Kevin's Blog
ACT! Licensing
There are two important points regarding ACT! Licensing that often cause some confusion:
1. Named Users: ACT! is licensed 'by the user' - Sage often says it's a 'Named User License.' If you're a single user, you simply buy one license of ACT! and you use it. But if you're part of an organization with more than one user, then you'll need ONE license for EACH user. If you have 3 sales reps, one sales manager, one sales administrator and one marketing person, that's SIX named users so you'll need SIX licenses.
2. Installation: When you install ACT!, it will run for 30 days before you have to enter a license serial number. When you enter the license serial number, (plus your name, company, email, phone, address, etc.) all of that information gets transmitted back to Sage licensing computers, that keep track of how many times you've used that serial number. If everything checks out, your ACT! is 'activated' and the 30 day trial limit will be removed. Although the exact number, called the 'tolerance', isn't documented, it's generally believed to be 2 or 3 times. This is to allow for when you have to have your computer repaired, or have the operating system reloaded (we call that a 'nuke n pave'), or maybe you get upgraded to a new computer. That's why there is a tolerance of 2 or 3. If you try to install it a fourth time, or fifth, or more, the Sage licensing computers will NOT activate your ACT! and it will remain in 30 day trial mode. You will have to call Customer Support at Sage and 'plead your case' as to why you've installed it so many times. This 'activation' process is becoming very common in the software industry, led by Microsoft, to ensure that users and organizations are adhering to the Software Licensing Agreement and don't put themselves in violation of Software Publishers Association (SPA) regulations. As a business owner, you want to be 'in compliance' - there are cases of disgruntled employees reporting their employer to the SPA for pirating and illegally copying software as a way of getting even.
The Vendor Client Relationship
A fellow consultant passed this video along. I think it captures some of the more unusual requests that I've heard - Enjoy!
Organizational Cultures
Sales Organizational Cultures and Their Impact on Sales Software Project Success
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CM (Contact Management), SFA (Sales Force Automation), or CRM (Customer Relationship Management)? Which is right for you? Don’t get too confused over the acronyms. Besides, they’re frequently used by the vendors to obfuscate, obscure and confuse you, the buyer. Focus instead on overcoming inherent issues and cultures within your sales organization that will doom any sales software project, then turn to selecting a software solution that fits their needs, that’s correctly sized to your organization and that doesn’t exceed your budget.
Turnaround Documents
Whenever I mention "Turnaround Documents" with regards to Quotations, I always get asked "What's a Turnaround Document?" Credit goes to Bill Losey, long-time friend and industry expert, for showing me the value and purpose of a Turnaround Document. Simply put, it is a written summary statement (often 1 page) that is appended to every quotation that you send out to your prospects and customers that makes it easy for them to acknowledge, accept, sign, date and return to you to indicate that they accept your quotation and agree to proceed. In my case, it's actually a Fax Cover Sheet that refers to the Quotation by #, shows deposits, balances, method of payments, place for credit card payment if they choose to pay by that method, and signature lines. As a Fax Cover Page, it is (From:) them and (To:) me, with names, companies, phone and fax numbers already merged by QuoteWerks or QwikQuote, from ACT! or Microsoft CRM or Outlook or GoldMine etc. Read more...