I've run into a SalesLogix WEB issue a few times now, particularly after an upgrade, and it can be frustrating.

Here's the problem, you click on the group, for example your "Customers" group, and it does not actually show your customers; it still shows "All Accounts" or whatever you were last viewing. In addition to this, if you were to look-up an Account while in this group that is not properly working, you'd return nothing. In fact, it wouldn't even give you a proper field to look-up on. How about the filters on the right-hand side? Not a chance these will work for the broken group either!

So, on to the possible solutions: If you have recently upgraded SalesLogix from an older version, there may be two versions of the system groups (All Accounts, My Accounts, Customers, Etc...). One is newer and works, but the old one will not, and this will cause this issue. As the SalesLogix Administrator, you can login to the Architect, find the incorrect one and delete it. This will fix the issue for everyone. As a user, you can always copy the group and hide the one that is not working, but I'd definitely try to get your Administrator involved to resolve the issue for everyone in one shot.

I have seen this issue caused by an out of date browser as well. Make sure you are running IE7 or newer if the problem continues after the Administrator clears things up.

An OnDemand client of ours recently had a need for an auto-incrementing number in SugarCRM.  They had some fairly specific requirements, including a reference to the current year, a “-“ and, of course the auto-incrementing number that was comprised of 4 digits.
A job of this nature was most certainly best handled by SugarLogic.  In my development environment, I first created the text field that would increment in the Studio.  From here, I found some helpful code on the SugarForums from Eli Linder: http://www.sugarcrm.com/forums/showthread.php?t=39756.

I modified Eli’s code that he graciously put out on the forum to add in my client’s specifications, including a starting point for the first number:

<?php
if(!defined('sugarEntry') || !sugarEntry) die('Not A Valid Entry Point');
class add_code { 
 const CODE_SUFFIX = "";
 const CODE_SEPARATOR = "-";
 const CODE_FIELD =  "tracking_number_c";                          const CUSTOM_TABLE = "opportunities_cstm";                       const ADD_DATE = "";
 const DATE_FORMAT = "";
 const ZERO_PADDING = 4; //minimum amount of characters desired for the number. ie 4 = 0001, 3 = 001
 const FIRST_NUM = "0357"; //default to start with.

Later in the code, I added in a check on the current year to be sure that it would add this in as the prefix. If you would like to see the full file please reply to this posting. 

Now, the next step was to get this to act as an OnSave event when the Opportunity was initially saved.  To do this, I added an after save statement to the logic_hooks.php file sitting in the custom/modules/Opportunities directory.  Here’s how that looked:

$hook_array['after_save'] = Array(); $hook_array['after_save'][] = Array(1, 'add_code', 'custom/modules/Opportunities/add_code_hook.php','add_code', 'add_code');

So, now all that’s left is to bundle it all up in your Development environment through the studio and deploy to the OnDemand instance, right?  Close.  In your saved .zip generated from exporting your customizations, open up the manifest.php file and get ready to edit it.  You need to make sure your two custom files are directed to the right spot in your OnDemand instance.  Currently, they are not even included as part of this manifest! (I was assured by SugarCRM techincal support that this would happen automatically in the next major release, 6.2.)  I added in the following to make sure it was copied from the right location, and also ended up in the right location:
  22 =>     array (
      'from' => '<basepath>/SugarModules/modules/Opportunities/logic_hooks.php',
      'to' => 'custom/modules/Opportunities/logic_hooks.php',
 ),

    23 =>     array (
      'from' => '<basepath>/SugarModules/modules/Opportunities/add_code_hook.php',
      'to' => 'custom/modules/Opportunities/add_code_hook.php',
  )' 

Before you knew it, my client was adding in Opportunities with a custom tracking number that meant something to them in no time!:

Different Approaches to Training an Enterprise on a new CRM system

At Technology Advisors, we have a lot of experience with all aspects of implementing CRM systems.  We’ve been around and doing this for over 10 years now.  Time and time again, we find one aspect of an implementation that is often overlooked: training.  So much focus is often placed on the requirements, design, and development (and rightfully so), that training can often be an afterthought for an organization.  This is very dangerous.  I mean, think about it, you are making a huge investment in your CRM system; however, if your users can’t use it, how will it ever be successful?

There are several different options to consider when developing a training plan for a large organization. These options can also work for a small organization. The training plan needs to be more structured and organized as the number of users increases:

Administrative Training:

All of the CRM packages we offer have complex features that, while not everyone in the organization needs to understand, at least a few definitely should.  We offer administrative training on every system.  It’s good to have someone from your organization take this early on in the implementation planning to ensure they understand these more complex features.

Train the Trainer vs. Use TAI Personnel:

While we would love to train all of your organization’s users, and know that we would do an excellent job at it, we realize that sometimes it makes more sense to have your own staff train the rest of your staff.  In this scenario, we recommend that we train your trainers on the ins and outs of a day in the life of your end users, while also teaching how they might best communicate CRM concepts.  This is best to do after much of the system development has been completed, so the trainers can really focus on any custom or unique functions of your CRM system to see how it works.

Via the Web vs. In Person:

We strongly believe that training users in person makes a much bigger impact on the way they learn because you can actually see if people are underderstanding. Of course, it’s much more difficult to do this via the web, and, as a user, it’s very easy to zone out and not pay attention when you are on a GoToMeeting session.  With that said, web training sessions make a lot of sense for mobile salesforces, and can make a great impact on anyone getting familiar with CRM.  In reality, both methods should be incorporated in any successful learning plan.

Staged Learning Plan vs. A Few Large Classes

A common misconception with regards to training is that you will be able to throw all of your users with varying degrees of computer/CRM/technical knowledge into a room for one full day and that they will walk out understanding CRM completely – that they’ll be 100% productive with their new found skills on day 2.  This cannot be further from the truth.  A good learning plan, whether fully executed by you, us, or you and us will be staged out with the various components/options listed above.  This may be through a series of web training sessions focused on basic skills, followed up by onsite classes for specific groups of users a week or two later.  There should always be resources for continual learning in the future, as well. 

Feel free to contact us at TAI, and we’ll be more than happy to discuss a training approach that makes sense to you and your organization.

 

You get a handful of Groups out-of-the-box when you purchase SalesLogix - some that may be useful, and some not. If you find that they are almost useful, you can take some initiative and make them useful for your organization by copying the group, and then changing the logic. For instance, let's say you want to change the Latest Accounts group to show Accounts that have been modified in the last 60 days (the default is 30), and that are labeled as Type = ‘Prospect', and you want everyone to see this in place of the original Latest Accounts group.

This is really quite easy... To do this, login to the SalesLogix Client as the Administrator. Right click on the tab for the group when you are in list view, and select ‘Copy'. From there, go to the conditions. You see the original condition of Modified in the last 30 days:

Double click on the condition, and change the ‘30' to ‘60'.

Click ‘Ok'.

Make sure the Account table is selected in the upper left hand side, and on the right, double click on ‘Type'. Change the Operator to ‘Equal to'. Hit the Browse button and choose ‘Prospect' (or any other type(s)).

You will see two groups - Latest Accounts and Copy of Latest Accounts. You will want to change the name of the Copy Group, so double click on that, and change the name under the Properties tab. In our example, I'll name it Latest Accounts - TAI.

In the SalesLogix Architect, go to Manage Plugins, and change the filter by option to Groups and Groups ACO. If you click on Accounts on the left hand side, you will see your new group, and the old Latest Accounts group. Release your new group to Everyone. Click on the old Latest Accounts group, select Release, and remove the Everyone from it (to unrelease it). It should look like this:

Log into the SalesLogix Client as any user who is not the Admin to test it out. You should see your new group, and no sign of the old Latest Accounts group.

 

Technology Advisors has scheduled a couple of SalesLogix Administrator classes in Chicago during the last two weeks of April.  The one taking place April 21-24 (Tuesday through Friday) is for SalesLogix v7.2, and the one scheduled April 28-May1 (also Tuesday through Friday) is for SalesLogix v7.5.

These SalesLogix classes are based off of Sage's Certified Course Curriculum, which offer plenty of hands-on exercises and step-by-step instructions.   The manuals that attendees take home with them after the class can be very helpful resources later on when they are trying to implement Speedsearch, or set up Outlook Integration, etc...  All this information is driven home by our Certified Trainers' ability to break it down and really tell you what works and what doesn't.

The list of topics included in these trainings include:

• An in-depth look at the Administrator applicatio
• Security
• Speedsearch
• Teams
• Outlook Integration
• Synchronization and Remote Users
• Contact and Sales Processes
• Lots more...

The only difference between the v7.2 and v7.5 course, is that the v7.5 course focuses more on the SalesLogix Web Client; giving you more information on publishing the client, and using the Disconnected Web Client.  This is in addition to everything listed above.

If you are interested, or want more information, give us a call at (847) 655-3428.  If you reference the blog, we'll throw in a 10% discount on the course of your choice.  You can find the scheduled courses here.

The Administrator classes do not often contain more than 3 people, so you will really get some good attention, and be able to ask all the questions you would like.  Alternatively, if you can't get out of the office, or your company does not want to spend the money to put you on a plane, and in a hotel, check out our options for Remote Training.

 

SalesLogix has a handy feature that has been around through many versions of the software.  Some organizations use the feature, some have never heard of it, some will never have a use for it.  If you read the title, you would know that I am talking, of course, about hiding tabs. 

If your SalesLogix users complain about having too much going on at the bottom of their screen, and you do not want to spend time training each one of them on how they can hide unuseful tabs, you can take care of it for everyone, yourself.  

If you are using SalesLogix LAN clients, you would take care of this in the Administrator, or Architect applications.  This has not changed over the course of new SalesLogix versions.  If you would like to remove tabs in the SalesLogix WEB client; however, things work a little differently...

Log into the Application Architect.   In the Project Explorer, expand the Portal Manager.  Next, expand SalesLogix, and finally, the Pages folder.  Double click on the Detail view you want to remove the tab(s) from (Account Detail, Contact Detail, etc...).  In the Smart Parts window on the main view, select the tab titles you want to remove and click the delete button.  In the screenshot below, I am removing the Contracts tab from Accounts.

 Don't worry, you are not permanently deleting the tab.  You can always add it back using the plus button right next to the remove button.

This is a quick fix to help overwhelmed users only see the options that will be useful to them.

What if you want to be selective as to who gets to send Meetings and Phone Calls to their Outlook calendars? What if you want to send your To-Dos in SalesLogix over to Outlook, or how about, even better, your Contacts? May I introduce to you, Intellisync for SalesLogix. A word of warning, the setup for Intellisync happens on a user by user basis, and it can be quite time consuming if you are setting all of this up yourself. In order to keep this somewhat concise, I am going to bullet point out some of the finer points of Intellisync, as well as some precautionary advice:

• Intellisync will let you be selective with what you send to Outlook, and for whom. You can send Meetings, Phone Calls, To-Dos, and Contacts over to Outlook from SalesLogix once configured.

• Do not use Intellisync and Advanced Outlook Integration together, as it will cause duplicate activities to appear in your Outlook calendar. The exception here is that you may choose to not configure Appointments when setting up Intellisync (you could still configure To-Dos and Contacts).

• I recommend you set up Intellisync to only send from SalesLogix to Outlook, not the other way around. This is because if you want to schedule a Meeting in Outlook, it will send it to SalesLogix, but it will be missing a Contact and an Account, as well as some other key info...not good.

• Because we have been assuming that you are using SalesLogix 7.5 this whole time, I think it is worth mentioning that Intellisync behaves a little differently in the new version. You must deploy the Intellisync Web Portal regardless of whether or not you are using the SalesLogix WEB Client. You will run into this instantly when trying to set up your End Users with Intellisync, as the Intellisync installed locally on their machines asks for a URL in order to configure. When you make the decision that you would like to use Intellisync (or continue using it if you upgrade), the first thing you need to do is install the Application Architect (this is where you deploy the Intellisync portal) on a server that has IIS running. This is a BIG CHANGE that just happened with the latest upgrade, so beware!

I am going to leave it at that for now, although, I could go on for pages and pages about variations of Outlook Integration i.e. am I completely out of luck if I don't use Outlook? - (hint... you'd think so, as it is called Outlook Integration, but thankfully, you do have some other options), or what if I am using the WEB Client for SalesLogix. Perhaps I might address this in a future posting, however, if you just can't wait for that and need to implement a solution NOW, please feel free to contact us here at Technology Advisors. We want to help!

Many people ask me, ‘Brett, you teach the same SalesLogix classes over and over again, doesn't it get boring?' To their surprise, my answer is always ‘No!'. Why is that? Because whether it be an Administrator class, or a standard End User class, I am always on the receiving end of a steady stream of questions - some that I hear over and over, and can answer on the spot, and others that take time and research to answer. The latter is definitely my favorite.

One topic that leads to questions that often fit into the latter, and is never exceptionally easy to teach, is the Outlook Integration piece. There are a lot of options to choose from in order to set up Outlook Integration for you organization, and it is not uncommon for me to get some blank stares as I go through this section in training. Whether you've been using some form of Outlook Integration with SalesLogix for years, or you are brand new to this whole topic, you are bound to pick up something from all of this.

Let's start with the basics, shall we? Let's assume in this case, you have Outlook installed, and you are using the SalesLogix 7.5 LAN client...
First of all, if the install was done correctly, you should have the SalesLogix buttons in Outlook, which allow you to interact and save information in SalesLogix with a simple click. I am not going to go into a lot of detail here, but these are a slam dunk. They exist out of the box, and all you need to do is have Outlook installed and setup, and then install the SalesLogix client.

So... your email is covered. We can get relevant emails into SalesLogix very easily with those buttons. Of course, we want more though... we want activities to come over to our Outlook calendar. The most simplistic way to make this happen is to turn on Advanced Outlook Integration. What does this do, you ask? First of all, for the WHOLE ORGANIZATION (every SalesLogix user), meetings and phone calls scheduled in SalesLogix will zip right over to your Outlook calendar, and be shown there as Appointments. Important - meetings and phone calls only! Again, this is for EVERYONE, and there is no option to turn this off for some users. Make sure your users all understand what is happening before you turn this on! One more feature here, is that when scheduling a phone call or meeting, you will get another tab that will allow you the ability to pick out contacts, or other SalesLogix users and invite them via an Outlook invite. Be careful here, as whatever information you type into the notes will be included in this invite as well!

More advanced than Advanced Outlook Integration to come...