There’s A Method to My Madness! » ACT! Consulting

Top 10 Business Resolutions for 2011

Greg Knapp — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 13:03:46 +0000

As is my tradition around New Years, I like to reflect on the past year and think about what’s important in the coming year. Here’s my list of resolutions for the new year (and don’t be surprised if ACT! is mentioned in only a few of them.)

1. As I was thinking about this post, I re-read my resolutions from last year. What surprised me is that they are all relevant as we look into 2011. So my first resolution is to revisit that blog and apply any suggestions that make sense.

2. Create a plan. Yes, this sounds boring and basic, but in a business climate as unforgiving as this, can you afford not to have a plan? Rather than being a time-waster, a plan can save you time and save money by giving you a context against which to evaluate the relevance of your actions, not to mention help you stay on target.

3. Double down on what worked in 2010. Whatever paid off last year is worth investing more resources, time and money in for 2011. Ask yourself what promotions got your client’s attention. What was your top-selling service or product and how can we get your clients to buy more? ACT! users, what does your Opportunities Referred By report tell you were your top referral sources in 2010?

4. Experiment with something new. Yes, this may make you anxious and take you outside of your comfort zone, but trying something new may be the best option. And the best new ideas often come from conversations with your clients, suppliers and employees.

5. Fire your D-grade clients. This may seem radical when you feel like every dollar of revenue is important, but high-maintenance, low-margin clients suck time and resources from more profitable clients. Make a list of your clients (ACT! users had better already have this in place) and then give each of them a grade. Again, with ACT!, ID/Status is a great way to do this (Client-A, Client-B, etc.) For everyone below a C, create a plan to turn them into A’s. By the way, another benefit of this strategy is the discipline of evaluating each client’s potential value to your company and plan a client specific strategy for raising C’s to B’s and B’s to A’s.

6. Get rid of the “Lookie-Loos”. Fill your funnel with prospects that will actually buy from you. Have you been working on prospects that no longer return your calls or e-mails? Remove them from your hot list and put them back into your marketing funnel (ACT! drip marketing, do I hear you calling?) Then, only call on prospects where you know: a) the pain you solve for them, b) their budget, and c) who can me the buying decision. Separating “Lookie-Loos” from the real buyers will increase your sales productivity.

7. Leverage your brand. In 2011 it’s more important than ever to avoid becoming a “me too” brand. It’s time to distill your “secret sauce”–what you bring to your clients that others don’t. Next let’s go back to resolution #5 and figure out the profile of our ideal client. (You are tracking those characteristics in ACT!, aren’t you?) Combine your secret sauce with your target client profile and you are ready to gear your marketing to that niche.

8. Expand your marketing. Insanity is . . . you know, doing the same thing and expecting different results. Keep in mind that marketing today includes traditional media and social media. Don’t be timid, try a new marketing approach, especially if it makes you stretch. Keep yourself on the growing edge and keep refining your marketing as you find things that work.

9. Expand your network. Even if you’ve embraced LinkedIn and Facebook, face-to-face is still important to close new business and get referrals. Back to ACT! again, take a look at who referred clients to you last year; what clients have relationships with the same vendors? . . . a single coffee or lunch with a “center of influence” or vendor could lead to many new clients. Need some inspiration? Check out John Jantsch’s best selling book The Referral Engine and learn how to turn on the referral faucet.

10. Shift your brain. For resolutions to occur, everything must start with an internal shift of your mindset. Resolve that the glass is once again half full and keep your mind free of self doubt, worry or fear.

Let me know what you think of these ideas as well as other resolutions on your own list for 2011.

Installing ACT! 2010 on XP – MUST BE SP3

Marshall Knapp — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 12:35:12 +0000

If you’re installing or planning to install ACT! 2010 on Windows XP, make sure you have SP3 installed. System crashes have been reported on XP SP2 systems as a result of an issue with Microsoft SQL Server 2005 SP3. This is detailed in the following ACT! Knowledge Base article: Blue Stop Error and System Crash When Installing ACT! 2010. The ACT! 2010 System Requirements have also been updated to require Windows XP SP3. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact the AspenTech for support.

ACT! like you have a Porsche

Greg Knapp — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 21:35:03 +0000

This weekend I picked up a magazine (yes, I still read ink) and came across a great quote. “Most CRM users have the equivalent of a Porsche. They’re driving it like my grandmother would.” This is so true. We deal primarily with ACT! in our consulting practice. The majority of our clients started using ACT! before they came to us and this year, we’ve helped many with their ACT! “driving skills.”

In 2009 companies awoke to the fact that they have been underutilizing ACT! At some time in the past they made the investment in the software but that is where their effort stopped. Here’s a little of what we’ve heard:

- ACT! is little more than a Rolodex.
- No, we haven’t customized the database. That’s what notes are for.
- No, nobody has any training in ACT!, we just installed it and let everyone figure it out.
- It’s only available when we’re in the office and sales spends most of their time in the field.
- The sales team doesn’t want to enter information twice, if they did that they would never sell a thing.

The list goes on, but the point is they have a Porsche and they’ve been driving it like their grandmother would. To take advantage of this Porsche they have to balance the three sides of any solid ACT! contact management, or CRM solution: Select the right software, design and implement the pieces so it meets the need of the organization and then train, train and train the users. Only when you put those three components together in a balanced solution, will you have a contact management system that supports the sales and marketing goals of the organization and returns a solid ROI!

When we talk with our clients about their specific challenges, they are astonished at how a well designed ACT! system will meet their needs. Did you know that ACT! has the capability to optimize prospect research, lead generation and nurturing, sales team collaboration and pipeline management? When you leverage those capabilities to solve efficiency and effectiveness challenges of your sales team, you are creating a competitive advantage over the competition.

So, stop driving your Porsche like your grandmother. Instead get a remedial course in driving school. Sit down with a certified professional who knows your CRM tool, whether it’s ACT! or not. Share your challenges and ask them to show you how to optimize the use of what you already have or enhance your system with innovative add-ons that turbo charge your system’s usage and effectiveness – and with it, your 2009 sales performance.