In ACT! 2010 Essential Training, author and ACT! Certified Consultant Karen Fredricks explains how ACT! can help small to mid-sized businesses become more organized, efficient, and profitable. ACT! is the most popular contact management software on the market, and this course is designed to get users up and running fast. Karen demonstrates how to build a database of contacts and customers, work with notes and histories, and run reports. Scheduling and task management are covered in depth, as well as integration with Word, Excel, and Outlook. Karen devotes time to new features in ACT! 2010, including e-marketing and integration with social media.


Course content

Introduction

-Introduction
-What ACT! does
-Knowing the five ACT! flavors
-Setting up a demo database

1. Getting Your ACT! Together

-Learning a few database concepts
-Navigating through ACT!
-Using the Setup Assistant

2. Putting Your Database to Work

-Adding new contact records
-Modifying an existing ACT! record
-Looking up contact information
-Using additional contact lookups

3. Using ACT! to Improve Your Memory

-Creating an ACT! note
-Creating a history
-Scheduling an activity
-Reviewing the task at hand
-Clearing activities

4. Reporting on Your Progress

-Working with dashboards
-Running reports
-Customizing a list view

5. Merging Information into a Document

-Understanding the mail merge
-Creating a template
-Performing a merge
-Creating labels
-Emailing contacts
-Integrating with Outlook

6. Developing an E-Marketing Campaign

-Introduction to ACT! e-marketing
-Creating an email template
-Sending an e-blast
-Analyzing the results of an e-marketing campaign
-Creating a survey
-Creating a web form
-Creating a drip marketing campaign

7. Using the Web to Build Your Database

-Navigating in the Web Info tab
-Using the Web Info tab to research your contacts
-Creating new web links

8. Working with Sales Opportunities

-Introduction to opportunities
-Creating opportunities
-Modifying the product list
-Creating sales stages
-Viewing the opportunity list

9. Grouping Your Contacts

-What is a group?
-Creating a group
-Finding your way around in the groups
-10. Creating Company Records
-What is a company?
-Creating company records

Conclusion

-Reviewing add-on products
-Goodbye