Posts

CRM Key Features

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Now that more businesses are opening it’s time to look at your business tools. Are they meeting your needs? Do they keep your sales teams in front of customers rather than doing administrative work?  One critical tool is your CRM, make sure you are set up with a good CRM system that helps you work smarter, not harder. Make sure you know what functions a powerful CRM system should have. Here are a few to keep in mind: 

  •  Access anytime, anywhere:  A system that is available for you in your email, on the web, on your phone and on your computer.  Work in your CRM system whether you are on WIFI or not. 
     
  • Analytics: You want to Analyze the data that has been entered into your CRM system. For example, with Empowering Systems CRM system, you can review your data with our dashboards and visuals or create your own custom analytics. You can filter on many fields such as territory, state, category and so much more.
     
  • Mobile App: Be able to grab the data when it’s needed most. Walk into your customer’s office with the confidence that nothing will be missed. With our mobile app, you can review your sales numbers, look at past call reports and check on the opportunities so you can get a status update. This will make your customer feel valued and that you are on top of and understand their situation.
     
  • Reminders:  Your CRM  should have a reminder system in place. Our CRM sends an email out every day to remind you regarding quotes, call reports or opportunities.  And let me tell you, they don’t go away until you update them.  LOL 
     

Working From Home, 3 of 3: Routine

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We hope by now you are getting used to working from home. This is the last post of our three Work From Home: Tips & Tricks blogs. This post will touch on why a routine is important and how to create one.

Your routine:
Try to stick to the same work routine Monday – Friday, decide a hard start time and end time. Set a reminder on your phone to take a few 10min breaks throughout the day, as well as your lunch break. If you can’t step away when the reminder pops up, “snooze” it a few minutes.  Don’t “dismiss” it, or you’ll never get away.  When you do take a break, leave your work area. Go outside and toss a ball with the dog if you can, refill your water bottle, grab a handful of almonds or other  small snack.

Be clear to your colleagues about your work hours and stick to them.  If you choose  to work late, consider at least setting yourself to “away” to discourage interruptions from others that think your green dot is an invitation to discuss something outside work hours.  If they chat you up anyway, you’re not obligated to answer if you’re set to “away.”

Try to avoid snacking. It’s hard with your whole kitchen right there. Schedule out what you’re eating for lunch for the week and stick to it. Try not to eat lunch while working. Take a real break. Keep healthier snacks on hand. Make sure you get up to refill your water bottle when it gets empty. Stick to your work hours. Close your laptop lid and walk away. Just like when you’re in the office, the work will still be there tomorrow.

If you are a current customer and want to join one of our Microsoft Teams Tutorials please sign up at this link. This is a great introduction on how to have face to face meetings with your customers and teammates. We hope these tips and tricks have been helpful in this new work from home world.

Working From Home: Tips and Tricks

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Was working from home something you used to look forward to on the occasional Friday, but now it has turned into an everyday reoccurrence?  

The work world has shifted quite a bit over the past month with some states even issuing a mandatory order to work from home. We are here to give you some tips and tricks on how to seamlessly transition into a work from home atmosphere. Or as a lot of people refer to it as, WFH. We have tested out many of these tips and tricks as a lot of our employees worked from home quite often before it was mandatory.  

We split WFH into three parts, 1) Your Office Space, 2) Your Co-workers, and 3) Your Routine.    

Your Office Space (Part 1 of 3) 

  • Creating an at-home office space can be tricky, in an ideal world everyone would have an extra room in their house with a desk and a personal library. But that is just not reality. Try to get creative, is there an old playroom that isn’t used anymore or an extra nook in the upstairs hallway? Ideally, this office space would not be in your bedroom. It is too easy to carry the stress of the workday to bed if you are working and sleeping in the same room.   
  • If possible, in a room with a door you can shut, but only shut the door if you feel you really need to focus or are getting on a call. WFH can feel very lonely when the rest of your family is on the other side of a closed door.  
  • If you must work in a common area, like the kitchen table, clear one end off for your workspace every morning, don’t let the placemats, yesterday’s mail, the kids’ schoolwork, or the cat encroach into your workspace.  

We hope these tips on how to make your office space the most productive helped. Be on the lookout for two more work from home blog posts touching on co-workers and your routine. Comment below with any tips you have on how you’re adjusting to your new WFH workspace. 

Never forget a password again

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In today’s digital world everything needs a password. Your passwords should be strong and changed on a regular basis. Who can remember every password by memory now that they must be secure?  A password of “password” is ancient history. The best way to manage all your passwords is with a ‘password manager’.  There are many available that are free (or almost free) and often will even help you create “strong” secure passwords. While we can’t recommend any one, here are a few of our favorites, check them out and give them a try: LastPass, Dashline, 1Password. Here is a great article on why, how, and what the top password managers are out there. “The best password managers for 2019”
by David Gewirtz

Stop phishing emails in their tracks

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Do you know when you’ve received a phishing or spoofing email? Your first line of defense against phishing emails is to have a 3rd party anti-virus solution between your email and the outside world. Even with having the additional anti-virus some of these malicious emails will get through.  Here are a few tips to identify if you’ve gotten a phishing email:1. Be cautious about opening attachments or clicking on links in emails. Even your friend or family members’ accounts could be hacked. Files and links can contain malware that can weaken your computer’s security.

2. Do your own typing. If a company or organization you know sends you a link or phone number, don’t click. Use your favorite search engine to look up the website or phone number yourself. Even though a link or phone number in an email may look like the real deal, scammers can hide the true destination.

3. Turn on two-factor authentication. For accounts that support it, two-factor authentication requires both your password and an additional piece of information to log in to your account. The second piece could be a code sent to your phone, or a random number generated by an app or a token. This protects your account even if your password is compromised.

See this great blog post, it’s older but is more relevant than ever: “10 Tips on How to Identify a Phishing or Spoofing Email” by Lauren Harris from Return Path to learn more.

Video Tip – How to create a restore point

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dynaMACS has a “mini backup” for sales rep agencies’ convenience

dynaMACS has created a restore point utility to help save time if you need to revert back to a prior period and start over again.  For example:  Posted a session to the wrong month, posted a commission statement to the wrong manufacturer or transferring history to the wrong customer/manufacturer or sales rep.

This DOES NOT replace an offsite backup.  The restore point is located in the same directory as your dynaMACS Software.  This means that if your dynaMACS folder crashes then all the restore points will not work.

 

Watch the Create a Restore Point Video Below:

For written instructions visit Tip #1308.