How ACT! Premium Contributes to your Team

ACT! Premium Solutions offer online, offline, and mobile access options, you and your team will have anywhere access whether office-based, traveling, or remote. Take advantage of this powerful functionality today and accomplish tasks crucial to the success of your organisation.

Key Drivers and Benefits

Contact and Customer Management:
Your pain point - Do you and your team need every detail about prospect and customer relationships in a central location for easy referencing?

Solution - Centralise important prospect and customer relationship details for quick, organised access. With ACT! Premium Solutions, you and your team track detailed contact information, including notes, history, activities, sales opportunities, and documents - all tied to the associated Contact Record for a complete, integrated view. Even track Companies with multiple contacts associated or groups of related contacts for easier communicating. If this data currently exists in another system, simply import it as either .txt or .csv and keep everything in ACT! going forward. With complete prospect and customer details in ACT!, you and your team get accurate, detailed information about contacts, no matter which team member last interacted, impressing prospects and customers with knowledge about their needs.  Keep your relationship details in one place for easy tracking and access so you provide superior service - ensuring your prospects turn into customers and your current customers remain happy. With ACT!, populate 60+ pre-defined fields for your prospects and customers, including Contact, Company, Phone, Address, Web site, E-mail, and ID/Status such as Lead, or add your own. For each contact you keep in ACT!, enter Notes, History, Activities, Opportunities, Documents, Secondary Contacts, and more. If this data already exists in another system, simply import it to keep everything in ACT!. When you receive a phone call from a prospect, just search on his/her name and get to their Contact Record in an instant using powerful search capabilities, including lookups and advanced queries, in an easy-to-use format. Because all the details are in ACT!, you impress your contacts with your knowledge about their unique circumstances to build stronger relationships. And, with all this information at your fingertips, you no longer have to check multiple sources.

Company Management:
Your pain point - Do you and your team work with multiple contacts at the same company, but do not have an easy way to track all these interactions?

Solution - Manage interactions at the company or account level for a complete view of relationships with that organization. Create Company and Division records, associate key contacts to those records, and view all associated Notes, History, and Activities for each. To keep information up-to-date in both places with ease, link contacts to companies so when core company information is updated such as an address or Web site, it is automatically updated in each contact as well. With all this information tied to a single Company Record, you and your team keep and access this information in a central location.

Intuitive Interface:
Your pain point -  Are team members within your organisation resistant to adopting a new solution because they are concerned it will take too much time to learn? 

Solution -  Get up-to-speed quickly and remain productive with ACT! Premium because of its easy to learn and use interface - eliminating the need for formal training. With ACT!, you and your team get complete information on one screen with a tabbed interface, right-click and one-click functionality, setup assistance for configuring preferences, and robust search capabilities. Plus, whether you and your team use Windows®- or Web-based options, you have a similar look and experience. Lastly, with volumes of help available, including interactive feature tours, online help, documentation, and more, you and your team can count on ACT! to provide a variety of options for quick help, if needed.

Lookups and Searching:
Your pain point -  Do you and your team spend precious time searching for a single piece of information like a phone number or a sent e-mail? 

Solution -  Find specific relationship details instantly using powerful search capabilities in an easy-to-use format. With multiple search options available, including lookups and advanced queries, you and your team find the exact data you need, without frustration. For instance, search for all contacts in Auckland or build more advanced searches such as all contacts in Auckland marked as leads, and create groups based on any search. Utilise right-click functionality on all fields to perform a search from that location and on that entity, like a Company field. And, when you and your team are multi-tasking, get back to any search you previously conducted with the ability to view the last several contact lookups, without having to start from scratch. With so many options available, you and your team get the exact information you need, without delay.

Sales Opportunity Management:
Your pain point -  Are you and your team so busy that new leads sometimes go by the wayside?

Solution -  Forecast and track sales opportunities to stay on top of all new leads and to provide management with insight into sales pipelines. With ACT! Premium, track sales opportunities from initial inquiry through close, utilising the ACT! sales process or a process customised to suit you and your team’s selling philosophy for managing leads each step of the way. When working a sales opportunity, schedule a follow-up activity which is populated automatically with the opportunity details - ensuring all tasks are covered as a lead moves through the sales process. And, track products on each sales opportunity, specifying product discounts and costs for each item – even generate Instant Quotes without having to enter additional information. You and your team get a complete view of sales pipelines with the dashboard or with one of 20 pre-formatted sales reports for a better understanding of which sales are tracking to close this month, quarter, or year and where to focus your attention in the coming days or weeks. Management gauges the performance status of you and your team using team views on the dashboard and with reports specific to each team member for coaching underperforming reps without delay. And, with more visibility into sales pipelines, more accurate forecasts are generated for your organization.

Find specific relationship details instantly using powerful search capabilities in an easy-to-use format. With multiple search options available, including lookups and advanced queries, you and your team find the exact data you need, without frustration. For instance, search for all contacts in Auckland or build more advanced searches such as all contacts in Auckland marked as leads, and create groups based on any search. Utilise right-click functionality on all fields to perform a search from that location and on that entity, like a Company field. And, when you and your team are multi-tasking, get back to any search you previously conducted with the ability to view the last several contact lookups, without having to start from scratch. With so many options available, you and your team get the exact information you need, without delay.  

Calendar and Activity Management:
Your pain point -  Are you and your team missing deadlines or having trouble staying productive throughout the day?

Solution -  Manage daily responsibilities by scheduling and tracking activities within ACT! Premium Solutions to ensure individual and team productivity. Multiple options for managing schedules for the day, week, or month are available to you and your team using one of many calendar views, the Task List for a filterable view of all activities, and the dashboard which provides a graphical summary view of you and your team’s schedule and scheduled tasks. If your organisation uses Outlook, copy ACT! and Outlook calendars automatically to keep activities up-to-date in both schedules. Ensure you and your team stay on top of deliverables by setting Activity Alarms. Any activities not completed roll over to the next day. Schedule an Activity Series for routine activities with multiple steps to automate redundant tasks. Because activities in an Activity Series are linked, a due date change to one will realign related activities. And, utilise group scheduling functionality across your team, including resource management, user availability and invitations, and activity viewing for more than 10 users. Management gets visibility into you and your team’s activities to ensure time is allocated appropriately using team views on the dashboard and with reports specific to each team member. With ACT!, benefit from improvements to overall individual and team productivity all day, every day.

Prospect and Customer Communications:
Your pain point -   Do you and your team struggle to communicate with prospects and customers on a regular basis? Is tracking these communications daunting at best because of all the team members involved?

Solution -  Communicate consistently and successfully with prospects and customers using Microsoft® Outlook® or other e-mail solutions used by your organisation. Send and receive e-mails using Outlook, Outlook Express®, Lotus Notes®, or the ACT! E-mail Client. However you and your team prefer it, integrating ACT! Premium Solutions with the e-mail solution already in use enables you to work without interruption, but also track vital information in ACT! for easy referencing later. Additionally, reach out to multiple contacts at once using Mail Merge with pre-formatted templates for sending communications to you and your team’s leads list or to contacts that are up for renewal this month. All of these communications are linked to each contact for a complete record of sent communications, no matter which team member last touched base. This way, you and your team ensure you are reaching out to prospects and customers with the appropriate frequency. Rely on ACT! to help you and your team track all communications, no matter which e-mail option your organisation chooses or how those communications were sent and received. 

Dashboards and Reporting:
Your pain point -  Do you and your team need a clear, consistent view of sales pipelines when the end of the week, month, or quarter rolls around?

Solution -  Gain instant and accurate insight into individual and team performance using dashboards and reports. Interactive dashboards provide you and your team with a comprehensive summary view of top priorities and sales opportunities, including a gauge of team targets, and enable management to monitor the performance status of you and your team. You and your team can set the dashboard as your default startup view to begin the workday with a snapshot of this information so you understand your priorities for the day. Management gets more detailed insight into individual and team performance with one of 40 pre-formatted reports, including Activity Reports, Sales Summaries, and more for each team member or for the team as a whole. Or, for further analysis or for times when this data needs to be presented to upper management, send most reports to Excel, HTML, PDF, or e-mail. Having a roll-up of this information allows you and your team to understand which activities and sales opportunities require immediate attention, and it provides management with a gauge of team performance, enabling them to coach underperforming team members without delay.

Data Sharing and Security:
Your pain point - Do you and your team require visibility into prospect and customer relationships, no matter who owns the account? Does your organisation need to retain this information even as your team experiences turnover?

Solution - Share and secure precious prospect and customer relationship details across teams of users. With ACT! Premium Solutions, you and your team get a view of detailed contact information, while management gets a view of individual and team performance. And, because this information is contained in ACT!, administrators can keep information secure across your organisation by setting security options at the Contact, Group, Company, and field levels, marking each as full, read-only, or no access for particular users and teams. Assign up to five security levels and restrict users from deleting and exporting ACT! data to keep this information as an organisational asset, even as team members come and go. Finally, set password rules, including password expiration options, complexity, and re-use, to keep data secure from intruders. All this ensures your organisation maintains high security standards for you and your team’s valuable contact information.

Codeless Customisation:
Your pain point - Does your organisation require a highly customisable solution to fulfil requirements?

Solution - Easily customise ACT! Premium Solutions, with little technical knowledge required, to fulfill the requirements of your organisation and to ensure adoption. Administrators can utilise codeless tools to customise ACT!, including point-and-click functionality in the Layout Designer to add fields and tabs, designate field types, change layout colors, and insert your organisation’s logo into main layout views. Dashboards can be customised using the Dashboard Designer to display the information that is most pertinent to you and your team. Even customise Priority, Activity, and History types for defining something like “Billable Hours” as an activity. Lastly, edit or create report templates using the Report Designer. Plus, you and your team can still customise ACT! to fit your needs by personalising menus, toolbars, and the navigation bar, while maintaining organisational mandates. Because ACT! can be so highly customised, it fits the needs of your organisation exactly, ensuring overall satisfaction.

Administration:
Your pain point - Does your organisation need a solution that will reduce implementation burden?

Solution - Deploy and implement ACT! Premium Solutions quickly and maintain it with ease. Administrators can install and deploy ACT! using Silent Install for rolling-out the Windows product, establish a link and logins for rolling-out the Web product, or provide both for each user in your organisation. Once installed, setting up teams of users is accomplished in no time with the ability to perform team functions, like grouping team members for easily granting access and user permissions on multiple levels. Additionally, maintaining ACT! and ensuring database health is easy with automatic database functions including backup, maintenance, and sync, keeping your organisation’s precious contact information safe and up-to-date. Implementing and maintaining a solution to manage you and your team’s contact information has never been easier. 

Anywhere Workforce:
Your pain point - Are you and your team scattered among different offices, with some team members working remotely? Does your organisation need one solution to fit everyone’s access needs?  

Solution - Support an anywhere workforce with Windows®, Web, and mobile access options. ACT! Premium Solutions are available for use in a standalone or mixed use environment, allowing administrators to provide a solution that matches how each user in your organisation works, and still enjoy the benefits of centralised customer data. Because the Windows and Web products are full-featured ACT! applications, unlike many other CRM online/offline solutions, you and your team truly receives seamless access options. Additionally, sync ACT! to Palm OS®, Pocket PC, BlackBerry, and iPhone devices for all the power and convenience of ACT! on-the-go. Or, you and your team can access via Citrix or Terminal Services. With these options available, you and your team can be productive wherever you are.

Integration:
Your pain point - Has your organisation already invested in technology applications?

Solution - Integrate ACT! Premium Solutions with the applications already used by your organisation while making the most of existing technology investments. Utilise ACT! with Microsoft® Office, Lotus Notes®, and more, enabling you and your team to work with the applications they already know. Additionally, connect your organisation’s front- and back-offices by integrating ACT! with popular accounting solutions for a real-time view of customer and vendor interactions. Not only are you and your team satisfied, but administrators save on costs and eliminate the need to deploy and learn all-new applications.

Extensibility:
Your pain point - Does your organisation require more advanced customisations and functionality?

Solution - Enhance the power of ACT! Premium Solutions with extensibility options available to administrators. Utilise free downloads available on ACT! Dev Net to extend ACT! functionality or check out powerful enhancement solutions designed to expand core ACT! functionality, including e-mail marketing, quoting, analytics, and more - all available through third-party vendors. Administrators with advanced technical skills can also make enhancements to ACT! with the ACT! Software Development Kit (SDK), OLEDB Provider, ACT! Reader, and SA Password tools.