With GoldMine Premium version 8.00.80208 and higher you can easily add any GoldMine pull-down menu item to your toolbar. Just click on the options button on the end of your toolbar for editing your toolbar. Choose “customize.” (Don’t confuse the taskbar customize button with the toolbar.) Once that window opens up you can then go up to the pull down menus drag any menu item to the toolbar. Then you can drag and drop the icon to where you want it on the toolbar. When you drag a menu choice to the toolbar it’s taken out of the pull down menu, but you can get back on the menu by “resetting the menu.” That option can be found on the local editing menu. To open that menu just right click on any icon to expose a local menu. From there you’ll also be able edit the button, change or remove the image, edit the words, and more! You can also create your own custom toolbars for specific purposes. When you’re done, just close the “customize window.”

Ever wonder how many primary contacts, secondary contacts, or history items you have in your GoldMine database?

Here are three simple SQL Queries to give you an answer!

First, go to Lookup | SQL Queries or Go To | Filters & Groups | SQL Queries Tab in GoldMine Premium Edition. Copy and paste the queries into the top half of the screen then click the Query button.

For a count of primary contacts:

Select count(*) from contact1

For a count of secondary contacts:

Select count(*) from contsupp where rectype = ‘C’

For a count of history records:

Select count(*) from conthist

As database administrators struggle to keep email addresses in databases clean and accurate, web site form validation becomes key. At this point, the state of email address validation is poor. Feel free to prove it to yourself: go to your favorite site that requires registration, and enter dlkjfdklj@djflkjdlkj.com as your email address. More often than not, it will let you through no problem. Keep in mind that not only is it letting you through, but it is also storing that email address in an internal database. These databases get littered with bad addresses, which companies usually handle in one of two ways:

1. Ignore the problem and send emails anyway. This results in many bounced emails, and possibly getting blacklisted as a SPAMMER.

2. Hire temps to painstakingly pick out individual bad email addresses, or designate the duty to internal staff, this is a costly and time-consuming endeavor. Additionally, this is a reactive, not proactive, solution.

What you should be thinking at this point is “Why not stop the bad email address before it gets into your database?” It is essential to remove undeliverable email addresses and keep a clean mailing list. List hygiene will help you avoid sending out newsletters, broadcasts, and promotions to invalid addresses. Otherwise you’ll get tons of bounced messages. It’s not a secret that ISP mail servers can block senders’ IP for recurring sending to invalid email addresses.

As you might guess, there are different approaches to validating email addresses on web site forms. Generally, there is an inverse relationship between ease of implementation and quality of validation.

The following is an overview of the various levels of email address validation.

1. Base Level Validation – This is the type of email validation that most current web sites use. Code will generally be in-line and simply look for a @ and a . in the email address. This is extremely inadequate and needs to be upgraded. The reason that most sites use this method is that it is easy to code.

2. Base Domain Level Validation – This email validation is a step up from Base Level Validation, but still extremely inadequate. This level of validation only requires that the domain name of the email address be a valid registered domain. Many domain names are registered but cannot receive email. Additionally, the majority of registered domain names are not currently active mail servers. This is usually implemented as code or a component that does domain name registration lookups or possibly even standard DNS lookups.

3. MX Domain Level Validation – This email validation is currently the highest practical level. It is not 100% foolproof, but is a marked improvement over any lower form of validation. This level guarantees that the domain name of the email address is not only registered, but also that it is a live Internet host that can actually receive email. This is generally considered as the base practical level of email validation.

These days data is heaping around us at an alarming rate. We must strive to keep it clean and scrubbed if we expect it to be a productive and useful asset.

The following is a FREE Email Address Verification tool that uses all three of the above mentioned validation/verification methods. Enter the email address you would like to check and it will tell you if it is valid or not. If you would like to have your own website setup to validate email addresses before they are imported into your GoldMine database, or online database, contact First Direct Corp. today – Submit A Request

Finally, below is a SQL Query that you can paste into your GoldMine SQL Query tab and it will return all of the malformed email addresses in your system. This will help clean up the email addresses already in your GoldMine system. For instance it will return all email address missing the @ symbol or the .com or that have characters that are not allowed.

Note: Works with SQL based GoldMine systems only.
Because this query is looking for special characters it doesn’t display properly in a web page – please cut and paste the text of the query from here: Find Malformed Email Addresses

SELECT
accountno, cs.contsupref AS ‘E-Mail Address’
FROM
contsupp cs
WHERE
(cs.CONTACT = ‘E-mail Address’)
AND (SELECT
CASE
WHEN cs.contsupref IS NULL
OR CHARINDEX(‘@.’,cs.contsupref) > 0
OR CHARINDEX(‘.@’,cs.contsupref) > 0
OR CHARINDEX(‘..’,cs.contsupref) > 0
OR CHARINDEX(‘”‘, cs.contsupref) <> 0
OR CHARINDEX(’(‘, cs.contsupref) <> 0
OR CHARINDEX(’)’, cs.contsupref) <> 0
OR CHARINDEX(’,’, cs.contsupref) <> 0
OR CHARINDEX(’< ‘, cs.contsupref) <> 0
OR CHARINDEX(’>’, cs.contsupref) <> 0
OR CHARINDEX(’;’, cs.contsupref) <> 0
OR CHARINDEX(’:’, cs.contsupref) <> 0
OR CHARINDEX(’[', cs.contsupref) <> 0
OR CHARINDEX(’]‘, cs.contsupref) <> 0
OR RIGHT(RTRIM(cs.contsupref),1) = ‘.’
OR CHARINDEX(’ ‘,LTRIM(RTRIM(cs.contsupref))) > 0
OR LEN(cs.contsupref)-1 < = CHARINDEX(‘.’, cs.contsupref)
OR cs.contsupref LIKE ‘%@%@%’
OR cs.contsupref NOT LIKE ‘%@%.%’ THEN 0
ELSE 1
END) = 0

First Direct can offer other email validation strategies. If you’d like to work with us – send us an email.

GoldMine’s Details tab has always been an area with great potential for customization and can be used to solve many common data storage problems. It makes sense to use a custom detail, rather than a custom field, any time there is a one-to-many relationship between a contact and some type of data. Each detail can have its own tab so all like details can be displayed together. Each detail also has a Reference text field, a Notes box, and up to eight additional text fields (of preset lengths) that can be renamed to suit your needs. 

For many applications, a simple custom GoldMine detail is all that is needed. However, there are a few limitations that one has to live with. First, you are limited to the number of fields mentioned above (Reference, Notes, plus eight text fields). You only get one note/memo field and you cannot force proper date or numeric data entry for any of the fields. Second, GoldMine does not provide an easy way of filtering/querying contacts based on their detail data. In order to do this in GoldMine you would have to become familiar with writing complex SQL (Standard Query Language) queries, something that only computer programmer type users would likely be able to handle. Third, there is no way to change the field layout of the custom detail window. It is of a set size and shape, and the order/position of the fields cannot be changed.

Luckily, there is a GoldMine add-on product called Details Plus that gets around the above drawbacks. Not only does Details Plus resolve these issues, but it has additional features that really enhance the power of GoldMine’s details. Here’s a quick list of things Details Plus can do that go above and beyond what is standard in GoldMine:

• User configurable screen layouts for manual or web import data capture.
• 5 extra fields with user designation as character, date or numeric.
• Calculated and default field values.
• Direct merge capability to Word or email templates.
• Fast queries on any combination of details fields.
• Build GoldMine Groups
• Data export to common file formats

I’d like to quickly share a real-life example of a GoldMine/Details Plus customer who has put these features to use. Shanequa Stephens at American Business & Professional Program, a New York based insurance solutions provider, has used GoldMine details to keep track of client insurance policy information. Details Plus allows her to keep an extensive amount of information regarding each policy and enables her to layout that information on the screen exactly how she wants to see it. Shanequa also has various GoldMine reports that allow her to print and email this information to both insurance carriers and the company’s clients. And Details Plus makes it easy for her to query the information. Each month she uses Details Plus to create a group of contacts whose policies are to expire next month, to which she can send reminder Emails or printed letters for renewal notices. Details Plus takes an already good GoldMine feature and makes it great.

Recently we received a technical support call from a large customer about how to export data out of GoldMine.  This is a red flag to us that something may be wrong.  It’s not always a sign of a problem because often times the customer is just trying to supply mailing list data to an external marketing fulfillment service. But it can also signal that the customer is changing CRM systems.

So we asked the customer what was happening and they told us that their GoldMine users were extremely frustrated with how GoldMine functioned.  Owners were ready to drop the system and spend a significant sum to replace it.  IT was ready to take on a large task of implementing a new system, figuring out how to migrate years of valuable data from GoldMine into the new system, and take on the responsibility of having to configure the system from scratch and train all the users over again. 

Of course, First Direct valued this customer and was disappointed to learn that they may be dropping GoldMine.  We asked them if they would be willing to explain so that we might have a chance to address their concerns and make an obvious attempt to salvage the relationship.  We agreed it was worth a try so we called a meeting to give some of their key users who had spoken out a chance to show us the functions that annoyed them.

As they ran down their list of complaints while demonstrating them in their live GoldMine system my colleague and I were able see that they simply were not aware of much better and easier ways for them to do what they were trying to do.  Within 60 minutes it became clear to both us and the customer that GoldMine was far more powerful and suitable than they thought.  All they needed was some help, which First Direct is here to provide. The customer came out of the meeting enlightened and with a new appreciation for the system they owned. 

Aside from the greater value they now recognized GoldMine had to offer, they also appreciated that as managers of the system they had a responsibility for their organization’s success with it.  And with that responsibility sometimes comes the need to get help.  The conversation is leading to a joint and proactive CRM Success Plan including set priorities and actionable steps. There is renewed commitment by all parties to find better ways of managing one of their firm’s most valuable business systems and assets – their GoldMine database. 

Here’s a list with live links to ways you can get help:

• Read the documentation / manuals
• GoldMine training solutions
• FrontRange Online Knowledge Base (You’ll need your “username” and “password.”)
• FrontRange Connect – online community
• GoldMine Sharpen Your Knowledge Events

OR CALL:
GoldMine Support Desk (with current maintenance – call (800)755-2100  (Use option 3, then 1 and have your customer number – HDA# handy.)
First Direct Corp. – (800) 935-4386

Submit a specific request to First Direct Corp.

What image do you conjure up when you think of someone who’s selling?  Possibly you pictured someone talking on the phone.  Surely you’ve heard the expression “dialing for dollars” as a way to describe the daily efforts by salespeople and telemarketers to reach prospects and customers. 

Whether you’re cold calling, introducing yourself to new web leads and referrals, following up on active prospects and customers, or fielding incoming inquiries, a large ratio of sales activity takes place on the phone.  And, when you’re on the phone you should be on the record. 

As a GoldMine trainer my number one basic principle for success with GoldMine is to “be on the record!”  Look over the shoulder of anyone in my office who’s on the phone and you’ll see what organization they’re talking with because that’s the GoldMine Record on their computer’s screen.  You have to be on the record you’re talking with in order to use GoldMine for the reasons you purchased it, not to mention to improve the quality and accuracy of the information you have.

For my organization, and others, the use of the phones is a big enough factor that we believe it warrants having tight integration between your phone system and your GoldMine database. 

Apart from the features of your phone system alone, here are compelling reasons for tight integration between GoldMine and your phones:

• Screen pops based on incoming caller ID can save time searching for the GoldMine record
• Automated capture of incoming callers phone number can prove very useful
• Speed dialing with GoldMine reduces wrong dials and increases productivity as much as 15%
• Power dialing outbound call campaigns to a call list where you can lift productivity by as much as 30%
• Automate tracking calls by automatically initiating a “completed call” and capture the actual call duration
• Automate scheduling follow-up with a Macros on a record of frequent call outcomes to reduce data entry time and increase selling time
• Better call tracking in the context of your CRM records means enhanced reporting and greater accountability

The bottom line – you’ll sell more!

It just makes common sense – if you’re going to put people’s phone numbers into your GoldMine database you should let your GoldMine database dial the phone for you!  Once you start dialing with GoldMine you’ll wonder why anyone would want to otherwise.

Let us give you a demonstration of what you can do with GoldMine using your existing phone system.  That’s right, your existing phone system! 
Register for our online event – Telephony Integration – GoldMine and Your Current Phone System – what you don’t know that you can do! 

Great News - First Direct can integrate GoldMine with just about any phone system! If you’re a small business looking for a new phone system I’d be happy to tell you what phone system we changed to recently and why I chose it. We’ve reduced our phone bills nearly 50% in the process!
FEATURED ADD-ON:

Tapi Link for GoldMine – Once installed, Tapi Link for GoldMine becomes an integral part of your GoldMine and enables users to dial directly from within GoldMine and present a caller’s contact details when the telephone rings.

Question:  If your consumers are buying less should you market less?  My answer is NO!!  You market better! 

That’s not to say you should be spending more on advertising.  You may find you can spend less and get greater results. 

There are several reasons for this including but not limited to:
Media and event promoters have to discount more aggressively to compete for fewer advertising dollars
Pay-per-click is an auction market and bid price along with budgets of your competitors may be shrinking
What’s more, your competition may be thinning out or choosing to cut back their budgets so your ability to gain some dominance may improve

By the same token marketing is a very broad subject and advertising is only one aspect.  Marketing encompasses positioning, branding, product and packaging design, distribution, and much more.  Technically, even the area of sales comes under the marketing as a channel for distributing the product or service.

Your marketing database, that is your GoldMine database, can and should be one of your most prized marketing tools.  As such it should get a lot of use – in good times and in bad.  When times are slow it’s an excellent opportunity to improve the design, function, and use of your GoldMine system.  Here’s some things you can do to start off:

• Delete or archive old and useless data
• Clean up your field properties and lookup lists
• Redesign your screen layouts
• Get rid of irrelevant things you don’t use – old groups & filters, outdated templates, unusable reports, knowledgebase entries, and scripts, etc.
• Improve system performance with hardware and resource upgrades or simply do maintenance on workstations that will speed up machines (e.g. defrag, virus scans, remove applications and other measures)
• Better incorporate your use of GoldMine into your business processes so you improve office operations and team work

A lot of these steps may come under the category of “sharpening the saw” which is certainly a good thing to do when a slow economy gives you a break to do so!  After all, if you don’t take advantage of slow times for such things, you won’t find the time when the market picks up eventually.

By the same token, you can market better by making better use of your GoldMine system.  Here are some ways to do that:

• Identify features in your software that are available to you that you’re not using which may add value and give you immediate and greater return on your GoldMine investment
• Consider add-on products that answer needs your organization has
• Use queries to find contact records that warrant greater personal attention by either sales or administrative staff
• Provide users with training and other assistance to help them operate more productively and properly
• Implement the reports you require to evaluate operations and markets so you can make more objective and better business decisions
• Use the system to market more effectively and repeatedly to your prospects and customers
• Integrate with you phones (see our featured products TAPI LINK and Power Dialer) to incorporate speed dialing and power dialing with an in-house telemarketing project to give sales productivity a big boost

Doing these things can counter the effects of poor economy.  The capacity you gain will help you manage more efficiently in both good and bad times. And, when things turn around, you’ll be far better ready to handle the growth.  Plus, since there’s a pretty good chance that your competition will choose “flight” over “fight,” you have the potential to gain market share as a result of your response to the crisis. Wouldn’t that be a nice bonus – winner!