Posted by Bob Walton on Tue, Jul 13, 2010 @ 01:37 PM
We just raised the bar for training when it comes to implementing Contact Management Software in your business.
At BigContacts we are fanatical about ensuring the success of all our current Subscribers, so we have trained a team of in-house Contact Management Advisors that have the expertise and commitment to help you successfully implement our solution within your business. With this team in place, we now offer FREE Daily Training Webinars. We are confident that, with some time invested on the front-end, our platform will help you better manage and grow your business.
During these daily webinars our trained Advisors will answer questions and demonstrate how to setup and customize any part of the system.
Sit back and see how things are done LIVE on your computer screen. All of this is FREE for as long as you maintain a Paid Account with BigContacts and can be done from the convenience of your home or office.
The topics covered during these daily webinars include:
- Adding Users
- Importing Contacts
- Customizing your Company Settings
- Creating Custom Fields
- Creating Email & Letter Templates
- Customizing your Sales Pipeline Stages
- Customizing your Tasks & Work-flows
- Creating Custom Reports
- Setting up web forms to capture leads from your website
- Setting up automated Email Marketing Campaigns in BigContacts
We encourage your entire team to join us as often as you like. This investment of your time will be well worth it.
Posted by Bob Walton on Wed, Jul 07, 2010 @ 09:18 AM
If you have used your Admin tab in the past few weeks you have noticed a more logical and simplified layout. We are constantly working to streamline our Contact Management Software. Sometimes the changes are very noticeable and others work in the background.
The enhancements we have made to the Admin tab are more subtle but we think, as a whole, will make you job of managing/ customizing your account much easier.
Below are the highlights of what has changed in the Admin tab. Please feel free to comment to this post or drop us a note to support@bigcontacts.com if you have any questions on the enhancements we have made or any other questions that you may have about Contact Management Software in general.
More Logical Organization of Tabs
We have not only reorganized where we display the Admin function, but have also organized the order of the tabs in a more logical fashion. If you're new to the system you can know that if you work your way down the page one tab at a time that this is the most efficient and logical path to setting up and customizing your system.
Simply open each tab in the order that they appear and fill in the information as you go. Stop at any point while working your way through these tabs and your system is now customized to whatever level you feel you need. If you decide later to further customize your system to take advantage of other function within BigContacts you can simply come back and pickup where you left off.
For our existing Admin subscribers, you will find it easier to get things done. Whether you need to add a new user, change your billing plan or customize some of your fields.
Add new Users
With just one click you can open a window to enter you new users information and then press save. Your job is done. Our system will immediately email the new user with their login information so that they can get started right away.
(one click to add a new user)
(enter their basic information and the system does the rest)
Update your account information
Label your custom fields
Add Email and Letter Templates
Add Webforms to capture leads from your website
Posted by Bob Walton on Fri, May 07, 2010 @ 07:20 AM
Have you ever needed to find a phone number or email address for a client or prospect, but were not in front of your computer?
Maybe your Contact Management Software offers a mobile login, but you're on the road and don't have time to login and search for the contact information you need.
BigContacts gives you the ability to send an email directly to the system and ask for the results of a certain last name. Let's say you're looking for a client with the last name of "Doe". You can send an email directly to your BigContacts email dropbox and in the subject line enter the following:
"search" "last name"
(ex: search Doe)
The key thing here is to make sure that you have one space between the word "search" and your contacts last name.
Additionally, you can search using the first name of a person or the company name. Each of these search modes would look like this in the subject line of your email.
First Name search - "search" (enter the contact first name here)
ex. "search" "Frank"
Company Name Search - "search" (enter the company name here)
ex. "search" "IBM"
Click Here for information on how to setup and use your BigContacts email dropbox, or watch this Video on how to manage email in general within BigContacts.
Within 5 minutes you will receive an email back with the search results of the system. The email will deliver the phone numbers and email addresses for all the contacts that match that name.
If you are viewing the results on your smart phone you can simply click on the phone number or email address that you need and initiate your call or email right then and there. No logging in and searching - just a quick query of your database and fast results right there in your email inbox.
If you have questions on this or any other aspect of BigContacts, please join us for one of our daily webinars. During these 30 minute webinars, the lines are open to take and answer your specific questions. View the available times and register for one of our Free Webinars.
Posted by Bob Walton on Thu, Apr 29, 2010 @ 07:40 AM
With BigContacts, you have always been able create custom Email and Letter Templates that would merge standard (core) contact information into the body of either template type.
We have recently expanded this customization to include custom fields. You can now merge data from any custom field that you have created in our system. This new feature allows you to deliver a look of even greater personalization as you communicate with your clients and prospects, thus enhancing the overall value of the conversation you are creating with these templates.
Here is a view of where you will find the Email and Letter Template section within our system. We provide tips and techniques for you within each section.
Any custom data field may be used by encasing it in {{ and }}. For example, if your custom field were 'Article Published', you would enter {{Article Published}} . Make sure to enter it exactly as you have it in the system, including any spacing and capitals.
Don't let automated emails and letters make your company look canned and impersonal. Create the custom fields that you need in BigContacts to track key information for your business. Then deliver this information automatically and effortlessly through these templates.
For more information on how to use this new feature or any other aspect of BigContacts, please feel free to join us for one of our live daily webinars.
These are 30 minute webinars hosted by one of our CRM Specialists. The lines are open for your questions. Not only will you get the answers you are looking for, but you will see how it is done within our system right there on your computer screen!
Posted by Bob Walton on Mon, Apr 12, 2010 @ 07:10 AM
BigContacts has always offered a rather unique feature we call Autopilot.
BigContacts Autopilot allows you to automate email marketing within your business. It's like having an assistant that works for FREE that is delivering your message to clients and prospects for you. You simply tell our system what you want to say and when as you move prospects or clients through the sales process and BigContacts does the rest. BigContacts Autopilot is a FREE service and there is no limit to the emails you can send.
Autopilot allows you to begin and maintain several drip marketing campaigns for clients and prospects. One way that we see customers initiate these drip marketing campaigns is through the use of a "web form" on their website.
A prospect comes to your site and fills out this form to request information or start a free trial of your product and BigContacts not only loads the contact information, it can also initiate an automated email drip marketing campaign complete with a time-line and associated tasks that get assigned to team members along the way.
BigContacts now supports multiple web forms
In the past you could only have one web form and automatically initiate one email drip marketing campaign from this single web form. Now you can create as many web forms as you wish within BigContacts and each of these web forms can initiate their own unique email drip marketing campaign - giving you much greater flexibility on how you can create a series of automated campaigns.
Initiate multiple email drip marketing campaigns from one web form
Lets say you only have the need for one web form, BUT you do allow your prospects to select from several options on this web form. (FREE Trial, newsletter, Brochure) or say they can request information on any of a number of products you offer (Product A, Product B, Product C, etc).
BigContacts now allows you to initiate any one of a number of different drip marketing campaigns from that single web form depending on what that person selects. With this new feature, you can automatically generate and monitor as many campaigns as you need to manage the marketing efforts of your business. The best part of all is that this is a FREE service that is included as part of your paid subscription with BigContacts.
For more information on how to use our web forms, please feel free to view our Web forms feature video, or email us directly at support@bigcontacts.com
Posted by Bob Walton on Wed, Mar 24, 2010 @ 11:45 AM
One of the most painful aspects of implementing a new software program is that it can require too much time to learn and master. Often times this learning curve is made even longer by programs that get bloated with too many unnecessary features - losing the true essence and benefit of the program in the process.
Contact Management (CRM) Software is no exception. Most CRM software on the market is bloated with too many unnecessary features. In addition, many programs do not deliver the intuitive experience that users need in order to quickly and effectively adopt this very important tool in their business.
BigContacts is on a mission to change this reality. We are working tirelessly to continue refining and streamlining our application for our clients. Our goal is to become the MOST intuitive, easy-to-use (yet affordable) Web Based (CRM) Contact Management Software provider on the market today.
In addition to continuing to simplify our user experience, we now offer 4 Tools (free of charge) to ensure a successful implementation of BigContacts within your business.
These Tools are sure to shorten the learning curve and will help you to customize BigContacts to best meet your specific business needs.
I. Quick Start Guide
This newly updated guide covers everything you need to know to setup your system, customize it for your business, and get you off to a quick start.
Donwload it Now
II. Support Center
We have built and continue to enhance our library or articles and downloads. The resources within this library are designed specifically to answer your most commonly asked questions. This is available to you 24 hours per day - 7 days per week.
Visit our Support Center Now
III. Video Library
We want to ensure that you get the most out of this easy-to-use, yet capable Web Based CRM Software.
We have just released a new library of Best Practices Videos that can help you turn our Web Based CRM Software into a true asset for your business.
Think of us as your technology partner - dedicated to your success.
View our Video Library
IV. Daily Webinars to Answer your questions
If you just can't find the answer to your question, feel free to join us any weekday at 3pm EDT. We host daily live webinars where we take your questions. During these webinars you will not only be able to ask specific questions, but one of our representatives will show you on your computer screen how and where to do things within your application.
Come back as often as you like and let us help you get off to a quick start with BigContacts!
Register for a webinar - Get your questions answered
Posted by Bob Walton on Fri, Mar 19, 2010 @ 09:39 AM
One the biggest challenges, and potentially biggest rewards in setting up a new Contact Management (CRM) system relates to how you organize (categorize) your database of contacts. So often I see companies simply import their contact list and jump right in with the same organization (or lack thereof) of contacts they had before. The good news is that many of them have upgraded from programs that are more like basic address books to a full featured contact management system. This alone is going to pay huge dividends for them. The bad news is that many do not invest a little time on the front end to think through how their contacts are currently organized and how they could be better organized going forward.
What would your contact list look like if you were to sort them into their natural groups and categories? How would you label each these groups? Do you have contacts that you would like to associate with more than one group? We encourage our clients to open a word document, a spreadsheet, or simply take out a sheet of paper to begin identifying the various groups, interests, categories and general opportunities that exist within their current list of contacts. I have seen countless examples of both approaches and I can tell you that this exercise will produce big dividends for you over time. A well organized database of contacts can help you to
• Build stronger client relationships
• Increase your Sales, and
• Create a more efficient business.
A good Contact Management (CRM) system should offer 3-4 different methods for organizing your contacts, and will allow you to customize each of them. I have listed what I consider to be the "Core Four" that you should require in your next system.
I. Contact Types
Look at this method as the "30,000 foot view" of your contacts. They are the very general categories you create within your system. (Prospects, Clients, Vendors, Family, Personal, etc) These are usually organized into a "pick list" of a series of "radio buttons" that you can choose from. Think of this as the very first layer of segmenting your contacts. As we move into each of the other methods below, we are able to get more granular in how we parse/ sort our contacts. Because this is designed to identify your very general types of contact, I suggest no more than 6-8 types.
II. Groups & Categories
Moving down to about a "15,000 foot view", you will want to have the flexibility to customize and build a handful of groups and categories within your system. Here you would track things like (Industry, Region, Referral Source, etc.) The typical format of this type of custom field is a "pick list". The key factor in determining when you use this is simple. If you have very specific and finite values that you want someone to select from then you will load them here. You determine what you want to call/label each group or category, load all of the options you want someone to be able to choose from and you're done. This method prevents someone from entering their own "version" of the information and will ensure that your data stays very "clean" and accurate when you go to pull reports later. For example, if you and I were to both to identify what industry a client is in, I might type "Financial" and you might type "Financial Services". The pick list allows you to set the standard label and prevent any deviation from that standard. Anything overdone can become a hindrance. We suggest that this sort of organization be contained to no more than 5-6 different groups/ categories. Remember, we are still flying at a high level here. There is a more granular method called "Tags" where it is appropriate to use more generously.
III. Custom Fields
We're still flying at about a "15,000 feet". The difference here is that you may have fields that you want to create where you don't always know the exact set of options you want to choose from. A custom field is a "free-form" field that will allow the user to type in exactly what they need. You still create the label for the field, but the data entered is left up to the individual. The most effective use of custom fields usually involves no more than 8-10 different values.
IV. Tags
Finally, we have "Tags". This relatively new and unique method has really opened the door for creating multiple associations and multiple labels for a given contact. This is you most granular level of categorization within the database. It allows you the flexibility to assign multiple values/categories to a single contact. For example, you might want to track someone's interests (golf, tennis, wine, etc.), and you want to easily keep track of products that they have an interest in or products that you have already sold to them. If you think of all the possible subsets for labeling a particular contact it could get very cumbersome to try and create a custom field or pick list to accommodate all your needs. Tags are a very quick an easy way to create a label and "tag" it to any one of a number of contacts. As your business evolves and products, interests, and campaigns change, it is very easy to remove one label and replace it with another.
If you invest the time on the front to outline your needs and use elements of all these methods, your Contact Management (CRM) System will become a more powerful tool in managing your clients and prospects going forward.
For more information and a more detailed discussion on the best practices for each of these areas, feel free to contact us at 1-888-286-6578.
Posted by Bob Walton on Fri, Mar 19, 2010 @ 09:37 AM
When choosing your next
Web Based CRM Software /
Contact Manager for your small business, it is important to understand the difference between a
Contact Centric system and an
Account (Business) Centric system. This is one of the biggest mistakes companies make when choosing their CRM software provider for your business. Small Business CRM is an investment that will pay dividends to you for many years to come. Make sure sure to lay the right foundation for your needs as most CRM providers DON'T give you the choice. They offer one format or the other and you are essentially stuck with their system format.
Contact Centric CRM
In a Contact Centric CRM system, the database is organized around individual contacts. So, if you have dealings with 3 different people all from the same company, you would have 3 separate contact records and each individual contact record would contain it's version of the company information.
A Contact Centric organization makes sense if you are dealing with individuals and typically don't need to do such things as look at an organization's combined history. It is very difficult and clumsy to track company related information separately from contact information. For example, if you want to track information about a company (e.g. sic code, # employees, annual budget, etc.) separately from contact related information (e.g. favorite hobby, home phone number, spouse's name, etc.). There isn't an easy way to organize this information.
- Under which contact do you store the company information?
- Which contact becomes the primary record?
- Do you store the information under both contacts...which makes updating difficult?
- Do you create a "contact" record to serve as the company record and somehow link the contacts?
Account (Business) Centric CRM
Account (Business) Centric systems have a layer above the individual contact - the "account" or "business" that can link multiple contacts together. This has the advantage of being able to track company-related information entirely separately from contact-related information.
This approach is usually easier to:
- See all opportunities for an account/company.
- See the organization and all its contacts in one view.
- Report on company vs. individuals easier.
My Recommendation
If you're working in an industry where you only work with one contact record per account, you may want the simplicity of Contact Centric option.
However, if you are going to want to track multiple contacts per account (business) then the Account (Business) Centric becomes the best option.
Posted by Bob Walton on Fri, Mar 19, 2010 @ 09:35 AM
The successful implementation and day-to-day use of Web Based CRM Software is a "building" process. You MUST start from the ground up by building a strong foundation. It's only after this foundation is in place that you can then begin implementing the framework and tools in the remainder of the system.
I have outlined a "best practices" approach below that will provide you with this solid foundation. When all elements are effectively implemented, the platform can become a central tool in managing the future growth and ultimate success of your business.
You want to make sure that your Web Based CRM Software, Contact Management Software has the following essential tools to deliver real value as you grow your small business.
Client Management
More formally known as Client Relationship Management (CRM), this is the foundation to any Contact Management Software. The tools offered in this area can help you get a handle on client history-communications to be better organized, and ultimately develop stronger client relationships. A good foundation here will also help you keep better track of the leads and prospects that you have today.
Operations
This element of the system is what ensures things get done, helping you and your team to deliver on the promises you make to your clients and prospects. You need a system that will not only allow you to customize and track your tasks, but one that is capable of helping you to organize and manage the core work flows (multi-steps tasks) that your business handles on a day-to-day basis. This workflow management is essential for streamlining your business.
Sales & Marketing
This element of the system should contain 3 essential tools to help position your business to effectively generate and handle growth in the near future.
1) Automated Lead Capture with Web forms
Capture and load important contact information when a lead comes to your website and fill in one of your web forms. To save time and money, the system should be able to automatically load your lead into your contact list, assign the lead to a team member, assign a task for someone to follow up, and begin a customized email marketing campaign.
2) Sales Management System
Accurately forecast sales and effectively manage your sales pipeline and - allowing you to stay on top of more prospects and close more deals.
3) Marketing Campaigns
Identify and load targeted lists of your clients and/or prospects to queue up various types of marketing campaigns. Launch an email, newsletter, online survey or postcard campaign. After the campaign is launched you need to be able track and monitor the response to these campaigns.
To learn more about what to look for in a Business Contact Manager, Web Based CRM Software - take a look at some of our recent comparisons of Contact Management Software.
Posted by Bob Walton on Tue, Feb 23, 2010 @ 04:06 PM
Our subscribers frequently ask us about what they can do to further increase the speed of BigContacts and other web based applications they use on a regular basis.
Based on these inquiries we put together a Web Performance Page on our website. This page will give you tips for tuning your browser to deliver a better experience for you while in BigContacts or surfing some other area of the web.
There are a variety of situations that can exist to create a slower web connection.
- The web browser you are using is slow and/or may have plug-ins that are causing issues.
- Your modem or router is experiencing trouble and may need to be reset.
- Your local internet connection can intermittently run slow.
- There could be an internet connection issue somewhere between you and our servers.
- Our application/ server could be temporarily experiencing unusually heavy loads.
One or more of these tips can improve your web experience:
- Upgrade your Browser
We support 4 major browsers, including: Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari and Google Chrome. You can decide how fast you would like to surf the web by reviewing the browser performance comparisons on this new web page.
- Reset your router and modem
A browser is the engine that drives your performance on the web. We encourage you to take a moment to make sure it is tuned so that it will perform better for you.
You won't believe the extra "mileage" you can get out of a day with a properly tuned browser.
