Assigning tasks
A quick and easy way to manage assigned tasks to colleagues is via the task scheduler in Maximizer.
You can assign tasks and also follow up on them to make sure they have been completed. Try it now. Right click on a
contact in the contact window. Select Schedule and then select To Do. This will open a dialogue box which allows
you to detail the time and the task (like please make me some coffee sweetie!)
To assign the task to a colleague you must select the option Assigned To: and then choose their name.
You can also follow up on the task status by selecting the Hotlist from the icon bar on the left of the screen and
selecting their Hotlist Window. If their name does not appear that means that they have not given you permission to
assign tasks to them (eysh, sorry for you, you will have to make that cup yourself. I am sure that if you ask them nicely
however they will share their hotlist with you.
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Automated campaigns
The automated campaign in Maximizer Enterprise can send to either e-mail or fax recipients. We suggest using an e-mail to fax
service for a fax campaign to make it faster than using a normal fax modem.
In both cases, you begin with a template. This is set up once you have clicked on
Marketing and then on the Campaign icon to open up the campaign window. Place your mouse pointer in the window
and click the right button to access the menu. Choose Add Automated Campaign template.
Now you are presented with a step by step set of windows to guide you through creating the template. In the first window, Click on
Add and give your template a name. The first time you use this function, you will create a unique template,
thereafter, you can use that same template to be the basis of new ones. You can also give the template a description, then click
OK.
Then click Next to move to the Campaign Activities windows. Again, click
Add, choose either e-mail or Fax. The next window will be titled according to the choice you made.
Here I will go through the e-mail activity. Give the activity a name, description and E-mail subject. You also need to give it a
Start Time and Delay Start (if required). The Landing Page URL will be the page that links directly onto your
website for recipients to gain more information. Next you need to select the Message Body File. Click on this button
and you are now able to find the existing HTML file that you may have created in FrontPage™ or actually create the message body
in Maximizer's editor. What is the difference?
The HTML file does not enable you to merge information from your Maximizer database without programming support.
The Maximizer Editor does allow for merging of information, however font support is limited. We have found Word HTML
documents to be clumsy and larger than FrontPage™'s, but merges can be done. The choice is yours and depends on the effects
that you want.
Creating the document in Maximizer's editor means that you have all of the usual UDFs available and you can do a really
focussed document. We use this solution for marketing mail shots, whereas this newsletter is done in FrontPage™.
Once you have created and saved your document, it will appear in the Message Body Library window from where you
went to create it. If the document already existed, then you will have clicked on Import and found it on your
server. Now click on OK to bring it into the Activity window. To put in the sender's information, click on the
Email Addresses tab. Here you put in the information for the sender and the address to reply to, as well
as the cc and bcc recipients. Attachments can be added as well on the last tab. When you are complete, click on
OK.
The activity will now show in the activity window - note that you can have multiple activities for a campaign if you require. Click
Next. This brings you to the Save window and gives you the option to create a campaign from the template. For now,
just click on Finish.
The second part of the Automated Campaign is the list of recipients. To set this up, return to your address book and decide on the User Defined Field (UDF) that you wish to use for this list. For instance, we use the UDF newsletter, which is a table with two options,
Subscribe and Unsubscribe to decide who receives the newsletter. Once you have the UDF set up and have indicated which people (Contacts) qualify, then you need to do a
Search for them. Click on Search | All Fields and find the UDF, tick it and click the appropriate choice. Click
OK and make sure that Contacts and Individuals are selected. Click on
Catalog and create a new catalog entry with the campaign name as its title - this means that you can update the search in future. Click
OK twice to begin the search. Once it is completed, select all the entries, check that they all have email addresses, select them (EXCLUDING ANY THAT DO NOT) and save them as a
Favourite List with the campaign name as the list name.
Return to the Campaign and select Add Automated Campaign by right clicking. You now have two choices
Fixed Date or Ongoing. If you have multiple activities in your template, it will be the latter,
otherwise stay with the former. Click Next. Choose the template that you want to use in the campaign, put in a
budget figure and expected revenue and click Next. Now you are to choose whom to send the campaign to - select your
Favourite list and click Next. Give the campaign a start date and click Next. You now have the option to
validate your email addresses before clicking on Finish.
Note - it is important to leave Maximizer open to run the campaign!
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Backups!
From our experience in helping companies with their CRM systems we can say that the single biggest IT stress in a business is
caused by the lack of a backup when it is needed most. Electronic equipment can fail, software can get corrupted and computers
can get stolen or damaged, all of which can result in the loss of your precious customer data. Typically, when this situation
arises there hasn't been someone assigned the responsibility of doing the backups with the result that a lot of finger-pointing
goes on while the stark realization that the last backup done 2 years ago sinks in.
Backing up the Maximizer database is very easy. In most cases select FILE and then select QUICK BACKUP. That's it. If that
option is not available it means that the backups are being managed on the server using MS SQL and you will need to check with
your IT manager that they are being backed up properly. Backups should ideally be done every day and in addition to backing up
to a local hard drive a copy of the backup should be taken off-site as well. If it's too much of a bind to take a backup off-site
every day then take one at least once weekly, bearing in mind though that the more often you take backups the easier it will be to
recover from a disastrous loss of data at the office. Designating a person to manage the backups is of paramount importance and it
is a big responsibility as they will be held accountable for your company's confidential data at all times. There are also numerous
companies that offer a secure offsite backup service and another option is backing up your data to an online service, if you
have the available bandwidth to do so.
If you need further help the best person to discuss it with is your favourite IT Hero whom you know is responsible, or speak
with us for assistance.
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Calendar Reminders
Your Maximizer CRM system has a calendar and diary manager and will send out appointment reminders when you create a meeting
in Maximizer. You will need to set that feature up though and this is how you do it: Firstly, at the top of the screen select
file and then preferences. Then select the tab marked
calendar/hotlist. In the box marked options the last option asks if you
would like to send out email appointment reminders. Choose your option and click
ok to save and close. That's it! Maybe you could
test it by setting up an appointment in Maximizer to invite me to lunch!
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Calendar window
The Calendar window allows you to schedule and view your appointments. You can also see when others are busy or out of the
office and you can view other users’ calendars if you've been given permission to do so. Creating appointments is easy -
just right-click in the Calendar window and choose Add Appointment. You can also easily create an appointment for an Address
Book entry by dragging the entry to the Calendar window icon. Another way of doing this is by right-clicking on a contact in
the Maximizer Contact Window which will then give you the option to create an appointment.
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Column Setup
One of my favourite features in Maximizer is the ability to create your own column views. A column view is the way Maximizer
presents information to you in the main address book view. To select different views you would click on the drop down arrow next
to the COLUMN VIEW window. See below:
Here you are presented with a list of views. To create your own view, all you have to do is is click on the icon to the right
of the drop down button - the COLUMN SETUP ICON. That will open up a dialogue box which then allows you to create new column
setups. You can have up to 99 columns!!!.
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Company Library
Did you know that warm water freezes faster than cold water under certain conditions? I am told that although this
is certainly true there are numerous inconclusive scientific theories to explain just why. So what has that got to do with
Maximizer? Absolutely nothing actually, unless you want to share this information with your colleagues, in which case
Maximizer’s Company Library is the best place to do this.
The Company Library is a great place to store useful company-related information to make it easily accessible to all
Maximizer users. The company library is accessed from the Icon bar on the left - click on it and a Windows style tree view
becomes visible. You can create new folders by simply right-clicking on the root folder and selecting Folder. Give the new
folder a name and then right click on that. You can now add documents to that folder. The documents can be in any format you
like, from PDF’s to Excel spreadsheets to MP3s. The sky’s the limit and to date I’ve found that there’s not much you can’t
do in the Company Library, so try it out if you haven’t done so already.
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Customer Service
Good Customer Service is the challenge of every business. You only have to visit
www.hellopeter.com to realise how this challenge
is a bar too high for many SA businesses - not every time, but you are only as good as your last customer service call!
Maximizer Enterprise assists in addressing this problem through the built-in Customer Service module.
There are two aspects to it - the incident capture and the knowledge base. The incident capture, which is the Customer
Service area, enables a responder to the incoming call, e-mail, fax or angry customer coming into the premises, to log the call
with all appropriate details. Depending on your business, serial numbers can be logged; equipment types; everything right down
to the problem category.
The case is then assigned to a responsible person for action or sent to the appropriate case owner for assignation.
Completion dates can be set and this date will generate an e-mail to the owner of the case and the person responsible for
solving it warning them that it is still outstanding. This notification happens the day before!
Once the case is resolved, the how of the resolution has to be entered as well as how long it took. This information can then
be placed in the Knowledge Base for future reference. This side builds up a searchable database of documents, which can be used
for new cases. We have used this often to resolve recurring problems, with a marked decrease in downtime. Customer Service can
be set up to calculate the cost of the job and everything can be copied and pasted into the invoice on the job's completion.
The Customer Service module in Maximizer provides a great way for your support staff to acknowledge a customer's request
for assistance. Once logged in Maximzer the Customer Service module will automatically send the customer an email, quoting
a reference number and the details of the call that they made. The Customer Service module will then ensure that the call is
followed internally in your business by chasing the assigned staff member until they either run screaming out the front door
or do the task. We are pleased to report that our research indicates that support staff happily attend to the task rather.
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Favourite Lists
A great feature in Maximizer is the ability to save the results of a search and then retrieve the list at the click of a button.
Called "Favourite List" it maintains different lists (or sets) of your Address Book entries or customer service cases, which you
can retrieve and display in the respective window. Create a customized list to quickly retrieve a particular set of entries
whenever you need to work with it.
To use this is easy. Bring up a list of contacts or companies in the main address book view, select from the top menu bar the
item VIEW, select Favourite list and select add. Give the new list a name and click on
ok and you are done. To use that list
again just select view and Favourite list again and double click on your saved list and you can have as many lists as you like.
Also, if you would like to add an entry from the address book to this particular favourite list, right click on the entry and
choose add to Favourite list and select the correct option.
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Hotlists and why they are so useful
Maximizer's Hotlist is a powerful tool that allows you to keep on top of events that you could otherwise easily forget.
You can use the Hotlist to schedule reminders of important events like the expiry dates of leases and licences for cars etc.,
anniversaries such as birthdays and weddings, important school events for your kids, and in business call backs to customers
that you said you would call at a future date, reviews of the performance of investments or staff, or simply To Do tasks that
you can't get to right now but are important and need completing at some time. Having your finger on the pulse of your business
and personal life gets you back in control of your future rather than leaving it to good fortune or chance.
When using Hotlists, however, you will also need to identify just how many reminders you are prepared to receive because simply
putting every reminder into the Hotlist will generate such an overload of reminders that you will likely end up ignoring most of
them and losing out on the important ones. Maximizer's Hotlist also allows you to reschedule a reminder for a future date, but as
with all things in life, if you don't discipline yourself to tackle the tasks that are less enjoyable they will carry on being
deferred until you become desensitised to their importance.
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Importing records from MS Outlook
MS Outlook has a limit on how much data can be exported into a Windows comma delimited file. Outlook has many more fields than you need in Maximizer, so delete all the blank ones in Excel first and then do a File | Save As to make sure that it keeps the *.csv format. Excel will display a dialog box warning about format loss but you can safely ignore this. You can then import the edited file into Maximizer and match the fields with each other.
NB! Import companies and individuals into Maximizer first and ignore contacts by placing the Skip field tag by First Name, Last Name etc. Then Import the contacts into Maximizer as a second import into the same database so that the contacts are matched to the companies.
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Label Printing
Maximizer can satisfy all your label printing requirements and it's ever so easy! Check this out..... Select and display at least
24 contacts or individuals in the Main Address Book View window. Highlight them all by going to
EDIT, SELECT ALL. Next, go to FILE, PRINT, LABELS. Select PREVIEW
and click on OK. You can adjust the label types by selecting PAGE SETUP before clicking on OK.
You will notice that we use the Avery Standard Sizes and we also give you the option to manage your own label sizes with
the USER DEFINED option. Don't forget that you can press on the F1 key at any time to get extra help.
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Looking at Opportunities again!
Opportunity Manager is where you work to follow through with a prospect and turn the opportunity into a sale.
When you have a prospective customer entered into Maximizer, you drag the contact name up to Opportunity Manager to
start the process. The Opportunity window opens and you now make some decisions:
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Making records current
This Maximizer tip deals with selecting records and making them current. This feature allows you to go through the address book list and select records you want to report on or apply some action to. This is how you do it:
Select a single record in the main address book view by using your mouse and applying one left click in the margin on the left of the record. That will select the record. Try that on another record lower down the list. You should now have two records selected. To make those records current, select EDIT, MAKE SELECTED LIST CURRENT. Your view should now only reflect those two records and you are ready to perform the desired action on these selected records.
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Managing Documents
Maximizer has a great document management feature that allows you to store, search and retrieve documents associated with a particular customer. You can attach any type of file: PDF, MS Word, Excel, Jpeg and other picture formats, as well as MP3, AVI and Mpegs. Doing this is dead easy. First, select a contact and move your mouse to the contact document window where you then right-click. A dialogue box will open where one of the options is INSERT FILE. All you have to do now is browse for the file and click on OK. All done. It's that easy! The file inserted is a copy of the selected file and it does not delete the original. The main benefit of making a copy of the document is that it is automatically available to all Maximizer users on your network that have been given the necessary permissions to view these documents.
If you prefer, you can insert a link to the document which you can leave in its original location on your network or PC. To do this, tick the LINK box in the dialogue box at the time of browsing for the file to insert. You will then get a reminder that unless you put the full network path to the document into the description box for its location the document will not be available to view by other Maximizer users on your network. An example of how to put the full path in is given with this reminder. By inserting documents in either of the ways described above you get to have all the information relating to a contact in one easy-to-find location automatically associated with that contact.
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Managing email
You will notice that there is an icon in the left hand vertical bar (Icon Bar) called Email. Selecting this will open your Outlook Email in Maximizer - very sneaky! Now the whole office can see all your emails - Hah! Alright, you can calm down now as they they can't really see your mail. That was just to get your attention. The view you see is exactly the same as you get in Outlook and it is also just as private. The idea of having Outlook available in this view is so that you can select an email and store it in its entirety in the selected client's documents folder in Maximizer. In this way you can also share the email with your colleagues using Maximizer if you want to have them see it. One of the many advantages of this is that other users can access the information without having to track you down for it when they need it, which saves them time and also allows them to deliver that all important service to the client.
Saving the contents of an email to a client's documents folder in Maximizer is really simple. Just right-click on the email from within Maximizer and a host of functions are available to you, one of which is to save the email to the selected Address Book entry.
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Marketing Campaigns in HTML
Maximizer's Campaign Manager uses two types of documents - HTML and Maximizer's own format. HTML documents mean that you can use pictures and text formatting, whereas Maximizer's own text format is very plain. What are the advantages?
With Maximizer's own text format, you can use merge fields, whereas HTML does not allow this unless you have a good HTML programmer to assist you. However, if you want really good formatting, remembering that the email will contain the addressee's name in the To: section, HTML is the way to go.
We recommend using FrontPage or a similar html editor to produce your document. Pictures, contained in it, require that you put them on your website with links to them in the document. The resultant communication comes onto the recipient's screen beautifully if they are allowed to access graphics, otherwise they receive the text with links to your website. This means that more people receive your quality communication! Where the Maximizer document format seems to work best is with product introductions. Plain text makes for easy reading and the merge facility makes it more personal.
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MaxSMS
Did you know that you can send a SMS or Mobile Text message from Maximizer using MaxSMS?
MaxSMS is an innovative method of easily transmitting and tracking the delivery of SMS messages, either to a single recipient or many thousands of recipients as a bulk message.
MaxSMS currently works with the popular Maximizer range of CRM products and the application seamlessly extracts the cell numbers from a list of selected contacts so that a particular message can be sent to all of the contacts at once, with the option of the delivery date and text of the message automatically being saved to the contact's notes field.
The MaxSMS application itself is provided at no cost and to be able to start sending messages the user first needs to register on the Web site provided by the application where credits for the SMS messages can be bought. To get it now click on DOWNLOAD.
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Navigating with keys
Try using the keyboard to navigate from Window to Window. It's much faster than using the mouse. Try it now by holding down the Ctrl key and selecting 1 or 2 or 3 etc. The Keyboard shortcuts are also explained in more detail under the menu option "Window".
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Personalise Campaign bulk e-mails
Bulk e-mails sent out in a Maximizer Campaign can be personalised so that each recipient's name appears in either the subject line or text body of the e-mail message that they receive. Other Maximizer fields specific to a particular client can also automatically be inserted in the subject or text of the e-mails. Select File|Libraries|Automated Campaign Templates. If you are adding a new campaign, click the Add button and enter a name and description for the template. Leave the Start with a new blank template option selected unless you would like to start with a copy of the selected template, in which case you choose the Duplicate this existing template option. Click OK to close the Add Automated Campaign Template dialog box and then click Next in the Automated Campaign Templates wizard screen. In the Activities wizard page, click the Add button. Select the type of activity—Email, Fax, or Print. To modify an activity, select it and click the Properties button. Enter the details of the campaign activity in the Add [Email, Fax, or Print] Activity dialog box: Enter the name and description. For e-mail activities, enter an E-mail subject at which time you can click on the ellipsis button to insert a standard merge field into the subject line of the e-mail. For example, Dear {First_Name?} will insert the recipient's first name in the subject line preceded by "Dear".
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| Recent Entries |
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For quick access to
address book entries that you use often nothing beats
the Recent Entries Option. This is accessed from the
Icon bar which you can use to navigate to the many
functions in Maximizer, e.g. the Calendar, Email or
Address Book. The last function on the Icon Bar is the
Recent Entries List. This is a list of from 5 to 15 of
the last-accessed address book entries. This is a
particularly useful feature for people who access the
same address book entries often. The Recent Entries function setup can be accessed by selecting view, toolbars, highlighting the icon bar and selecting properties. This will open a dialogue box which will allow you to customise the Icon bar and select how many entries you would like to have in the Recent Entries function. Back to Top |
Related Entries 1) Get optimised usability through
the new Microsoft Office-style interface with visual colour prioritisation of
clients, tasks, appointments and customer information.
It’s quite common in the course of business to have different people or companies either related to, or connected with each other in some way or another. For example, one of your contacts might be another’s accountant. Maximizer allows you to keep a record of these types of relationships in the Related Entries window.
To relate two entries
Select the two entries you wish to relate to each other and select Edit > Relate Entries.
– or –
Drag an entry and drop it on to another entry. In the resulting dialogue box, select
Relate the source entry to the target entry. Then specify the nature of the connection between the two entries - see image below.
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Remembering to follow up the results of appointments!
You come back to the office and you click the completed box in your hot list tasks. Now what - well you will be prompted to make a
note to follow up, which you dutifully do. However, you haven't put in the meeting result. Click on the contact name and drag it to
the Notes Window, this will open a note, into which you can type your meeting notes. This completes your documentation on the
meeting and you still have the follow up task already set.
By using this method, you are keeping clear on your customer's requirements and ensuring that you also complete the tasks that are
needed to move the sale forward. In Maximizer, your Hot List is your workflow, in fact it is your business bible, tracking
everything that you have undertaken to do for a customer.
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Right-clicking
Right-clicking the mouse to access different functions in Maximizer. Most of Maximizer's more commonly used functions can be accessed simply by first selecting a record within Maximizer and thereafter right-clicking with the mouse. All you need to do to select a record is place the mouse pointer over an address book entry or contact when you right-click, right! You then select the function, e.g. Send
email... and left-click on it to commence the action, right! The same goes for Notes, User-Defined Fields and Documents.
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Searching
Go find yourself in Maximizer! Perhaps not in the philosophical sense, but it can most certainly apply from a "where am I in
the database" perspective. The search feature in Maximizer offers huge potential for getting information you need when you really
need it. Much like a bank, it's great putting away your money but even better when you get the chance to take it out again and
spend it.
Let’s start by selecting the menu item Search (that's at the top of the screen). You will see that it offers you a
host of options. Select the option Last Name and type in your name. Are you there? You should be because you are important.
The Search option also allows you to refresh the information on the screen. Select Search and then Company
and leave everything as it is but change the Maximum entries option to All. That will then bring up every
Company and Individual in your Maximizer address book. There are lots of other options under Search, so go play!
Press the F1 key if you need help.
Do you have a Microsoft Windows or Blackberry mobile phone? If so, did you know that Maximizer offers full mobility via the
MaxMobile© application. Customers today have greater expectations than ever of rapid responses and people in your
organisation - field sales and service staff, mobile professionals, and executives - need the right information at all
times, to respond to these demands.
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Share your calendar
You can share your calendar in Maximizer, allowing you to collaborate seamlessly with colleagues or for a manager to
view upcoming appointments and prioritized activities. The calendar allows you to choose daily, weekly or monthly views,
and you can leave it to Maximizer to prompt you about task deadlines and appointments. The colour-coded multi-user format makes
for easy viewing of different users' calendars at a glance. You can also then print your schedule to your daytimer.
Opening another user’s calendar that has been shared is done by selecting the user’s name from the Users drop-down list.
Both the selected user’s appointments and your own appointments are displayed. You can also view the booked time for meeting
locations and resources by choosing the corresponding value in the list.
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Upgrading to V11
The following are some pointers as to why it makes sense to upgrade to Maximizer V11 if you haven't done
so already:
User Defined Fields – Dates
2) The Sales Quota Management provides real-time insight into team, territory or individual performances.
3) A Sales Opportunity Monitoring feature alerts sales people and managers of changes in a deal's status.
4) The wizard-driven Dashboards allow a click-through to detailed information for managers to easily create and
visualise key performance indicators.
5) The Web Access platform is now enhanced with full marketing campaign functionality, tracking & reporting,
plus Action Plans and a Document Library.
6) You can now use formulae in User-Defined Fields to do calculations from multiple fields for more robust
profiling and reporting.
7) Firefox is now supported as a browser for Windows, Mac, and Linux users (for Web Access).
8) New Mobile CRM multi-user support allows collaboration on opportunities, assignment of tasks and
escalation of cases. You can now also view, edit and create new documents, improving remote productivity.
9) There's now Mobile CRM support for capturing voice, image & video for saving to customer records.
10) Quick sales email templates let you merge customer information for efficient communication and follow-ups.
11) Support for SharePoint now allows these users to seamlessly look up Maximizer CRM data.
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Isn't it great when friends and colleagues call you to wish you a happy birthday. I am sure that your customers would enjoy it
as well. Maximizer can manage this reminder for you via the User Defined Field function. You can create a field that will allow
you to enter a customer's birth date and when that date occurs you will get a reminder. In fact you can have it that the whole
office will know that it is the customer's birthday.
To access this
function, select file and then select setup user-defined fields. Click on add
field and give it the name Birthday. From the type field select date. Now would
be a good time to Press the F1 key for additional attributes. For instance you
can choose not to add the year and also to add the date to your calendar.
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Using Search to create reports
By using Search > All fields, you can create and catalogue for future use any number of searches that give you the reports that
you require. The "Catalog" feature in Search is the one which makes Maximizer simple and easy to use. To really harness this power,
create the views that give you the search results laid out on the screen as you want them, then you just print the column report.
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Using the Editor
At first glance the Maximizer Word processor, which can be accessed by selecting the Editor Icon at the top of the screen,
does not seem to offer much functionality. Try this easy method to create a very professional quoting template by imbedding an
excel spreadsheet in your template:
First select the editor; it should open to a new page. Position your cursor to where you would like the quote matrix to be. In
the editor select Edit, Insert New Object and choose Microsoft Office Excel 97-2003. This will insert the spreadsheet and give
you full Excel functionality within Maximizer.
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V Card Function
The V Card is a nifty feature of e-mail messaging that allows an attachment containing all your contact data to be created. The recipient of a V Card e-mail simply has to double-click on the V Card to have all your contact information in the attachment instantly imported into their contact management system. Not only does this save on typing but it also means that you can be assured that all your contact details, including the correct spelling of your name, are accurately captured. Maximizer allows you to generate V Card e-mails. To find out more about sending V Cards using Maximizer press the F1 key while in Maximizer and type "vcard" in the search field.
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Windows layout
One of the cooler features of Maximizer is the ability to customise your interface. You can change the background colour, font and font size and you can even have a picture of your loved ones looking at while you work. Hmm, not so sure about that!
Go on, create a different view for every day of the week. To do this select the menu item
WINDOW, WINDOW SETTINGS and choose either SET FONT or SET COLOUR. Get creative and if you find you have overdone it click on
RESET DEFAULT LAYOUT to undo the madness and get you back to normality. Ho Hum!
Once you have created the best layout you can save it by holding down the Ctrl key on the keyboard and pressing F. You can let go now. Select
ADD and give it a name and you are done. Well done in fact!
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World Clock
A small but very useful feature in Maximizer is the world clock. It's accessible via the menu functions at the top of the screen. Select TOOLS and then click on WORLD CLOCK. That brings up a dialogue box with a list of world cities and their current times. So next time you call cousin Bruce or Sheila down under you won't wake them up!
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Maximizer FAQs
How does Maximizer assist me in improving my sales performance?Maximizer is a powerful tool, which can assist you in staying in contact with your existing customer base as well as monitoring your progress with prospects. It is also back up for your paper diary, should you loose it. Effective use of Maximizer should take no more than 30 minutes per day of updating your notes and appointments. When you are following up on the phone, you are hands-on with the sales process, using the telephone notes window to take down your customer's remarks and orders. When a call is completed, you can set a follow up task with that customer or schedule a meeting.
Maximizer's meeting scheduler can be set to send your customer an e-mail confirmation of the appointment. Furthermore, it can also send a reminder closer to the time - preset by you. This means more appointments are completed with you sitting in front of your customer.
The User Defined Fields (UDF) and Search can come together to identify a niche for a new product launch. These two facilities can also be used to identify what products a customer has bought; how often they place new orders; what interests they have; when their birthday is. Thus you have a wide range of information about any one customer or prospect.
By mining your Maximizer information, you can identify the type of customer that you relate to best and areas where you need to take a new approach. Perhaps if they are particularly worrying, you can go to your manager for assistance in looking at new ways to operate with them.
Opportunity Manager enables you to follow a structured approach to your sales cycle. The pipeline report quickly indicates where from and when business is coming through. This assists you in managing your budgets.
Most of all, if you work Maximizer well, it will work for you in a crisis! For instance, if you fall sick, others can support you by covering for you with clients.
How does Maximizer's Opportunity Manager help me predict my sales pipeline?
Maximizer's Opportunity Manager is a powerful tool. Even if you use it at its most basic level, it can assist you in developing your sales pipeline. By keeping things simple, you rely on your instinct! Start by dragging your prospect to the Opportunity icon and dropping them on it to open a new opportunity. Then fill in all the relevant details - what are you hoping to sell them; its cost; timeline to close etc. Knowing what profit your company will make or what your commission will be, should be your guideline for how much you are prepared to spend in closing the deal.
Then you can start making phone calls and appointments in this area, plus follow-up tasks. As you work through towards closing the customer, use your judgment to update the Opportunity Analysis on the Basic Information tab. This will then indicate how sure you are of closing the deal. Weekly, you can run your pipeline report - Reports | Opportunities | Pipeline. This will give you and your manager an indication of the orders flowing into your company.
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