ACTOrbit Blog

Playing the "What-If?" Game

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 20:46:00 GMT

I’m going to share two words that can change your life if you choose to put these words to good use. Are you ready? What if. I like to play a game with these two words and highly recommend that you do, too. Each day, ask yourself “What if?” and explore the possibilities that this question brings forward. For example, if you ask yourself, “What if I make ten additional sales calls today?” what would the possible results be? If you made ten additional sales calls today and two customers purchased a product from you as a result, then you just made two additional sales that you would not have made had you not played the “What if?” game! This is powerful stuff, folks.

Challenge yourself and your staff to play the “What if?” game at least once a week, if not daily. Imagine the positive changes that you will see in the office as well in the attitudes of your employees as they challenge themselves to take action. Let’s look at a few scenarios to illustrate the power of “What if?”

First, let’s imagine a medical practice where the doctor is running about an hour and a half behind schedule. Impatient patients fidget in the lobby; some grumble while others keep asking the receptionist how much longer the wait will be. Seats are getting scarce. The receptionist is also stressed; it’s going to be a long day. An un-empowered employee would manage to get through the day eventually while the one who asks herself, “What if I call the remaining patients to let them know that the doctor’s running behind?” is empowered to take a proactive approach to solving the problem.

Now, let’s imagine a worker who is up for his annual performance review. He knows that times are tough and that a raise isn’t likely, especially since the company just laid off several of his co-workers. He could accept a “job well done” and is prepared for the possibility of a stagnant salary. But this employee is well-versed in playing the “What if?” game and asks himself, “What if I ask for an extra week’s vacation this year in lieu of a pay increase?” Well, what if? He just might get it!

As you explore the possibilities, ask yourself “What if I don’t?” as well. What if you don’t make any additional sales calls today? You won’t make any additional sales. What if you don’t call the patients to let them know they can come in later or reschedule? You’ll have a lobby filled with impatient patients that resent the fact that you didn’t call them. What if you don’t suggest an alternative to a pay increase? You won’t get one.

The “What if?” game can be played on a personal level as well as on the job. What if I wrote a children’s book? What if I put $200 a month in a college fund for my two-year-old? What if I apply for a grant? What if I learn a new skill? What if I start training for a marathon?

These two powerful words, what if, are yours to use as you see fit. Put them to good use and you will see immediate results!

ACTOrbit Action Steps

Get into the habit of asking yourself “What if?” every day. It takes about 27 days for a habit to form, so schedule at least a month’s worth of prompts into ACT!
Once you see the power that these two words have, share your story with your staff and empower them to use this technique as well.
Create a “What if” bulletin board in a highly visible place within your office and encourage everyone to post a “What if” question.
Each week, ask team members to share their “What if?” questions and then celebrate successes.

Make Every Week the Week before Vacation

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 20:40:00 GMT

I love going on vacation – who doesn’t? Half of the fun is gearing up for it: making plans and getting things done. In fact, the week before vacation is often the most productive week of the year for me, and I bet the same is true for you. With that in mind, let’s explore how we manage our time when we know we’ll be gone for a week or two.

After every summer vacation I realize that it will likely be quite some time before my next vacation. However, every week is the week before vacation in my office. How is that possible? Why? Let me explain.

Imagine that next week you’ll be going on a two-week vacation to the middle of nowhere where there’s no Internet access, no cell phones, and absolutely no way the office can possibly reach you. What would you need to do to ensure that your office survives without you for two weeks? Most of us know the answer to that: you’d get busy! Starting on Monday, you would assess your assignments and prioritize your tasks to ensure that everything gets handled by the end of the week. You’d also communicate with your peers, vendors, and clients to let them know what to expect in your absence. Each day, you’d arrive at work with a purpose and you’d work diligently to accomplish your mission. When you leave the office on Friday afternoon, your desk will be clear, your assignments complete, and all of your important clients will have been contacted with the latest status reports. You’d pack your bags and enjoy your vacation knowing that you deserve it!

Now imagine what would happen if every workweek was as productive as the week before vacation. What if all of your assignments were complete and all clients were satisfied every Friday afternoon? What if you could arrive to work on Monday with a completely clean slate with no overdue or pressing projects the minute you clock in? By adopting a “week before vacation” mindset each week, the possibilities are endless! Imagine how many additional sales calls you could make if your schedule were clear at the beginning of the week.

The week before vacation is more than a mindset – it’s a time management plan. There, I said it. And I’ll say it again: time management. I’ve seen too many professionals limit their chances of success due to a lack of basic time management skills. I’ve even heard excuses such as “I don’t have time for time management” and “I already know what needs to be done.” These excuses are often muttered while the speaker shuffles paper from one inbox to the next in a futile search for something else.

I’ve also introduced these same professionals to the week before vacation concept and the results have been spectacular! Those who have embraced the idea have realized that taking the time to manage your time results in additional time! So, give it a try this week: pretend that you are going on vacation starting at quitting time on Friday afternoon. What needs to be done in order for the office to survive the following week without you?

Write down everything that needs to be complete and then prioritize each task. Once prioritized, schedule time for each one and then do them! Be realistic and schedule more time than you think will be required as padding. Don’t forget to schedule time to call your clients and your supervisor with progress reports. While you would normally call to let them know that you’d be out of town and who to call in your absence, this won’t be necessary as you will be available next week. However, a friendly call with a status update is always welcome and a good business practice. For example, you might call a client to let him know his order is progressing as expected and it looks like the delivery will arrive on the day promised. While not earth-shattering, your client will appreciate that you’re keeping an eye on his order and that you cared enough to call.

When Friday afternoon arrives, clear off your desk and enjoy your weekend knowing that you deserve it! Best of all, when you return on Monday, you’ll have a clean desk and a clear schedule! It will fill up fast, so make sure to plan for next week’s vacation right away.

ACTOrbit Action Steps

• Pretend that this week is the week before vacation
• Use ACT’s Task List to list and prioritize the tasks you must complete this week
• Review the status of each of your projects and schedule progress report phone calls with all stakeholders
• Reward yourself and stay in the vacation mindset on Friday by wearing a Hawaiian shirt to work or scheduling a dinner out with friends

ACT! 2010 -- One month later

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 17:21:00 GMT

After ACT! 2010 launched with much fanfare in early September did it meet (or exceed) the hype? Let’s take a closer look at a few of the enhancements.

User Interface: By most accounts the user interface has been well received. In the past, it took too many clicks to execute certain functions, e.g. doing a contact lookup. In this example, you can lookup a record by simply typing in the contact’s first and/or last name on the contact screen. Other one-click examples include writing a letter, sending an email, adding contacts to groups, etc. In fact, if you’re not happy with the links you can edit them to suit your needs.

We also like the modern look and feel. It looks like a 2010 application instead of the old-looking applications of the 2005 era. Nice job ACT!

End-to-End Marketing: One of the most requested features from our customers was e-marketing. In the past you had to purchase and install it separately. In 2010 it is bundled with ACT! and you simply have to activate it. Keep in mind that you still have to pay the monthly service but it is affordable and well worth it. Our customers use it primarily for sending out blast emails but one of the most overlooked options is the marketing campaign module. Imagine being able to have ACT run on autopilot and have your contacts be tracked “automatically”. While this is an oversimplification of its capabilities, there is a lot of depth to this module – definitely worth a closer look.

Customizable Opportunities: For those sales-oriented users of ACT! you can appreciate a good sales management tool. With 2010 the folks at Sage finally got it right. Because every company is different when it comes to managing their sales pipeline each company had specific needs when it comes to tracking the information. ACT 2010 allows you to add as many custom fields to the module so if you need to track project start dates for example, and just about any kind of information, you can now do so. For you techies, the sales module became its own entity table – similar to the contacts, company, and groups table. This means you can have the sales opportunity be the “hub of the wheel” and history, activities, attachments, etc. be related to each opportunity.

Social Media Integration: Social media is here and now and Sage has incorporated it into the 2010 application. If you are a newbie to social media or a veteran, you’ll appreciate how simple it can be accessed in 2010. There is a new tab on the contact record that shows you a list of the various social media services – LinkedIn, Facebook, etc. – and you simply click on the the link. For example, if the contact record has a facebook record you can view his/her information. Same for the other services. You can also add other services to 2010 by editing the list. You may require a little technical knowledge when linking certain services but that shouldn’t discourage you. I anticipate Sage making the other services available “out of the box” in the future.

In summary, we really like 2010. Take a look at it if you are still on the earlier versions. One thing to keep in mind when upgrading is ensuring you have the proper hardware to run it. Having a good desktop (and server if on a network) with a minimum of 1GB RAM (2GB on Vista) and a Pentium IV processor will minimize any headaches when you begin using the software.

ACT! 2010 Cool Design and Style

Wed, 02 Sep 2009 04:46:00 GMT

Sage Software launched the newest version, ACT! 2010 on September 1 amid much fanfare from beta testers and ACT consultants. Our own testing validated their enthusiasm.

The most pleasing feature is the new design of the interface. Prior to the new design the interface seemed to be stuck in a 1990's world. Not sure why it took this long for Sage to roll it out but it will make new users (and old) embrace a more user-friendly application and allow them to navigate the most important features in less clicks. Our feeling is less clicks is better.

Another feature that is sure to get attention is the social media integration with such popular sites as Facebook, LinkedIn and others. While many people are still trying to get their heads around social media, the folks at Sage didn't want to wait around while they figured it out. We're big fans of social media and we'll write some articles/blogs about how it can be leveraged using ACT!

There are too many more features in ACT! 2010 to list here but the other one that needs to be highlighted is the new and improved Sales Opportunity module. The long-time ACT! user will appreciate the improvements made to this module which includes being able to create custom fields beyond the standard eight (8) fields in previous versions. Most of our clients had to think long and hard and prioritize the top 8 custom fields. Also, the opportunities layout can be completely customized to fit a company's needs.

We'll have more on ACT! 2010 in future articles.

ACTorbit Blogging Begins

Fri, 30 Jan 2009 00:02:00 GMT

ACTorbit blogging begins today. Our subscribers have been waiting a long time for this and we can't wait to share all the wonderful news about ACTorbit. Stay tuned for many blogs from our experts.

ACTOrbit Blog

Wed, 02 Sep 2009 05:25:00 GMT

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