Michelle Scott

If it doesn’t fit

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One of the hardest things when selling is realizing when a sale doesn’t fit.  It takes a lot to gracefully walk away.  Or, harder still, knowing the right solution isn’t in your stable and then pointing the customer in the right direction.  Because one of our biggest products is actually our service, this is something we’ve learned over the years.  There are a lot of choices, and this probably hits home with anyone that sells.  We can’t be the perfect fit for everyone.  ACT! or ACT! hosting, and the services we offer aren’t what everyone needs.  And as hard as we try, we certainly can’t make everyone happy.  Read more

Michelle Scott

Help! IE 9 installed and ACT! won’t work

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For the last couple of weeks, about one out of every five e-mails we receive are ACT! Premium for Web issues caused by Internet Explorer 9.    Things like, “all of a sudden, I can’t get to my database”  or APFW users are getting the “cannot display the page” nasty-grams from Internet Explorer.  What a lot of users don’t understand is that Microsoft pushes updates to your machine, depending on your Windows Update settings, sometimes without you even realizing.  The best medicine here, per the old adage, is prevention.  One of our earlier posts touched on this also -http://famous-loaf.flywheelsites.com/2011/04/what-will-that-upgrade-impact/.  We try to ensure our customers are in the know, but you have things to do, businesses to run, sales to close, and we know computer things happen.  Read more

Michelle Scott

New fangled sales technique?

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I spend a lot of time reading, watching and soaking up information about sales and marketing.  The marketing side being my “past life” and something I’m still very interested in, and sales being my thing.  It’s what I love and a talent I constantly hone.  I like to joke that I wish God gave me the gift of a singing voice, instead He gave me sales.  In a lot of articles, blogs, tweets and YouTube videos lately, Sales Coaches and Marketing Experts preach that the old way of selling is dead.  You need to leave the “old” ways behind.  It’s all about technology, social media and changing it up.  Is it?  Read more

Michelle Scott

Your Virtual Assistant – ACT!

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Most sales gurus will tell you that staying in touch is one of the most important things we can do as good sales people.  Some go so far as to prescribe a minimum number of touch points you should make.  I’d like to think I know a thing or two about selling.  I’ve been selling since I was 16, everything from cold call telemarketing to my current CRM career.  And, yes, I’ll brag a bit.  Trilogy has been in the top 25 for Sage ACT! sales for the last 7 years.  If you ask me what the most important staying in touch tactic is, I have to go with remembering to stay in touch.

So, how can you ensure that?  Schedule it in ACT!, of course.    Read more

Michelle Scott

Sage ACT! E-marketing

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If you work with us, you know we do not push products we don’t believe in.  If we haven’t tried it, used it, or received positive feedback about it we don’t sell it.  Sage ACT! E-marketing is one that if you aren’t using it, you probably should. 

Almost daily we receive questions about how to send e-mail campaigns.  Without dredging too deeply into why you shouldn’t just blast out of Outlook, skipping the soap box speech on CAN-SPAM rules, and glossing over putting yourself at risk of being black listed, (all very direct hints that those are bad things)  we thought we’d point out a great utility that’s literally built into ACT! – ACT! E-marketing.  If you send out newsletters, announcements, or just regularly scheduled touch base e-mails, you really need this add-on. 

You see Sage ACT! E-marketing every time you open ACT! and likely don’t even realize it.  It’s that button in the toolbar with the fluffy little cloud behind it. 

There is also data dropped right in your database if you subscribe to ACT! E-marketing.  That is the tab you probably click on and immediately close because you don’t know what that dialog box is that splashes your screen. 

ACT! E-marketing is a safe way to send out glossy, professional e-mails.  Because it is powered by Swiftpage, it includes web reports and tools that help you hone your e-marketing based on real results.   You can track open rates, manage opt-outs, all those things you need to know to be a nimble e-marketer.   

You should check it out.  Free, live demos of Sage ACT! E-marketing.  Or, give us a call, we’d be happy to talk about how we leverage Sage ACT! E-marketing.

Michelle Scott

Beyond Meetings, Calls & Todo’s

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One of the great things about ACT! is its flexibility.  You can tailor so much of the application to fit your process.  Yes, we know most people install it out-of-the-box and never even relable a single field.  (Shameless plug, we can help with that!)  One of the simple ways you can customize ACT! to your process is by creating Custom Activity Types.  Because each company’s process is slightly different, the old Meeting, Call and To-do options just don’t cover it.  We have customers across almost every imaginable industry.  Pharmaceutical reps need to track their doctor’s office “Drop Ins”, another company needs to schedule “Equipment Deliveries”, and yet another has and Activity Type of “Install”.   Sure they all have Calls, Meetings and To-dos also, but they have those just outside the box items that warrant a custom type.  In the latest versions of ACT!, you, or your trusted TrilogyCRM ACT! CC, can customize the Types.  Read more

Michelle Scott

Sage ACT! 2012 Road Show

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Summer means sunshine, swimming pools, beach vacations, and . . . software previews.  Sage ACT! 2012 is coming to Columbus for a special preview prior to its release this Fall.  This year, we are happy to sponsor the Ohio edition of the Sage ACT! 2012 Road Show.  The ACT! 2012 Road Show is a great, FREE way to see the latest product features right in your backyard.  We’ll have Sage employees on hand to showcase what’s new and improved.  Read more

Michelle Scott

Export to Excel – Better than a Report

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If you keep up, you’ll notice we love pointing out things that ACT! users don’t necessarily notice.  We get it, there are a lot of pretty buttons.  So many to click on, too many to know them all.  Well, we’ve tasked ourselves with keeping you in the know regarding the ones that can make your life easier. 

Fairly often, customers ask things like can they can print a report of all of their sales reps top accounts in their territory.  Or, they might want to see a report of all of their customers that came from a particular referral source.  First thought, as an ACT! CC, do you really want a report?  A report is typically something canned, and is typically in a stagnant format.  Then, do you really want to print it?  Most of the time, it’s not a report the customer is looking for.  It’s a list they want.  And, what they want in or on that list is a moving target.  That’s why we love the Export to Excel feature.  It’s been there for a few versions, but it’s one of those, “show me that again” features we love to show off in demos and trainings.  Simple and effective.  Read more

Robb Shirey

Trilogy Awarded Top Performer Award from Sage Software

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We found out today that TrilogyCRM was awarded the Top Performer Award for our Region, for the Fiscal Half  of 2011. Sage Software presents these awards to the top performing ACT! Certified Consulting firms on the half and full year. We have a talented team, that works so well together.  Recognition like this Top Performer award help us to continue to shine.  We’ll display the trophy proudly.  Of course, we’d like to say thank you to our team for your hard work and dedication to the product and the company!

Take a look at the announcement.

Robb Shirey

Unsolicited Praises

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Sometimes, when you are in the customer service business, your hard work and effort to make and keep the customer happy go un-noticed.  Then there are the times, from out of the blue, when we receive a glowing recommendation.  Those completely unsolicited praises are the ones that truly mean the world to us!

This e-mail is from a current TrilogyCRM client to a prospect.  The prospect contacted our customer to find out about their experience working with Trilogy. This email made most of us blush, and reminded us our jobs are worth it.

Hi Jack,We started using Trilogy approximately 8 months ago. We have been using ACT! for 2+ years and I am extremely pleased with Trilogy for the following reasons:

– Customization: We are a third party logistics company that specializes in providing customized solutions. Therefore, we needed ACT! to be altered to fit our different services and solutions. Trilogy was able to meet all of our needs.

– Level of Expertise: Throughout the customization process, we had a vision of what we wanted. Trilogy knows ACT! inside and out, and provided suggestions that we didn’t think of. They have the foresight to know what is the best solution for what you want.

– Responsiveness: Part of my duties as Marketing Manager is to help our Sales force download, manage, and upload. They had many questions throughout the process and was able to rely on the customer support Trilogy provides. There were extremely responsive – every time the reply was less than an hour! They also have live customer support via their website/ live chat which provides immediate assistance.

– Customer Service: Overall, they have the mentality that the customer is the boss. They have excellent customer service and do whatever it takes to keep you satisfied with their service.

The challenges we have faced with ACT! have been met head on with Trilogy quickly responding with assistance or suggestions. I highly recommend them.

If you have any additional questions, please don’t hesitate to call me.

Regards,
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Jaime McLiverty | Manager; Marketing | Unyson Logistics – A Hub Group Company