—Average monthly service fee from an email marketing service provider
$100—Contract designer's time to create artwork for the email template and landing page (assuming one hour of work)
$25—Marketing manager's time to craft message, target contacts, and send email (assuming one hour of work at a salary of $50,000/year)
Not taking into consideration other intangibles, on a very simple level you could say the investment to send one email blast in a month is $160.
Now assume you achieve 100% deliverability and a 30% open rate. This gives you 600 recipients who read your message. Let's assume your message is compelling enough to garner a 20% click rate, sending 120 contacts to a landing page that urges the consumer to purchase your products. The average price of your products is $200, and your average conversion rate for that landing page is 5%.
Of the 120 contacts who go to your landing page, six of them will purchase. At $200 per transaction you achieve $1,200 in revenue. You spent $160 to create and send your message and received $1,200 in revenue—that's a return on investment of $7.50 per every dollar spent—pretty darn good.
Why is this important? Our simple example demonstrated a successful email marketing campaign. However, not all email campaigns are as effective. When planning email campaigns, there are a number of things you can do that will benefit your outcome:
Receiving a strong open and click rate is important, but if your landing pages cannot convert prospective buyers, you will not achieve a strong ROI. Likewise, if your landing pages convert well but you are not delivering qualified buyers due to poor targeting and messaging, you will not achieve the results you are seeking. ROI is the big-picture metric that determines the overall effectiveness of your campaign.
So, what's your ROI?
Interested in learning more? Download this easy read "Your Guide to Email Marketing".
Dan Ogden
Swiftpage
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.
Welcome to ACT!ion eNews
ACT!ion eNews
Fall 2011
What's New in this Issue
CONNECT WITH US
Get real-time answers to your questions.
SAGE ACT! EVENTS
The 7 Secrets to Nailing the Appointment hosted by Wendy Weiss, The Queen of Cold Calling™
November 10, 2011
11 a.m.-12 p.m. Pacific
2 p.m.-3 p.m. Eastern
Register to attend
TOP COMMUNITY POSTS
What's the buzz in the Sage ACT! Community?
ACT!ion eNews> Fall 2011
Get More from Sage ACT!
Sage ACT! Essentials Library 2012 is now available!
The Sage ACT! Essentials Library has been updated with several topics specific to Sage ACT! 2012. With this collection of online training videos, you'll find it easy to learn how to take advantage of Google Integration, Universal Search, the Sage ACT! Scratchpad, and updates to Connected Services. Over 50 videos are available in this library, covering all the fundamental tasks that will enable you get to get more out of Sage ACT! 2012. Better yet, these videos are recorded so they're available whenever you are! Learn about new features, quickly get answers to questions, or train new employees with just the click of a button.
If you have the Sage ACT! Essentials Library, there's nothing you need to do to get the Sage ACT! 2012 videos—they have been added to your library.
To register for 12-month access to the Essentials Library, contact your Sage ACT! sales representative at 866-903-0006, your Sage ACT! Certified Consultant, or Sage University.
Janet Moore
Manager of Training
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.
Welcome to ACT!ion eNews
ACT!ion eNews
Fall 2011
What's New in this Issue
CONNECT WITH US
Get real-time answers to your questions.
SAGE ACT! EVENTS
The 7 Secrets to Nailing the Appointment hosted by Wendy Weiss, The Queen of Cold Calling™
November 10, 2011
11 a.m.-12 p.m. Pacific
2 p.m.-3 p.m. Eastern
Register to attend
TOP COMMUNITY POSTS
What's the buzz in the Sage ACT! Community?
ACT!ion eNews> Fall 2011
Your Business in Mind
Find Out What It Takes to Nail the Appointment When You're Making Cold Calls
Making cold calls is never an easy task. We would all rather talk to people who are already interested in our product and engaged in the conversation. But in spite of all the attention being garnered by e-marketing and social media, cold calling is still a staple of many—if not most—sales organizations. If cold calling is part of your sales strategy, you will definitely want to attend a special event with Wendy Weiss, The Queen of Cold Calling™, hosted by Sage ACT!. Mark it on your calendars and register today!
Use the following quick tips to help you improve cold calls:
- Create an outline or script. You need to know what you're going to say when you get someone on the phone. Some sales professionals feel most comfortable and confident with a full phone script. Others feel that it makes the conversation sound stilted and they often use an outline instead.
- Practice! Before you pick up the phone, run through your call out loud to yourself. Get comfortable. Allow yourself to relax a bit.
- Change how you think about gatekeepers. Try to make receptionists and administrative assistants your allies. They can help you find the right person, so ask politely for help.
- Smile while you are making calls. It helps you feel more confident and relaxed—and that comes through in your voice.
- Take notes. It helps keep you in an active listening mode and will give you information for your next call.
- Be specific. Ask people for what you need. If you are setting appointments for follow-up, be sure to agree on a specific date and time.
- If you only cold call one day per week, make it Thursday. Dr. James Oldroyd from MIT studied the statistical success of cold calls and determined Thursday was the best day to cold call. Next best was Wednesday. Tuesday is the day you are least likely to reach your contact and Friday is the worst day for qualifying a lead 1
- Call early in the morning or late in the afternoon. According to Dr. Oldroyd's analysis, 8-9 a.m. and 4-5 p.m. are the most successful hours of cold calling—much better than right after lunch.
- Stay upbeat. It takes a lot of cold calls to find a good lead. Don't let it get you down; remember that you're working toward a larger goal. Instead of thinking about "another no", think of each call as one step closer to getting a "yes".
Special webcast for Sage ACT! customers!
Do you need to get through to a prospect, and then a qualified decision-maker? Would you like to find more opportunities with far less stress and effort?
Join Wendy Weiss, The Queen of Cold Calling™, for this informative webcast, "The 7 Secrets to Nailing the Appointment".
November 10, 2011
11 a.m.-12 p.m. Pacific
2 p.m.-3 p.m. Eastern
Register now for this popular webcast
You will discover:
- The Sales Winner's mindset: How top performing sales pros think and act to ensure they nail the appointment.
- Exactly what to say when the gatekeeper says, "What is this in reference to?"
- Instant Rapport: No more rejection. When you know these simple rules, you will never again get shot down, hung up on, screamed at or berated.
- How to leave a voice mail message that gets a return call from your interested prospect.
- What you MUST say within the first 30 seconds to ensure a successful call (most appointment-setters miss this step).
- What you absolutely MUST say to nail down your appointment with a qualified decision-maker (most appointment-setters miss this step too).
- And much, much more.
Wendy Weiss, The Queen of Cold Calling™, is an in-the-field, first-hand cold calling practitioner. She's on the phone everyday making success happen. Learn more about Wendy.
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.
Welcome to ACT!ion eNews
ACT!ion eNews
Fall 2011
What's New in this Issue
CONNECT WITH US
Get real-time answers to your questions.
SAGE ACT! EVENTS
The 7 Secrets to Nailing the Appointment hosted by Wendy Weiss, The Queen of Cold Calling™
November 10, 2011
11 a.m.-12 p.m. Pacific
2 p.m.-3 p.m. Eastern
Register to attend
TOP COMMUNITY POSTS
What's the buzz in the Sage ACT! Community?
ACT!ion eNews> Fall 2011
Sage ACT! News and Enhancements
Automate Sales, Marketing, and Customer Service Tasks with Smart Tasks
Would you like to automate some of your daily tasks so you can have more time to focus on big opportunities? Smart Tasks—introduced with Sage ACT! 2011—connect a series of steps into an automated workflow that can schedule calls, send emails, and more.
Think of Smart Tasks like your personal assistant, sending emails for you and adding activities to your calendar automatically, based on directions you set. Smart Tasks get the job done. You'll notice you can get more done each day and have fewer administrative items left on your to-do list.
You define each Smart Task using an easy, drag and drop visual workflow wizard. You can set up a Smart Task to sequence the steps based on completion, such as scheduling a call after it has delivered an email marketing campaign. Or you can fix the time intervals between steps. For example, after an opportunity moves to the closed stage of the sales cycle, wait three days and then send your new customer a personalized welcome email.
With a good set of well-designed Smart Tasks, sales persons and business owners alike can work more efficiently and stay on top of important follow up activities. Using Smart Tasks, you can implement multi-stage—yet affordable—marketing campaigns, and time the sequence of communications to achieve the best results. Smart Tasks can also help you promote higher customer satisfaction by automating tasks such as sending surveys or requesting up-to-date contact information.
We asked customers participating in the Sage ACT! Beta Program to share their thoughts about Smart Tasks. Here is what some of them told us:*
"Smart Tasks--it's a WHOPPER of an idea! I can finally clear out activities from my task list that could be added on a needed basis and help me concentrate on what's most important"
"Eureka! This functionality [Smart Tasks] is a gem! This step alone will save me hours of time in tracking and performing my updates to a certain group of contacts."
"Smart Tasks is the most important function; allows for real automation of tasks that save time."
Automate key activities so that you can get more accomplished every day! With the rich features of Sage ACT! 2012 coupled with powerful Smart Tasks functionality, Sage ACT! is so much more than just a place to store your contacts and calendar. It is your business command center where you can connect to powerful, subscription-based sales and marketing services, web-based productivity tools and quickly build an automated selling machine inside your business!
To learn more about what Smart Tasks can do for your sales, marketing, and customer service efforts, read our white paper The Automatic Selling Machine or watch this quick, informative feature video.
Suzanne Lai
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.
*Customers are participants in the Sage ACT! Beta Program and may be eligible for participation-based incentives.
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