I have found the Facebook and LinkedIn groups/subscriptions have been really helpful in keeping me on track with people I want to stay in touch with. There are so many people out there, from so many different facets of my life, that the groups help categorize them. We have common interests, and we don’t have to filter through the noise to get to the good stuff.
So if you have an interest in SugarCRM, or CRM in general, please join my group! See you online!

Let me know what you think, and good selling!

So why did I add to the products we already support? Here’s the logic:
We are Sage CRM ACT! and SalesLogix partners, and so adding SageCRM, made sense in that many of the accounting products already come with SageCRM. Do you have MAS ERP? You might already have SageCRM.

SugarCRM makes sense for a couple reasons. We like Salesforce.com, and we support it for nonprofits. I love their nonprofit donation model. But it gets pricey over time for the B2B guys, so the logical alternative is Sugar. I like the opensource architecture of Sugar, and I like their pricing and feature set. It is a great tool for those that started on Salesforce, but are looking for a better value proposition.

We just signed the Sugar partner contract, so call us! We would love to get you on board!

One of the exercises was to critique our business cards. See Peter Wolf’s blog on it!

While it isn’t maybe ready for prime time, it definitely gives light to potential business intelligence that goes beyond reporting. The access to the back-end database (SQL) is available in ACT! 2012, but it will need some ACC’s to work on it to make it sing. Like the introduction of Tables a few years ago, this feature needs to have some TLC added to make it “work” for most end users.

If you are trying to build reports in ACT! by exporting information into Excel and then manipulating from there, ACT! Analytics might be the way to go for you.

It isn’t what you see that is impactful.  It’s what you don’t see.  We moved away from the traditional html format.  We have gone to a .php site, so that the Google searching our pages should be better, and the ease of updating the pages is DEFINITELY easier. I have been out on the site making copy edits, adding a page here and there, and I can vouch for the ease of making changes. I used to have to go through our WebMaster–now what is he going to be doing with his free time? It is so much better to be able to go out there and make changes that I can do in minutes, when it used to take us hours/days to do.

Of course it is not my job to be the webmaster…theoretically I am supposed to be running the show. But if I can write the blog, make a few edits on our site, update a page without going through another person or two–doesn’t that streamline the process and ultimately make me better?

I think that the new site will not only get us more visitors, but make our site more relevant, timely and engaging. I am excited about it already, and while it might not seem like much to you, it is a big deal to me–considering 70% of the people who are “shopping” go to your website before ever picking up the phone.

Which leads me to Webinx Site Tracker…oh. I think I have blogged about that already. Click on the link to learn more:-)

I spent most of my time at Dreamforce in the Non-Profit sessions. We are focusing our Salesforce consulting in the Non-Profit space. We will be advertising in the Minnesota Council of Non-Profits Conference and Exhibit brochure that will be held October 6 & 7. I really like working with Non-Profits, as they span the spectrum for variety and need. Salesforce has a great Non-Profit Foundation donation–they will donate a qualifying organization 10 Enterprise licenses–that a whopping $15,000 value!! There’s no better deal out there, and there’s no excuse for a Non-Profit not to jump on this offer and spend the fraction of the amount for deployment.

One thing that came out loud and clear at Dreamforce is that it is well worth working with a Salesforce partner on rolling out CRM to your organization, as there’s so much to the solution, and so many options, a partner can really help focus and priortize–and then deploy, and train.

Mike and I worked together as he was putting together his marketing plan and I helped him with his email marketing. He regularly “drip markets” me with an email that always includes a graphic, text with links, and he uses a tool that will allow him to see opens, clicks, forwards–basic statistics on his blast. These emarketing tools cost, but the feedback is priceless. We have been able to fill seats in classes, do follow calls based on interest, and it has helped us focus on what the customer deems important based on their clicks and opens.

Take a read of Mike’s blog.   I think you will find it funny and informative.