My Take on Sage ACT! 2011 Contact Management Software
Today, Sage software officially makes Sage ACT! 2011 available for purchase through their early bird promotion program. I first saw the ACT! 2011 product in April during an alpha release, and I thought I’d share my take on this new version with readers and subscribers. With the annual release schedule ACT! has been on since the ACT! 2005 version, it has been interesting to see Sage Software alter the ACT! product line with each new release. Allow me to provide an overview of the five key areas added or enhanced in the product, as well as my overall take.
My Take on Sage ACT! 2011 Contact Management Software
Perhaps you received an email from me or Sage or somewhere else and are curious what is in this new version of ACT!. If you are an existing ACT! user, you may notice name change; The product is now called, Sage ACT! 2011 PRO or Sage ACT! 2011 Premium. The PRO version is for individuals or those in small workgroups of 10 or less without the need for enhanced workgroup features or access through their Web browser via ACT! for Web. Let’s move on to what’s new with ACT!
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
Disclaimer: Perhaps like you, I am a small business owner and know the challenges of a small business. I am also a Sage Partner and a Certified Consultant for the ACT! Product line, as I like most (no company is perfect) of what Sage has done to help customers in the small business community. That said, I’m here to keep it real and offer my candid feedback as best I can.
UPDATE: The early bird special mentioned in this post is no longer available, you can still purchase the ACT! software here if it makes sense to do so.
1-Improved Startup Wizard
This will make life easier for new customers but also has features long time customers have been clamoring for. Some of the features include:
- Redesigned Welcome Page – making for easier and more intuitive navigation
- Express Importing - This allows users to get contacts into their ACT! database faster with a redesigned import functionality. The actual import seems faster than in previous versions.
- Import directly from Excel – This makes sense as many lists are bought and sold and delivered in CSV or Excel format.
- One Click “Create New Field” option – Just like it sounds, more visible and useful. Of course only those with Administrator level privileges will be able to use this function.
- Improved Default Layouts for improved navigation – ACT! 2010 had user interface enhancements, most of which were welcomed; they continue to improve navigation with these updated default layouts.
Learn more about the improved Sage ACT! 2011 startup wizard here.
Heard Enough? Customers who purchase either Sage ACT! 2011 Pro, Sage ACT! 2011 Premium, or a Sage ACT! 2011 Early Bird Bundle, by end of this month through our store will receive several special discounts and bonuses to help them get started with the software. Details Here.
2-Sage Business Information Services
Ever heard of Hoover’s? They provide business insight about companies around the world, saving a lot of research time for any businesses or sales organization. Sage as partnered with Hoover’s to provide Hoover’s data within Sage ACT! 2011.
To be honest, some of my customers aren’t a big fan of having Windows software tie into web services. However, I think for many this can offer significant value, especially if ACT! users are sales oriented. It is optional, and does require a subscription (I don’t have the full details on trial/pricing) for the service to work.
Here is the business information customers get with this subscription service:
- Contact, and company profile
- Company Financials, Contacts (org chart information), and News
- Industry Information – useful for having a reason to call or email, think conversation starter
- Search for new companies and Import new leads <<–big time saver…
- Email Alerts
Learn more about Sage Business Information Services here.
3-Smart Tasks – Long Awaited Workflow
I’ll get into this in more detail later, but in my opinion it is the second most compelling reason to upgrade to Sage ACT! 2011. Once you have your business processed dialed in, and that alone is a competitive advantage, take it to the next level by automating the process with Smart Tasks. Here is the skinny on what it offers…
Smart Task Templates:
- 10 Prefilled templates for common tasks
- Useful out-of-the-box or edit to personalize
- Suitable for general productivity or sales
Easy Customization:
- Easiest visual designer for creating and modifying Smart Tasks
- Drag/drop capabilities for Smart Task steps
Smart Task Visibility:
- Pause or Activate Smart Tasks
- View pending Smart Tasks
Fully Extensible Engine:
- Windows Workflow Foundation
- Out-of-the Box integration with ACT! E-Marketing
Learn more about Smart Tasks in Sage ACT! 2011 here.
Heard Enough? Customers who purchase either Sage ACT! 2011 Pro, Sage ACT! 2011 Premium, or a Sage ACT! 2011 Early Bird Bundle, by end of this month through our store will receive several special discounts and bonuses to help them get started with the software. Details Here.
4-Outlook Integration and Synchronization
This may be the most compelling reason for many existing customers to upgrade. I am still testing all these features, but so far so good. The sync functionality is the most important part, this will make it much easier for users to move data (and use habits) from Outlook to ACT!
Contact Synching:
- Create new Outlook Contacts from ACT!
- Create new ACT! Contacts from Outlook
- Control which ACT! Contacts are synched to Outlook
- Contacts are always up to date regardless of where they were created or changed
Calendar Synching:
- Calendars are always up to date, regardless of where events were created or modified
- Select which ACT! Activity types to sync to Outlook
- No duplicate entries
- Sync runs even with Outlook and/or ACT! closed
- Same features available for APFW users
- Users choose which system alarms display in
Learn more about Outlook Synchronization and Integration in Sage ACT! 2011 here.
5-New Database Security Preferences
Security is especially a concern in larger corporate environments that deploy Sage ACT!. One aspect of that concern has to do with file attachments in the database. Sage has taken action to provide the following capabilities with new database preferences:
- Restrict emails from being attached to user records – addresses issue of one act user reading another act users (the boss, or colleague) correspondences via their user record.
- Restrict email attachments in the database
- Restrict file attachments in the database such as IE, Word, Notes, Histories, Activities, Mail Merge, ACT! Email
Learn more about the New Database Security Preferences in Sage ACT! 2011 here.
My Take on the Sage ACT! 2011 New Features
Software purchases can be tricky. It’s about understanding your needs, remaining competitive, and investing wisely. While everyone may not find this upgrade worthy of their investment, Outlook intensive environments who understand the productivity kill of fragmented data or information islands, “it’s in Bob, or Jack, or Sharon’s Outlook”, and customers who value automation (Smart Tasks), the improvements in these areas are significant.
I’m a fan of investing in tools that free up time so you can sell more. Automation is key, and until now was only available for ACT! users by a 3rd party enhancement product. To be fair this is version 1 of Smart Tasks in Sage ACT! 2011, so while it may not compete with more established workflow type packages, it is a good start.
Administrators will appreciate the streamlined startup process, with improved layouts and easy of creating new fields in the database, as well as the additional data security found in Sage ACT! 2011.
Sales and marketing professionals will be intrigued with Hoover’s data integration with Sage Business Information Services, and the ability to import lists of target market companies and contacts quickly.
Overall this is a significant upgrade, especially for workgroups an larger environments that have IT staff. Smaller environments and individual customers may find it hard to justify the upgrade if they don’t see immediate value in these five enhancements.
Heard Enough? Customers who purchase either Sage ACT! 2011 Pro, Sage ACT! 2011 Premium, or a Sage ACT! 2011 Early Bird Bundle, by end of this month through our store will receive several special discounts and bonuses to help them get started with the software. Details Here.
Thoughts? Ideas? Questions? Chime in using the comment boxes below.
