Introduction: Welcome, everyone! I’m Tony Holowitz, and today’s tutorial will focus on working with companies in Act CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software. Companies are a powerful feature that can help you organize and manage contacts more efficiently. In this tutorial, we’ll explore how Act version 17 automates the process of creating companies and the benefits of linking contacts together under a single company.

1. Understanding the Role of Companies in Act: If you’ve been using Act for a while, you might not be familiar with the concept of companies. Traditionally, companies were not widely used due to the additional effort required to manage them. However, Act version 17 has made significant improvements, making companies a valuable tool for organizing contacts.

2. The Basics of Companies in Act: In Act, each individual contact is referred to as “My Record.” However, when we perform a lookup for all contacts, we can see that some contacts share a common company name, such as the “ABC Company.” In the past, there was no direct indication of these contacts’ association with a company.

3. Automatic Company Creation in Act: With Act version 17, the process of creating companies is now automated. This means that when a specified number of contacts share the same company name, Act will automatically create a company record to link them together. This feature streamlines the process and enhances contact organization.

4. Configuring Company Preferences: To enable automatic company creation, follow these steps: a. Click on “Tools” in the toolbar and select “Preferences.” b. In the “Admin” tab, choose “Company Preferences.” c. Set the minimum number of contacts needed to create a company. For example, if you set it to 10, Act will create a company record when 10 or more contacts share the same company name. d. Optionally, leave the “Link My Record to New Companies” and “Create My Record If Missing” options checked for further automation.

5. Benefits of Linking Contacts to Companies: By having contacts linked to companies, you gain several advantages: a. Visual Clue: Contacts belonging to the same company appear as blue hyperlinks. This visual cue helps you quickly identify contacts associated with larger entities. b. Improved Organization: Companies provide a structured way to group related contacts, enhancing the organization of your database. c. Better Communication: Easily access all contacts within a company to streamline communication and manage interactions more efficiently.

Conclusion: Understanding and using companies in Act can significantly improve your contact management experience. In this tutorial, we explored the automated company creation feature in Act version 17 and the benefits of linking contacts together under a single company record. By following these steps, you can leverage companies to stay organized, boost productivity, and effectively manage your contacts.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of this tutorial, where we’ll delve into the practical applications and advanced features of working with companies in Act CRM.