Posted by Bob Walton on Wed, Aug 18, 2010 @ 07:30 AM
BigContacts offers a number of reporting options that allow you to track anything from general activity, tasks, to your sales pipeline. The most common reporting tool that our subscribers use is the Advanced Search function.
As many of you know, there are essentially two outputs when generating a report using Advanced Search.
- You can choose to export your list to excel
- You can simply select the "Find Contacts" button to display the list directly in the system.
This option can very useful as it not only displays your filtered list of contacts right there in the system, the names listed are all "hyerplinked". This allows you to select any name on the list to be brought directly to their contact record within the system.
For those of you that are power users, here's a productivity tip ---If you right click on any given name, it allows you to open the contact record in a new window or tab. You can work the contact, update information, add notes, send an email, etc. When you're done with this record simply close that tab or window and you are right back to your filtered list. You can quickly work your way through a list of targeted contacts using this method.
So what's new with this function?
We have just added the ability to sort the list using any column header. Simply hover over and clcik on any column header in the report that you have created and the system will sort and reverse sort any column that you choose. Every time you click on the column header it will reverse the sort for you.
This is yet another small but effective tool that we hope will increase your productivity when using BigContacts.
Posted by Bob Walton on Wed, Aug 18, 2010 @ 06:32 AM
There are many uses for the Advanced Search function in BigContacts. You can sort and filter your contacts on virtually every field within our Contact Management Software.
Whether you're pulling a list together to generate an email to existing clients, queuing up an email marketing campaign for prospects, or simply trying to identify the contacts that you haven't touched in a while - the Advanced Search function can help.
With all of its positives, there has been one very important feature that was missing. Until now, we didn't give you the ability to select a custom date range in which to filter and then view your search results. After you generated your list of contacts, you would have to export to excel is you wanted to do any further sorting to try and organize things in some sort of time-line.
We now give you the ability to choose a specific date range for a number of fields within the Advanced Search. These fields are found under the "History" heading in the Advanced Search.
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Select the "Reports" Tab
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Select the "Advanced Search" sub-tab
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Select all of the fields you wish to display in your report
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Scroll down to the "History" section and choose the filters you wish to use
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Finally, you will "Specify a date range" that you wish to view in your report.
You can now choose a custom date range for:
The date a Contact was added to your database
This can be very helpful for creating a mailing to new clients or prospects that you added to your system during a certain period of time.
The last call or meeting with your Contacts
The last note added for your Contacts
The last email that was sent to your Contacts
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These three filters give you to ability to quickly identify a subset of your contacts based on when you last "touched" them. Many of our clients plan to use this as a way to identify clients that they have not contacted in a while so that they can plan to reach out to them.
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There are many uses for this simple, yet important feature. We hope you find it to be an added benefit as you manage your contact data.
Posted by Bob Walton on Thu, Aug 05, 2010 @ 01:27 PM
We recently added a "Reply" feature within the email correspondance folder of each contact record. In addition to "Reply, we have decided to add a "Re-send" Feature.
Often times we hear that one of our subscribers has sent an email to a contact only to find that the contact didn't read it, or accidently deleted, etc. There is often a need to "Re-send" that email.
Now, from within the same email correspondance folder you can do just that.
To summarize, the two new email features work as follows:
- Emails that are RECEIVED from a contact now have a "Reply" Link next to each email.
- Emails that have been SENT to a contact from the contact record now have a "Re-send" link next to each email.
We hope that these enhancements prove to be very helpful for you in your day-to-day communication with clients and prospects.
Stay Tuned: Our next blog post will be out shortly... We are adding several custom date ranges to our Advanced Search Module.
Please feel free to comment here or send us an email at support@bigcontacts.com with any questions you may have on this article or any other aspect of BigContacts.
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Posted by Bob Walton on Wed, Aug 04, 2010 @ 02:41 PM
Ever think of a task you need your assistant or someone else on your team to get working on ASAP? How do you best record this task and ensure that nothing falls through the cracks? You could send them an email and hope that they get things done and update you with their progress, OR you could remotely send this task to BigContacts - your web based contact management system - ensuring that the task gets recorded in the proper client or prospect's contact record right then and that the task gets done.
We have just released our "remote tasks" feature that will help you assign tasks to others on your team right from your email!
This new feature allows you to open your email from any device (eg. your mobile phone), create the content of the task, and assign it to yourself or someone else on your team. Within 10 - 15 minutes this task is loaded to the appropriate contact record, assigned to your team member and a notification has been sent to that person - ensuring that they are aware of the new task.
Here's how it works:
- Compose an email and In the "TO:" line you will enter your BigContacts Email Dropbox address (If you don't have a dropbox, click here to find out how you can get one)
- In the "Subject:" field - enter "task" followed by a single space
- Add the email address of your contact. (this must match what you have loaded in the contact record for that contact)
- Enter the date that the task is due. This can be a relative date ("next Thursday"), or a specific one ( "May 30th" ).
- At this point, your subject line should look like this:
- "task johnd@gmail.com next thursday"
- Place the contents of your task in the body of your email. The first 75 characters will be used as the title of the task. If your body is longer, the full content will be placed in the 'details' section of the task.
You are now ready to send & assign your task!
If you have questions on this new feature or any other aspect of BigContacts, please feel free to submit your questions HERE or join us for a live chat.
** Look for an update on this new feature soon as we are releasing advanced remote task capabilities to further enhance this feature!**
Posted by Bob Walton on Wed, Aug 04, 2010 @ 07:52 AM
BigContacts offers an entire suite of email services that you can choose from. We offer both FREE and Paid email services - each serving a unique role to assist you with Client Retention and Prospect Conversion.
Current Email Services Include:
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- Send Individual Emails within BigContacts - You can send emails directly from the contact record. This ensures that the email immediately gets captured and stored within the email correspondence folder with that contact record. The email will appear as if was sent directly from your business email address.
- Send Individual Email outside of BigContacts - We offer a unique email dropbox feature that allows you to send an email from any email system outside of BigContacts (including your mobile phone) and we will capture, sort and store a copy of the email that was sent in the appropriate contact record. You can learn more about how to set up your email dropbox here.
- Send Group Emails within BigContacts - BigContacts allows you to easily send emails to a select list of contacts. Simply select the filters you wish to use to generate your list, select the group email button and send. After the email is sent to this group, each contact will automatically have this email stored in their individual contact record to ensure that this history item is stored for future reference. (This feature is limited to groups of 100 or less.)
- Send Automated Email Drip Campaigns - We offer a unique service that we call "Autopilot" where you can build automated email campaigns that can be sent to clients and/ or prospects in pre-determined intervals - ensuring delivery of a consistent and timely series of messages. Learn more about our Autopilot feature here.
- Send Large Email Marketing Campaigns - This is the only paid service (all of the above mentioned are FREE services in BigContacts) BigContacts has partnered with VerticalResponse to give our clients an easy-to-use, web-based marketing tool that can help you grow your business.
- Identify and filter targeted lists of your clients and/or prospects
- Automatically upload these targeted lists into the marketing module
- Launch an email, newsletter, online survey or postcard campaign
- Effortlessly track and monitor the results of your campaigns
BigContacts automatically notes the contact record of each and every client or prospect that has participated in a given marketing campaign. You will always know how and when you reached out to these contacts anytime you're in their contact record. Learn more about our VerticalResponse integration and how to get started here.
So What's the Enhancement?
We have added a "Reply" feature in BigContacts. We have had a number of requests to close the loop and allow our subscribers to maintain an email thread while sending emails from within BigContacts.
Until now, you would send an email directly from a contact record within BigContacts and the email was immediately recorded within the system. When the contact replied back to you, we capture and store (using the email dropbox feature) the incoming email in the contact record for your future reference.
All of this is good so far, but what if you need to reply back to the contacts reply to you? Where do you reply to this email? How do you ensure that this too gets stored in the contact record as part of their history?
In the past the only way to maintain this email thread AND store the email reply in the contact record was to go to your email inbox that is housed outside of BigContacts and reply there. Before you sent the email you would make sure that you BCC to your email dropbox address.
This did and still does work to allow you to store emails to a contact record, but we decided to make this more convenient for you.
Now, while you are in a contact record, you can simply go to the email correspondence folder to view the email the contact sent to you and select the "Reply" link to reply directly from the contact record.
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 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 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 Thu, Feb 18, 2010 @ 07:20 AM
Best Practices Webinars for Web based CRM Software
At BigContacts, we're committed to making a real difference for you in your business. It's our mission to ensure that you get the most out of this easy-to-use, yet capable Web Based CRM Software. Think of us as your technology partner - dedicated to your success.
With the right tools and proper guidance, Web Based (CRM) Contact Management Software can provide measurable results in your business. Whether you're just considering this software for the first time, or have used it for years, we now offer a FREE Webinar series that can help you turn Web Based CRM Software into a true asset for your business.
Register Now and Get More Value for your Business
Whether you're just considering Web Based (CRM) Contact Management Software for the first time, or have used it for years, our webinar series can help you turn this software into a true asset for your Business.
Webinars are hosted daily.
Posted by Bob Walton on Mon, Feb 01, 2010 @ 09:23 AM
We just released a whole new look for Web Based (CRM) Contact Management Software - "BigContacts 1.5".
This is new interface is one of many enhancements we will be implementing during 2010. We have solicited feedback from thousands of users over the past year and it is this "end-user" insight that will continue to drive our platform going forward. It is our mission to develop a software platform that speaks your language and fits around your business process.
Contact Management (CRM) Software has proven that it can improve productivity, streamline processes, and improve the customer experience. The challenge has been getting users within your company to successfully adopt the software in their day-to-day operation, as most systems are too complicated and are NOT designed to function and flow the way you think.
BigContacts 1.5 has taken a big step toward delivering Contact Management (CRM) Software the way you want it.
A few of the enhancements we made:
- New Navigation menu - We have created "easy buttons" for CRM
- Enhanced Contact List - With the click of a single button, you can pull up and begin sorting and filtering your entire contact list.
- Easier to send emails - With one click you can send individual or group emails to your contacts directly from BigContacts.
- Add/Edit Contact Information - enter all information from a single screen
Test Drive BigContacts for 30 days and see for yourself how we are changing the face of Contact Management (CRM) Software.
Register for an Introductory webinar and discover the 3 essential components to look for in Web Based CRM Software and how they will help you in your business.
Give us a call at 1-888-286-6578 and speak with one of our Business Consultants and learn more about how we can help you simplify your business.