Tony Holowitz: Your Act CRM Software Expert

What is Act Software?  What is a Act CRM Database?

If I handed you a business card, what would you do with it?  Act CRM can hold all the information that is contained on that business card.  Company name, contact, phone number, mobile phone and business address.  You can also record the email address and website.

This leads us to the most important field in Act: the ID status field.

The ID status field is where you define who that contact is in your database.  Family?  Friend?  Prospect or vendor?  Customer.  As you start to enter more and more contacts in the Act your database will render itself useless if it is not easy to find the information you need when you need it.  If you would like to send an email to all your prospects, you need to be able to find them quickly and you can do that using the ID status field.

That is why the ID status field is the most important field in Act.

At this point, once you have entered data into Act you can use it as a glorified Rolodex.  A place to look up information.  Need a phone number, no problem.  Need an address, easy.  It is a repository or database of all the information that is important to you.  Act CRM can be used desktop software or web-based software.

I have clients that use Act CRM as a Rolodex and nothing more and they thrive.

I also have clients that use Act as a marketing and sales tool and calendar to keep track of everything that is important in their business.  That is what is so great about Act CRM, it adapts to your needs and personality.  I have clients that have E-type personalities and keep every single piece of information in Act.  They record notes and histories of everything they have done for a particular contact in Act and need to record a history of all their interactions; meetings, calls and to-dos.

Act CRM has a powerful built-in email marketing automation tool.  It can be an incredibly powerful tool if you used properly and with some imagination.  It is the least expensive salesperson ever hire if you are willing to train it like you would a salesperson.

You can import data.  You can have that data on your mobile device.  You can export data.  You can send emails from Act CRM using Microsoft Outlook.

Act CRM can help you keep your life and business on track.  Is it easy?  Not necessarily.  Having said that the great thing about Act is you get out of it what you are willing to put into it.  Act CRM can be used on multiple devices.  It has flashy dashboards and sales opportunities.  Need to know what happened in the last week or 30 days?  It has a history list to make that very easy to review.

The hardest thing about Act is making sure you do not get caught up in all the bells and whistles of what this software offers.  Regarding the cost: about $350 per year as a subscription.  At this point I want to be very blunt about that cost.  First and foremost, if you think about it as a cost, you are looking at Act wrong.  If you cannot make back more money that you invest in Act via multiple of 10+ you just are not trying very hard.

I have individuals that use Act very effectively.

I have companies that use Act for sales and marketing.

I have businesses that use Act to keep track of their clients.

I have clients that have used Act for years and barely scratch the surface of what it can do for them.

Much like a hammer, an Act database is merely a tool and it is up to you to decide what you would like to build with that tool.  Sometimes you need additional tools.  Those are called Act add-on products and services.  You only get so much for $350 per year.  Add-on products that complement Act are solutions to the weaknesses of Act CRM.  The missing needs and wants of Act CRM customers.

At the end of the day, it is up to you to make the most of the software.  As an Act CRM consultant or ACC, which is short for Act Certified Consultant, I specialize in teaching people how to make the most out of Act software.  So let us have some fun and open our minds to the potential of using Act as a very productive CRM database for your personal use or business.

Tell me what kind of tool you want Act CRM to be by reaching out to me for a complementary one-hour review of your Act needs and use.  Let me help you become a better acter.