But, what if you wanted to append something to 30 contacts (or any size lookup) to an existing lookup ?  Act! won’t allow that.  This utility by xAct software in New Zealand does this for free.  Please note it only works on character fields, not memo fields.

The post How to append values to a field to many contacts at once in Act! appeared first on MondoCRM.

The commas get entered by default because Act! follows the Windows regional settings.  This video shows you how to change the settings. Close Act!. Follow the video. Then reopen Act! to see the changes.

The post How to Fix Commas in Number Fields in Act! appeared first on MondoCRM.

• Reach the hundreds of contacts you cannot call today
• Build brand awareness
• Ensure marketing gets done without daily manual intervention

Before any tool is implemented, the first thing to do is segment your database by industry.

Here are some screenshots of various systems. You can change these highlighted choices quickly as you finish each conversation with a client.  As you send more targeted campaigns, open and read rates will increase.  Here is our evidence from our campaigns.

Act! Example:

Salesforce Example:

Zoho Example:

The post Automate Marketing in CRM – First Step appeared first on MondoCRM.

For non-coders like us, we’ll use Zapier instead.  Zapier is a service that helps you connect different applications without knowing how to code.  Zapier offers a free version with some billable upgrades that integrates Act! and hundreds of other apps without learning code.

Here are some ideas:

• When a new lead comes in from your website using WuFoo, automatically create a contact in Act!. Sample
• Scan a business card into Act! from your mobile phone
• Automatically adding new subscribers (contacts) from MailChimp automatically go into Act! as contacts
• Automatically adding new contacts from Constant Contact sign up forms automatically go into Act! as contacts
• Automatically add Google Contacts to Act! contacts
• Automatically add Eventbrite attendees as Act! contacts

System Requirements:

• Act! Premium v18.2+ with a current subscription.
• A free account with Zapier

Tech notes if you want to know more:

• The REST API for Act! was introduced in v17.1, and if you installed Act! Premium for Web; then, the REST API was available.  However, 90% of Act! clients didn’t have this.  So, in Act! v18.2, Swiftpage partnered with Cloud Elements that creates all the work to enable the REST API without installing the infrastructure locally.

The post Introducing Act! Connect appeared first on MondoCRM.

Act! is no different.  Yes, it’s easy to use shortcut commands like CTRL-H to record history and CTRL-L to schedule a new call.  However, act! out-of-the-box doesn’t know the rest of your customized business processes you take

Instead of taking several steps properly record “Call Left Message” for your weekly reports, AutoMatoR1 can create a single button for that. Or, for that matter think of any repetitive task you want to simply and make error free with AutoMatoR1.

If you are trying to make any business process faster in act!, send us a request. Chances are we may have a solution for you.

httpv://youtu.be/9hWIaOz0KRY

The post Automate Data Entry with ACT! appeared first on MondoCRM.

Deduping a database from scratch. How would you go about it?

Our customer database has quite a few duplicate records in it (both businesses and contacts). How would you go about the initial dedupe? What steps would you put in place to ensure records aren’t duplicated in the future? Is there any tech to help do this? Thanks!

My answer:

Each CRM has third party tools that help with the mechanics of this.

You should examine…

1) How many criteria do you believe are the most consistent ?
2) Do you want the computer to replace the newest record ?
3) What do you do with the “leftovers” ? For example if two people have different phone numbers, you replace one, how do record the “leftover” ?

How do you eliminate it completely ? hmmm…That’s a tough one.

As a start, you could use e-mail as a match. Of course, then what if a client offers his personal and not business address for one person, then, not the other one ? Company and contact name are good starts.

I believe you have to set a couple criteria that flag you if one of three criteria meet the duplicate standard; then, let the user decide

The post Database Duplication Process appeared first on MondoCRM.

When I first started using e-mail as a marketing technique, I would just erase their address when it came back or unsubscribed from my list.

Now, I added two fields in the database, “Bounce” or “Opt-Out” as checkbox (yes/no) fields.

Then, I make my “E-Mail List” group in Act! exclude bounces or opt-outs.

Why ?

You can call to ask why or find out if their has been an employee change at the company. It offers an excuse to have a valid conversation with a client or prospect that you e-mailed once before.

Sage E-Marketing for Act! also delivers a list of opt-outs to your inbox.  You will see a list with emails listed as one address for line.

mark@demo.email
mm@demo.email

Use this free tool for Act! 2010+ to lookup these contacts and update your mailing list accordingly.

E-Mail Marketing isn’t the panacea, but one of many different options to reach your clients and prospects.

The post Sage E-Marketing for ACT! – List Cleanup Tip appeared first on MondoCRM.

I have been reading Selling Power magazine for many years, and I finally figured out they don’t talk much about CRM. Why ? I believe they don’t like data entry or even re-entry or administrative work like compiling reports. So, when you design the CRM, ask the software or your local consultant to make it “one-click” easy. Since I used ACT! when I was in sales, I thought it was “second nature” for others like me to take 5 clicks and moving between 4 fields to enter in a history with the proper details.  Turns out I was wrong. One of my clients pushed me real hard to make macros in WiredContact.  With WiredContact, I can one button do the following:

• Record a “Sales Call” rather than a generic “history done” or a “note”.
• Automatically fill in the “Regarding ” Field to say: Sales call with John Kaufman at The CRM Connection
• All the sales person needs to do is say what happened.

OK, that’s fine, but what’s in that for the sales manager and those looking for trends in their company ? With one click, I made WiredContact do the following:

• Filter the current week (day or month)
• List only successful 2 way conversations or meetings
• Tally the number of meetings by category, number of cold calls and voicemails
• Count the Number of fields updated.  This way the manager can summarize whether the sales rep is updating the data so he can be well armed for subsequent calls
• Section this off by Sales Rep

Consider this when designing your CRM system, no matter the platform.  Push your consultant to make it even easier to get data into the system.

The post Make It Easier for Your Sales Reps to Sell appeared first on MondoCRM.