Several times a month I receive a call from an organization that has lost their ACT! password. Sometimes this happens when the ACT! Administrator leaves the company – and takes his password with him. Fortunately we are able to recover those passwords and send the new administrator on their way with the advice to have…
This week brought not one but three clients that called me upset that Act! had “eaten” some of their contacts. In all cases we were able to solve the mystery of the missing Act! contacts and hopefully prevent it from happening again. When a user feels that contacts have gone MIA from their Act! database…
Many CRM software users get confused with the distinction between fields, records and entities. In a CRM product, a field is a single piece of information such as a zip code, e-mail address or phone number. A record is all the associated fields for a single entity. An entity is a set of records. For…
I love the Clash and “Should I Stay” is one of my favorite songs. And one of the questions I am frequently asked. Prospects often ask me for my advice on whether they should remain with their present CRM solution or switch. I can usually make the assessment within a few minutes and often my…
So, you’ve purchased ACT and you’re ready to install it. Sounds easy, right? Sure it is – if you’ve got your ACT together! Here’s a few hints that will help speed you on your way: Make sure that Windows is up to date by rebooting your machine. If you are going to be integrating Act…
No one ever calls me with an initial greeting of, “Hi Karen, I just wanted to tell you how great my CRM solution is working. Quite the opposite; I am usually hit with a litany of complaints ranging from, “our database is full of duplicates and outdated information” to “no one will use our CRM…
If you have ACT! 2010 or 2011 and you’re not using the Web Info tab you are missing the banana boat as we say in Florida. And, if you haven’t figured out how to use the Web Info tab in conjunction with your favorite social networking sites, then you’re in for a treat.
I’ve written 14 books on various CRM products as well as created training videos for LinkedIn Learning. There are 10 pitfalls I see all the time; learn simple ways to avoid them! Whether you use Act, Zoho or another product, most CRM users struggle with the same issues and questions. Join me as I share…
I have consulted in ACT! for over 20 years. More often than not, especially in the current Covid environment, companies require “remote access” to all of their data. I have Act clients and I have Zoho clients. So which CRM is better in a remote environment: Act or ZOHO? Zoho, hands-down. I used to explain…
An Act! consultant can get you up and running quickly so that you will soon be able to see the benefits of Act for yourself.
I learned today that SwiftPage will be issuing an Act licensing update as of January 1, 2019. This change will impact all existing ACT! users. I have been selling, supporting and customizing ACT! for over 20 years and this change will have a bigger impact on ACT! than anything I’ve ever seen before. Honestly, at…
We recently repaired a corrupted Act database for a client. In fact, it’s the SECOND time we’ve repaired his database. Needless to say he was not a happy camper, although he was thrilled to get ALL of his data back safe and sound. Needless to say, we wanted to make sure this never happens again…
Tech Benders is pleased to announce that Act Consultant Roy Laudenslager recently earned the spot of Featured Partner on the Act! Community forums. Laudenslager was honored for his numerous contributions in answering questions for Act! Users and for His Act! expertise and contributions. Laudenslager is no stranger to receiving awards for his knowledge of Act! software. In…
In the past I’ve shared one of my favorite Act! tricks which is to copy the holidays from outlook to Act! so that you’ll have them on your Act! calendar. You might want to review my past blog article because this is a quick way to populate your Act! calendars with holiday information. Act! has…
The Act! software is a great tool for businesses, but you may be having a hard time getting the most out of it. If you find your operation struggling with the expansive software, you should consider bringing in a certified Act consultant to assist you in operation of the software. These professionals are here to help…
I usually don’t mix politics with my Act! consulting but I read an article over the weekend that just fascinated me mainly because it showed that even the wealthiest folks with ostensibly the best consultants can run amok when it comes to e-marketing. Unfortunately, the story reminded me of all too many of my Act!…
Act Ides of March Seminar Register Now for the Act Tech Support Webinar You probably love a good mystery – but not when it comes to your Act database! If you’re like most Act users you rely on Act to run your business and when your Act starts “acting up” panic sets in. I receive…
When I purchased my new all in one tablet last year I thought I was going to purchase the Microsoft Surface Pro. However, I decided on the Lenovo Yoga 900 because the comparable Surface Pro model was much more expensive and there was a wait time of nearly 6 weeks. Turns out I made a…
I have had numerous calls and emails from Act! users over the course of the last month asking me if Act! will work with Windows 10. I’ve also had a number of calls from users who have updated to Windows 10 with various outcomes. My advice? If you are using Act! v16 or older I…
When I work with Act users with either Swiftpage E-Marketing or Act E-Marketing I like to point out that there are two separate but equal processes: Composing and sending an e-blast Reporting on the results If you are sending an E-mail blast in Act to more than 50 contacts I strongly recommend that you use…
Now that you have purchased Act! v17 for your business you may think that hiring an Act! consultant is a waste of time and money. The software does it all already doesn’t it? Wrong! Act! is only beneficial to your business if you utilize it properly, and that is what an Act! consultant can help you…
A recent survey conducted by the American Research Group, Inc. showed that Americans were planning on spending an average of $861 on gifts for the 2014 holiday season. This number has increased by 8% compared to the 2013 holiday season and experts agree on the fact the online shopping will continue growing. And according to a…
The number of businesses that are moving over to VOIP phone systems is on the rise. VOIP phones offer many advantages, including lower monthly phone bills and nifty ways to connect your remote employees. For me, the biggest benefit of VOIP is that it allows you to integrate your office phone to Act!. Your computer…
The holiday season is quickly approaching. Your events calendar is filling up twice as fast. Between the marketing meetings and researching your target market for segmenting, you barely have time to breathe. The note you wrote yourself about the lunch meeting with a long-time customer was accidentally thrown away and it completely slipped your mind…
Act v17 was release on October 23, 2014. E-marketing which means Act! users will have the ability to design and send e-marketing pieces in the newly designed editor and have more options for tracking their effectiveness directly within Act! . It also means that all users of Act v17 will receive a complimentary Act E-Marketing…
The major focus of my business comes from being an Act! consultant. With all due modesty, I am great at what I do. I often come up with the perfect solution to a client’s problem in an extremely timely fashion. I did not garner my CRM knowledge through osmosis; I spend quite a bit of…
Back in 2008 I wrote a blog article recommending that you switch to an Act! E-Marketing account if you were sending out marketing blasts of over 50 emails/send. Here it is 2014 (gasp!) and I’m still passing out that same exact advice. However, as the world of the internet – and e-mail – gets more…
Many Act! users routinely head to the Export Wizard to send their information not realizing that there is a much easier method for exporting Act! data. You’ll find the Export Current List to Excel icon at the top of the Contact, Group, Company, Opportunity, History and Task List views. If the button is “greyed out”…
The Act QuickBooks Link Small businesses require two solutions to effectively manage their front and back office operations: A CRM solution to manage front office processes such as sales and service An accounting solution to manage the back office operations including invoicing. Typically sales people don’t have access to accounting information and the bookkeeper doesn’t get…
Act! Outlook Synchronization Clients often ask me to “setup their Act! Outlook integration” and are dumfounded when I respond that there is no such thing. “But Karen,” they insist, “you told me that my version of Act! is compatible with my version of Office. How can that be?” The confusion lies in the fact that…
The Contact field can prove to be surprisingly confusing for both new and old Act! users alike. Although the field seems very straightforward at first glance, it contains a bit of “magical Act! functionality” that can prove to be either a help or a hindrance. Let’s start with the Salutation field. I often ask Act!…
One of my favorite Christmas carols is a parody called “The Bathroom Door Said Gentleman” (sung to the tune of “God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman.” During the course of the song we find out what happens when an unsuspecting male accidentally wonders into the Ladies Room because the signs had been reversed. I laugh every…
As most of you know the “C” in CRM stands for Contacts and that’s the focus of these clean-up tips. I see a lot of databases in a variety of formats (Act!, SugarCRM, Salesforce, Zoho) and I’ve made one assumption: the typical database consists of 25% “dead wood.” I define dead wood as: Contacts that…
I recently received this plea for help from one of my ACT clients: “Karen, we have added a couple of new people to ACT and they are up and running. As a disciple of your teachings, I created a customized “Opportunity Layout Screen”(OLS) which fits our business and includes new fields. All of our Team…
I came across a great post written by fellow ACT consultant M Scott Schaffernoth. I laughed for ten minutes when I read it and Scott kindly offered to share. Her Parts May Have Often Been Ditzy Blondes, But Marilyn Monroe Was a Smart Cookie and She Would Have Loved ACT! CRM It would have helped…
Last week I shared a story about an ACT! user who thought he had a major problem which turned out to have a rather easy, if not silly, answer. My second story involves an ACT! user who could not open his ACT! database; he kept receiving an error asking him to verify his user name…
Any Administrator or Manager user can create an automatic schedule for creating backups using the ACT! Scheduler. Combine this power with your free Drop Box account to save your database “in the clouds.” Download and install Drop Box. In ACT, click the Tools menu, and then click ACT! Scheduler. The ACT! Scheduler – Create, Edit…
Many of you already know the common definition of assume; if not, look at the word again and break it into smaller pieces: ass_u_me because that’s just what happens when you “assume” something. ACT E-Marketing is a wonderful tool. It’s easy, inexpensive and it works directly from ACT. And, as is the case with all…
Last year I switched to a new publisher, PackT, after many years of writing the ACT for Dummies books. My new titles are called “Cookbooks.” Although you won’t find a great recipe for lasagne inside you will find dozens of easy-to-follow recipes that will help you master the more advanced areas of ACT. Packt Publishing…
A few weeks ago I wrote about some of the changes that ACT! has experienced during its 25 year history. I received a call this week from one of the original ACT! co-founders , Mike Muhney, prompting me to take you on another trip down Memory Lane in Mike’s own words. “The mid-1980s were a…
Back in the days of ACT! 6 (was that really ten years ago?) my telephone message asked callers if they had recently “Compressed and Re-Indexed” their database. Back then, there was no way to automate this process although a reminder could be set to prompt a user to run maintenance. Unfortunately, many ACT! users either…
I often expound on the virtues of ACT! E-Marketing, formerly known as Swift Page E-mail. I thought I’d share a conversation with one of my clients who had some reservations about switching to ACT! E-Marketing from one of the “other guys.” “Hey Karen, I know you push ACT! E-Marketing. I use MailChimp and I’m pretty…
Hard as it is to believe, I’ve written over a dozen books on technology and created training videos for LinkedIn Learning. Trust me, writing is a labor of love. My “day job” is to help my clients utilize CRM software to make themselves – and their businesses – more efficient, effective and profitable. For me,…
The other day I was working with a client when his ACT! alarms window opened; I must say that the number of alarms he had was, well, alarming. He quickly clicked the Select All button, selected Snooze and put all the alarms to rest for the remainder of the day. Curiosity got the better of…
When I was five I spent a week with my family at a vacation spot that included a water park with a rather large slide going into the deep end of the pool. My older brother and sister spent the week using that slide but alas, I was too scared to try it. I remember…
Several years ago a marketing company offered to do a mailing for me to all businesses within a 50 mile radius of my office. This sounded like a great idea until I realized that areas to the east and south of me contained nothing but the deep blue sea, and a large portion of the…
OK, I’ll admit that as a 30 year user of, and consultant for, Windows products I might be a bit prejudiced but can anyone explain to me the current obsession with Apple products? My local Apple store had a line wrapped around the mall before the holidays, and I witnessed similar occurrences at the Apple…
Many of you have been asking me when my next “ACT for Dummies” book is coming out. I’m pleased to announce that it’s here – although maybe not in the same format as you might expect. Anyone familiar with the publishing industry – or the local bookstore for that matter – knows that the industry…
Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither was your database. However, if you stick to my 5 simple Commandments you’ll soon be reaping the benefits of an effective CRM solution!
A common question I’m asked is whether there is an easy way to add the incoming leads you receive from a website form directly into an ACT! database. My answer is a resounding YES.
There are lots of cool shortcuts in ACT! that users take advantage of every day to make ACT! even more powerful than it already is.
Put yourself in the shoes of your prospects when designing marketing materials. What has more appeal – a sales pitch or useful information? Which one would entice you enough to open it and which one would be instantly deleted?
Two books on the ACT software program by Karen Fredricks have been selected by Packt Publishing for inclusion in their R.A.W. (Read As We Write) program.
In the ACT! realm I’m happy that Sage just released ACT! 2011 Service Pack 1 (SP1).
I am currently working on two new titles for PackT – ACT! By Sage 2011 Cook Book and ACT! by Sage Reports and Dashboards Cook Book. I’m even more excited to announce that both books have been accepted into the new “RAW” (Read as we Write) program. RAW is a cutting-edge new program that enables…
Technology upgrades should be considered a necessary, recurring cost of doing business. You can’t run your business without a telephone and office supplies, and you shouldn’t be running a business with outdated technology. Ironically, technology is the single best way to lower the overhead of a business.
Today many of my clients are opting to use an online fax service such as MyFax or eFax with ACT.
Your parents probably taught you as a child to invest in your future. Shouldn’t you also be investing in your business?
If I need training on a rapidly changing site such as Facebook I’ll be using lynda where I know I’ll get the latest and greatest information.
I’ve learned over the years that money I spend on a consultant, book or course is well worth its price when I compare it to the time it might take me to eventually wave the white flag and concede defeat.
Software companies are in the same boat as your local hardware or office supplies store. Hard as it may be for the average consumer to believe, software companies are in business to make money – or at least to remain solvent.
My dad taught me that when I pointed my finger at someone (or something) I was in fact pointing two fingers back at myself. Think about it the next time something goes wrong with your computer.
So, do you think you want to start using ACT!, Microsoft Office Live or Outlook Business Contact Manager to help manage – and grow – your business? You’ll want do a bit of homework first to see if you’re ready to take the plunge into the world of CRM . 1. How different are your…