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The key to running a successful financial-advisory practice is organization, and the most important information that most advisors organize and store revolves around their clients, prospects, and vendors.
I group customer relationship management (CRM) programs into four areas:
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- General-purpose programs, such as ACT!, Goldmine, and Microsoft Outlook.
- Highly specialized, industry-specific programs, such as Junxure-I and ProTracker.
- Total custom solution, where you have software created that meets the unique needs of your business.
- The middle ground. Part of the middle ground is populated by add-in programs such as ACT4Advisors.
Last month, I discussed industry-specific programs and Junxure-I. In this article, we'll look at the middle ground and ACT4Advisors.
For those of you unfamiliar with add-ins, they are nothing more than computer code that enhances an existing product. ACT4Advisors adds a customized ACT! database, as well as specialized macros, screen layouts, reports, and search capabilities designed specifically for financial-service professionals. Because ACT4Advisors is essentially a customized, enhanced version of ACT!, let's start with an overview of ACT! Version 6.0.
ACT! Version 6.0--An Overview
ACT! Version 6.0 is probably my favorite general purpose customer-relationship manager, and I'm not alone. According to the company, more than 3.2 million business professionals use ACT! today.
It is a program that has stood the test of time. ACT! traces its roots to 1985 when Pat Sullivan, a salesman, decided to move his manual system for tracking prospects, clients, and client data to an electronic format. In the software business, 18 years is an eternity, so there must be some explanation for the program's continued popularity.
Part of the program's allure, I suspect, is its clean, intuitive interface. While it takes awhile to become an ACT! "power user," novices can learn the basics rapidly with the help of the short, but well-written users' guide. Due to a large user base, additional help is available from books, newsletters, user groups, consultants, and add-ons devoted solely to the product.
ACT! Version 6.0 packs a lot of power into a relatively inexpensive package. I picked up my copy of the latest version, which retails for $199.95, at Best Buy for $69.95 after rebates.
Like most other contact-management system, ACT! has the ability to track contacts, view your calendar, schedule appointments, and track tasks, but it can do much more.
ACT! is client-centric, which means that every action you take in the program revolves around a contact record in the program. The ACT screen is divided into two sections. The top section holds the type of information that would typically appear on a business card. The bottom half of the screen displays the information associated with the tab on the bottom of the page. The toolbar at the left of the screen allows users to navigate from the contact record to other parts of the program (contact list, groups, to-do list, calendar, e-mail).
At the Notes/History section, users can type notes into the contact record; they can also attach files, assign to-do's, and record correspondence, such as letters, faxes, and e-mail. If an advisor initiates phone calls from within ACT!, the program will automatically log the calls. Icons to the left of each individual record help to distinguish between the various types of entries.
Contacts can be organized into groups and further divided into subgroups. For example, it is possible to group all prospects together and then create subgroups based on their interests or how they found out about you. Grouping contacts allows an advisor to perform operations on multiple contacts simultaneously. An advisor might want to attach a note to a subgroup of clients, for example, or attach a spreadsheet to a group. E-mail or faxes can be associated with a group.
ACT! makes it easy to organize users' schedules and record their activities. Tracking calls, meetings, and to-do's becomes almost effortless. Users can set alarms, prioritize tasks, and create activity reports. They can create letters (using either ACT!'s built-in word processor of Microsoft Word), perform mail merges, produce e-mail templates, and track sales.
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