Based on this research, the messaging for ACT! 2010 addresses the economic situation to reach those customers not upgrading solely based on budgetary concerns. The messaging highlights the new features of ACT! 2010 including enhancements to opportunities, reporting, and the integration of Web 2.0 technology and E-marketing features. These features are positioned as helping ACT! users focus on the right customers, thus saving time and money sifting through leads, again in an effort to communicate value in upgrading to 2010 and overcome budgetary objections.fficeffice" />

In a down economy, it’s tempting to “wait it out,” but have you considered the cost of doing nothing? New tools in ACT! by Sage 2010 help you focus on the most promising customers, saving you time and money spent sifting through leads.fficeffice" />

With the newly designed ACT! 2010, take advantage of the latest Web 2.0 technology to access instant knowledge about your customers, generate actionable demand with end-to-end e-marketing*, tailor sales processes to your business by completely customizing opportunities, unlock insight into your biggest opportunities with new reports and dashboards, and more!

Upgrade today to ensure you focus on the right customers.

*Requires additional purchase.

Customer Quotes from the ACT! 2010 Alpha:fficeffice" />

• “I really like the redesign of the software, especially for someone like me. It was a little easier to move around in, and for new clients, I think it will be a better experience for them. “

• “Customizing opportunities is a big plus.”

• “I didn't think navigation was difficult in the previous versions. The updated interface, if nothing else, is beautiful. I was very impressed that despite having the appearance of more complexity at first glance, it did not add any complication, and is much more flexible.”

·         “The oversized buttons were really easy to use, and it was really easy to determine where everything was located. I would think that more new and/or upgrading users will not need to refer to the User's Guide as often now, with tasks so ‘in front’ and accessible to them.”

Customer Quotes from ACT! 2010 Usability Testing:fficeffice" />

• “The new ACT! Welcome page is well organized and intuitive. It’s like a dashboard. I like it. Even the colors are soft and distinct. They attract attention.”

Gale Winters, ACT! user since 1991

• “The new ACT! visual design is very attractive. The colors are complementary but neutral. It’s not stark. It’s easy on the eyes and there’s continuity throughout the screens.”

Gale Winters, ACT! user since 1991

• “The new version of ACT! is more user friendly.  It has different ways to get to tasks and new features.”

Angela Turner, ACT! user since 2005.

(Top Reasons to Upgrade)fficeffice" />

• Enjoy the newly designed look of ACT! with proven easier to learn and use navigation, instant access to search, related tasks, big “easy” buttons, and the new Welcome page.

• (Know) Take advantage of leading-edge Web 2.0 technology that automatically integrates profiles and data from LinkedIn®, Facebook, Google Maps™, and more with ACT! for instant knowledge about your customers.

• (Market) Generate actionable demand with end-to-end e-marketing* that intelligently and automatically reaches out to your ACT! contacts and delivers results right to the ACT! Contact Record, saving you money by helping you focus on the right customers.

*Requires additional purchase

• (Sell) Tailor opportunities to fit your selling model with redesigned sales tracking functionality that allows you to maximize the way you manage leads. Sales opportunities now behave and appear like contacts, groups, and companies, making them more flexible than ever.   

• (Sell) Unlock insight into your biggest opportunities for quick wins using new dashboards and reports viewable in a streamlined layout, or create custom reports with the new connector for third-party report writers. Get more from everything you keep in ACT!.   

• Send calendar invitations and contacts from ACT! to leading e-mail solutions, like Gmail™, Apple® iCal®, Windows Live™, and Microsoft® Outlook®. Work seamlessly with non-ACT! users.   

(Features Snapshot)

• Newly Designed Look and Feel: fficeffice" />
• New navigation with related tasks, big “easy” buttons, common tasks, and the new Welcome page with resources, tips, help, and news.

• Web 2.0 Technology:
• Integrates data from LinkedIn®, Facebook, Google Maps™, and more with ACT! Contact Records.

• ACT! E-marketing*:
• Out-of-the-box integration with an e-mail and drip marketing solution.

*Requires additional purchase

• Customizable Opportunities:
• New Opportunity Detail view with the ability to add fields, customize products and services, personalize layouts, and track activities and history.   

• New Dashboards and Reports:
• 9 new dashboards, 13 new reports, and a streamlined Reports view.

• Compatibility with iCalendar and vCard

• Enjoy the newly designed look of ACT!, with proven easier to learn and use navigation, instant access to search, related tasks, consolidated menus, big “easy” buttons, and more: You’ve got to see the new look! Not only will you get streamlined layouts, you’ll also have instant access to search from any view—no longer going through the lookup dialog; related tasks that provide you with more options for working with contacts, groups, opportunities, and more; consolidated menus with relevant feature options; big “easy” buttons for tasks you complete most often; and a new button that lets you create anything new, from contacts, to activities, and more. fficeffice" />

• Take advantage of leading-edge Web 2.0 technology that automatically integrates LinkedIn®, Facebook, Google Maps™ and more with ACT!: Tap into the endless possibilities of social networking and online resources for instant knowledge about your customers. See your customers on LinkedIn®, Facebook, Plaxo, and ZoomInfo, or other sites you choose, to quickly understand more about their interests, their past work history, and their connections. Sites included with ACT! are:fficeffice" />
• LinkedIn®
• Facebook
• Plaxo
• ZoomInfo Contact
• Contact's Web site
• Google™
• Google Driving Directions
• Google Maps ™
• Google News™
• Weather
• Yahoo! Local Info
• Yahoo! Person

• Generate actionable demand with end-to-end e-marketing* that intelligently and automatically reaches out to your ACT! contacts, runs e-mail marketing campaigns in minutes, and delivers results right to the ACT! Contact Record, saving you money by helping you focus on the right customers. ACT! E-marketing includes: fficeffice" />
• E-mail Marketing which allows you to create striking e-mail templates with a simple online editor; send e-mails to contacts, lookups, groups, and companies with a single click directly from ACT!; and track contacts who opened and clicked e-mails. 
• Drip Marketing which allows you to create a series of e-mails that are delivered to ACT! contacts over a period of time—automatically. Not only does it save you time, it automatically drives sales processes by delivering Call Lists of contacts that should be called first.
• Survey and Web Forms which enable you to gather valuable feedback from existing contacts so you can build and grow your ACT! database. Survey results are mapped to ACT! fields to ensure the freshest data is available for marketing and selling purposes.
• Marketing Results tab which includes a ranked Call List of the most interested contacts so you know who to call first. For example, if Chris Huffman opens an e-mail five times and clicks three links, she is more interested than another contact that only opened an e-mail once and didn’t click on any links.  

• Tailor opportunities to fit your selling model: Sales tracking functionality in ACT! has been completely redesigned to maximize the way you manage leads. Sales opportunities now behave and appear like contacts, groups, and companies, making them more flexible than ever, so you can: fficeffice" />

• Add new fields and tabs.
• Customize[1] the product/services grid to include the fields you need to track your information.
• Personalize the layout with the colors and graphics that best represent the look of your business.
• Track activities, history, documents, notes, and more—all tied to the sales opportunity.
• Set security options.

• Create custom reports with the new connector for your third-party report writer: The new connector for third-party report writers (such as Crystal Reports®), or OLEDB Provider, gives you the ability to run reports on everything you keep in ACT!, including, user information, activities, groups, and companies. fficeffice" />

• See reports in the streamlined reports view: With the streamlined reports view, easily understand which ACT! reports are available to you, mark reports as your favorites for quick access, and customize report descriptions for a view that’s more personalized to your needs.  fficeffice" />

• Track customers, sales, and users with new dashboards: New dashboards have been added to ACT!, giving you at-a-glance snapshots of your customers, your sales opportunities, and even your users. New dashboards include: fficeffice" />
• Contact History Count by History Type
• Contacts by Country and Department
• Recently Created and Edited Contacts
• Opportunities Open by Product
• Opportunities with Contact Information and Products
• ffice:smarttags" />Opportunity Weighted Total by Stage
• Remote Database Information by User
  • Remote Database Sync Status by User
  • User Status

• Get actionable insight through 13 new reports: Better understand your biggest opportunities for quick wins. Run one of the 13 new reports you’ve been asking for, including: fficeffice" />
• Opportunities by Process and Status
• Pipeline by Process
• Pipeline with Detail
• Won Opportunities
• Won Opportunities by Summary, Competitor, Reason, and Record Manager
• Opportunities by Actual and Estimated Close Month and Date
• Opportunities by Record Manager

• Uncover the power of ACT! with the new Welcome Page: You’ve told us you want to do more with ACT!, but you don’t always know how. We’ve made it really easy for you to get the most out of ACT! with quick access to common resources, tips on using ACT!, where to go when you need more in-depth help, and ACT! news—all from the new Welcome Page. fficeffice" />

• Send calendar invitations from ACT! to leading e-mail solutions, like Gmail™, Apple® iCal®, Windows Live™, Microsoft® Outlook®—or any iCalendar connected calendars: Not all your customers use ACT!. We know that, which is why you can send ACT! calendar invites to customers who use iCalendar connected calendars, like Gmail, and the invitations you send will appear on their calendar. These include:fficeffice" />
• Gmail
• Apple iCal
• Windows Live
• Facebook
• GroupWise®
• Outlook
• Lotus Notes®

• Share ACT! contacts with ease in vCard format: Send ACT! contacts in vCard format to non-ACT! users with just a few clicks—no retyping or cutting and pasting required. fficeffice" />

• Use Mail Merge and Instant Quotes in ACT! Premium for Web with Microsoft® Word.

• Preview Adobe® PDFs and Microsoft® Office 2007 attachments without opening them: Preview PDFs and Office 2007 attachments you keep in ACT! with the Document Previewer by simply hovering over the document you want to view. See a thumbnail version of it, without having to open it, and determine if it’s the attachment you need.

• Create remote databases simultaneously: Create remote databases simultaneously, up to 50 at one time, for easy rollout of larger implementations.  fficeffice" />

• Support global selling environments: Support global selling environments by specifying currency at the time of database creation.