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- Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
- Kategorie: Wissenschaft und neue Technologien
- Sprache: Englisch
Are you ready to reap the benefits of the bestselling contact relationship manager (CRM) software on the market today? Well, then--get into the act with ACT! 2008 and find out how the latest version of this exciting software enables you to set up a database that's right for you so that you can focus on your business and career growth while also saving time and money. With this fun and friendly guide in hand, you'll discover how ACT! organizes customer information in one place, safely shares customer info between workgroups, and provides you with forecast tools, reports, and a contact database. Whether you're new to the features of ACT! or you are familiar with the basics but have not yet put to use ACT!'s more advanced abilities, this nuts-and-bolts reference has been updated and revised to make sure that you are up to speed on the most efficient way to organize your customer relationships and activities. Author and full-time ACT! Certified Consultant and ACT! Premier Trainer Karen Fredricks walks you through tasks such as: * Setting up the contact database * Adding multiple contacts to a group and adding contacts to a company * Changing contact-level security access * Scheduling activities * Using the basic ACT! Reports * Designing new reports * Automating the backup process * Integrating with Outlook * Creating groups ACT! by Sage For Dummies, 9th Edition also boasts a companion Web site that includes all the updates for the 2008 version of ACT! You'll be amazed by just how quickly you'll be able to set up a database and get it to act for you.
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Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2011
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ACT!® by Sage For Dummies®, 9th Edition
by Karen S. Fredricks
ACT!® by Sage For Dummies®, 9th Edition
Published byWiley Publishing, Inc.111 River St.Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774www.wiley.com
Copyright © 2007 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana
Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana
Published simultaneously in Canada
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Legal Department, Wiley Publishing, Inc., 10475 Crosspoint Blvd., Indianapolis, IN 46256, (317) 572-3447, fax (317) 572-4355, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions.
Trademarks: Wiley, the Wiley Publishing logo, For Dummies, the Dummies Man logo, A Reference for the Rest of Us!, The Dummies Way, Dummies Daily, The Fun and Easy Way, Dummies.com, and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. ACT! is a registered trademark of Sage Software. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Wiley Publishing, Inc., is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book.
LIMIT OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: The publisher and the author make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this work and specifically disclaim all warranties, including without limitation warranties of fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales or promotional materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for every situation. This work is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services. If professional assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising herefrom. The fact that an organization or Website is referred to in this work as a citation and/or a potential source of further information does not mean that the author or the publisher endorses the information the organization or Website may provide or recommendations it may make. Further, readers should be aware that Internet Websites listed in this work may have changed or disappeared between when this work was written and when it is read.
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2007935588
ISBN: 978-0-470-19225-2
Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
About the Author
Karen S. Fredricks began her life rather non-technically, growing up in Kenya. She attended high school in Beirut, Lebanon, where she developed her sense of humor while dodging bombs. After traveling all over the world, Karen ended up at the University of Florida and has been an ardent Gator fan ever since. In addition to undergraduate studies in English and accounting, Karen has a Master’s degree in psycholinguistics. Beginning her career teaching high school English and theatre, Karen switched to working with the PC during its inception in the early ’80s and has worked as a full-time computer consultant and trainer ever since.
Karen is an ACT! Certified Consultant, an ACT! Premier Trainer, a Microsoft Office User Specialist, and a QuickBooks Pro Certified Advisor. This is the fifth For Dummies book that she has written on ACT!. In addition, she has written or co-written three other For Dummies books on Outlook 2007, Outlook 2007 with Business Contact Manager, and Microsoft Office Live. She is a frequent guest on several syndicated computer radio talk shows and has frequent public speaking engagements.
Karen resides in Boca Raton, Florida. Her company, Tech Benders, specializes in contact relationship management (CRM) software and provides computer consulting, support, and training services. Karen particularly enjoys helping her clients increase their bottom line through their marketing efforts and improved sales processes. In her spare time, Karen loves to spend time with family and friends, play tennis, work out, ride bikes, and write schlocky poetry.
Feel free to send your comments about the book to [email protected].
Dedication
This book is dedicated to all loyal ACT! users who have been using ACT! for the last 20 years. You’ve grown right along with ACT!. You’ve been with ACT! since the days of DOS and then transitioned to the “new” Windows version. You’ve mastered e-mail marketing and then went on to tackle SQL. You’re truly both a fanatic and loyal bunch; thanks for your continuing support!
Author’s Acknowledgments
The people at Wiley Publishing are fantastic to work with and have made writing this book a pleasure! My acquisitions editor, Kyle Looper, is a joy to work with. This is the second book I’ve done with my project editor, Nicole Sholly; I know when to stick with a good thing! Jen Riggs, my copy editor, made sure that all “T’s” were crossed and the “I’s” dotted; Jen, your edits were always right on!
It’s hard to believe that ACT! celebrated its 20th birthday in 2007. I want to recognize a few people for their contributions to the early development of ACT!, including Patrick Sullivan for his vision in creating the concept, Greg Head for helping to take ACT! to the next level, and Ted Cooper and Jason Risch for being the unsung ACT! pioneers.
There are many wonderful Sage employees who work behind the scenes at Sage and love ACT! as much as I do. Bob Duff, Melissa Lorch, and Latisha Carter spend hours providing services that benefit ACT! consultants like myself. Larry Ritter, Richard McMakin, Beth Kohler, Bill Blakey, Keith Sacucci, and Anthony Federici are part of the “dream team” who keep coming up with great new ACT! enhancements. Joe Bergera is the leader of the pack; he has done wonders at taking over the reigns of the entire ACT! product line.
Roy Laudenslager worked as an ACT! Support Specialist for over 12 years before taking the plunge to come work with me. He also let me coerce him into being the technical editor for four of the ACT! books. Roy was the recent recipient of the ACT! Community Service Award, officially recognizing him for his years of devotion to the ACT! product. If you’ve ever worked with Roy, you know how deserving he is of that award.
My family is extremely special to me. My daughters, Andrea and Alyssa Fredricks, have brought much joy to my life and are a constant source of pride. Hard to believe that my mother, Frances Conn, is now in her 90s and is still sharp as a tack — even without a computer!
Writing a book isn’t easy but having someone special in your life certainly makes it a lot more fun! Gary Kahn has loved and supported me during the writing of my last eight books. You’re the best — I couldn’t have done it without you!
Publisher’s Acknowledgments
We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments through our online registration form located at www.dummies.com/register/.
Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following:
Acquisitions, Editorial, and Media Development
Project Editor: Nicole Sholly
(Previous Edition: Blair Pottenger)
Acquisitions Editor: Kyle Looper
Copy Editor: Jennifer Riggs
(Previous Edition: Teresa Artman)
Technical Editor: Roy Laudenslager
Editorial Manager: Kevin Kirschner
Media Project Supervisor: Laura Moss-Hollister, Laura Atkinson
Media Development Specialist: Angela Denny, Josh Frank, Kate Jenkins, Kit Malone
Editorial Assistant: Amanda Foxworth
Sr. Editorial Assistant: Cherie Case
Cartoons: Rich Tennant (www.the5thwave.com)
Composition Services
Project Coordinator: Patrick Redmond
Layout and Graphics: Carl Byers, Stephanie D. Jumper, Alicia B. South, Christine Williams
Proofreaders: Linda Seifert, Jessica Kramer
Indexer: WordCo Indexing Services
Anniversary Logo Design: Richard Pacifico
Publishing and Editorial for Technology Dummies
Richard Swadley, Vice President and Executive Group Publisher
Andy Cummings, Vice President and Publisher
Mary Bednarek, Executive Acquisitions Director
Mary C. Corder, Editorial Director
Publishing for Consumer Dummies
Diane Graves Steele, Vice President and Publisher
Joyce Pepple, Acquisitions Director
Composition Services
Gerry Fahey, Vice President of Production Services
Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services
Contents
Title
Introduction
About This Book
Conventions Used in This Book
What You Should Read
What You Don’t Have to Read
Foolish Assumptions
How This Book Is Organized
Icons Used in This Book
Where to Go from Here
Part I : The Opening ACT!
Chapter 1: An Overview of ACT!
What Does ACT! Do?
The Typical ACT! User
A Few Concepts to Get You Started
The Basic ACT! Ground Rules
The Three Versions of ACT! 2008
Chapter 2: The Various Faces of ACT!
Locating the Correct Database
The ACT! Login Screen
The Importance of Being My Record
Finding Your Way around in ACT!
Getting Help When You Need It
Chapter 3: Getting Your ACT! Together
Creating a New ACT! Database
Working with Passwords
Giving ACT! the Preferential Treatment
Customizing the Navigation Bar
Modifying the Icon Bar
Monkeying with the Menus
Part II : Putting the ACT! Database to Work
Chapter 4: Making Contact(s)
Adding New Contacts
Deleting Contact Records
The Contacts, They Are A’Changin’
Chapter 5: A Few Good Tabs and Lists
Meeting the Lists and Tabs
Customizing Lists and Tabs
Contacting the Contact List
Corralling Your Secondary Contacts
Documenting Your Documents
Changing the Sort Order
Chapter 6: The ACT! Lookup: Searching for Your Contacts
ACT! Is Looking Up
Performing Basic Lookups
Searching Your Groups, Companies, and Opportunities
Performing Special ACT! Lookups
Creating Advanced Queries
Chapter 7: Stamping Out the Sticky Note
Getting to Know ACT! Notes
Discovering ACT! Histories
Working with Your Notes and Histories
Chapter 8: Playing the Dating Game
Scheduling Your Activities
Working with the ACT! Calendar
Using the Task List
Exploring Activities
Creating an Activity Series
Chapter 9: Dashing Through the Dashboards
Dashboarding 101
Creating Dazzling Dashboards with Dashboard Designer
Part III : Sharing Your Information with Others
Chapter 10: Using the ACT! Reports and Labels
Knowing the Basic ACT! Reports
Running an ACT! Report
Creating Labels and Envelopes
Printing Address Books
Checking Out the Calendars
Working with Quick Reports
Chapter 11: Merging Your Information into a Document
Mail Merge Isn’t Just about Mailing
Picking Your Word Processor
Creating a Document Template
Grappling with Graphics
Reaching an Audience of One
We’re Off to See the Mail Merge Wizard
Chapter 12: ACT! E-Mail
Getting Started with ACT! E-Mail
Setting Your E-Mail Preferences
E-Mailing Your Contacts
Part IV : Advanced ACT!ing
Chapter 13: Creating and Editing Contact Fields
Understanding the Concept of Fields
Do Your Homework!
Adding a New Field to Your Database
Deleting a Field
Securing Access to Fields
Working with Drop-Down Lists
A Few More Customization Options
Chapter 14: Customizing Layouts
Modifying an Existing ACT! Layout
Beautifying Your Layout
Adding the Finishing Touches
Chapter 15: Zen and the Art of Database Maintenance
Understanding the Need to Check and Repair
Performing Routine Maintenance
Backing Up the ACT! Database
Applying ACT! Updates
Performing Spring Housecleaning
Chapter 16: Calling in the Reinforcements
Working with the Database Users
Limiting Contact, Group, and Company Access
Securing the Fields
Networking 101
The ACT! Scheduler
Importing New Information into ACT!
Chapter 17: ACT!ing with Synchronization
What in the World Is Synchronization?
Performing a Synchronization in Three ACT!s
Maintaining the Synchronization
Part V : Commonly Overlooked ACT! Features
Chapter 18: Integrating ACT! with Microsoft
Changing Your Outlook in ACT!
Working with ACT! While in Outlook
Sharing ACT! and Outlook Calendars
Exploring the Internet
Excelling in Excel
What’s in a Word?
Chapter 19: ACT!ing on Your Opportunities
Creating Opportunities
You Can Quote Me on That
Viewing the Opportunity List
Working with Opportunity History
Reporting on Opportunities
Chapter 20: Grouping Your Contacts
A Few Good Reasons to Create a Group
What All Groups Have in Common
Creating a Group
Understanding Group Membership
Working with Groups
Chapter 21: Joining a Company
The 411 on Companies
Hey Dude, Where’s My Company?
Company Housekeeping
Adding New Members to the Company
Hooking Up with a Company
Working with a Company
Chapter 22: Working with ACT! Premium for Web
You Gotta Love This Product
Looking Before You Leap
Giving Windows an Internet Makeover
Installing ACT! Premium for Web
Inviting Others to the Party
Part VI : The Part of Tens
Chapter 23: Ten Cool Things Available Only in ACT! Premium 2008
Allows More Users
Limits Access to Various Contacts, Groups, and Companies
Includes Field Level Security
Group Scheduling
Customizable Opportunity Fields
Advanced User Settings
Performs Automatic Maintenance
Performs Automatic Backups
Integrates with ACT! for Web
More Sync Options
Chapter 24: Ten Tips to Make ACT! Work Better
Augmenting Your ACT! Knowledge
Improving Your Reporting
Linking ACT! to Your PDA
Sending E-Mail Blasts
Grabbing Tidbits of Information
Overcoming Some ACT! Weaknesses
Enhancing ACT!: Those Little Things That Count
Saving Yourself Time
Scanning Info Right into ACT!
Faxing Your Heart Out
The ACT! Add-On Store
Further Reading
Introduction
ACT! is the best-selling contact manager software on the market today. For many of these users, ACT! represents their first foray into the area of contact relationship management (CRM). Contact management software is a little more complex to understand than other types of software. With a word processor, each document that you create is totally separate; if you make a mistake, you need only to delete your current document and start fresh. Contact management, however, builds its way into a final product; if you don’t give a bit of thought as to what goal you wish to achieve, you could end up with a muddled mess.
I am a fanACTic, and I’m not ashamed to admit it. I use ACT! at work. I use ACT! on the road. I use ACT! at home. I’ve even inspired my friends to use ACT!. I’m excited about the product and know that by the time you discover how to unleash the power of ACT!, you’ll be excited, too.
So what am I so excited about? I’ve seen firsthand how ACT! can save you time and help make you more efficient in the bargain. To me, accomplishing more in less time is an exciting thought — it allows more time for the fun things in life. Best of all, ACT! is a program that’s very easy to get up and running in a very short time. You’ll be amazed not only at how quickly you can set up a database but also at how easily you can put that database to work. Maybe by the time you finish this book, you, too, will become a fanACTic!
About This Book
ACT! by Sage For Dummies, 9th Edition is a reference book. As such, each chapter can be read independently and in the order you want. Each chapter focuses on a specific topic so you can dive right in, heading straight for the chapter that interests you most. Having said that, however, I must say that I’ve tried to put the chapters into a logical sequence so that those of you who are new to ACT! can just follow the bouncing ball from chapter to chapter. More experienced users can use the Table of Contents and the index to simply navigate from topic to topic as needed.
Essentially, this book is a nuts-and-bolts how-to guide for accomplishing various tasks. In addition, drawing on many of my own experiences as a full-time ACT! consultant and trainer, I include specific situations that should give you a feel for the full power of ACT!.
Conventions Used in This Book
Like in most Windows-based software programs, you often have several different ways to accomplish a task in ACT!.
For the most part, I show you ways to perform a function by using the ACT! menus. When an instruction reads Choose File⇒Open, you must access the File menu (located at the top of the ACT! screen) by clicking it with the left mouse button and then choosing the Open option from the subsequent menu that appears. In most cases, you can access these commands from anywhere within ACT!, but I generally advise new ACT! users to always start a task from the Contact Detail view, which is the first window you see when ACT! opens. If you must be in a particular area to complete a task otherwise, I tell you where.
When you need to access one of ACT!’s hidden menus, click an appropriate area of the screen with the right mouse button and then choose from the contextual menu that appears. In these instances, I simply say right-click when you need to right-click.
What You Should Read
Of course, I hope that you’re going to sit down and read this entire book from cover to cover. But then again, this book isn’t The Great American Novel. And, come to think of it, the whole reason why you bought this book in the first place is because you want to get your ACT! together (no groans, please!) as quickly as possible because you’re probably finding yourself with too much to do and too little time in which to do it.
For the time being, I’m going to let you get away with reading just the parts that interest you most. I’ll let you read the last chapter first and the first chapter last if you like because this book is designed to allow you to read each chapter independently. However, when you find yourself floating in a swimming pool, soaking up the sun, and wondering what to do with all your spare time, you might want to go back and read some of those chapters you skipped. You just might discover something!
What You Don’t Have to Read
This book is intended for both new and existing ACT! users. Most of the instructions apply to both groups of readers. Once in a while, I include some information that might be of special interest to more advanced readers. Newbies, feel free to skip these sections! Also, any information tagged with a Technical Stuff icon is there for the truly technically inclined. Everyone else can just skip this info.
Foolish Assumptions
One of my least favorite words in the English language is the word assume, but I’ve got to admit that I’ve made a few foolish — albeit necessary — assumptions when writing this book. First of all, I assume that you own a Windows-based computer and that ACT! is installed on it. Second, I assume that you have a basic knowledge of how to use your computer, keyboard, and mouse, and that ACT! isn’t the very first application that you’re trying to master.
I also assume that you have a genuine desire to organize your life and/or business and have determined that ACT! is the way to go. Finally (and I feel quite comfortable with this assumption), I assume that you’ll grow to love ACT! as much as I do.
How This Book Is Organized
I organized this book into six parts. Each part contains several chapters covering related topics. The following is a brief description of each part, with chapter references directing you where to go for particular information:
Part I: The Opening ACT!
In Part I, you get an introduction to the concept of a database and why ACT! has become such a popular choice of database users (Chapter 1). In this part, you read about what to expect the first time you fire up ACT! (Chapter 2) and how to set the main preferences in ACT! (Chapter 3).
Part II: Putting the ACT! Database to Work
Part II focuses on putting your contacts into ACT! (Chapter 4) and, more importantly, how to find them again (Chapters 6). I show you how to view all the details about one contact, how to pull up a list of all your contacts, and even how to create an easy list report.
After you master organizing your contact information, Part II helps you organize your day. ACT! makes it easy to take notes (Chapter 7) so that you start relying on ACT! more and your memory less. You find out how to schedule appointments, calls, and to-do’s — and other important events in your life. And, you discover how to view those activities in the daily, weekly, and monthly calendars (Chapter 8). Your life can become complicated, but have no fear because ACT! does its best to help you navigate through the maze by providing you with customizable Dashboards designed to let you see a complete snapshot of your business (Chapter 9). The History, Documents, and Secondary Contacts tabs allow you to accumulate lots of information about each and every one of your contacts (Chapter 5).
Part III: Sharing Your Information with Others
Corporate America lives for reports, and ACT! is up to the challenge. Whether you want to print labels or telephone directories on commercially printed forms or prefer to utilize the ACT! built-in reports, Part III shows you how (Chapter 10).
One of the best features of ACT! is the ability to communicate easily with the outside world. Part III shows you how to work with templates to automate routine documents as well as how to send out mass mail merges — whether by snail mail, fax, or e-mail (Chapter 11). You also discover the advantages of using ACT! for your e-mail (Chapter 12).
Part IV: Advanced ACT!ing
We’re all different and often like to do things in our own unique way. ACT! understands that concept, and Part IV helps you to customize ACT! to your heart’s content. At first glance, ACT! might seem like just an over-the-counter piece of software, but by adding fields (Chapter 13) and placing them on customized layouts (Chapter 14), you can make it perform as well as an expensive piece of proprietary software.
Every database needs an Administrator. If you’re elected to the job, you need to know how to perform administrative tasks, such as performing routine maintenance, backing up your database, and checking for duplicate data entry (Chapter 15). You’ll read about ACTdiag, the higher-level maintenance tool, how to add multiple users to your database, and how to limit access to various contact records (Chapter 16). If you have remote users who need to access all or parts of your database, you need to know how to synchronize your database (Chapter 17).
Part V: Commonly Overlooked ACT! Features
Part V focuses on four of the most frequently overlooked ACT! features:
Microsoft integration: Synchronize your ACT! and Outlook address books and calendars; attach a Web site in Internet Explorer directly to an ACT! contact; and explore the various ways that you can use ACT! and Excel together (Chapter 18).
Sales opportunities: Track your prospective sales, prioritize them, and analyze what you did right — or wrong — in making the sale (Chapter 19).
Groups: Group your contacts to add a new dimension to your database (Chapter 20).
Companies: The Company feature enables you to view and edit contacts that all “belong” to the same company (Chapter 21).
In addition, I show you how to install and customize ACT! Premium for Web, the online version of ACT! (Chapter 22).
Part VI: The Part of Tens
With apologies to David Letterman, Part VI gives you two of my favorite ACT! lists. First, I discuss a few of the features that are found only in ACT! Premium 2008 (Chapter 23). Finally, I give you ten of my favorite ways to help you utilize ACT! to its fullest extent (Chapter 24).
About the Web site
2004 marked a milestone in the history of ACT!. Prior to that time, the ACT! development team was fairly small, which is evidenced by the fact that only six versions of ACT! were released in the first 17 years of its existence. In 2004, Sage Software took over the ownership of ACT!. With the new ownership came a new database engine for ACT! — SQL — and a commitment to a yearly update schedule.
To help you keep up with the exciting new features of successive versions of ACT!, this book (although written using ACT! 2008) will guide you through both ACT! 2008 and ACT! 2009. We are instituting a Wiley Web site (pun intended!) where you will be able to catch up on any new ACT! developments that come along: You’ll find links to the products mentioned throughout this book, and, most importantly, when ACT! 2009 arrives on the scene, you’ll be able to read all about the new enhancements — free of charge — by visiting www.dummies.com/go/actfordummies9e.
Icons Used in This Book
A Tip icon indicates a special timesaving tip or a related thought that might help you use ACT! to its full advantage. Try it; you might like it!
A Warning icon alerts you to the danger of proceeding without caution. Do not attempt to try doing anything that you’re warned not to do!
Remember icons alert you to important pieces of information that you don’t want to forget.
A Technical Stuff icon indicates tidbits of advanced knowledge that might be of interest to IT specialists but might just bore the heck out of the average reader. Skip these at will.
Where to Go from Here
For those of you who are ACT! old-timers, you might want to at least skim the entire contents of this book before hunkering down to read the sections that seem the most relevant to you. My experience is that the average ACT! user probably uses only a portion of the program and might not even be aware of some of the really cool features of ACT!. You might be surprised to discover all that ACT! has to offer!
For the ACT! newbie, I recommend heading straight for Part I, where you can acquaint yourself with ACT! before moving on to other parts of the book and the ACT! program.
Part I
The Opening ACT!
In this part . . .
I know that you’re excited about all the possibilities that ACT! has to offer and want to dive into the program as soon as possible. Here’s where you find an over- view of some of the cool features that you find in ACT!. You also become familiar with the many faces of ACT!; after all, you wouldn’t want to get lost along the way. But first, you have to do a bit of homework and whip ACT! into shape by fiddling with a few preference settings to ensure that ACT! produces the type of results that you’re looking for.
Chapter 1
An Overview of ACT!
In This Chapter
What is ACT!?
Who uses ACT!?
Basic ACT! concepts
A few basic ground rules
The three ACT! flavors
So what is ACT!, anyway? I find that one of the hardest things that I have to do with ACT! is to explain exactly what it is. I like to initially explain ACT! by using very politically correct terminology. For example, ACT! 2008
Is a contact management software package
Provides users and organizations with powerful tools to manage their business relationships
Can be customized based on your company’s requirements
Is the world’s leading contact management software
Feel free to use these points to impress your friends. You might want to mention some of the wonderful features of ACT!, which I do in the first section of this chapter. I also describe the typical ACT! user and give you a brief primer on some pertinent ACT! terminology. I give you a few ground rules that I’ve established over the years after watching new users wrestle with certain aspects of using ACT!. Finally, I talk about the three versions of ACT! that are available to you.
What Does ACT! Do?
Because I want you to enjoy the benefits of using ACT!, I’ve put together a little shopping list of features so that you can see all that ACT! can do for you, too. In parentheses after each item, I include a chapter reference where you can find more information about a particular feature (if you’re so inclined).
ACT! is a multifaceted personal management tool that
Stores complete contact information, including name, company, phone numbers, mailing addresses, and e-mail addresses. (Chapter 4)
Comes with over 50 predefined fields for each contact that you add to your database. If you want to add additional fields to meet your specific needs, go right ahead. (Chapter 13)
Records an unlimited number of dated notes for each of your contacts so that you can easily keep track of important conversations and activities. This feature is particularly useful for those of us who (unlike our friend, the elephant) do forget things on occasion. (Chapter 7)
Keeps more than a boring, old calendar. Your scheduled activities are cross-referenced with the appropriate contact so that you have a full record of all interactions that you’ve had — or will have — with that contact. In addition, you can set an alarm to remind you of the important stuff as well as roll over less-important things until the next day. (Chapter 8)
Prints out anything from simple address books and labels to detailed reports on activities, notes, leads, and sales opportunities. You can print reports of your reports if you feel so inclined. (Chapter 10)
Merges your contact information into any of the template documents that you create. And you can send those merged documents via snail mail, fax, or e-mail with ACT!. (Chapters 11 and 12)
Manages your sales pipeline with built-in forecasting tools. You can easily print a few sales reports or create a graph showing your open, won, or lost sales (Chapter 19) or take a peak at one of the customizable dashboards. (Chapter 9)
Synchronizes data with remote users. If you have other ACT! users in remote locations, you can exchange database changes with them. (Chapter 17)
Lets you design and activate a series of activities to automate your tasks, thus assuring that none of your contacts “fall through the cracks.” (Chapter 8)
The Typical ACT! User
So just who is the typical ACT! user? Well, with more than 4 million registered ACT! users and 11,000 businesses currently using ACT!, you’re safe to assume that nearly every industry is represented among its user base. Although ACT! started primarily as a tool for salespeople wanting to follow up on their prospects and customers, ACT! has evolved into a tool used by any individual or business trying to organize the chaos of daily life.
I think it’s only fair to warn you about one of the possible side effects that you might develop if you use ACT!. If you’re anything like me, you’ll become addicted to ACT! and eventually use it to manage all facets of your busy existence. You might just become a fanACTic. (Quite simply, a fanACTic is an ACT! user who has become addicted to using ACT!.)
So just who is using ACT!? Everyone.
A CEO uses ACT! because he wants to know what his salespeople are doing and how his customers are being treated.
An administrative assistant uses ACT! to automate routine tasks and to keep a schedule of various tasks and activities.
A salesperson uses ACT! to make sure that she’s following up on all her prospects.
A disorganized person uses ACT! to help him become more organized.
A smart person uses ACT! because she knows that she’ll have more time to play by working more efficiently.
A lazy person uses ACT! because he knows it’s more fun to play than to work.
So what kinds of businesses use ACT!? All kinds.
Large businesses that want to improve communication among employees
Small businesses that have to rely on a small staff to complete a multitude of tasks
Businesses of all sizes looking for software that can automate their business and make them more productive in less time
Businesses looking to grow by marketing to their prospects
Businesses looking to retain their current customers by providing an excellent level of customer service and developing lasting relationships
A Few Concepts to Get You Started
Nobody likes technical jargon, but in the course of showing you how to use ACT!, I might end up lapsing into Geek Speak and use a handful of somewhat technical terms; I just can’t avoid it. Becoming familiar with them now is less painful in the long run.
First things first. ACT! is a database program. A database is a collection of information organized in such a way that the user of the database can quickly find desired pieces of information. Think of a database as an electronic filing system. Although most ACT! users create a database of contacts, some users develop ACT! databases to collect information about things other than contacts. For example, you might create an ACT! database to catalog all the CDs and DVDs in your collection.
Traditional databases are organized by fields,records, and files:
Field: A field is a single piece of information. In databases, fields are the smallest units of information. A tax form, for example, contains a number of fields: one for your name, one for your Social Security number, one for your income, and so on. In ACT!, you start with 50 separate fields for each individual contact. You find out how to add information into these fields in Chapter 4. And, in Chapter 13, I show you how to change the attributes of existing fields and how to add new ones to your database if you’re the database Administrator.
Record: A record is one complete set of fields. In ACT!, all the information that you collect that pertains to one individual contact is a contact record.
File: A file is the entire collection of data or information. Each database that you create in ACT! is given a unique filename. You can create more than one file or database in ACT! — head to Chapter 3 to find out how.
The Basic ACT! Ground Rules
Sometimes you just need to figure out things the hard way. After all, experience is the best teacher. Luckily for you, however, I’ve compiled a list of rules based on a few mistakes that I see other ACT! users commit. You’re not going to find these rules written down anywhere else, and they might not even make a whole lot of sense to you at the moment. However, as you become more and more familiar with ACT!, these rules will make all the sense in the world. You might even want to refer to them from time to time.
Karen’s Four Rules of Always:
Always log in to ACT! as yourself.
Always strive for standardization in your database by entering your data in a consistent manner.
Always input as much information into your database as possible.
Always perform routine maintenance of your database at least once a week and create a backup after any session that involves new data input!
The Three Versions of ACT! 2008
ACT! 2008 comes in three separate editions. Everything I cover in this book applies to all versions of ACT!, which are
ACT! 2008: This is generally the version that one user purchases. However, up to ten users can share a database across a network if each user purchases his own copy of ACT! 2008.
ACT! Premium 2008 (EX): This version contains additional contact and field security features, so it’s generally used by larger organizations. However, smaller organizations also use Premium to take advantage of other Premium features, including additional ways to remotely access a database.
ACT! Premium 2008 (ST): This version includes all the same features as EX but uses SQL 2005 Standard Edition — which means that you can build a bigger database. It’s also the version of choice for those of you with more than 30 users.
Every feature found in ACT! 2008 is also found in both versions of ACT! 2008 Premium as well. However, from time to time, I point out a feature that is found only in the Premium versions. You might also look at Chapter 23 for a full list of some of the cooler ACT! 2008 Premium features.
In addition to extra workgroup type features, the three ACT! flavors use different versions of SQL. ACT! 2008 uses the desktop version of SQL, EX uses SQL Express, and ST uses SQL 2005 Standard Edition.
All users sharing the same database must be using the same edition of ACT!; this means that one user can’t be in ACT! 2008 while another is in ACT! 2008 Premium (EX). It also means that users of an older version, such as ACT! 6 or even 2006, can’t share a database with users of an ACT! 2008 database.
So what are you waiting for? Boot up your computer, grab this book, and get going. After all, it’s time to get your ACT! together (pun intended).
Chapter 2
The Various Faces of ACT!
In This Chapter
Starting the correct database
Logging in correctly
Knowing about the My Record
Maneuvering in ACT!
Getting help with ACT!
After getting the hang of maneuvering in ACT!, you’ll find that it’s an amazingly easy program to master. The key is to become familiar with the lay of the land before you start building your contact database. By doing so, you avoid playing hide-and-seek later. To that end, I show you how to log in to and open an ACT! database. Although initially getting around in ACT! is pretty easy, you might become lost in the maze of views and tabs that ACT! is divided into. I help you navigate through that maze by taking you on a tour of ACT! so that you can become familiar with the various ACT! screens. Finally, you discover the places that you can turn to if you need additional help.
Locating the Correct Database
When you open ACT!, by default, ACT! opens the database that was last open on your computer. Easy enough, huh? If, however, you stumble into the incorrect database by mistake, you need to know how to find the correct one. If you’re lucky enough to have inherited a database that someone else developed (someone who maybe even placed that database on your computer for you), be sure to ask where that database is located — before that person walks out of your life.
The default database location isthe place on your computer that ACT! uses to store any new databases that you create and look in to open any existing database. If your database isn’t in the default location, you have to move your database to the correct location, change the default location (as I discuss in Chapter 3), or browse to the location of your database.
The first screen that you see when opening an ACT! database each and every timeis the Contact Detail window. If you click around and end up in any of the other ACT! screens by accident, don’t panic. One of the nice things about ACT! is that you can execute most commands from any ACT! screen (unless I tell you otherwise). And I promise that pretty soon, the various screens become so familiar to you that you’ll be able to navigate through ACT! with the best of them.
To open an existing database, make sure that ACT! is open and then follow these steps:
1.Choose File⇒Open Database from the ACT! Contact Detail window.
The Open dialog box appears (as shown in Figure 2-1).
Figure 2-1: Opening an ACT! database.
2.Click the drop-down arrow to the right of the Look In box.
3.Double-click the folder that contains your database to expand it.
4.Click the name of your database and then click Open.
If you prefer, double-click the name of the database that you want to open.
When you open an ACT! database, you actually use a shortcut; these shortcuts all end with the .pad file extension. Every ACT! database actually stores three different groups of data:
Main database: The main database consists of all your contacts’ information, activities, notes, histories, and so on. The database files are stored on your local machine by default. You can move the database and all associated files to another location or even over to a network drive if you so desire. This information is stored in the .adf and .alf files.
Database supplemental files: These files and folders are created automatically when you create a new database and include layouts, templates, e-mail messages, and any attachments associated with a contact record. You can’t change the location of these files in the database; they’re automatically stored as part of your database.
Personal supplemental files: These files, which are saved to your local computer, include files, such as word processing documents not associated with a contact, newly created layouts, and templates. E-mail messages and attachments associated with contacts are also saved as personal supplemental files.
The ACT! Login Screen
If more than one person shares your ACT! database, ACT! presents you with a login screen each time you attempt to open your database. If you’re the only person using a database, the login screen doesn’t appear. Essentially, the login screen (as shown in Figure 2-2) asks you for your user name and your password. Your user name isn’t case sensitive (that is, you can enter your name by typing either lowercase or UPPERCASE letters) but your password is. You also need to make sure that you correctly enter your user name and password information. For example, if your user name includes your middle initial with a period, you must type that middle initial — including the period — to gain access to your database.
Figure 2-2: Logging on to ACT!.
Generally, the Administrator of your database determines your password. The database Administrator is the person responsible for making major changes to the database and for performing routine database maintenance. (For more information, see Chapter 16.) Although several users may all have access to an ACT! database, ACT! doesn’t require that each user have a password. If the database Administrator didn’t assign you a password, leave the password area blank.
If you’re assigned a password, notice that dots appear while you type it in. That’s normal. Just like when you type your ATM card PIN, your ACT! database password is hidden while you type it to prevent any lurking spies from discovering your password. You can change your own password; see Chap- ter 3 to find out how.
Figure 2-2 shows that ACT! gives you the option of saving your password. Although this option helps you to log on to your database a little faster in the future, think about making this decision. First of all, what good is a password if it always magically appears anytime that you attempt to access your database? Secondly, by having ACT! remember your password, you may eventually forget it yourself!
The Importance of Being My Record
The first contact that you see when opening an ACT! database is your own — that’s your My Record. My Record is nothing more than a contact record that’s associated with a user of the database. Your My Record stores all your own information, which automatically appears in some of the preset templates that come with ACT!. For example, a fax cover sheet includes your telephone and fax numbers; a report has your name at the top; and a letter has your name at the bottom.
If someone else’s information appears as the first contact record that you see when you open your database, explore these three possibilities:
Did you log in as yourself? If not, do so. Then when you open ACT! again — logged in as yourself — your My Record appears.
Did you inadvertently change your own contact information? If that’s the case, change it back.
If you’re 100 percent certain that you logged in as yourself and haven’t changed your contact information, your database is likely corrupted. I’m not trying to scare you, but I recommend that you turn to Chapter 15, where I show you how to perform a little CPR on your database.
Taking the time to enter all your own contact information is very important. If you don’t, you might find that you’re missing key information when you start to work with templates and reports. For example, if you never enter your own fax number, your fax number doesn’t appear on the Fax Cover Sheet template, which means you have to fill it in every time that you send a fax. Save yourself the trouble and fill in your My Record right off the bat.
Your My Record also allows you to use a few other important ACT! features:
Permission to perform various functions is based on the security level of your My Record.
Contacts, notes, histories, activities, and opportunities marked as Private can be viewed only by the Record Manager who created them.
Every time you enter a new contact, group, company, or opportunity, your name appears as the creator of that contact.
When you delete a contact, a history of that deletion appears in the History area of your My Record.
Every time that you add a note to a contact record, your name appears as the Record Manager of that note.
When you schedule an activity, your name automatically attaches to that activity.
Finding Your Way around in ACT!
The purpose of this book is to serve as a reference for both new and existing ACT! users. I certainly don’t want to lose anyone along the way. New ACT! users might be somewhat intimidated when they encounter ACT! for the first time. Be assured that this experience is akin to the first time you drive a new car at night in the rain — momentary panic sets in. After you’ve driven the car for a week or so, the location of the light and windshield wiper controls becomes second nature. I guarantee you’ll have the same experience with ACT!.
Navigating through ACT! is fairly easy. However, to make the navigating even easier, I highlight throughout this section a number of pitfalls that you want to avoid.
The title bar
The title bar at the top of the screen provides you with two pieces of key information: the software name and the database name.
Don’t overlook the importance of this wealth of information! If your title bar reads FreeCell, you’ve stumbled into the wrong piece of software. If the database name indicates ACTdemo, chances are pretty good that you’re in the wrong database and could be adding hundreds of new contacts to the wrong place. And if the user name isn’t yours, you might not be getting the appropriate credit for all your hours of hard work. You can see the title bar, along with other key areas of ACT!, in Figure 2-3.
Figure 2-3: The opening ACT! screen.
The record counter
ACT! supplies you with a record counter in the top-left corner of the Contact Detail window (as shown in Figure 2-3). The first number indicates the number of your record as it relates alphabetically to the other members of your current lookup. A lookup refers to the contacts in your database that you’re currently working with. (You can find out everything that you’ll ever want to know about a lookup in Chapter 6.) This number changes when you add or remove contacts. The second number supplies you with the total number of contacts in either your entire database or your current lookup.
To the left and right of the record counter is a set of left- and right-pointing triangles. You can click these triangles to navigate through the contact records. For instance, to go to the previous record, you simply click the left-pointing triangle.
I recommend getting into the habit of checking the total number of contacts in your database each time that you open ACT!. If the total number of contacts changes radically from one day to the next, you just might be in the wrong database. Worse yet, a dramatic change in the number of contacts might indicate corruption in your database.
The layout
One of the biggest sources of confusion to the new ACT! user is the use of layouts. The layout refers to the order in which fields appear on the ACT! screens as well as the colors, fonts, and graphics that you see. You can specify the colors, fonts, and graphics in the layout as well as the position and order of fields. If the database Administrator creates new fields for the database, he needs to add them to a layout. In Chapter 14, I explain how you can create your own customized layouts in one of the following ways:
Modify the contact, company, and group layouts or create your own layouts to suit your needs.
There’s no right or wrong layout — only the layout that you prefer. For example, maybe the Sales Department needs to see one set of fields, but the Customer Service Department needs to see an entirely different group of fields and wants them to appear in a specific order.
Remove fields that you don’t use or move fields to other tabs.
Add fields to your layout.
Change the order of the tabs.
Add your own tabs to the bottom of a layout.
Renaming and reordering the tabs to your liking helps you organize your fields. For example, you might want to keep all the personal information about a customer on one tab and the products that he’s interested in on another tab.
You can find the name of the layout by clicking the Layout button in the lower-left corner of the ACT! screen, as shown in Figure 2-3. If you inadvertently switch layouts, you might not be able to see all the information in your database, or you might see your information arranged in a different order. At this point, panic often sets in. Don’t worry — your data is most probably alive and well and viewable with the help of the correct layout. To switch layouts, click the Layout button to access a list of all layouts; from that list, choose a different layout.
Make sure that you take the time to acquaint yourself with the name of the layout that you’re using. You might find yourself the victim of one of those random, drive-by clickings you’ve been hearing so much about and end up in the wrong layout. If you know the name of your preferred layout, you can easily find it.
The menu bar
Like most software programs, ACT! comes equipped with a menu bar that appears at the top of every ACT! screen. These menus include all the options available for the current view. You can customize all menus to fit your needs; check out Chapter 3 for the details.
A quick way to familiarize yourself with ACT! is to click each and every one of the menu items. You might see something that piques your interest. You might click the Schedule menu and notice the Activity Series option. Hopefully, curiosity overcomes you, and you have an overwhelming desire to find out more about that feature. Or you might notice the Sort choice listed in the Edit menu and think hmmm, maybe I can sort my database in a different order than alphabetically by company.
Many times, you’ll find that you can accomplish a task in a variety of ways. If you’re a keyboard shortcut aficionado, you’ll find the most frequently used shortcuts in the front cover of this book. You can also glean these shortcuts from the menus. In Figure 2-4, you see that the shortcut appears to the right of each menu item. In addition, notice that an icon appears to the left of some of the menu items; this means that you’ll find that corresponding icon somewhere on the icon bar if you prefer to click instead of using the menus or keyboard shortcuts.
Figure 2-4: Getting the most out of ACT! menus.
The toolbar
ACT! also features a toolbar at the top of each window. The toolbar includes the most-commonly used tasks of the current view. Toolbars work much the same way as the menu bars. You can customize each toolbar to include the tasks that you use most frequently; see how in Chapter 3. And, like the menu bars, toolbars vary depending on the view that you’re in. For example, the toolbars that you see in the calendar views include a Show Filter/Hide Filter icon to change the view settings on your calendar, and the toolbar that you see in the Group Detail window includes icons for creating groups and subgroups.
The Back and Forward bar
Lurking just below the toolbar is the Back and Forward bar, which provides you with a road map of sorts by letting you know the exact area of ACT! you’re working in. And, like your Internet browser, the Back and Forward bar has handy-dandy left- and right-pointing arrows that allow you to return to the previous window you were viewing.
The Contact Detail window
When you first open ACT!, you land in the Contact Detail window, which allows you to see information about one specific contact. You can use the Contact Detail window to enter, modify, and view information about your contacts. Each contact record displays as a single page that’s divided into a top and bottom half:
The top half of the screen contains generic fields, such as name, business address, and phone number, that are probably used by just about all ACT! users everywhere. Many of these fields are used extensively in the templates (that is, reports, letters, fax cover sheets, and labels) that ACT! has already set up for you.
The tabs at the bottom provide additional fields for each of your contacts. These are generally the fields that you don’t use as much, such as home address and spouse’s name.
You can — and should — customize the bottom half of the screen to better serve the needs of your business. You can click through the page tabs in the middle of the screen to get an idea of some of the fields suggested by ACT!. You can customize the top half of the screen as well if you so desire. I show you how to add new fields into your database in Chapter 13 and how to modify those tabs in Chapter 14.
The Divider bar
One of the fast food chains used to have a jingle about “having it your way” a number of years back, and you might want to hum a few bars of that tune each time you open ACT!. A case in point is the Divider bar that separates the top half of the Contact Detail window containing the fields from the bottom half containing the tabs. Got a lot of fields in the top half of your screen? Grab the Divider bar and drag it down. Want to have more room to view some of the tabs along the bottom? Grab that bar and drag it up a bit.
The Navigation bar
The ACT! Navigation — or Nav — bar is the column of icons located along the left side of the program. The Nav bar allows you to move quickly between the various areas in ACT!. For example, to view all the information about one particular contact, click the Contacts icon; to see a list of all your groups, click the Groups icon.
The ACT! tabs
Because ACT! comes with approximately 50 predefined fields — and because your database Administrator might add another 50 or so customized fields — placing those fields where you can see them clearly is important. Plunking 100 fields on one half of your screen gives you a jumbled mess. I suppose that you could lay out those fields by using a smaller font, but the result (although neat) is impossible to read!
ACT! solves this dilemma in a rather unique fashion. The top half of the Contact Detail window displays the most basic fields that are fairly typical to all contacts. In this portion of the screen, the fields include places for the name, address, and phone numbers as well as a few miscellaneous fields. The bottom half of the ACT! screen displays additional information about your contact that’s divided into categories, which you access by clicking tabs located across the middle of the Contact Detail window.
The first seven tabs (refer to Figure 2-3) — Notes, History, Activities, Opportunities, Groups/Companies, Secondary Contacts, and Documents — are system tabs. The system tabs are actually tables; they don’t hold single fields with a single piece of information in each one. Rather, you can add an unlimited number of like items to the same tab. For example, you can add multiple notes about your contact via the Notes tab, or you might have numerous sales opportunities that involve your current contact displayed on the Opportunities tab.
Because the system tabs contain tables rather than fields, you can’t customize them in the same way as the other tabs. However, you can remove system tabs or change their order. Chapter 14 shows you how to fix the order.
Depending on the layout you’re using, you probably see several additional tabs after the system tabs. These tabs generally display less frequently used information about your contact. You generally find ten user fields on one of those tabs; you can find out how to customize the user fields in Chapter 13 and the layouts in Chapter 14.
Do not proceed to add new information in the user fields without first renaming them. Many new ACT! users make this mistake and end up with an unruly assortment of information in each of these fields. Worse yet, other users of your database might misinterpret this information — or start entering their own data — further complicating the whole mess.
All the tabs are dependent on the layout that you’re currently using. If you switch layouts, your tabs change as well.
Some of the ACT! add-on products place new tabs to your ACT! screen. For example, the ACT! QuickBooks link draws information from QuickBooks and plops it into a brand new tab called QuickBooks.
Getting Help When You Need It
In addition to the information that I provide in this book, ACT! 2008 comes with a very good — and quite extensive — online Help system that supplies step-by-step instructions for just about any ACT! feature that you might want to explore.
You can access the ACT! online Help system in one of two ways when ACT! is open:
Press the F1 key on your keyboard.
Choose Help from any ACT! menu bar.
When you access the ACT! Help menu, you’re treated to several options. All these Help options provide a wealth of information, and you shouldn’t be afraid to use them.
Help Topics: This option supplies you with lots of information based on the window that’s open. Use this option when you find yourself scratching your head about something, and you’ll probably be rewarded with just the answer you’re looking for.
How to Use Help: This area of Help provides you with the most information. In fact, you can find so much good information that this section is further subdivided into three tabbed areas:
• Contents: Think of the Contents tab as the Table of Contents in a book. The Contents tab presents you with the major topics covered in ACT!. Click the plus sign next to each topic to find a more detailed listing of the subject.
• Index: As its name implies, the Index tab is just like the index that you find at the back of this book. It provides you with an alphabetical listing of every feature found in ACT!. You can either scroll through the list of features or type in the first few letters of the feature that you’re looking for.
• Search:
