Hopefully, if you are a Goldmine user you are already taking advantage of GoldMine’s link to Microsoft Word. This link allows users to easily create MS-Word templates for use with GoldMine’s Document Management Center features. There are a few settings we recommend you change in MS-Word in order to make this link work better for you and your users.

Newer versions of Microsoft Word (primarily Word 2003 but maybe other versions, too) have a security feature that is meant to protect us, but unfortunately this feature can cause a negative side effect for us GoldMine users. You may have seen this message when merging a GM template with MS-Word: ”This document contains links that may refer to other files. Do you want to update this document with the data from the linked files?”

The user is prompted to click “Yes” or “No.” Besides the annoyance this creates for users (even for those who know to click “Yes”), this message causes problems with the printing of letters through GM’s Automated Processes, as well as basic mail merges. In order to work around this issue go to the Tools→Options… menu in MS-Word. Select the General tab, and uncheck “Update automatic links at Open” option. Click “OK” to save thechange and close MS-Word. You will no longer be bothered with that message, and your AP’s will print those letters without difficulties.  (Remember you have to do this on every workstation with the GM-MS Word Link installed.)

Do you have a web site that you generate leads via web forms? If the answer is “yes,” this is for you!

With GoldMine’s Web Import functionality every time someone fills out a web form on your web site the information can be automatically imported into your GoldMine database?

Think about the advantages:

■ No more retyping (or data entry mistakes)
■ Immediate capture of leads
■ Instant distribution of leads
■ The ability to automate responses and handling

What is GoldMine Web Import?

Web Import is a feature available with GoldMine out of the box, no additional software is needed. Potential customers visiting your site fill out your web form and click “submit” just like they do no. The difference being, when the web form is submitted the data is formatted into a GoldMine Web Import email which is automatically sent and retrieved by your GoldMine server. And, when this happens, GoldMine recognizes the email as data and automatically imports the data into your database.

Why Do You Need It?

Besides the obvious reason of saving data entry time and data entry errors. Once the information is imported into GoldMine you can attach GoldMine Automated Processes. Automated Processes can then automatically send auto-response emails, print letters / envelopes, schedule calls and other follow-up activities, plus much more. Leads are followed up in a timely manner, while its still “hot” not days or weeks later after its gone “cold”. Web import isn’t just for “leads” – it can be used for registrations, literature requests, and other processes.

Web Import can create:

■ New records
■ Additional contacts
■ Custom fields
■ Notes
■ Details

If you’re interested in GoldMine Web Import and have questions please contact First Direct Corp. We’ve assisted numerous customers with integrating their web sites with GoldMine via the GoldMine Web Import feature. Basis forms can be up and running very quickly! For more information on Web Import, and to do a live example with your GoldMine system, click here.

In addition we offer web site design services, if you’re one of the individuals who doesn’t have a web site or has a web site but thinks it could use an improvement, check out our Web Design Portfolio, and contact us to see how we can help you.

When it comes to accountability, as a manager I often take the position “if it’s not in GoldMine it didn’t happen.”  Here’s what I mean and why it works so well.

GoldMine can be used to document a lot of things!  And, as a workgroup solution, the information is easily accessible. GoldMine lends itself to tracking everything – from the source of a lead with the creation date, to the date of the last call, any scheduled follow-up, to all sorts of other details. 

In addition, GoldMine features an InfoCenter (a.k.a. Knowledgebase) where you can maintain “books of knowledge” for such purposes as policies and procedures, marketing information, even ISO documentation. 

Let’s get back to this notion of “if it’s not in GoldMine it didn’t happen.”  As a manager, ideally we try to be objective and fair.  That’s why it really helps to “have the facts.”  Relying on people’s memory presents problems – people have very selective memory, let alone their personal bias and their self-interests which can lead them to skew the facts.  This is where GoldMine can really help!

• Who brought in the lead?  Look at the Summary Tab of the record and see who created it in the GoldMine database.
• Who has been following up on the prospect and deserves credit for the commission when the prospect calls in to order?  Look in the History Tab and review the calls.
• When did the customer call in to request certain information?  Check History Tab.
• Is somebody following up on a lead?  Check Pending Tab.
• When did the customer say they were mailing the check?  Check “Call Notes.”

When you take the attitude that “if it’s not in GoldMine it didn’t happen” an interesting dynamic comes about.  From that point forward, people start to take more responsibility for entering important information.  Users recognize each time there is a situation in which “the facts” that should have been stored in GoldMine are needed, that someone either did or didn’t do their job properly by entering them.  Therefore, the quality of the documentation in GoldMine becomes a reflection on the quality of a person’s work.  So, if people take any pride in what they do, they will start tobe more attentive to what they enter into GoldMine.

When you take the position, “if it’s not in GoldMine it didn’t happen” you’ll be surprised at how much more useful information ends up IN Goldmine!  And, in the process, you’ll be able to be a stronger manager.

It’s a me, me, and me world.  Yet, in the world of sales, it’s all about you!  “You” being the prospect and the customer.  So what is it about “you” that matters?

Ultimately, if sales people and marketers have any intention of serving our consumers, our focus must point to the needs and wants of our consumer.  And, how do we figure this out … through personalization. 

Personalization is not just a merge code in a letter or email.  Real personalization takes place in every means of dialogue wherein we try to learn the wants, wishes, and needs of our consumer.  This can be in the form of phone calls, emails, website forms, sales visits, etc.  In every case we seek to learn something that will help us to both serve and sell!   

Much of the information we collect in the process needs to be databased in a CRM system like GoldMine software, for example.  Databasing this information enables you to make your follow-up efforts more personal, and therefore more relevant and effective.  It’s also the most effective way to manage, share, and analyze the information.  Anyone serious about personalization needs to develop disciplined practices regarding the usage of CRM! 

“You” is all about personalization.  It’s also all about qualifying.  But people are reluctant, by nature, to give up “personal” information at first.  To earn their trust, and willingness to provide it, we need to establish our credibility and competence, as well as the relevance our offering plays in terms of their needs (solutions).

To grease the skids and help information to flow more easily, it often helps to apply the rule of reciprocity – in other words “give to get.” You can give them information that they’re asking for.  It can even help just to open up and share information about yourself and your business and get their trust – trust builds trust!

Once you’ve established enough rapport, the possibilities are too long to list.  Here’s some open ended questions which should provide plenty of ideas.  Just finish the question below in a way which relates to your industry and organization:  What do you …? How do you ….? When do you …?   Are you …? Would you …? Could you …? Will you ….? 

The findings from such questions can drive your future marketing and selling efforts.  I know it’s easier said than done.  But, again, this is one of the most significant benefits that can come fromproper usage of a CRM tool.  CRM is not a “silver bullet” and it takes plenty of planning and effort to align any CRM system to your organization’s needs and processes.  Nonetheless, you can pretty much forget about a “papersystem” or “spreadsheets,” let alone personal email/calendar software like Outlook as a means of accomplishing a truly “personalized” sales and marketing system. 

Find out more about “Personalization and CRM Systems” – Contact First Direct Corp today!

I’m going to explain a way you can double or even triple the size of your marketing list. In the process, and as a result, you find that you can increase your closing percentage, and increase the lifetime value of your customer base.

Let’s start with a basic premise regarding any established organization that does B2B sales and marketing:  The “house file,” the database of prospects and customers, is their most valuable list.  Firms can’t afford to sit on it – it must be constantly expanded, maintained, protected – and used! 

To show the importance of the practices, illustrated below are painful experiences which I believe most sales people can relate to:

• You call an active prospect only to learn they are no longer with the company and their replacement was never supplied your information and are already dealing with a competitor.
• Your prospect replies to an email with the news that the purchasing agent bought your product elsewhere.  (Our prospect is sorry!)
• A decision maker in the organization, who you were not in communication with, received a special offer from a competitive firm and has been speaking with them.  Your prospect says, “It’s out of my control.”
• Your prospect is glad to hear from you because they lost your contact information.  Unfortunately, because they came across a competitor instead when they searched on the web for your product, and just signed an agreement with them.

Enough … I’m getting depressed just writing about these situations.  You get the idea, and you know the sick feeling in your gut, let alone the expletives we want to shout out when this happens.  But I have some good news, and it’s not that I just saved 15% on my car insurance!  There is a way you can reduce the likelihood that you’ll become a victim of these kinds of sales’ sob stories. That’s right – instead of losing sales, you can be increasing sales! 

The answer is to double or triple the size of your marketing list!   I know what you’re thinking: Great idea – why don’t we just triple the size of our advertising budget too? 

But I’m serious; there is a way to double or triple the size of your marketing list, without renting one more list or attending another trade show.  The answer is to add “influencers” and “key contacts” to your existing house file of prospects and customers. 

Inside nearly every organization we deal with there are at least 1 or 2, maybe even more, individuals who may have some influence in the buying decision that affects us.  Chances are we’ve heard their name, or they’ve even been on conference calls and in our demonstrations. 

Day in and day out we have opportunities to enhance our house files with these names, titles, phone numbers, and email addresses.  Unfortunately, many sales people who are in the best position to capture this information fail to take an extra moment to update the database with all the needed information when they have a chance to. 

Entering the information alone may not be enough!  We may need to “flag” or “code” the contact properly in order to ensure that these individuals are included in marketing communications.  (Attention GoldMine users – think “merge codes.”)

There’s a saying in direct marketing, “when you need the list it’s too late.”  Here’s why…

It only takes a moment to enter this information properly – but it’s a “now or never” moment.  If we forget to do it at the same time we have the opportunity to collect it, we probably won’t ever do it.  And, then, when our broadcast email goes out to our target list, our influencers and decision makers won’t be on the receiving end.  You know what happens then … refer to the sob stories.

Here are some reasons for having more than one key contact on your marketing list:

• Don’t rely on your prospect to share information you supply them internally in their organization.
• Just because the decision maker remembers your product, doesn’t mean they remember you.
• Cover your bases in case your primary prospect leaves or is ineffective as your advocate.
• Have a back-up in case one contact “unsubscribes” to your marketing communications.
• Your marketing message may have more appeal to one person than another.

So, listen up for more names during sales calls and meetings.  Search for other key players on their website.  Pay attention to “bounce-back” and “undeliverable” emails as a sign that your contact is a goner.  Look for good contacts in “away messages.”  When your contact is out, askthe receptionist for who else you can speak to. 

Good sales people should know all the ways to get names – the issue is taking the time to update your database!  If you need a reason to remind you, just wait till you hear your next “sob story!”

An issue occurs where the user receives a chronic verification code error, this appears to be caused by Sync profile corruption within GoldMine on the undocked users machine:

Select File>>Synchronize>>Synchronization Wizard.

Select “Sync using the settings of A GoldSync Site.”

In the site settings drop down select the users profile so that it has a blue background.

Delete the profile.

Choose Start a new session and recreate the profile.

You can drag and drop a contact from GoldMines Contact Listing window to the Calendar Window to schedule an activity. You can drop the contact into a date or time slot of the Day, Week, Month or Year. When you drop, ‘Schedule an Appointment’ window appears with date/time of the slot you had selected. Enter the activity details and schedule it. By default GoldMine selects appointment as the activity type, you can change the activity type from Activity list.