What you need to know about Act! 20.1 #ActCRM

How will the latest Act! update benefit your business?

Custom Tables: Increased Efficiency for Sales Automation

Act! has supported the ability for third-party add-ons to add and work with custom tables since version 10.02. Now, with the newly released 20.1, this functionality can be added by a simple upgrade to Premium Plus.

As an individual salesperson, Act!’s custom tables help you to improve your efficiency and track detailed information on the contacts and companies you deal with or even on the Opportunities and Groups you manage.

In the screenshot below, we have a custom table showing vehicles. If you run a car dealership, this is a helpful table to track. For example, you might get in touch with the buyer of the 2006 and 2013 cars to see if they are interested in a trade-in.

Clicking on any of the line items brings up a detailed dialogue (Click to see full size):

Act 20.1 ships with some custom industry templates including:

● Mortgage brokers. Detailed documentation matters in mortgages so keeping detailed files in Act will help you satisfy the compliance department.

● Wealth management. The information you gather at this stage will help you to satisfy the regulatory requirements imposed on financial companies.

● Residential real estate. Most people buy several properties over their lives, so there is a significant benefit to staying in touch with past customers over time.

● As well as templates for Event Planning, Consulting, Project Management, and Product Inventories.

Are you worried that your industry or need is not covered by a template? You can use the custom tables capability to create your design. I recommend getting an Act! consultant to help you with this if you have not done it before.

How Does Custom Tables Benefit Sales Managers?

Let’s start with the obvious benefit. Your front line sales staff will have an easier time at work. They will be able to walk through each part of the sales process with ease. If you regularly hire new sales staff, this guidance will support your sales training program.

● Sales Training Resource: Act is a powerful resource to enhance your sales training. For more insight, read my past article How To Use Act! for Your Sales Training.

Adding custom tables to Act also helps sales managers better understand the performance of their sales staff. In addition to tracking primary activity metrics like the number of calls and emails sent, you can monitor higher-value aspects of the sales process.

Here are some ideas:

● Presentation. In contrast to basic sales metrics like call levels, you can track higher value measures. One option is to follow the number of presentations made to prospects especially if you have customised service offerings.

● Relationship Depth. In complex B2B sales, a single point of contact is not going to be enough to close a deal. You also need to line up internal champions. Imagine you are selling an extensive business insurance policy. Aside from senior management, who else needs to be involved in winning the business? You may need legal to support the purchase. If you are selling to a bank, you might also want support from compliance and risk management. With custom tables, it is easier to track and understand these complex sales relationships.

Tip: Act becomes the most useful when users fill it with comprehensive data. As a manager, you can create custom views to make sure staff are covering the basics like phone numbers, email addresses, and discounts.

Streamlined Integration with Outlook

As I have previously posted, Swiftpage announced, last Dec, that it was completely re-writing the Office integration. See the detailed letter, here: Letter from Lorcan Malone, Dec 2017

If you are concerned about how different systems integrate, it is tough to trust them. You never know if the information you are looking at is up to date. Picture what how this problem would like in sales:

You use a third-party tool to pass data back and forth between Act! and Outlook. Unfortunately, the third party connection breaks down for a week when a new version of Act comes out. While you wait for updates, you regularly have to switch back and forth to get all of your sales data. If you are moderately busy, you are probably going to forget to track and log your emails and meetings.

Likewise, the same problem could occur in account management. If customer requests are not tracked accurately, you might risk the business relationship.

Whew! Who needs that kind of anxiety worrying about out of date records? Fortunately, the improved Act! integration with Outlook eliminates this concern. Specifically, Act! now has robust two-way synchronisation with Outlook. You no longer have to worry about third-party software breaking down. All of your emails to customers are automatically added to Act!’s history.

There is also a new synchronisation module to sync contacts and activities. Not just to Outlook, but optionally directly to your MS-Exchange or Outlook365 server.

The Next Step To Bringing Act 20.1 To Your Business

How does Act 20.1 help your company improve its operation? Finding your way around these new features may be tough. That is why I would like to invite you to contact me for a free assessment to see how you can boost productivity with custom tables.

Act! Certified Expert – Sanctioned by Swiftpage #ActCRM

Over the years, Mike Lazarus has been the recipient of many unique awards and certifications related to his work in Act!, including:

• Certified ACT! Sage
• ACT! Community Development Partner
• Certified ACT! Genius
• Experts Exchange Titan Award – three times

In another first, Mike has just been sanctioned by Swiftpage as an
“Act! Certified Expert”

As indicated in this previous blog post, Working with Act! Again, Mike has been working with Swiftpage for some months to identify and resolve outstanding issues and to improve the stability and functionality of the product. Now he is connected with the QA and Development teams in testing some of the enhanced and new features expected in 2018 before they go to beta and then release.

Some important ones regarding Office integration have been announced in this December 2017 Letter from Swiftpage’s President, Lorcan Malone to registered Act! users.

Please respond in the comments with any areas or bugs you think need additional testing.

Act! Version 20 – What You Need To Know

This month, Act! Version 20 comes to the market. If you are an existing user, should you upgrade to the new version? It all depends on your technical needs. Here are some reasons why the new version will make your business life more comfortable. It is a combination of improving reliability, enabling mobile work and bringing marketing and sales closer together.

Tip: Most of these improvements are only applicable to Premium Subscription users.

1) Track Your Business Results Easily With Act! Insight

Producing complex business reports each month is a huge pain for many in the sales. What if you could quickly check on the status of your sales pipeline each day? That’s what you can accomplish using Act! Insight. At a glance, this new feature offers the ability to see reports on sales by product, forecasted sales and won vs lost sales.

Tip: If you manage a sales team or own a business, Act! Insight is especially useful. The “Business Health” summary gives you precise data on your company’s operations and health. Make it a daily habit to check on these metrics, and you will avoid nasty surprises at month end.

Tip: Many of the Insight graphs are improvements on the current Dashboard function. However, at this time I have been using both Views of data as I have built some Dashboards that I have not yet been able to replicate with Insight.

2) Speak Your Notes and Listen for Answers By using Amazon Alexa

Survey after survey tells us that entering data into your CRM is a chore. That problem will start to come to an end because Act! will now support Amazon Alexa.

You might recall the scene in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, where they spend some time in 1986 San Francisco. Scotty, the chief engineer, has to use a PC and he picks up the mouse and tries speaking into it – “Hello Computer.”

Having picked up flip-phones, tablets and other devices from this program, it does seem natural for us to continue to realise the best ideas of their writing team.

Introduced in 2014, the Amazon Echo device is the primary to interact with Alexa, a voice-activated assistant. While you may not have an Amazon Echo in your office yet, the device offers exciting potential – the ability to ask for reports and add data by speaking will save you plenty of time. It’s true there are some limitations with voice recognition (e.g. ensuring control over confidential client data). However, the technology is likely to be a godsend for those who hate to type or merely prefer to speak. If you were already interested in voice recognition, now you will have an opportunity to use the technology for business.

Tip: A current list of commands available can be accessed at this Knowledgebase Article:
What commands are available for use with the Act! Premium skill for Amazon Alexa?

Tip: At this time, this function is not supported in Australia / New Zealand. I am still trying to determine the reason for this and an estimate of when it will be.

Tip: If you decide to invest in Amazon Alexa, you can use it for much more than Act!. You can use it to play music, check bank account balances (depends on whether you have a bank).

3) Improved Mobile Experience – Act! Mobile Companion

In the past, mobile apps were not that powerful. You had to open up your computer to do real work. Act!’s improved mobile app, Act! Companion, is available for Android and iOS, is starting to address that problem. You can quickly schedule follow up appointments with prospects and log your calls easier.

You can now call and email contacts directly through the Act! Companion. That means no more time copying and pasting phone numbers from emails on your phone. Even better, Act! Companion gives you your recent history directly on the mobile app. That means you can prepare better for sales meetings faster and stay coordinated with others in your company. Act! Companion also has map support so you can get to your appointments on time.

Note: Act! Companion is included with the subscription version of the product. If you are on the fence about whether to sign up for the subscription version, it’s worth it to get Act! Companion.

4) Improved E-commerce Integration

Does your company run an e-commerce store? If so, many of the operational processes are likely automated such as shipping and generating invoices. In the midst of that automation, there are three reasons why integrating Act! with your e-commerce provider is a smart idea. First, this integration gives your sales staff the ability to lavish extra attention on high-value customers. Second, you can use e-commerce data such as a customer’s purchase history to inform your Act! marketing campaigns. Third, you can use that data to carry out analyse your business operations (e.g. avoid running out of popular items and better understand your margins).

Act! supports integration with a variety of the most popular e-commerce platforms: BigCommerce, Ecwid, Etsy, Shopify, Volusion, and WooCommerce. Additionally, it can also bring in sales history from many common accounts products.

5) Improving Act!’s Subscription Product

As with other software products, the subscription version of Act! continues to improve. For example, the mobile app – Act! Companion – is included in the subscription, as is Act! Insight. If you have not already switched to a subscription license, the improvements offered through version 20 are an excellent reason to switch now. If you use the subscription version of Act! in conjunction with a cloud offering, you do not have to worry about losing your data due to a computer failure – it is all stored on secure servers.

Tip: Switching to a subscription license means that you will receive a steady stream of updates

6) Improved Microsoft Outlook integration

Microsoft Outlook remains one of the world’s most popular email applications. If you are comfortable using Outlook, rest assured that Act! continues to improve its Outlook integration. For you, that means a more stable experience and reduced issues. You can focus on selling instead of keeping your software operational. Whether you use Microsoft Office 2010, 2013 or 2016, Act! is compatible with each version.

I have personally found that the Outlook integration in v20 is more stable than it has been for some time. Swiftpage has also stated that some Outlook integration improvements are being worked on and scheduled to be included in v20.1.

What if your company uses G Suite, Google’s professional set of services for calendar, email and other applications? Don’t worry. Act! integrates with Gmail, Google Calendar and Google Contacts. For more information on the Google integration, see this article:
How to set preferences for Google and Gmail Integration in Act!

7) Optimised Emarketing Workflow

Act! users who are leveraging the power of Act! Emarketing can now manage campaigns through an intuitive, optimised workflow within Act!. Users can quickly and easily execute campaigns and track results from five newly designed views – Overview, Options, Create, Send and Track with full-screen Call Lists – all fully integrated within Act!

8) Better working experience for Apple users

Apple users are used to a seamless user experience. Act! version 20 delivers on that expectation by adding support for the Chrome for Mac web browser. As a result, you now have more flexibility to use Act! on your Apple computer. Apple users also have the option to use the Act! Companion on iOS devices like the iPhone. Version 20 also delivers a better Act! / Office for Mac integration.

Note: This still requires a local or cloud-based Window server

9) Dozens of “under the hood” quality improvements

Any piece of complex software accumulates bugs over time. The important question is what efforts are carried out to solve those problems. Mail merge, reports, company views and errors with contacts are just a few of the fixes that will make Act! version 20 easier to use. All told, these improvements save you time. To receive a steady stream of updates, make sure you sign up for the subscription version of Act!.

Resource: Curious to know more about all the technical fixed that went into Act! version 20? Read What's new in Act! v20 for further details.

Planning Your Next Move With Act!

The latest version of Act! brings a variety of new analytics and automation features to the table. Like any piece of software, you may not use every feature every day. Instead, ask yourself a different question: what if I could make my week 5% more productive by using this software? For your field staff, the improved Act! Companion app may mean the difference between staying late at the office on a Friday and getting home on time.

To find out if Act! version 20 is right for your business, contact me to request a free assessment. We will go through a few short questions and find out if it will add value to your business.

Click here to get in touch with me – Or post a comment to this article

Working with Act! again

It has been a few months since I last posted on the status of where I am with Swiftpage and the direction of the product. In that time, I have received numerous requests for an update.

After a call back in March from John Oechsle, Swiftpage's CEO, and Rowan Koons, SVP and GM, followed by four months of detail discussions on how to continually improve the product and user experience, we have reached an agreement for how I can best continue to serve Act! and the broader Act! Community.

Swiftpage has recognised my expertise and passion, and as part of this working together, Swiftpage has endorsed me as an “Act! Certified Expert, sanctioned by Swiftpage” as at 1 August 2017.

I have also been fortunate, during these conversations, to have had a look at the future direction of roadmap for Act!. This has made me more excited to be working with them to try and bring these to market for you.

My Current Focus

It does have elements of the position of "P.O.P.E" as originally suggested as a comment in this LinkedIn thread from four years ago - https://www.linkedin.com/groups/49896/49896-214593198 by Paul Marentette, of Uptime Solutions in Canada, and seconded by many others including Bob Ogdon, Chairman and Founder of Swiftpage.

We have highlighted the following ways to work together:

1. Initially examining areas of the current build (19.2 Update 3), with a focus on MS-Office integration and other areas that users might suggest.

2. Become active again in the Act! Community Site and my Linkedin Act! Fanatics Group. Not just in supporting users, as I have done for many years, but also creating an analysis of the posts to identify the areas that users have the most issues with (usability or flaws).

3. Assist Swiftpage in updating and enhancing Act! Knowledgebase articles.

4. Alpha and Beta testing v20 as soon as it is available.

After this, I hope to assist Swiftpage in improving Act! eMarketing, WebAPI, Mobile Companion, and other areas. I also intend to help them enhance their relationships with the Act! Certified Consultants and other resellers channel.

Help Me To Help You

I have some requests for you, the Act! Fanatic community (users and the resale channel alike):

1. I would like to examine any systems where Act! v19 is having issues with Outlook integration. At this time, I would be happy to take on about three sites per week.
NOTE: This is a NO CHARGE offer - No charge to the user or reseller.

2. Could you please post, as a comment to this blog article, or in the LinkedIn Group, or via private communication to me, any bugs or areas where you think I should allocate additional time. If I do not understand your point, I may contact you to see it remotely on your system.

3. Please also comment in the forums above with any subjects that I could generate a blog article that you think could improve your use of Act!. I do have some ideas that I have not seen done before, but I would still value your opinions.

The Future

This agreement is a great opportunity for me, for the product and for the community of users who have been behind the product for up to 30 years.

Those of you who know me know that I will throw everything I have into testing every function I can - as a user. I will work with other users in the forums, via email or phone, to find the issues that matter most in keeping you productive. Then I will work to try and replicate the issues so that I can report them accurately to QA and Development so they can work on fixing them.

Once this is underway, I hope to also have a small say in helping them prioritise their resources so that they can deliver the best possible solution for us all and make Act! as great a product as we all know it can be.

About four years ago, a user asked me what I would do if the vendor put me in charge of the product. At that time, I described a roadmap over two-three years that I thought would be necessary without the funds of an Apple or Google. I still believe that, over a similar time-frame, we can have a leading solution again.

Please feel free to post any questions or comments you have on this.

Regards,

Mike Lazarus
Act! Evangelist