Simplesoft Solutions Blog

Sage SalesLogix Heartland Users Group

November 29th, 2010 by Kyle

Sage SalesLogix Heartland Users Group

Sage SalesLogix Heartland Users Group Logo – Revealed!
It’s now official! The Sage SalesLogix Heartland Users Group logo has been voted on by the members and is now finalized. Thanks to all SalesLogix users who have participated and contributed feedback because you make all this happen.

What is the Heartland Users Group?
This regional Sage SalesLogix users group provides a unique experience for SalesLogix users, administrators, trainers, and developers to increase their knowledge and effective use of SalesLogix within their organizations. This group is run by the members, whose privileges include choosing topics as well as selecting their new name – Heartland SalesLogix User Group.

What can I expect attending the meetings?
Topics and Discussions Covered in just the first year…

  • Outlook integration options
  • Opportunity management and sales process
  • Data management and services including 3rd Party Tools (i.e. Inaport, Scribe, and Intelli CTi)
  • Business Analytics (i.e. QlikView, Visual Analyzer, Dashboards, and Crystal Reports)
  • Workflow and Notification Alerts (i.e. KnowledgeSync)
  • Strengthening user adoption

What is a typical agenda?

  • SalesLogix Customer Solution Spotlights
  • Sage SalesLogix user tips and tricks
  • Networking with other Sage SalesLogix users
  • Networking with all the Simplesoft Solutions employees
  • Free prizes and gifts (iPods and gift cards)
  • Food and fun!

Future Topics

  • Sales quoting automation
  • SalesLogix in the Cloud
  • Project management
  • Territory realignment and Teams/security
  • SpeedSearch

Who should attend?

  • Sales and Marketing
  • Management
  • SalesLogix Administrators and users
  • Internal training staff

Your opportunity to attend is coming up soon! The next Sage SalesLogix Heartland Users Group meeting is scheduled for December 7th and will be an open house hosted at Simplesoft Solutions Springboro, OH facilities. There will be learning sessions that attendees will need to be preregistered to confirm seating availability. Please register below for any sessions you would like to attend:

Register for Heartland Users Group meeting

If you would like to learn more tips or have a CRM topic you would like us to write about please contact Simplesoft Solutions, Inc. in one of our Cincinnati/Dayton (OH), Charleston (WV), or Charlotte (NC) surrounding area office locations:

Dayton, Ohio Office:
Simplesoft Solutions, Inc.
550 N. Main St. Suite A
Springboro, OH 45066
Phone: (937) 885-1204 x 3204
Fax: (937) 885-3580
sales@simplesoft.net

Ripley, WV Office:
Simplesoft Solutions, Inc.
710 Random Rd.
Ripley, WV 25271
Phone: (304) 521-2387
Fax: (937) 885-3580
sales@simplesoft.net

Charlotte, NC Office:
Simplesoft Solutions, Inc.
3635 Eastover Ridge Drive
Charlotte, NC 28211
Phone: (704) 910-3872
Fax: (937) 885-3580
sales@simplesoft.net

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Tips on Managing users in SalesLogix

November 22nd, 2010 by Paul

“Truth is simple, life is complex” – Anonymous

In the real world, changes happen, and you need to be ready for the “normal” changes that can be ascribed to the life cycle of a system. I recently performed an upgrade that had a set of user management change requests that needed attention. The changes involved the usual requests of adding a new user or two, retiring a few users, and realigning some data. I wanted to review some typical tasks and provide some tactical advice to help others who might be needing answers in similar situations.

User Management in SalesLogix

1. How to change a user type

Users never change roles, right? Not in the real world; people move to new departments and are promoted and/or transferred. Let’s assume a change in user’s role and walk through a couple of situations. The basics of the changes are the same for both [ remote user to network user] and [remote user to web user].

In Sage SalesLogix, it is an easy procedure to change user types. (Note: Let’s assume the remote user is all synchronized and doesn’t have any TEF files to send to the server.)

Click: Start | Programs | SalesLogix | Administrator
Log into application as the Admin user or a user with an Administrative role

Select the Users button in the Navigation icon.

Note: Now you have two choices in how to perform the user type change.

A. You can highlight the user that needs the change in the list, right-click the user and select Change Type.

B. You can double-click the user and on the first tab use the drop-drop on the Change Type field.

Your user has now been changed from one type to another.  It only takes a few clicks, so be careful.  The happy result,  the change is made and away you go!

2.  How to retire a user

Note: When a user leaves your company, the best option is to convert them to a retired user. Retired users do not use a license and cannot log on, but their name is preserved in the database. This prevents history records from displaying “Unknown User” because the user was deleted. Use the following checklist when a user needs retired.  When a user is retired it frees up a SalesLogix license and their system history is preserved.  We don’t recommend the delete feature except in rare circumstances.

Click: Start | Programs | SalesLogix | Administrator
Log into application as the Admin user or a user with an Administrative role

In the Users view, double-click the user to open the User Profile dialog box

- If the user is active deactivate the user (see below).

- If the user is a remote, then make sure the Sync settings are unchecked, site code is recorded and the synchronization files are cleaned up and managed properly. (If you are a customer, you can ask for the ‘SalesLogix Cleaning Up Remote User TEF files.doc’ document.

Note: It might be necessary to manually remove TEF files from the Outfiles and Archives folders under the Host logging path. This should only be done if a Remote user leaves the company or is out of the office for an extended period of time (after which a new database needs to be created). To delete the TEF files in the Outfiles and Archives folders, sort by File Type (the file extension is the site code) and remove any files that have types that match the current active user’s site code that will be retired.

- If the Manager box is selected, clear it. (You cannot retire a user if he or she is a manager.)

- If the user has other users reporting to them, the other users will need to report to another user (at minimum the Admin user).

- In the Name box, type _RET or something similar in front of the user’s name. This step is not essential; however, it makes it easier to identify the person as a retired user in other areas of SalesLogix.

In the User Type list, select Retired User to change the user’s settings.

Press the F5 (Refresh) icon to refresh SalesLogix Administrator to ensure all changes have been made.

3.  How to reinstate a user

Note: Make sure a license is available for the reinstated user. You might need to set up the synchronization settings for the user as well.

Click: Start | Programs | SalesLogix | Administrator
Log into application as the Admin user or a user with an Administrative role

In the Users view, double-click the user to open the User Profile dialog box

Note: You might need to select the Retired Users tab.

Change the user type from retired to the appropriate user type

On the General Tab, clear the Login Active check box

Click OK

Note: It is not a bad idea to have the user’s password reset.

4.  How to deactivate a user

Note: When a user is deactivated they can not log in to SalesLogix, but they are still taking up a license. Users can be deactivated for many reasons, such as maternity leave, military leave or extended sickness.

Click: Start | Programs | SalesLogix | Administrator
Log into application as the Admin user or a user with an Administrative role

In the Users view, double-click the user to open the User Profile dialog box

You can highlight the user that needs the change and right-click the user

On the General Tab, clear the Login Active check box

Click OK

-If the user is a remote, it’s a good idea to clear the ‘Synchronize Changes’ and ‘Sequence Files’ check boxes on the remote tabs. This ensures that files will not write out for synchronization and sit on the server without reason.

To keep the Sage SalesLogix system running smoothly, you should perform certain administrative tasks on a regular basis. This is especially true when it comes to managing users. There are other data and user management tasks that might need to be performed along with user management like realigning data and activities. This will be a future blog entry. I hope these tips have been helpful in some way to help perform some common tasks in SalesLogix.

If you would like to learn more tips or have a CRM topic you would like us to write about please contact Simplesoft Solutions, Inc. in one of our Cincinnati/Dayton (OH), Charleston (WV), or Charlotte (NC) surrounding area office locations:

Dayton, Ohio Office:
Simplesoft Solutions, Inc.
550 N. Main St. Suite A
Springboro, OH 45066
Phone: (937) 885-1204 x 3204
Fax: (937) 885-3580
sales@simplesoft.net

Ripley, WV Office:
Simplesoft Solutions, Inc.
710 Random Rd.
Ripley, WV 25271
Phone: (304) 521-2387
Fax: (937) 885-3580
sales@simplesoft.net

Charlotte, NC Office:
Simplesoft Solutions, Inc.
3635 Eastover Ridge Drive
Charlotte, NC 28211
Phone: (704) 910-3872
Fax: (937) 885-3580
sales@simplesoft.net

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How to uninstall the SalesLogix client

November 10th, 2010 by Paul

On occasion, there might be a need for a System Administrator to uninstall SalesLogix due to an installation issue, migration to a new client type, or the discontinued need for the SalesLogix client on the computer. Regardless of the situation, here are a few pointers to assist in the tasks to remove the SalesLogix client in a manual and efficient manner.

How to uninstall the SalesLogix client:

1. Shut down running Windows services (SalesLogix related).
Note: In some clients, no SalesLogix services may be running. If any services are running locally (optionally) then they should be shut down. This will make the uninstall a little cleaner.

  • From the Start button, click Run
  • In the Open field, type: Services.msc
  • Note: This opens the Services Management console.
  • Select OK
  • Scroll down the list and review the services listed in the S’s for SalesLogix related services
  • Highlight and right click them to select stop for each service

2. Use Add/Remove Programs to uninstall SalesLogix related applications.

  • Start | Control Panel | Add/Remove Programs
  • Remove SalesLogix Client
  • Remove Intellisync Client   (might not be there, but just in case)
  • Remove SalesLogix Mail Client  (should not be there, but just in case)

Note: Remove the SalesLogix Administrator if installed.

3. Remove the SalesLogix application related folders.

Browse in Windows Explorer for the following folders for removal. These folders are slightly different in Windows 7.

  • <drive>:\Program Files\SalesLogix
  • <drive>:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\SalesLogix\
  • <drive>:\Documents and Settings\<users>\Application Data\SalesLogix
  • <drive:>:\Program Files\Common Files\PUMATECH Shared\Connectors\SalesLogix

4. Remove “SalesLogix” and “SLX” entries from registry.

Note: Regedit is the way I edit the registry, but be very careful when making changes in the Windows registry: unless you back it up first there is not an easy way to recover after some actions.

  • From the Start button, click Run
  • In the Open field, Type: Regedit
  • Click OK
  • Expand to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE
  • Right-click on the SalesLogix folder and click Delete
  • Expand to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE
  • Right-click on the SalesLogix folder and click Delete

5. Reboot the computer. Now you are ready for your next actions.

The uninstall instructions may vary slightly from version to version of SalesLogix and operating system, but these are the basic tasks to perform the uninstall action. Let us know if and how these tasks differ in your environment and we can add to or adjust our list.

If you would like more tips or have a CRM topic you would like us to write about please contact Simplesoft Solutions, Inc. at one of our three locations:

Dayton, Ohio Office:
Simplesoft Solutions, Inc.
550 N. Main St. Suite A
Springboro, OH 45066
Phone: (937) 885-1204 x 3204
Fax: (937) 885-3580
sales@simplesoft.net

Ripley, WV Office:
Simplesoft Solutions, Inc.
710 Random Rd.
Ripley, WV 25271
Phone: (304) 521-2387
Fax: (937) 885-3580
sales@simplesoft.net

Charlotte, NC Office:
Simplesoft Solutions, Inc.
3635 Eastover Ridge Drive
Charlotte, NC 28211
Phone: (704) 910-3872
Fax: (937) 885-3580
sales@simplesoft.net

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To Cold Call or not to Cold Call: That is the Question

November 1st, 2010 by Lisa

Don’t you wish your phone would ring off the hook with prospective customers asking to buy your product or service? I sure do! Unfortunately business doesn’t come to you and instead you have to go out and find it.

I’ve heard it said that 90 percent of people hate cold-calling and the other 10 percent are lying. Even the term cold calling can make your stomach churn.  That is why some refer to it as prospecting or lead qualification. The truth is, picking up the phone is still one of the best ways to speak to a company executive.

Why do we try so hard to avoid it? The reasons are different for all of us. Maybe we don’t like talking to new people or we don’t want to bother someone at home or work. Or maybe we’re a little lazy and just prefer to make the easy calls. For most of us, it is a fear of rejection! I don’t want to call someone and have him or her get annoyed and act rudely toward me.

According to a research firm that tracks what works in the marketing industry, only 11 to 17 percent of prospects were annoyed by getting an unsolicited cold call. That translates into less than 2 rude responses for every 100 calls. And not all of the uninterested prospects will exhibit rude behavior. Let’s do the math, if only half of the uninterested prospects are rude and you make 50 calls a day, then you would only encounter about 2.5 crusty customers a week. I don’t know about you, but I encounter more than that in one trip to the grocery store. Don’t focus on the fearful 2.5 calls, but on the other 247.5 calls that could push your prospect one step closer to becoming a customer!

Go ahead… pick up that phone!

If you would like to learn more tips or have a CRM topic you would like us to write about please contact Simplesoft Solutions, Inc. in one of our Cincinnati/Dayton (OH), Charleston (WV), or Charlotte (NC) surrounding area office locations:

Dayton, Ohio Office:
Simplesoft Solutions, Inc.
550 N. Main St. Suite A
Springboro, OH 45066
Phone: (937) 885-1204 x 3204
Fax: (937) 885-3580
sales@simplesoft.net

Ripley, WV Office:
Simplesoft Solutions, Inc.
710 Random Rd.
Ripley, WV 25271
Phone: (304) 521-2387
Fax: (937) 885-3580
sales@simplesoft.net

Charlotte, NC Office:
Simplesoft Solutions, Inc.
3635 Eastover Ridge Drive
Charlotte, NC 28211
Phone: (704) 910-3872
Fax: (937) 885-3580
sales@simplesoft.net

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Editing Activity and Calendar User Options in SalesLogix Web

June 16th, 2010 by Kyle

Sage SalesLogix provides the tools to allow you to modify some parts of the interface so that you can work in the way that suits your needs. The User Options allow you to set specific preferences for certain features such as General/Search, Group, Activity/Alarm, Calendar, Change Password, and Opportunities that appear when you start the Sage SalesLogix Web Client application. The settings that you select are recorded as being for the user who is logged on and are not visible to other Sage SalesLogix users.

To edit user options:

  1. Login as the proper user of the SalesLogix CRM system.
  2. On the top right status bar, click Options.
  3. Click the tab for the options you want to edit.
    • Click the Activity/Alarm tab to set options for the Activity Main View, follow-up activities, or Activity alarms.
    • Click the Calendar tab to set options for the Calendar view. You can determine the information that displays on your calendar, the default view, or the day start and end times.
  4. Click the Save button icon.

Sage SalesLogix Web CRM Options - Activities

Activity/Alarm Options
Activities, Alarms, and Reminders enable you to keep track of tasks in the Sage SalesLogix Web Client. The Activity/Alarms tab allows you to specify how and when Activities, Alarms, and Reminders will display.

To set Activity and alarm options:

  1. On the top right status bar, click Options.
  2. Click the Activity/Alarms tab.
  3. In the Show Activities for box, select the user whose Activities you want to display in the Activity Main View.
  4. From the Default View drop-down list, select the tab name for the type of Activities you want to display in the Activity Main View (for example, All Open).
  5. In the Time Frame drop-down list, select the time range of Activities you want to display in the Activities Main View.
  6. In the Default Follow-up Activity drop-down list, select the type of Activity to be scheduled as a follow up, after you complete an activity.
  7. In the Carry Over Notes drop-down list, select Yes if you want to carry over any existing notes.
  8. In the Carry Over Attachments drop-down list, select Yes if you want to carry over any existing attachments.
  9. In the Alarm Default Lead boxes, enter a number in the box and select Minute(s), Hour(s), or Day(s) from the drop-down list to determine the length of time the reminder should occur before the Activity Start Time.
  10. Click the Display Activity Reminders drop-down arrow and select Yes to display Activity Reminders or No to prevent Activity Reminders from displaying.
  11. Click the Display Alarms drop-down arrow and select Yes to display Activities with alarms in the Activity Reminders view or No to prevent Activities with alarms from displaying.
  12. Click the Display Confirmations drop-down arrow and select Yes to display Activity confirmations in the Activity Reminders view or No to prevent Activity confirmations from displaying.
  13. Click the Display Past Due drop-down arrow and select Yes to display past due Activities in the Activity Reminders view or No to prevent past due Activities from displaying.
  14. Click the Save button icon.

Sage SalesLogix Web CRM Options - Calendar

Calendar Options
The User Options view displays the settings for the logged on user. These options are only applicable for that specific user in the Web Client.

Calendar Options allow you to adjust the content and appearance of your calendar to accommodate the way you work. You can set the type of information that displays in Activities, the start and end of the work day, the default calendar view, default interval on the calendar, and whether or not completed Activities (history) items display. History items only display on the day and week calendars by default. You can also set the user whose calendar is displayed by default. The logged-on user is the default.

To set calendar options:

  1. On the top right status bar, click Options.
  2. Click the Calendar tab.
  3. In the Default Calendar View box, click the drop-down arrow and select the default calendar view you want to display when you open the Calendar view.
  4. In the Show History on Calendar box, click the drop-down arrow and select Yes to display history items or No to not display history items on the day view.
  5. In the View Calendar For box, click the Find button, select a user from the list, and then click OK.
  6. In the Show on Activities box, click the drop-down arrow and select the Activity information you want to display on the Calendar.
  7. In the Day Start box, click the drop-down arrow and select the time you want the Calendar to display as your start time.
  8. In the Day End box, click the drop-down arrow and select the time you want the Calendar to display as your end time.
  9. In the Default Interval box, click the drop-down arrow and select whether the calendar displays information in 15, 30 or 60 minute intervals.
  10. In the Default Activity Type box, click the drop-down arrow and select a default Activity type. This is the type of Activity that will be created when you double-click on any of the Calendar views.
  11. Click Save.

The above two tabs have been covered but there are other User Options as well such as General/Search, Group, Change Password, and Opportunities tabs that appear when you start the Sage SalesLogix Web Client application. Below is a brief description of those categories:

  • General/Search Options
    Use the General/Search tab to specify such settings as which view opens by default when you first log into Sage SalesLogix Web Client, and who to use as the default owner for any new records you create. You can also set options for using Mail Merge, although these will not be visible unless you selected the “Use ActiveMail” check box when you logged in.
  • Group Options
    The Group Options view display your personal preference settings for Main Views, Default Groups, and Grid Options such as auto resizing columns to prevent horizontal scrolling. These options only apply when the user is logged on to the Web Client.
  • Changing a Password
    You have the ability to change your password through the User Options in the Web Client. Once you have made the changes you want, you must log off and then log on again for the changes to take effect.
  • Opportunity Options
    Use the Opportunities tab to specify default attributes for any new opportunities that you enter into the Sage SalesLogix Web Client. The Opportunity Options view displays the settings for the user who is logged on. These options are only applicable for that specific user in the Web Client.

Editing User Options in Sage SalesLogix Web allows you to modify personal preferences so you can work in an environment that better suits your needs and allow each user to work as effectively as possible in the Sage SalesLogix customer relationship management (CRM) environment.

If you would like to learn more about Editing Activity and Calendar User Options or have another CRM article that you would like us to write about please contact Simplesoft Solutions, Inc. in one of our Cincinnati, OH or Chicago, IL surrounding area office locations:

Dayton, Ohio Office:
Simplesoft Solutions, Inc.
550 N. Main St. Suite A
Springboro, OH 45066
Phone: (937) 885-1204 x 3204
Fax: (937) 885-3580
sales@simplesoft.net

Chicago, Illinois Office:
Simplesoft Solutions, Inc.
950 N. Rand Rd. #123
Wauconda, IL 60084

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Comtemplating the Sage Insights 2010 Conference and Sneak Peak the Future of Sage SalesLogix

May 28th, 2010 by Mike Pothast

Last week in Denver, Sage hosted its annual Insights partner conference. As always, Simplesoft Solutions was in attendance and this year was represented by President, Don Menrisky and I.   Traditionally, Insights provides many of the third party software solution vendors a way to showcase what’s new and exciting, and this year’s conference was no different. We saw some valuable tools and add-ons to help drive value for our customers and serve their customer’s better. However we felt the true excitement came from Sage and the company’s plans for the future of SalesLogix.  We are pleased with their roadmap and vision. 

Insights Conference 2010

Insights Conference 2010

 

I thought I would provide a “preview” of what’s coming over the next year in part.  Sage has several releases planned with the release of  Sage SalesLogix v7.5.3, due in the next 60 days, and version 8.0 in the first quarter of 2011.  And I’m sure you have heard about the new “cloud” offering as they partner with Amazon EC2 to offer a SaaS version of SalesLogix. What does this mean for you? It means  lot of really valuable functionality, which will continue to set SalesLogix apart as the leading innovative CRM tool in the marketplace and extend the capabilities of the tools.  Here’s a preview of what you can expect: 

Sage SalesLogix v7.5.3: 

  • Includes new web analytics and dashboard reporting tools designed to be easily created at the user level. Charts, graphs, and group lists are a few of the user-created options for user driven productivity.
  • Browser agnostic Desktop Integrations (Think SendSLX and Drag and Drop using FireFox etc.)  
  • Web administration – previously handled in the Application Administrator, a LAN based tool. Web administration will simplify the process of managing users, roles, teams & security and other vital features for SLX web users.  (Think remote administration without RDP access.)
  • v7.5.3 due to be released in the cloud in the June/July timeframe, and available to on-premise deployments in late July or August.

 Sage SalesLogix v8.0: 

  • New user interface for both the LAN and Web clients, more closely matched to each other.
  • Increased focus on easing critical usability functions, including:
    • Contextual menus
    • Activity and calendar management
    • Note recording and viewing (split form to match LAN client)
    • Inserting contacts and accounts
  • Quick editing of forms to add and edit forms, with no need to build and redeploy to users
  • v8.0 expected in Q1 2011

In addition to these client enhancements, a completely re-designed Mobile Client is expected by Q1 2011 as well. This new version has been designed to roll seamlessly across any mobile platform using an HTML 5 browser, including the iPhone, Android and most new Windows and BlackBerry devices. Sage provided a link during the conference to preview the new environment, and we are very excited about what we have tested. 

Finally, we are excited about the strategic direction Sage has taken to include more Connected Services, which we believe to be critical to the ongoing success of SalesLogix. The first release of this effort of this strategic plan has come in the form of Sage SalesLogix E-Marketing, released this month. In the near future, we can expect to see integrations to Hoovers, as well as other commonly used and valuable business resources extended through web services. 

As our relationship with Sage SalesLogix grows, so does our continued commitment to our customers.   I wanted to send the entire Sage team a big thanks for hosting another successful Insights conference.  We have so much to share with our customers back in Ohio.  The next Sage conference will be Sage Summit 2011 in Washington DC. 

If you’d like to preview Sage SalesLogix v7.5.3 in the cloud you can start a 30 day free trial. E-mail us at sales@simplesoft.net or call us today at 937-885-1204 x 3210.

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