Bigin had a busy year in 2025, rolling out smart upgrades designed to save time, reduce manual work, and improve how you connect with customers. Here’s a quick look at the most useful new features and why they matter. Easier Scheduling with Booking Pages: Bigin now lets customers book appointments through simple, no-code booking pages.…
Choosing a CRM isn’t just about tracking contacts — it’s about enabling your business to sell smarter, market better, and support customers consistently. Zoho CRM Plus is a complete customer-experience suite, while Act! CRM is more of a traditional contact management tool. And when you put them side by side, the advantages are hard to…
This message from my website absolutely made my day: Visitor: “Do you work with Act! for DOS 1.1?” Me: “Is that a typo? You mean Act! 21.1, right? Act! 1.1 is nearly 30 years old.” Visitor: “Nope. Still using Act! 1.1. Attached a photo.” Before I moved on to Zoho CRM, I spent over 20…
As more ACT CRM users begin upgrading to Windows 11, it’s important to understand how the change may impact your ACT! CRM software. While Tech Benders continues to support ACT!, we can’t guarantee that older versions of Act will work reliably on Microsoft’s latest operating system including Windows 11. For many long-time ACT! users, this…
This year has been a milestone for Tech Benders—we’ve experienced an incredible 159% increase in total revenue as of 8/27, and the driving force behind this growth has been our strategic shift from selling Act! software to Zoho CRM solutions. The move to Zoho has not only expanded our offerings but also allowed us to…
Data is the lifeblood of any CRM system. Whether you’re switching platforms, updating contact info, or simply backing up your data, the ability to easily import and export records is critical. If you’ve ever tried performing these tasks in Act! CRM, you already know it can feel like solving a Rubik’s cube blindfolded. Fortunately, Zoho…
If you’re still using ACT! CRM on a Windows 7 machine, it’s time to talk security—and no, we don’t mean installing another antivirus tool. While ACT! CRM has served businesses faithfully for decades, using it on an outdated system like Windows 7 poses a serious risk. Microsoft stopped supporting Windows 7 in 2020, which means…
I’ve worked with MicroCadd for more than 20 years, starting back in the days of Act! 6.0. Over time, it became clear that they had simply outgrown Act!—and for good reason: They needed to track transactions in multiple currencies. They operated across numerous locations. Their team included both English and Spanish speakers, requiring a CRM…
I field a lot of calls about various aspects of CRM; I have yet to receive a call from a CRM user asking to add more work into their schedule. I am, however, asked for just the opposite: “How do I Avoid Doing Double Entry between my CRM and other applications that I use?” Typically,…
Losing weight got me to thinking how I could apply the same concept to removing some of the “dead weight” often found in databases. Although I work with a variety of CRM solutions I find that my clients deal with the exact same issues.
Act! or Zoho: which is the best way to go? I received the following emails from one of my clients this week. It’s typical of what I have been hearing from so many of my clients lately. They are not happy with Act but don’t know what to do. “Karen, I’ve been using ACT for…
Act by Sage. Sage Act. Act Premium. Act Pro. Act for Web. Act Growth Suite. Act Saas. Act CRM. Act Companion. Act Essentials. What’s in a name? In this case, a whole lot of confusion! Although the Act product has been owned by Swiftpage (who purchased it from Sage Software) since 2015 the upper management…
I recently had a client call me to tell me that they were not going to upgrade their Act! to the latest version because they had outgrown Act!. “Karen,” they explained, “Act! just isn’t giving us what we want. We need a good pipeline report. We can’t find any of the opportunities that we log…
Whether your business is large or small you know the amount of time it takes to keep organized, track customers, follow-up with them, and market your products to them. It can be overwhelming to keep track of all the details and have everyone in your organization on the same page. This is where customer relationship…
Having written over a dozen books on CRM software, it’s not unusual for me to receive calls from CRM users who want to “jump ship” and move from one product to another. The reasons may vary but the bottom-line is that the user feels that the current solution “just isn’t working.” I know first hand…
Customer Relation Management (CRM) systems have come a long way. Did you know that this sector is growing at an impressive 6% rate per year? The demand for quality CRM systems is growing at a fast pace because these tools help businesses boost their sales and productivity. There are a plethora of CRM tools on…
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 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…
Implementing a CRM solution can be a daunting – and expensive – proposition. Many organizations are already using tools including Outlook and Excel spreadsheets and can’t justify the expense involved in transitioning to a true CRM solution. As a CRM consultant advise prospective CRM users to “keep their eye on the prize” and remember the…
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…