Better organised in 2011

[Sanke]

Hi all
When contemplating the coming year one of my ambitions would be to be more organised Just wondered how many of you use an electronic form of diary/job sheets & how good you find them

Nb at the mo I am only concerned with myself not a number of employees (but maybe in the future)

 

[accordfire]

Hi all
When contemplating the coming year one of my ambitions would be to be more organised Just wondered how many of you use an electronic form of diary/job sheets & how good you find them

Nb at the mo I am only concerned with myself not a number of employees (but maybe in the future)

It's been the bane of my life.

Trying to find a decent electronic means of diary/task management without going to the extent of Exchange.

We're looking at Google right now - Premier Apps, and you can use multiple calendars etc, and oversee all too for multiple folks.

For one person, standard Google apps at free might do what you want - you can sync most smartphones with Google, and with Outlook on the desktop.....(I believe).

Job sheets are another matter.

We looked at electronic, and the overhead was just too much for now. So we've stuck with paper NCR sheets, which get scanned on arrival back at the office. I'd like to move it on, and will be investigating iPad/phone possibilities soon.

Signature capture has been the biggest issue with job sheets - which neither BB or Android can yet do. And I hate Windows Mobile, though it's what most solutions are built on for now.

 

[Sanke]

Hi Bill
Thanks for prompt reply My main business is self employed Plumbing & Heating so was just looking for a better way to do things As you have said I am looking at google as I have googlemail and can have calendar on laptop and/or phone (maybe even better when I get Iphone in 2011) I would like some sort of job sheet though even as a rough guide to take notes on site for follow up later or even as a basic way of capturing all the clients data for future marketing etc
Great looking website ! Do you get much from FB Twitter etc
Steve

 

[accordfire]

Hi Bill
Thanks for prompt reply My main business is self employed Plumbing & Heating so was just looking for a better way to do things As you have said I am looking at google as I have googlemail and can have calendar on laptop and/or phone (maybe even better when I get Iphone in 2011) I would like some sort of job sheet though even as a rough guide to take notes on site for follow up later or even as a basic way of capturing all the clients data for future marketing etc
Great looking website ! Do you get much from FB Twitter etc
Steve

No problem

Google Apps seems to promise a lot of the basics, definitely, in terms of calendar sync.

For contact capture and so forth, one of the best "easy" CRM apps out is Sage ACT - about £120. It has several advantages over other ways of doing things because it is customer-centric. You can, from each customer record, reference just about any file you create for them, be it a quote, literature file, invoice, or whatever. It also syncs with Outlook, and with Sage accounting software, Excel Word, and more too.

It can sync with an iPhone using a software solution such as Companionlink - which is about £85 for the professional version, but worth it.

The thing about using something like ACT as the "hub" of your data management is that it can also alert you to things like service due, quotes due follow up and so on.

Another solution which is more job-oriented is Service Life which at £98 is excellent value.

 

[accordfire]

Hi Bill
Thanks for prompt reply My main business is self employed Plumbing & Heating so was just looking for a better way to do things As you have said I am looking at google as I have googlemail and can have calendar on laptop and/or phone (maybe even better when I get Iphone in 2011) I would like some sort of job sheet though even as a rough guide to take notes on site for follow up later or even as a basic way of capturing all the clients data for future marketing etc
Great looking website ! Do you get much from FB Twitter etc
Steve

Thanks on the website too - it's undergoing changes, however, even as we speak, and its look may change a bit too yet.

Most traffic comes via Google, rather than Twitter or FB - those mainly are for marketing rather than direct leads - and also need work