CRM Blog

CRM Tip: Get to know the CRM Demo Database

This might sound like an obvious CRM tip, but there are times when it can be extremely useful to use the ACT or CRM demo database.

Here are a few examples:

1. You want to test a new feature and don’t want to affect your live data
2. You want to troubleshoot a bug. It can be useful to see if that bug exists in the demo database as well. If it does not, then the issue lies in your live database. It might be corruption or a bad record.
3. You want to test your layout editor options and see the results - without messing with your live environment
4. Your database is very large and you want to test a feature (such as backup) without waiting 10 minutes.
5. and many more!

To read the entire document, click here.

Free ACT! Premium 2011 Feature Overview – Reviewed by our CRM staff

Click here to access and download our Free Sage ACT! 2011 Feature Evaluation and Review.

With this document, you will be able to identify the key improvements within ACT! 2011 as well as ACT! 2010.

Items addressed include:

1. User interface enhancements
2. Social Media
3. E-Marketing, Mail-Merge and Online Surveys
4. Sales Opportunity redesign
5. Flexible Reporting, Dashboard and OLEDB interface
6. Advanced Outlook Integration and Invitations
7. Advanced Outlook Sync for Contacts and Calendar
8. Simplified Importing design
9. Smart Tasks (Workflow)
10. Advanced Lead Management and Importing
11. Administrative improvements
12. and much more.

Free Excel Tool – Calculate CRM Total Cost of Ownership

Click here to access and download our Free CRM TCO Calculator Tool.

With this tool, you will be able to identify the key TCO line items that are relevant for any CRM implementation. We have also included data for comparing CRM software systems such as Microsoft CRM, Salesforce.com, SugarCRM, Sage CRM, Sage SalesLogix and more. You will be able to view the 3 Year and 5 Year Total Cost of Ownership for both SaaS (Online/On-Demand) and Licensed (On-premise) pricing models.

TCO line items include:

1. Annual License/User price
2. Support
3. Hardware (incl. Server and Users)
4. Implementation
5. Staff
6. Network
7. Mobile
8. and much more.

Nationwide ACT CRM Consulting and Training

With offices throughout the United States, the CRM Alliance is able to provide CRM training, consulting and implementation service whereever you are. Please contact us to find out the best way to get your CRM project underway. Remember, step A is to figure out what your business requirements are, and step B is to select the proper CRM system for your individual needs.

Being certified in various CRM systems such as Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Sage SalesLogix CRM, Sage ACT!, SAP CRM and more, we are confident we can advise you as to the proper CRM software to fit your business.

Whether you require CRM consulting, training or support in Fort Worth, Texas or San Jose, California, we can get your CRM solution designed, implemented and trained so that your users will love it and use it. We define our success by your CRM adoption rate. So call us to get started!

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So ACT finally did it. They came out with a strategic whitepaper on how to reach customers and prospects in a cost effective way. So here is the lowdown on how you can generate more sales leads and market to them more optimally.

Strategic E-Marketing PDF includes:

1. Understanding Permission-based Email Marketing. If you don’t get this, you will be black listed! Read this.
2. Email Marketing tips and tricks. Good and Bad subject lines. Prudence as to the “From” address. Mail-Merging fields to personalize content. And much more.
3. Building Email Lists (and loyal customers). Try offering incentives. Also try a combination of direct mail along iwth Email.
4. Tips for designing Email templates. Consider your theme carefully – as well as your illustrations. Then create top-notch subject lines and headlines. Don’t forget the content!
5. Targeting results from Email blasts and campaigns. Learn how to read your open and click reports. Learn how this integrates directly with ACT! 2011 Premium and how follow up lists of hot prospects are automatically generated and easily used.
6. Tips for practical usage of ACT Email Marketing. 4 scenarios are discussed.

Free Sage ACT! 2011 Evaluation and Feature Review

Click here to access and download our Free Sage ACT! 2011 Feature Evaluation and Review.

With this document, you will be able to identify the key improvements within ACT! 2011 as well as ACT! 2010.

Items addressed include:

1. User interface enhancements
2. Social Media
3. E-Marketing, Mail-Merge and Online Surveys
4. Sales Opportunity redesign
5. Flexible Reporting, Dashboard and OLEDB interface
6. Advanced Outlook Integration and Invitations
7. Advanced Outlook Sync for Contacts and Calendar
8. Simplified Importing design
9. Smart Tasks (Workflow)
10. Advanced Lead Management and Importing
11. Administrative improvements
12. and much more.

Free Cost Calculator for CRM Projects

Click here to access and download our Free CRM TCO Calculator Tool.

With this tool, you will be able to identify the key Total Cost line items that are relevant for any CRM implementation. We have also included data for comparing CRM software systems such as Microsoft CRM, Salesforce.com, SugarCRM, Sage CRM, Sage SalesLogix and more. You will be able to view the 3 Year and 5 Year Total Cost of Ownership for both SaaS (Online/On-Demand) and Licensed (On-premise) pricing models.

TCO line items include:

1. Annual License/User price
2. Support
3. Hardware (incl. Server and Users)
4. Implementation
5. Staff
6. Network
7. Mobile
8. and much more.

National CRM Consulting and Training

With locations throughout the United States, Accent Gold Solutions is able to provide CRM training, consulting and implementation service whereever you are. Please contact us to find out the best way to get your CRM project underway.

Remember, step 1 is to figure out what your business requirements are, and step 2 is to select the proper CRM system for your individual needs.

Being certified in various CRM systems such as Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Sage SalesLogix CRM, Sage ACT!, SAP CRM and more, we are confident we can advise you as to the proper CRM software to fit your business.

Whether you are in Chicago, Illinois or Houston, Texas, we can get your CRM solution designed, implemented and trained so that your users will love it and use it. We define our success by your CRM adoption rate. So call us to get started!

Microsoft CRM 2011 Review Webinars

Join us for our webinar series as we explore the points outlined below – and hope to provide you valuable insight about this top-rated CRM solution. We hope that our comparison with Salesforce.com will help you on in your CRM evaluation.

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To read the entire ACT Smart Task article (including screenshots!) click here.

Smart Tasks is a feature in Sage ACT!, which follows a series of common and connected steps. Examples of common steps include: scheduling an activity, sending an e-mail or send Sage ACT! E-marketing mail. Each Smart Task also defines when a step should be performed and who the Smart Task can be scheduled for. A Smart Task can be run manually or automatically based on a trigger. A trigger is an event that signals when a Smart Task should be scheduled to run.

Move a step using drag and drop

1. Open the Manage Smart Tasks dialog box.

2. On the Templates tab, in the left pane, select the Smart Tasks template you want to update. The Smart Tasks template details appear in the right pane.

3. In the right pane, find the step you want to move.

4. Click on the step and drag and drop it before or after another step in the Smart Tasks template.

Delete a step from a Smart Tasks template

1. Open the Manage Smart Tasks dialog box.

2. On the Templates tab, in the left pane, select the Smart Tasks template you want to update. The Smart Tasks template details appear in the right pane.

3. Put your cursor on the step you want to delete.

4. Click the red Delete (X) button.

5. Click Yes.

________________________________________

Running Smart Tasks

You can run a Smart Task for one or more records, from either list view or detail view.. When you run a Smart Task against contact or opportunity record(s) that you manually select, any criteria defined for the Smart Task is ignored. This is because you are manually selecting the record(s) and not letting the criteria of the Smart Task select the record(s) to run against.

When selecting the Run Smart Task… option from the Schedule menu, the list of Smart Tasks will be sensitive to the current view. For example: if you are viewing Opportunities, only Smart Tasks defined for Opportunities will be displayed.

Run a Smart Task from a list view

1. From the Contacts or Opportunities List, select one or more records.

2. Right-click and click Run Smart Task.

3. In the Run Smart Task dialog box, select a Smart Task from the list to start.

4. Under Apply To, select which records you want to include in the Smart Task. Tell me more You can apply a Smart Task to the records you selected in step 1, records in the current lookup, or records in the current group.

5. Click Run.

6. If you selected to run the Smart Task against all records, you will be prompted. To continue running the Smart Task against all records, click OK.

7. You may be notified that the Smart Task was successfully started. If you do not want to be notified when future Smart Tasks are started, select Do not show this message again. Click OK.

Depending on the Smart Task step settings, the Pending Smart Task Steps dialog box may open. You can use the Pending Smart Task Steps dialog box to view or edit steps before they are run.

Run a Smart Task from a detail view

1. From the Contact or Opportunity Detail view, right-click and click Run Smart Task.

2. In the Run Smart Task dialog box, select a Smart Task from the list to start.

3. Under Apply To, select which records you want to include in the Smart Task. Tell me more You can apply a Smart Task to the records you selected in step 1, records in the current lookup, or records in the current group.

4. Click Run.

5. If you selected to run the Smart Task against all records, you will be prompted. To continue running the Smart Task against all records, click OK.

6. You may be notified that the Smart Task was successfully started. If you do not want to be notified when future Smart Tasks are started, select Do not show this message again. Click OK.

Depending on the Smart Task step settings, the Pending Smart Task Steps dialog box may open. You can use the Pending Smart Task Steps dialog box to view or edit steps before they are run.

________________________________________

Viewing Smart Tasks Status

This topic explains how to use the Status tab on the Manage Smart Tasks dialog box. The Manage Smart Tasks dialog box has two tabs; the Templates tab where you can view, create, edit, or delete Smart Task templates and the Status tab where you can view the current status of all Smart Tasks.

To access the Status tab, click the Schedule menu and select Manage Smart Tasks. From this dialog box, select the Status tab.

From this tab, you can select the desired Smart Task and perform the following functions:

• • Filter list of Smart Tasks by Name, Status and when Started.
• • Pause a Smart Task
• • Resume a Smart Task
• • Cancel a Smart Task

Notes:

• Smart Tasks will remain in status In Progress until all steps are completed, including the completion (clear or erase) of any calendar activity initiated by the Smart Task.

• Previously run Smart Tasks can be filtered from the Status view, but cannot be deleted.

________________________________________

Pending Smart Task Steps

You can use the Pending Smart Task Steps dialog box to view or edit, run or delete Smart Task steps. The Pending Smart Task Steps dialog box allows you to preview a step before it runs if the Smart Tasks template creator specified that the step should display before running. The Pending Smart Task Steps dialog box opens whether the step was started manually or was triggered automatically within a running Smart Task. If you do not want to run or delete all of the pending Smart Task steps at this time, you can set a reminder and close the dialog box.

To access the Pending Smart Task Steps dialog box, from the Schedule menu, click Show Pending Smart Task Steps.

View or Edit a Pending Smart Task step

1. In the grid, select the step you want to view or edit.

2. Click Preview.

3. Depending on the action type, do one of the following:

• Send E-mail – The message window opens with the recipient’s name in the To field. Make any changes and click Send to send the e-mail.
• Schedule Activity – The activity window opens with the activity information that was set when the step was created. Make any changes and click OK to schedule the activity.

Run a Pending Smart Task step

1. In the grid, select one or more steps.

2. Click Run.

Each step runs automatically and is cleared from the queue.

Delete a Pending Smart Task step

1. In the grid, select one or more steps.

2. Click Delete.

3. Click OK.

Each step is cleared from the queue, and all steps that are dependent on a deleted step are also deleted.

Free Sage ACT 2011 Feature Review

Click here to access and download our Free Sage ACT! 2011 Feature Evaluation and Review.

With this document, you will be able to identify the key improvements within ACT! 2011 as well as ACT! 2010.

Items addressed include:

1. User interface enhancements
2. Social Media
3. E-Marketing, Mail-Merge and Online Surveys
4. Sales Opportunity redesign
5. Flexible Reporting, Dashboard and OLEDB interface
6. Advanced Outlook Integration and Invitations
7. Advanced Outlook Sync for Contacts and Calendar
8. Simplified Importing design
9. Smart Tasks (Workflow)
10. Advanced Lead Management and Importing
11. Administrative improvements
12. and much more.

Nationwide CRM Consulting and Training

With locations throughout the United States, Accent Gold Solutions is able to provide CRM training, consulting and implementation service whereever you are. Please contact us to find out the best way to get your CRM project underway. Remember, step 1 is to figure out what your business requirements are, and step 2 is to select the proper CRM system for your individual needs.

Being certified in various CRM systems such as Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Sage SalesLogix CRM, Sage ACT!, SAP CRM and more, we are confident we can advise you as to the proper CRM software to fit your business.

Whether you are in Alabama or Alaska, we can get your CRM solution designed, implemented and trained so that your users will love it and use it. We define our success by your CRM adoption rate. So call us to get started!

Search terms for Compare CRM:

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To read the entire ACT Smart Task article (including screenshots!) click here.

Smart Tasks is a feature in Sage ACT!, which follows a series of common and connected steps. Examples of common steps include: scheduling an activity, sending an e-mail or send Sage ACT! E-marketing mail. Each Smart Task also defines when a step should be performed and who the Smart Task can be scheduled for. A Smart Task can be run manually or automatically based on a trigger. A trigger is an event that signals when a Smart Task should be scheduled to run.

Send Email within ACT Smart Tasks

1. From the Templates tab, on the right pane, click the Click here to add a step drop-down arrow and select Send E-mail. The Smart Task Step – Send E-mail dialog box appears:

Note: This option is only available when Sage Act! is integrated with Microsoft® Outlook®.

2. In the Smart Task Step – Send E-mail dialog box, do the following:

• a. In the Step Name box, type a descriptive name for the step.
• b. Select the Automatically send e-mail without prompting the user option if you do not want to be prompted to view the Schedule Activity dialog box before the Smart Task automatically schedules it when this step is triggered. If you do want to be prompted, clear this option.
• c. From the Delay Time list, select when this step should run after the start of the Smart Task or completion of the previous Smart Task step.
• d. Click the To: Contacts button to select who should receive the e-mail. Select one or more of the following:
  • Select Contacts – opens the Select Contacts dialog box and allows you to select one or more contacts.
  • Contact – the contact selected when the Smart Task is started.
  • Record Manager – the user or users responsible for managing the records selected when the Smart Task is started.
  • Smart Task User – the user who started the Smart Task.
• e. Click the CC: Contacts button to select who should receive a copy of the e-mail. Select one or more of the following:
  • Select Contacts – opens the Select Contacts dialog box and allows you to select one or more contacts.
  • Contact – the contact selected when the Smart Task is started.
  • Record Manager – the user or users responsible for managing the records selected when the Smart Task is started.
  • Smart Task User – the user who started the Smart Task.
• f. In the Subject box, type the e-mail subject as it will appear in the e-mail when it is sent.
• g. Click the Attachments Browse button and browse to the file you want to attach to the e-mail.
• h. In the Message box, type the text that will appear in the e-mail message.
  • Subject Only
  • Subject And Message
  • Attach Contact
  • None
• Select any of the following:
  • Send as HTML
  • Request Read Receipt
  • History is private

3. To set additional options, click the More Options arrow and do any of the following:

• a. From the History Type list, select the information to be saved as history.

4. Click OK.

Send an E-marketing Email

You have the option to add an E-marketing email as a step to your Smart Task.

Note: To add an E-mail Marketing step, you must have a Sage E-marketing for ACT! account set up. If you do not have an Sage E-marketing account set up and they choose this as a step, you will be directed to the sign up process and they can set up an account to use the Sage E-marketing Smart Tasks.

You can add or edit a time delay between Smart Task steps if you want to schedule time between completing one step and starting the next step. For example, you want to create a Smart Task with two steps. The first step is sending an e-mail and the second step is sending a follow-up e-mail one week later. After the first step, you can add a time delay of one week before the second step.

1. From the Templates tab, on the right pane, click the Click here to add a step drop-down arrow and select Send E-mail. The Smart Task Step – Send E-mail dialog box appears:

2. In the Step Name field, type or change the name for the step.

3. To select an e-marketing template, click Select Template. Select a template from the list, and click OK.

4. To preview the template, click Preview Template.

5. In the E-mail Subject field, type or change the subject for the e-mail.

6. Click OK.

Free Sage ACT 2011 Feature Review

Click here to access and download our Free Sage ACT! 2011 Feature Evaluation and Review.

With this document, you will be able to identify the key improvements within ACT! 2011 as well as ACT! 2010.

Items addressed include:

1. User interface enhancements
2. Social Media
3. E-Marketing, Mail-Merge and Online Surveys
4. Sales Opportunity redesign
5. Flexible Reporting, Dashboard and OLEDB interface
6. Advanced Outlook Integration and Invitations
7. Advanced Outlook Sync for Contacts and Calendar
8. Simplified Importing design
9. Smart Tasks (Workflow)
10. Advanced Lead Management and Importing
11. Administrative improvements
12. and much more.

Nationwide CRM Consulting and Training

With locations throughout the United States, Accent Gold Solutions is able to provide CRM training, consulting and implementation service whereever you are. Please contact us to find out the best way to get your CRM project underway. Remember, step 1 is to figure out what your business requirements are, and step 2 is to select the proper CRM system for your individual needs.

Being certified in various CRM systems such as Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Sage SalesLogix CRM, Sage ACT!, SAP CRM and more, we are confident we can advise you as to the proper CRM software to fit your business.

Whether you are in Vermont or Virginia, we can get your CRM solution designed, implemented and trained so that your users will love it and use it. We define our success by your CRM adoption rate. So call us to get started!

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To read the entire ACT Smart Task article (including screenshots!) click here.

Smart Tasks is a feature in Sage ACT!, which follows a series of common and connected steps. Examples of common steps include: scheduling an activity, sending an e-mail or send Sage ACT! E-marketing mail. Each Smart Task also defines when a step should be performed and who the Smart Task can be scheduled for. A Smart Task can be run manually or automatically based on a trigger. A trigger is an event that signals when a Smart Task should be scheduled to run.

Managing Smart Task Steps

This section explains how to add, edit, move or delete steps in a Smart Tasks template. To begin adding Smart Task Templates, you select a template and from the right pane, you can use the Click here to add a step drop-down list to begin adding steps to templates by selecting one of the following options:

• • Time Delay
• • Schedule ACT Activity
• • Send Email
• • Send E-marketing Email

Time Delay between Smart Task Steps

You can add or edit a time delay between Smart Task steps if you want to schedule time between completing one step and starting the next step. For example, you want to create a Smart Task with two steps. The first step is sending an e-mail and the second step is sending a follow-up e-mail one week later. After the first step, you can add a time delay of one week before the second step.

1. Open the Manage Smart Tasks dialog box.

2. On the Templates tab, in the left pane, select the Smart Tasks template you want to update.

3. In the right pane, find the step that occurs before the step you want to delay, click the Click here to add a step drop-down arrow and select Time Delay.

4. Use the arrows to select a number in the box, and then select Minute(s), Hour(s), Day(s), or Month(s) from the drop-down list.

5. Click OK.

Schedule ACT Activity

1. From the Templates tab, on the right pane, click the Click here to add a step drop-down arrow and select Schedule ACT! Activity. The Smart Task Step – Schedule Activity dialog box appears:

2. On the General tab, complete the following information:

• a. In the Step Name box, type a descriptive name for the step.
• b. Select the Automatically schedule activity without prompting the user option if you do not want to be prompted to view the Schedule Activity dialog box before the Smart Task automatically schedules it when this step is triggered. If you do want to be prompted, clear this option.
• c. Select an Activity Type from the list.
• d. Use the Start Date arrows to select the number of days between the date that the step is triggered and the date that the activity should be scheduled to start.
• e. Use the lists to select a Start Time and Duration. For a timeless activity, select Timeless.
• f. To have a banner for a timeless activity appear on your calendar, select Use Banner.
• g. Click the Schedule With Select button and select the contact or contacts you want to attend the activity. Select one or more of the following:
• -Select Contacts – opens the Select Contacts dialog box and allows you to select one or more contacts.
• -Contact – the contact selected when the Smart Task is started.
• -Record Manager – the user or users responsible for managing the records selected when the Smart Task is started.
• -Smart Task User – the user who started the Smart Task.
• h. To send an iCalendar message with the activity information to the attendees, select the Send invitation e-mail check box.
• i. To associate a group, company, and opportunity with the activity, click the browse button (…) next to the Associate With field. Select a group, company, and opportunity. Click OK.
• j. In the Regarding field, type a description.
• k. From the Resources list, select a resource for the activity.
• l. In the Location field, type a location for the activity.
• m. To schedule the activity on behalf of another user, click Schedule For. Select the user. Click OK.
• n. Set the Priority and Color.
• o. In the Ring Alarm field, select a time for the reminder alarm.
• p. To schedule the activity on behalf of another user, click Schedule For. Select the user. Click OK.

3. Click the Details tab and do any of the following:

• a. In the text box, type or copy and paste text, such as the meeting agenda.
• b. To attach a file:
  • i. Click Attach. Select File or Shortcut.
  • ii. Browse to locate the file. Click Open.
• Click OK.

Free Sage ACT 2011 Feature Review

Click here to access and download our Free Sage ACT! 2011 Feature Evaluation and Review.

With this document, you will be able to identify the key improvements within ACT! 2011 as well as ACT! 2010.

Items addressed include:

1. User interface enhancements
2. Social Media
3. E-Marketing, Mail-Merge and Online Surveys
4. Sales Opportunity redesign
5. Flexible Reporting, Dashboard and OLEDB interface
6. Advanced Outlook Integration and Invitations
7. Advanced Outlook Sync for Contacts and Calendar
8. Simplified Importing design
9. Smart Tasks (Workflow)
10. Advanced Lead Management and Importing
11. Administrative improvements

12. and much more.

Nationwide CRM Consulting and Training

With locations throughout the United States, Accent Gold Solutions is able to provide CRM training, consulting and implementation service whereever you are. Please contact us to find out the best way to get your CRM project underway. Remember, step 1 is to figure out what your business requirements are, and step 2 is to select the proper CRM system for your individual needs.

Being certified in various CRM systems such as Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Sage SalesLogix CRM, Sage ACT!, SAP CRM and more, we are confident we can advise you as to the proper CRM software to fit your business.

Whether you need CRM traning in New Mexico or Iowa, we can get your CRM solution designed, implemented and trained so that your users will love it and use it. We define our success by your CRM adoption rate. So call us to get started!

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