How’s your week been? I hope productive and successful and you’re looking forward to a refreshing and relaxing weekend filled with idle moments and sunspot naps.

Seems as though my week was filled with administrivia. One of those weeks where every day you get in to your office, look at the things you need to get done, then get to work. At the end of the day, you look back at your accomplishments and wonder what happened to the day! Yikes, I hate it when that happens.

We did make progress on a few things though.

We launched our ACT! On-line training series this week with a GoToMeeting class on Thursday morning and another this afternoon. Both sessions filled to capacity pretty quickly with ACT! users hungry to learn more about segmenting their database using Groups, Companies, and Relationships. Next week our On-line series will be on Activity Management in ACT!. We will be talking about some advanced techniques in how to make sure you get done what you need to get done, when you need to get it done.

On April 28th, we are hosting an ACT! User Group meeting at the Southdale Library in Edina. Our topic for April is Eat That Frog! Have you read it yet? Awesome book by Brian Tracy. Brian goes in to great detail on his 21 ways to stop procrastination and get more done in less time. Great read. At our User Group meeting on the 28th, we are going to discuss and demonstrate what Brian teaches in his book applied in an ACT! environment. Should be an entertaining and perhaps even educational meeting.

I would love to hear back from you especially if you have any suggestions for topics. You can add a comment to this post if you want and let me know what you would like to see as an on-line class or discussed at one of our User Group meetings.

Enjoy your weekend and I’ll be back in touch soon.

Ken

Related posts:

1. Events
2. Database or Rolodex?
3. Thanksgiving thoughts.

As many of you know, my background is contact relationship management (i.e. CRM) and most of my experience centers around the ACT! product.

Here’s a question for you. Is your company database a rolodex or a database? In previous articles, I’ve talked about how your company database is your most valuable business asset and that this database holds the key to your company’s success. Regardless of what you use as a software tool to manage this database, be it ACT! or SalesLogix or SalesForce or whatever, the most important concept is that, a) you have a company database and a good tool to manage it and b) you’ve customized this database to be specific for your business. If this is the first time you have seen the words customized and database in the same sentence, then read on because this information is spot-on for you.

When I think of a rolodex, I think of those index card holders that would sit on your desk, circular in design, and it would hold 3×5 index cards filled with contact information. It had a big knob on the side and when you turned the knob, the index cards went around like a ferris-wheel at a theme park. If you had a lot of cards, and you turned the knob fast enough, this thing doubled as a cooling fan and could blow-dry your hair (OK, maybe not in my case, but you get my drift). Each of these rolodex cards contained information on your contacts, or if you got one of the fancier ones, it actually held their business card. The trouble with these rolodex files though, was that you were very limited in the information you could keep on a contact. If you wanted to keep track of information in addition to what was already on the business card, you either had to write it on the card, or maybe add another card. If you were just looking for an address, or a phone number, it didn’t work too bad. However, if you wanted to keep track of their interests, or their kids or birthdays or anything extra, it got cumbersome fast. Depending upon how you filed the cards, as long as you remembered the contacts name or company name, you could get to the card pretty easy. On the other hand, if you wanted to do any kind of special search, forget it. The rolodex file just wasn’t set up for that. Now, enter the digital era and the concept of the database.

With a database, and a good contact manager, (like ACT!2010), now you have some power. Not only can you store the business card information, but you can also store all kinds of things about this contact. You can keep information on their family, hobbies and interests, purchase history, annual events like birthdays and anniversaries, contract renewals, on and on limited only by your imagination. Best of all, not only can you store all this great information, but you can access it in seconds. You can find all the people you haven’t contacted in the last 90 days, or all the clients that have a shared interest in a particular event or hobby. You can group contacts together based on common themes like all those that should receive your catalog, or that have indicated an interest in a specific product and now when you have a promotion going on, you can get this information out to them in just a couple of minutes. Either by a mail-merge to a letter or through an email blast where each recipient gets their own personalized letter or message, customized for them because this information is all stored in your database.  Now that’s powerful!

You can even take it up a notch if you want. If you’re using a product like ACT!2010, there are tools available that will let you synchronize your database to your cellphone, wirelessly, and in real-time. You can add tools that will do calculations on fields stored in your database, and store the results of those calculations in other fields. You can have the database automatically create an activity based on a value you select in a field. You can add contacts to groups or take them out of groups based on information you enter into their contact record. You can have the database create a call list of your hottest prospects, so you can get in touch with them when they are ready to buy. Tools like these (and there are many more) can turn a flat-file list of contacts into a living, breathing repository of client and prospect intel that puts you in control of your sales cycle and allows you to drive new sales even while the economy around us is in slow motion.

Speaking of a slow economy, in the spirit of Cyber Monday, we are offering a special incentive to upgrade to ACT!2010.  If you schedule your upgrade with us by noon on Monday, December 7th, you will save 20% on the cost of your installation and services. Upgrades must be scheduled to occur on or before January 31, 2010.

For more information and to schedule your upgrade, please give us a call at 952-292-3420.

Have a great day!

Ken

Related posts:

1. Have you hugged your database lately?
2. It’s just a database!
3. Thanksgiving thoughts.

So, is it me or is everyone feeling like the days are just flying by? I feel like the Adam Sandler character in the movie “Click” with the fast-forward button stuck in fast-forward mode. Good grief! I certainly don’t remember time going by this fast when I was waiting for my 21st birthday to come around.  Sorry, I’ll stop whining now.

OK, so here we are at Thanksgiving. What are you thankful for? I’ve got a list, long as my arm of all the things I can think of, right off the top of my head. You probably do too. Top of my list are our troops. God bless them and the work they do! Without them, we wouldn’t have the freedom to be an entrepreneur, or own a business. Sure, times are tough right now. Economy is down, job market is tight, belts are tighter, but in this Country, life is good, and for that, thank a soldier!

You know what else I’m thankful for? Technology. I LOVE technology! Bring it on and bring me more! I’ve got one television in my house and five computers. The computer on my desk that I’m using to write this has more processing power, memory and hard-drive space than the computer that ran the entire hospital I worked at back in the 80’s, and that computer filled a room. A very big room. This computer sits under my desk.

Speaking of technology and being thankful for things, I’m really thankful for backups. In the last week, I’ve worked with two clients that had to recover data from their backups. The recovery process was smooth and their systems restored perfectly, but I’m reminded that it’s easy to become complacent and take that sort of thing for granted. A few months ago I worked with a client that wasn’t so fortunate. Their backup didn’t restore, and that recovery process was an entirely different story. Painful, to say the least. So, what’s in your backup? Have you tested it lately? Do you have the peace-of-mind that if you had to restore from backup you actually could? Are you backing up all the mission-critical files you need to keep your business running smoothly and of equal importance, have you tested your backups to make sure recovery is possible, not impossible. I really do love technology but I love it more when it works! Stop back again next week as I’ll share some more insight on some awesome technology designed to save you time and make you more productive.

All of us here at True North Partners wish you and your family a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving holiday. Enjoy your freedom and say a prayer for our troops!

Related posts:

1. Database or Rolodex?
2. What’s New At True North
3. 16 Rules For Success by Bob Parsons

So far we have talked about  3 of the 4 tools in the ultimate THRIVAL kit:

• Loyal Customers
• Economical Marketing Strategies
• Effective Processes

Along with each of these tools, we have provided tips and tricks and specific things you can do implement them in your own business. The final tip is a bit difficult because it all hinges on you. It is a positive attitude combined with a little creativity. With all of the negative news it can be hard to maintain a positive attitude. But being positive is exactly what can give you a competitive advantage and that little extra“oomph” to succeed.

History has shown downturns can be a great time to start a new venture. General Electric traces its roots to the Panic of 1873.  William Hewlett and David Packard founded HP during the Great Depression.  Microsoft launched during the recession of the early 1980s.  Disney, Oracle, and Cisco, and countless others took the leap during difficult economic times, and reaped tremendous rewards for their efforts.

You too can be a bright light in a dark market!

Downturns are actually a great time to sign up new accounts. Because companies are examining every expense for ways to save. If you can demonstrate higher Differentiating Values than their curent verndor, you will have a decent chance of winning their business.

Get Creative!

“Innovation is ultimately not an act of intellect but of will”
                 (Joseph Schumpeter)

All too often the first thing large corporations cut during tough economic times is R&D, making it a great time to get your hands on talented innovators or to escalate your idea before the rest of the market. During a time when everyone is playing it safe, creativity really stands out. Focus on experiments and innovation that have low impact on the bottom line but the potential to help you stand out above the competition. When budgets are cut it forces you to get creative with your marketing so use this time to test out-of-the-box concepts that don’t cost a lot.

Plan for the future!

Now is the time to act in the present while preparing for the future. What you do now will directly impact your business stability and long-term growth.

•  Those who have the customer in their back pocket when the purse strings loosen are more likely to come out on the other end with a post of gold.
•  Just because prospects are not buying now, does not mean they wont buy later. Maintain your relationships and realize your sales cycle may take a little longer.
•  Assemble a long-term nurture plan for prospects who are not ready to buy today
•  Show prospects how they can get value from you now, even if they don’t pay everything up front.

Trends Taking Small Business Into the Future

• Small businesses will expand their use of online marketing tools because they’re effective and efficient.
• Small businesses will focus on customer loyalty to build lasting revenue streams
• Small business will drive new customer acquisition through creative, new business models
• Small businesses will need to turn to technology and automation in order to cut costs
• Small businesses will rely on developing relationships to stay competitive

I hope you were able to distill a nugget or two of useful insight from our discussion on marketing in a down economy. I would love to hear your thoughts on the following:

• What is your business experiencing?
• What have you tried?
• Who are you collaborating with?
• What resources are you going to use?

I look forward to your comments!

Enjoy your day!

Ken

Related posts:

1. Make Your Business Thrive!
2. Effective Processes
3. Economical Marketing Strategies

Today, I would like to talk to you about another techique that I use, that works particularly well when it comes to managing all those phone calls you need to return.

If your calendar is anything like mine, you tend to spend more time out of the office than in it. By the time you get back to your office, it’s time to catch up on voice mail and emails. When I clear out my voice mail, I make it a habit to schedule those activities right in my Contact Relationship Management (CRM) system. This way, I don’t have to manage multiple pieces of paper, and because my CRM synchronizes to my BlackBerry, the contacts and activities automatically end up on my phone as well. I try to do the same thing with my email. I triage my new messages and those that I can get delegated, deleted or responded to quickly with a short reply. Then I look for messages that require action on my behalf and schedule those activities in my CRM (often times, attaching the full email message to the contact record, or at least pasting the message into the history). Usually, by the time I am finished clearing out my messages from both my phone and email, I have a pretty good collection of activities in my database. Often times, a majority of those activities are phone calls that need to be returned.

Once my CRM is brought up to date, I’m back to my Task List to review the activities that require my immediate attention. As I mentioned yesterday, one of the tricks I use is priority management. Another trick I use is to take a look at my list of phone calls, and any calls that are of a high priority, I drag to a specific time on my daily calendar. While Im doing this, I also make sure I schedule the more difficult calls, (or the calls that require the most brain power) for earlier in the day. This way, I can make sure that I am getting the critical calls done first so in case something happens to my schedule during the day, I’ve at least focused my efforts appropriately. When I do this, I find that I tend to move from one call to the next without looking at the entire list again, and “cherry-picking” the next call. I can also be very sensitive about the amount of time I need to allocate to my activities and the time of day. If it’s “selling time” then I had better be doing the calls related to selling. By proactively reviewing and scheduling your list of calls, you’ll find that you are getting through more calls in a day, and achieving a much better connection rate.

I would appreciate reading your comments so if you have any feedback for me, please post them as a response below.

Enjoy your day!

Ken

Related posts:

1. Monday Morning Kick Start
2. Database or Rolodex?

By now, I expect everyone is making use of some type of contact management database system (for anyone who isn’t yet, read my earlier blog here). Hopefully, you are also using that systems calendaring function. For ease of illustration, I’m going to use the example of the ACT! Contact Management System (however, everything discussed here applies equally as well to the Infusionsoft system).

When I get in to the office in the morning, the first thing I do is fire up my computer and log in to my ACT! database (ok, this might be second only to getting my coffee ). Once in my database, the first place I go is to my Task List to review any pending activities prior to today. Sometimes, if I have a meeting late on Friday, or over the weekend, I may not get my database updated until Monday morning, so I want to make sure I don’t have any activities pending in the past. If I do, I either clear them as completed, reschedule them to another date and time, or erase them. Once that’s completed, I change the filtering on my task list to show me today’s activities. Now I go to work and review the things I’ve got scheduled for today.  Anything scheduled for a specific time gets reviewed to make sure I have the necessary details covered. For example, if it’s a meeting, have I confirmed the meeting and do I have the material I need for the meeting ready to go. Once I’ve reviewed the “non-discretionary” items (i.e. the tasks that are scheduled for a specific time), I take a look at the other tasks on my list. These are typically made up of phone calls that should be made and To-Do’s that need to be done, all scheduled “timeless”. Sometimes this list of “timeless” activities can be daunting as I’m one of those people that tend to put everything I need to do into my database. So the trick becomes, how do I manage this list of timeless activities to make sure I am using my time as efficiently as I can and be as productive as I can be.

Here is one technique I use that you might find helpful. As I review my list of timeless activities, I change the priority of any activity that needs to be done today to a status of “high”. I also color code this high priority to “red”. Now, when I look at my Task List, or my Daily Calendar, I can see at a glance the activities that are of highest priority and will focus my attention on those for the day. As I get each one completed, they are removed from my Calendar and Task List, and I can focus on the next one. If one of the activites need to be rescheduled to another day, I reschedule it right away. If I reschedule an activity to another day, I make sure and change the priority to either medium or low, so when that day comes, I again can review all the activities for the day, and determine which ones need to be bumped to a priority status of High. This technique helps me to stay focused on those items of greatest concern, and get the things done that absolutely needs to be done that day. My productivity stays high, and my efficiency stays high as I tend to get less distracted. In my next blog post, I will share with you another technique I use to manage my daily activities which is particularly helpful when I have several calls to make or return.

I hope this helps you get your Monday off to a great start, and helps to reduce your stress around too many things to do, and not enough time to get them done.  If you have any comments or thoughts you would like to share, please pass them along by posting a response below.

Enjoy your day!

Ken

Related posts:

1. Activity Management – Part II
2. What’s New At True North
3. Database or Rolodex?

As you may already know, I’ve been in the contact management database business for a long time. First as a user, then as a business consultant. My particular area of expertise is helping other businesses build and develop a database of their most profitable customers, ideal business partners, and passionate referral sources.  I hope you will agree with me when I say that in your business, your database is your most valuable asset. You do have a database right? Now, please understand that I’m not talking about your Outlook address book, or some other email-based address book, or contact directory on a cell phone, smart phone, pda or spreadsheets.

No, what I am referring to is something much more valuable and tangible. What I’m talking about is a living, breathing, dynamic and organic relational database that is the sole-source repository of everyone you know. It needs to be customizable, searchable, and capable of segmenting your contacts into a variety of categories. It also needs to be secure and capable of being backed-up on a very regular basis. Ring a bell? If you don’t have something like this, then not only is your whole business at risk, but you’re losing revenue. Lot’s of revenue!

At True North Partners, we focus exclusively on one contact management (or contact relationship management) database system. ACT! by Sage.

Over the course of the next several blog posts, I will be writing about the ACT! Contact and Relationship Management system, and going in to great detail about how you can improve your company’s profitability, and overall net worth, by harnessing the power of systems like ACT!.

Thanks for taking the time to share in my morning inspiration.  Enjoy the rest of your day!

Related posts:

1. Database or Rolodex?
2. It’s just a database!