With new “Social Sharing” features you can now connect your Sage E-Marketing for ACT! (AKA SEMA / AKA SwiftPage) emails directly to your social media accounts.   Using the new “Share at Send” feature, you can expand your email audience by automatically posting your email to your Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn pages.  Using “Footer Sharing” you’ll add social media sharing to your email, encouraging your recipients to share your emails with their social networks.  

Here are just two examples of ... [Read more: New Social Sharing features for SEMA / SwiftPage]]]>

With new “Social Sharing” features you can now connect your Sage E-Marketing for ACT! (AKA SEMA / AKA SwiftPage) emails directly to your social media accounts.   Using the new “Share at Send” feature, you can expand your email audience by automatically posting your email to your Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn pages.  Using “Footer Sharing” you’ll add social media sharing to your email, encouraging your recipients to share your emails with their social networks.  

Here are just two examples of how you could use this new feature to promote your organization:
1. You have a great newsletter with a strong message promoting your services.  With Social Sharing, when you email your newsletter from ACT!, you can automatically post a web version of it on your social sites, immediately expanding the potential universe of readers for your company’s message.

2. Have you ever gotten an email in your inbox that you wanted to share?  Sure, and now with Social Sharing we can let our emarketing readers easily share our great content.  By enabling the footer sharing feature in your Sage E-Marketing for ACT! account, your recipients can click on a button and tell their networks on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn about your message. Your marketing emails can now expand your universe for new leads. 

Email marketing coupled with social media is a growing trend in digital marketing.  If you would like to learn more about implementing Sage E-Marketing for ACT! and how to improve your social media footprint, contact Greg today! (gknapp@aspen-tech.com / 734.455.7188)

The latest update for Sage ACT! 2012 is now available.  Check out How To Download and Apply the Latest Hot Fix for Sage ACT! 2012 SP1 for more information about this important update and how to deploy it. 

NEW in Hot Fix 3 (released April 2012)

Sage ACT! Premium Mobile (SAPM) is the long-awaited mobile client that gives users rich, app-like access from their mobile devices (i.e. iPad, iPhone, Android) directly to their Sage ACT! Premium 2012 databases. This is the top feature in Sage ACT! 2012. 

SAPM is a free, self-hosted technology that uses cutting edge HTML5 coding and builds on the Sage ACT! Premium for Web (SAPW) infrastructure.   With SAPM you can access and update all of your pertinent ... [Read more: Introducing Sage ACT! Premium Mobile (SAPM)]]]>

Sage ACT! Premium Mobile (SAPM) is the long-awaited mobile client that gives users rich, app-like access from their mobile devices (i.e. iPad, iPhone, Android) directly to their Sage ACT! Premium 2012 databases. This is the top feature in Sage ACT! 2012. 

SAPM is a free, self-hosted technology that uses cutting edge HTML5 coding and builds on the Sage ACT! Premium for Web (SAPW) infrastructure.   With SAPM you can access and update all of your pertinent contact details, notes, histories and calendar items live from your main database, even when you are on the go.  No sync, the data is live on your mobile device. 

There’s no longer a need to carry your laptop or mess with synchronizing contacts and calendars with the many devices you own.  SAPM gives you the details you need when you’re on the go directly from your phone, tablet, or virtually any other internet-connected device. Watch SAPM in action in this short video.  If you would benefit from this unprecedented access to your Sage ACT! database, contact Greg (gknapp@aspen-tech.com) or Marshall (mknapp@aspen-tech.com) today!

Sage ACT! hosting solutions enable virtual companies to compete with their larger brick and mortar competitors. Recently, AspenTech Consulting Group helped one such company in Grand Rapids, MI meets its goals with this solution.

Problem A virtual regional professional services firm had sales reps throughout the Great Lakes region including: Kalamazoo, Benton Harbor, Muskegon, Traverse City, Flint, Lansing, Toledo, Fort Wayne, South Bend, among others. The firm had no contact management system in place. Reps used Outlook, Excel and Word to track everything and sometimes nothing, while the “home office” had no clear picture ... [Read more: Virtual Firm Thrives with Sage ACT! Hosted Solution]]]>

Sage ACT! hosting solutions enable virtual companies to compete with their larger brick and mortar competitors. Recently, AspenTech Consulting Group helped one such company in Grand Rapids, MI meets its goals with this solution.

Problem
A virtual regional professional services firm had sales reps throughout the Great Lakes region including: Kalamazoo, Benton Harbor, Muskegon, Traverse City, Flint, Lansing, Toledo, Fort Wayne, South Bend, among others. The firm had no contact management system in place. Reps used Outlook, Excel and Word to track everything and sometimes nothing, while the “home office” had no clear picture of what was happening in the field. Since the reps were on the road 80% of the time and often in areas without reliable Internet service, they required a solution that managed the data on their laptops.

Solution
This firm had no server, nor a desire to purchase and manage a server, so our hosted Sage ACT! solution was the perfect fit: A hosted Sage ACT! system with users routinely syncing. We designed a custom Sage ACT! system to meet the organization’s sales and marketing requirements.  Next the firm’s ”islands of data” were migrated into the new Sage ACT! system which was uploaded onto a cloud server.  Sales reps had Sage ACT! 2012 installed on their laptops and remote databases were deployed.  AspenTech Consulting Group worked with entire team via GoToMeeting training classes that were designed to incorporate the daily business practices of the firm into their use of Sage ACT!. 

Results
Within six months of implementation, the firm had 100% ROI from by closing the open opportunities that had been missed without having an ACT! system. Sales rep productivity is up significantly as a result of having accurate and consistent information at their fingertips. Management’s sales coaching is resulting in improved targeting of prospects with higher closing ratios. The firm now has a valuable and protected customer database enabling the owner to sleep at night. An unexpected benefit occurred when a sales rep left unexpectedly and a new rep was hired into that region. The new rep “inherited” the Sage ACT! contacts from the departed rep and sales in that region were barely impacted by the change.

Larry Ritter, Sage ACT! SVP & GM, recently was a guest columnist for CNBC discussing five great reasons businesses should integrate mobile solutions into their repertoire.   With the ever-increasing selection of powerful mobile devices (smartphones, tablets, etc.) more and more businesses want to ensure they’ll be able to leverage the power of these devices when their users are on the go.  We have great news for our ACT! users…  The solutions are aplenty!  Below is the range of options available to you as of today and it seems that new solutions are being added monthly. ... [Read more: Sage ACT! Mobile Solutions]]]>

Larry Ritter, Sage ACT! SVP & GM, recently was a guest columnist for CNBC discussing five great reasons businesses should integrate mobile solutions into their repertoire.   With the ever-increasing selection of powerful mobile devices (smartphones, tablets, etc.) more and more businesses want to ensure they’ll be able to leverage the power of these devices when their users are on the go.  We have great news for our ACT! users…  The solutions are aplenty!  Below is the range of options available to you as of today and it seems that new solutions are being added monthly.  As your trusted ACT! advisors, you aren’t in this alone.  We’re here to help determine which mobility solution will work best for you and your sales team.  When you’re ready to take advantage of the mobile solutions available for your ACT! users, get in touch with Marshall or Greg!

Native Sage ACT! Mobile Solutions

Sage ACT! Premium for Web (free with Sage ACT! Premium) – Any ACT! users on the “premium” tier of the product may install Sage ACT! Premium for Web.  Although not supported on mobile browsers at this time, you can access your company’s ACT! Web site live and can navigate through your database on a limited basis.

Sage ACT! Premium Mobile (free with Sage ACT! Premium 2012) – Expected to be released as a free update to ACT! Premium 2012 in the spring of 2012, this mobile version of ACT! Premium For Web will be a fully supported HTML5 client for mobile browsers.  This will give end-users direct access to their ACT! database via the browser on their smartphone or tablet through an interface designed specifically for those mobile devices.  No syncing; the database is available live over the web to your device.   Best of all, this will be included for all users currently on Sage ACT! Premium 2012.

Sage ACT! Connect ($70/user/year) – Similar to Sage ACT! Premium Mobile, this re-launched product will have HTML5 access designed for mobile browsers.   For users who don’t have the infrastructure to host their own website or don’t care to upgrade to Sage ACT! Premium, this is a great solution.

Third-Party Solutions

LogMeIn Ignition ($30/user) – LogMeIn Ignition gives you remote access to a PC in your office with ability to access any application (including ACT!) on that PC via the iPhones, iPads and Android devices.

CompanionLink ($80/user) – CompanionLink synchronizes your ACT! contacts and calendar to a variety of sources which ultimately can sync to the native Address Book and Calendar on mobile devices.  For this solution we recommend one-way sync only from ACT! to the handheld.

HandHeld Contact ($179/user/year) – HandHeld Contact synchronizes your ACT! data to a separate application on your mobile device.  iPhones, iPads, Blackberries and Windows Mobile devices are all currently supported.  We expect to see support for Android devices soon.

Earlier this week I had a guest blog published on a colleague’s site, Ya’ Think.  My blog dealt with the benefits of salespeople asking effective questions.   

All too often salespeople are quick to offer a solution based on the initial problem their client brings them.  The reality is that the problem the client brings you often isn’t the real problem.  And the solution the salesperson offered won’t solve their client’s problem. 

Effective questioning techniques will enable you to drill down to your client’s root issues, thus enabling you to craft a solution to meet their specific requirements.  Visit Ya’ Think ... [Read more: Effective Selling: The question is the answer.]]]>

Earlier this week I had a guest blog published on a colleague’s site, Ya’ Think.  My blog dealt with the benefits of salespeople asking effective questions.   

All too often salespeople are quick to offer a solution based on the initial problem their client brings them.  The reality is that the problem the client brings you often isn’t the real problem.  And the solution the salesperson offered won’t solve their client’s problem. 

Effective questioning techniques will enable you to drill down to your client’s root issues, thus enabling you to craft a solution to meet their specific requirements.  Visit Ya’ Think to read the entire post.

The latest update for Sage ACT! 2012 is now available.  Check out How To Download and Apply the Latest Hot Fix for Sage ACT! 2012 SP1 for more information about this important update and how to deploy it. NEW in Hot Fix 1 (released January 2012)

Sage North America has announced that AspenTech Consulting Group was named the top Sage ACT! reseller in the Great Lakes region for the second half of 2011.  AspenTech had previously placed fourth among all North American ACT! Certified Consultants in fiscal year 2011. 

These awards are a reflection of the thousands of satisfied customers that AspenTech has had the pleasure of serving over the years.  It has been a privilege helping so many wonderful companies succeed with Sage ACT!.  Thank you for placing your trust ... [Read more: AspenTech Named A Top Sage ACT! Reseller]]]>

Sage North America has announced that AspenTech Consulting Group was named the top Sage ACT! reseller in the Great Lakes region for the second half of 2011.  AspenTech had previously placed fourth among all North American ACT! Certified Consultants in fiscal year 2011. 

These awards are a reflection of the thousands of satisfied customers that AspenTech has had the pleasure of serving over the years.  It has been a privilege helping so many wonderful companies succeed with Sage ACT!.  Thank you for placing your trust in AspenTech.

The latest update for Sage ACT! 2011 is now available.  Check out How To Download and Apply the Latest Hot Fix for Sage ACT! 2011 SP1 for more information about this important update and how to deploy it.

NEW in Hot Fix 6 (released December 2011)

Cloud       Cloud       Cloud

Heard that word recently?  It seems to be everywhere.  You probably hear it daily, if not more.  We here at AspenTech are asked about it all the time.  Can ACT! be “in the cloud?  Absolutely.  The cloud may not be the right platform for all applications nor is it the right platform for all businesses; but, with the right mix of software and business environment variables, the cloud can save you time and money ... [Read more: ACT!’s Place in The Cloud]]]>

Cloud       Cloud       Cloud

Heard that word recently?  It seems to be everywhere.  You probably hear it daily, if not more.  We here at AspenTech are asked about it all the time.  Can ACT! be “in the cloud?  Absolutely.  The cloud may not be the right platform for all applications nor is it the right platform for all businesses; but, with the right mix of software and business environment variables, the cloud can save you time and money and keep your local office networks more secure.

If you don’t have a server or don’t have one that is internet-accessible to your remote users, or perhaps you’re not interested in the initial purchase, maintenance and upkeep of your own server, then hosting applications in the cloud may be the right decision for your business.  AspenTech recognizes this and we offer ACT! hosting services which enable our clients move their ACT! databases to the cloud.

AspenTech’s cloud-based ACT! hosting services provide server hosting for offline database synchronization as well as real-time ACT! for Web access .   Our solution keeps all of your users on the same page, sharing the same ACT! database, no matter where they’re working today.  Additionally, you maintain full control of your database fields and user privileges just as if the database was on your own server. Best of all, this is done with no server or network investment on your part.

All of our servers are housed in a certified, collocated data center, so you don’t have to worry about any type of disaster taking you offline.  The system also provides nightly backups, regular database maintenance, and emergency support is available.

Whether your business is local, global, or anywhere in between, our cloud-based ACT! hosting services can make your CRM system a success.