Sometimes it’s hard to keep up.  If you operate a small business, you are likely well acquainted with the challenges of change, and all that’s involved to be on the leading edge for your customers.  Last month Sage introduced changes to their business care product line. As a reseller, I’ve been getting calls on this asking me to explain. Forgive me for not getting this post up sooner, hopefully this will provide some clarity for customers considering Sage Business Care.

Sage ACT! Business CarePackage Updates – Know Your Options

What Got Us Here – ACT! PlatinumCare

Prior to the new unveiling (which I’ll describe below) of Sage business care,  they offered Platinum Care which was an annual subscription program giving customers the latest version of the software (software assurance) shortly after it was released. This was a good move, and in keeping with many other software companies serving small businesses.

ACT! Total Care was released shortly thereafter. In addition to the software assurance, Total Care included tier 2 support. So customers could call and get an engineer on the phone, as oppose to a front-line support technician. This was particularly valuable for experienced ACT! users, or IT departments who were charged with administering the ACT! database in their environment.

Introducing Sage Business Care

Now there is a new set of similar products, expanded.  Out with the old, in with the new.

Sage Business Care Basic

Tech support only, 3 incidents of phone and email support per company. Online access to the ACT! knowledgebase. No new versions as they come out with the Basic plan.

Sage Business Care Bronze

With Bronze you get the latest software versions/updates (termed software assurance above), and access to the ACT! knowledgebase. 50% discount on Sage Anytime Learning courses.

Sage Business Care Silver

Silver adds back the tech support.  5 incidents of phone and email support per company, the latest software versions/updates (termed software assurance above), and access to the ACT! knowledgebase.

Sage Business Care Gold

This is the granddaddy package.

• Get the latest software versions/updates
• Unlimited tech support.
• Online access to the ACT! knowledgebase.
• 50% discount on Sage Anytime Learning courses.

Here’s a visual, less the Basic option (click to enlarge):

My Take On Sage Business Care Packages

These won’t be for everyone, especially if you don’t like to update software on a regular basis.  However, given new Windows operating systems, the security patches that come with them, not to mention the same updates for Microsoft Office (which integrates with ACT!), it’s hard to walk away from the packages.

As an ACT! Certified Consultant, it’s worth noting, I have access to the same level of tech support that the Gold plan provides.  So if you are working with an ACT! consultant (or plan to), and finances are tight, you might consider selecting a lower plan, and leverage your consultant accordingly.

More Questions? Use this Button to reach me.

Visit our ACT! Store (currently updating Care packages there) Or, chime in with your questions, comments, and feedback.

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Heads up Sage ACT! 2011 customers, within 10 days of releasing the new version of the software, the first Hotfix has been released.

What is addressed in the hotfix? For those synching ACT! and Outlook activities, this hotfix is designed to address idiosyncrasies related to an error that occurs when opening an activity after it has been synchronized.

Where do I get the hotfix? The KB article for the hotfix can be found here.  It includes details and download instructions.

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Deciding on a CRM or Contact Management system for your business is no easy task, if you take it seriously.

You might want to understand specific needs in a contact management system, such as email integration, contact tracking, sales opportunity tracking, mail merging, reporting, contact automation, importing new web leads, Outlook integration, web access, and whatever else might suit your situation.

This can be a very time consuming task.  I’m helping professionals like you by making my complete review of the Sage ACT! 2011 software available at no cost.

Contact Management Review-Sage ACT! 2011 Now LIVE!

Get instant access to this important contact management software review at http://www.WhatsNewWithACT.com

If you have already signed up there and are bold enough, please introduce yourself using the comments section below, feel free to offer any feedback, questions, you may have.

Ready to purchase?  Consider the great Sage ACT! discounts here.

Looking forward to hearing from you.
-Travis

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In the beginning users were just happy to have software to organize their contacts.  Next was the need to get data onto their smartphone, and needs have increased from there.  With the popularity of ACT! in larger environments (50 or even 100 users), the need for security controls on the database have grown as well.  Today’s post concludes a series of posts of new features introduced in Sage ACT! 2011.  We’ll look at the new Admin tab within preferences and how each of the options function within the database, as well as a video preview of the security features in action.

Improved New Security Options in Sage ACT! 2011

Note: NOW LIVE! complete video review of Sage ACT! 2011 here, it covers all that’s new, includes a demo of the webaccess function in Sage ACT! 2011, as well as a bonus video for those starting their search for a contact management system entitled, 7 Elements of a Good Contact Manager. It’s here

Security Preferences: New Database Preferences

For administrators there is a new tab within preferences called “Admin” option in preferences which allows for control of various data entry areas in the database.

Restrict Emails from Being Attached to User Records

One of the challenges for larger environments in previous versions, is there was no control in recording histories sent from one ACT! user to other ACT! users (inter-office email) in the same database.  This would create a potential security breach as one ACT! user could review correspondences between two other colleagues (VP and Manager discussing staff raises, benefit plans, etc.).  With this feature enabled, this becomes a problem of the past.

Restrict Emails Attachments in the Database

As nice as it is to “attach” emails to the database the disk space requirements can grow considerably, especially if systems have this feature enabled by default.  The idea here is this feature can be disabled on a database regardless of settings at an individual workstation.  More control for the administrator.

Restrict File Attachment in the Database

The last aspect of control is file attachments.  Example: When a user merges a template (like a Microsoft Word document), they have the option to save the document to the contact record.  Sage has introduced the ability to restrict this functionality from within the Admin tab of ACT! 2011.
Here’s a video preview of the new ACT! security options:

Will this feature mean anything to you?  Questions? Feedback? Chime in using the comment boxes below.

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Automation serves as a key competitive advantage for any business.  If software can automate something otherwise done by a human being, time has been leveraged, and businesses can do more.  I love automation and use it in my business all the time. Perhaps you ended up on this webpage, as a result of automated systems in my business, don’t take it personal, I’m just trying to serve more people than I could alone.  When we automate in our business we are actually caring for customers and prospects if we have a meaningful message to share.  With ACT! 2011, Sage now offers workflow/automation with their smart tasks feature.  Let me review it here.

Sage ACT! 2011 Finally Brings Workflow with Smart Tasks

Note: NOW LIVE! complete video review of Sage ACT! 2011 here, it covers all that’s new, includes a demo of the webaccess function in Sage ACT! 2011, as well as a bonus video for those starting their search for a contact management system entitled, 7 Elements of a Good Contact Manager. It’s here

Smart Task Templates

The smart task process it based on templates.  Similar to email or document templates, they provide the instructions for the software to follow when running a smart task on a contact, group of contacts, or an entire database.

10 Prefilled Templates for Common Tasks

Sage ACT! 2011 comes with 10 build-in templates for users to get started.  This is helpful if you want to get an idea how to integrate common smart tasks into your daily business practices.  These smart task templates can be edited or duplicated per users needs.

Two Categories of Included Smart Task Templates

1-General Productivity: Things like, birthday reminders, contacts that have had no recent activity, welcoming new contacts, or if a contact has incomplete information.

2-Sales Focused: An alert to the sale rep if an opportunity has a high value, a notice on an opportunity which is a week from closing, closed opportunity follow-up, and prospecting process.

*It is worth noting that some of these smart tasks integrate with ACT! E-marketing and do require an active account to function.

Easy Customization

There is a visual designer for the smart tasks editor, which requires no programming skills.  Essentially, if you’ve taken the time to think through your business processes, or even write them down, first congratulate yourself (most don’t do this basic thing in their business), then take a few minutes to implement a given business process as a smart task with a few drag and drops.

And it doesn’t have to be a business process; it can be as simple as creating a tasks, or sending an email when a specific event occurs to a contact.

Here’s a preview Video of Smart Tasks in action:

Smart Task User Visibility

Templates can be configured as viewable to users or not.  Giving managers and admins control so that sales reps and productivity users don’t get too happy with smart tasks and clog up your database.

Pause or Activate Smart Tasks

Don’t want a smart task to run? Pause it.  Want it to run? Un-pause or set to auto-run.

View Pending Smart Tasks

It templates aren’t set to apply tasks to a record immediately, it hangs out in a pending state, so users can review them and apply them on a case by case basis.  Just beware; this list has the potential to get long if you have multiple users using smart tasks.

Fully Extensible Engine-It’s Flexible

Sage told me smart tasks have a “Fully Extensible Engine”, and that it integrates with the “Windows Workflow Foundation”, sounds fancy, but I’m not sure what that means to my business.  It probably has to do with the fact that I’m not a programmer.   I think they have created something in smart tasks that makes developers and software types happy, but I can’t be sure about that.  Truth is, most users won’t have need of this functionality, but nice to know it is there.

Out-of-the Box Integration with ACT! E-Marketing

This is where the automation part of smart tasks gets really cool, integrating with ACT! E-Marketing.  If you are a user of ACT! E-Marketing perhaps your head is already reeling with delight.  You can do cool things like add new customers or prospects to specific autoresponse email sequence, ask for contact information for those where it’s missing, and more. Since it is fully customizable, the world is your oyster.

It’s Your Turn

What do you think of Smart Tasks so far? Can you imagine using it in your business?  Why or why not?  Chime in with comments and questions below. 

Are you sold? Convinced this is for you?  If it is before August 31st, be sure to snap up Sage ACT! 2011 at the early bird pricing, and claim access to our forthcoming bonus pack for our customers only (due to release shortly after the product ships in September).

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