Volume 5, Issue 1

Below are links to this issue's topics:

Microsoft CRM is About to Arrive
Quask Survey Software -- Online Surveys The Easy Way
Featured Account -- The New Britain Rock Cats -- These Cats Rock!!
The Referral Plan
GoldMine 6 and GoldMine 6 For Dummies Are Here
LaserFiche Adds a Hot New Feature
Tech-Talk -- Tips & Tricks from CCC's CRM Gurus
We Wander the Web (Weblinks You Should Know)
Upcoming Training Dates
Hardware Services
Newsletter Archives

Microsoft CRM is about to Arrive

Some time in February, Microsoft will release its much-heralded .NET based CRM product. This is a development that has demanded the attention of the entire CRM community.

At this moment there are about 120 CRM software manufacturers/vendors. For obvious reasons, there will soon be far fewer. Microsoft has publicly targeted three – Salesforce.com, Saleslogix and FrontRange.

There are going to be some issues with Version1 of Microsoft CRM, but it’s virtually inevitable that Microsoft will dominate this arena. If you and your peers are using Outlook as the basis of your CRM system, then Microsoft CRM is the perfect next step. If your company uses one of Great Plains' accounting programs, Microsoft’s integration is another compelling reason to consider this new software.

Almost every dealer of note has signed up with Microsoft at some expense and considerable effort. Within 18 months, many of the vendors we know today will be gone. After all, where are VisiCalc and Lotus today? Seen much WordPerfect lately?

Microsoft CRM is not yet the best CRM product out there, but with the resources and commitment Microsoft and 2,000 dealers have made, its ultimate domination is virtually assured. We’re not fighting it. We joined. Look for Microsoft CRM for Dummies from us soon.

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A relatively new addition to CCC’s repertoire is Quask, a powerful online survey application. Quask can be used on its own or integrate seamlessly with any ODBC compliant datasource. Imagine knowing who might be interested in a new product by simply sending a survey to your entire contact list and having their responses automatically update an interest field in your CRM application! Quask takes advantage of Macromedia Flash, which allows designers to create rich user interfaces and keeps file sizes to a minimum. Quask makes use of their trademark Emoticons (graphical representations of rating/ranking systems) to make forms enjoyable to complete, increasing response rates. Below is an example:

Quask can be used for:

• customer satisfaction surveys
• 360 degree surveys
• annual reviews
• database maintenance (send a form with existing information and ask your clients to spend a minute to fill out – automatically updates their record!)

and countless other surveying needs or opportunities. Once the data is collected, Quask automatically generates Excel reports with graphical and statistical analysis. These reports are updated as respondents reply to your survey, with new data being automatically added to existing reports. You can easily monitor survey results and identify trends by periodically checking responses to your surveys as results come back. Quask is an integral part of any good client retention program!

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These Cats Rock -- And We're Happy to Be Aboard!

ROCK CATS STRIKE GOLD!
Club Selects GoldMine 6.0 BCM to Manage Customer Service Programs

The New Britain Rock Cats have partnered with Computer Control Corporation to implement a custom GoldMine CRM application! The AA affiliate of the 2002 American League Central Division Champion Minnesota Twins has selected GoldMine 6.0 BCM and Computer Control to manage its customer service programs.

The Rock Cats are the latest in a series of sports teams to deploy GoldMine software, including Major League Baseball’s Chicago White Sox and Tampa Bay Devil Rays, as well as the NBA’s Orlando Magic and Cleveland Cavaliers.

Prior to using GoldMine, the Rock Cats relied on manual processes to track communication with fans and sponsors. New Britain management expects to drastically enhance productivity and customer relations.

The Rock Cats selected GoldMine BCM because, in their words, "It offers powerful functionality and scalability found in traditional enterprise products at a fraction of the cost and complexity. Additionally, GoldMine will enable us to strengthen relationships with fans by enhancing communication and automating sales processes."

The New Britain Rock Cats, who will implement GoldMine in January, celebrate their 30th year in Connecticut and 20th as residents of the “Hardware City” in 2003. The New Britain franchise currently stands as the oldest professional sports team in the entire state. Over 140 different players have gone from New Britain to the Major Leagues since 1983 including players such as Roger Clemens, Curt Schilling, Mo Vaughan, Jeff Bagwell and Torii Hunter.

For additional information about tickets, promotional packages, schedules, etc. please contact Evan Levy at (860) 224-8383. For additional information on how CCC can implement a custom CRM package for your company, contact us directly.

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  The Referral Plan

Several years ago we had a client referral plan that worked rather well, but was an administrative problem at times. We are now re-instituting this plan with a little help from our technology.

Any client in good standing can send us a referral. If we close some business with this new client, you are entitled to 5% of the initial order. You can opt for one of several payment methods.

How to send us a referral:

1. there is a referral form on our website that you can fill out and submit (this is the best way)
2. a referral can be e-mailed to us at sales@ccc24k.com
3. a referral can be phoned in or relayed in person to Joel Scott at 860-529-6232

Your options for being paid:
We only pay referral fees once we close the initial business and get paid ourselves. Once that happens you will receive payment in the one of the following ways (at your option):

1. Direct payment to your company
2. Direct payment to you personally
3. A credit applied to your account with us
4. A credit to the company you referred
5. No fee required.

Resolution of Potential Problems:

1. Sometimes more than one client refers us to the same business. When this happens, the first person (company) that sent in the referral gets the fee. Occasionally we split it. We decide.
2. Sometimes we get a referral to a company with whom we are already working. In this case no fee is paid. Sorry.
3. If the initial business is under $100, we do not pay a fee. Send bigger leads.

The average referral fee is around $400. We would like you to get as many of these as possible. It helps us and presumably works for you as well.

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We're excited about the release of GoldMine 6.0. Click here to view a pdf about new features.

Follow this link to learn more about new features in GoldMine 6.0.

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GoldMine 6 for Dummies Now Available!

Just off the presses, GoldMine 6 for Dummies, by Computer Control Corporation President Joel Scott, takes over where his GoldMine 5.7 for Dummies book left off. There's no better way to take advantage of the exciting new features built into this latest version of FrontRange Solution's award-winning CRM software. Scott is recognized as an expert in the CRM field and his long-standing relationship with GoldMine serves him well as he guides you through Version 6.

Here's what's inside:
GoldMine BCM Basics * Managing Contacts * Managing Activities * Managing Documents
Distributing Information to Your Team * Customizing GoldMine * Advanced Stuff * The Part of Tens

Click here to view the Table of Contents

Click here to order from Amazon.com.

Click here to order directly from CCC.

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A Hot New Feature From LaserFiche -- Quick Fields™

Maximize Document Processing Efficiency
• Streamline batch processing
• Automate document sorting and indexing
• Eliminate manual data entry errors
• Reduce manual indexing labor costs

Reduce Costs and Save Time When Processing Batches of Documents
Batch processing of documents is the extraction of information from a large number of documents. In addition to being able to extract information, effective document processing solutions must make it possible to easily find this information. LaserFiche Quick Fields, backed by industry standard LaserFiche searching capabilities, provides an out-of-the-box document processing solution,
which reduces client costs, eliminates backlogs of data entry, and significantly improves data quality.

LaserFiche Quick Fields Highlights
• Enhance or cleanup Images
• Maximize operator key-from-image speed by automatically zooming to a location on a document when entering index field data
• Retain the original name of documents after processing with Quick Fields
• Review documents before sending them to the LaserFiche repository to remove, or reorder pages in a multi-page document
• Schedule when documents will be sent to the LaserFiche repository after processing to save time and network bandwidth

If You're A Single-User Or Need Document Imaging For A Small Shop
Consider -- Intuition -- Brand New From LaserFiche

This single-user version retains LaserFiche's most popular features in a product that is both powerful and easy to use. Here's a great way to have the functionality of LaserFiche in a smaller package. Contact Ted Chmura for more information.

  Tech-Talk

  Introducing Our New Senior Tech: Doug Steinschneider

Doug joins CCC with 12 years of CRM experience and a Microsoft SQL Server certification. We asked Doug what's exciting in GoldMine Version 6. He thinks the GM+ View can be used very creatively and touts it as the killer feature in the new Version. One area of GoldMine usage that Doug considers under-utilized is the SQL Query Tab under Filters and Groups. Doug enjoys writing these and has developed many custom SQL Queries.

Doug's really excited about Microsoft CRM. He says there's a real sense of user control in the program. Who’s working on
what and with whom. "Even at the user level," Doug says, "people can, for example, share their accounts while on vacation and then remove that sharing when they return. Security is very flexible in the Microsoft offering -- acccess to specific areas of the database can be easily assigned to various users and user groups. And, of course, there's a very tight, seamless integration with Outlook."

Doug also likes the account relationship model in Microsoft CRM, "It's excellent," he says. "An account can be a child of another account, so branch offices can exist under the parent account. And records can be entered at many different levels, Leads, Accounts, Contacts, Competitors -- Microsoft CRM's view of your world is very flexible -- and fits the real world."

We're happy to have Doug on board. Be looking for more from Doug in each upcoming issue of Bits&Bytes.

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We Wander the

We wander the Web to identify very helpful (and sometimes, very esoteric) websites.

1. Our Favorite Search Engine
While there are many, and most of them are good, the consensus here is that Google is the best. The interface is clean and simple, and the content is comprehensive. And, it's fast.
www.google.com

2. Yahoo News Alerts
By setting up a Yahoo account (totally free), you can create "Alerts" for News, Finances, Weather, etc. For each alert you can add keywords (for example, we have a CRM Industry Alert with Microsoft CRM, FrontRange, etc. as keywords), and any news that comes across Yahoo's desk with a keyword match is automatically forwarded to the e-mail address we designate (it doesn't even have to be the one you created when you set up a Yahoo account).
http://alerts.yahoo.com

3. E-mail Spam Tip
We've heard this advice from several Web Industry people: don't reply to obvious Spam with a "Remove Me" request. This only proves to the spammers there's a warm body at your e-mail address. This confirmation will likely increase the flow of spam e-mails to you. While it seems like a pain, it's best to manually remove spam e-mails. There are software products available with which you can set up folders to trap spam (you define what spam is) but there is still some setup and maintenance required.

Of course, if you get an e-mail from a reliable source, feel free to take advantage of the remove me option. A reliable source will honor your request. To read about opt-out compliance rules, click on the link below:
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/alerts/remvalrt.htm

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To ask a question or share an idea, call us at (860) 529-6232 or e-mail us by clicking here.
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Training Center of the Year Upcoming Training Dates

This is the schedule for the Rocky Hill, Connecticut Training Center.

Click here to view a GoldMine Training Schedule.

Click here to Register.

Click here for detailed Course Descriptions.

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Reminder - Hardware Services

Did you know Computer Control Corporation does hardware and networking?  Keep us in mind when purchasing or servicing computers, printers, or networks for your company.

Click here to send the hardware guys an e-mail.

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