GoldMine Tips

In GoldMine 6.0 and above, you have the ability to customize the columns you see in the Contact Search Center. The Contact Search Center is simply the formal name of the window that pops up when you are trying to find a contact….  Here it is:

It should look familiar.  By default, you will see the Company, Contact, City and Phone1 fields.  However, this can be changed!  In the Contact Search Center toolbar (The icons just above “Lookup”) all the way to the right you’ll see an icon that looks almost like an Excel spreadsheet in GoldMine Standard or Corporate, in GoldMine Premium click the columns button.

Click it, and a window like this will pop up:

Too add a column simply find the column on the left, they are in alphabetical order, and double-click on it, or single click on it and use the right-arrow button.  It’ll then move to the right-side of the screen.  The order of the columns can be changed by clicking on a field on the right and using the up or down buttons.

Click “OK” and you’ll see your Contact Search Center with your customized fields.  Any field from the top half of the screen, the summary tab, or the fields tab can be added.  Also, the column widths can be adjusted in the Contract Search Center by dragging the dividers between the column headers, just like in Excel.

Note: In GoldMine Premium Edition 8.5 and above the Email and Web Site fields CAN be added! This is a very nice and welcome addition to the product.  They cannot in versions of GoldMine below 8.5.

When you change the columns you see or their widths this is a ‘Sticky’ setting.  So once it’s set it does not change when you Exit GoldMine, close the Search Center, etc.  Also, it affects only you, no one else.

{ 3 comments }

Hey There!  Happy Halloween!

In our previous entry we discussed using the merge code fields to tag who should be getting holiday cards and gifts.  Now that you’ve gone through the process of adding the appropriate merge codes to your contacts, you probably want to see who has been tagged!

If you are only working with primary contacts I suggest using a filter…  Your filter will look something like this:

The key here is to use the Contains operator, as there may be multiple values in the field.

Once you’ve built your filter you can see the list from the Filter’s Preview tab as well as from the Contact Search Center!  Review this post on how to do that:

http://www.thegoldmineblog.com/2007/09/so-easy-yet-so-useful-how-to-print-a-filter/

You can, then, export from the search center, use GoldMine’s report’s to print labels, etc…

You can also use GoldMine’s Export Wizard available under File | Import/Export | Export Contact Records (Or Tools | Import/Export Wizard | Export Contact Records in 7.x or below).

The wizard gives you a variety of options of the export format (dBASE, ASCII, etc.) as well as whether you want to export primary and/or secondary contacts as well as limiting the export to a merge code.

Once exported, you can use MS Word® to print labels, etc.  My only complaint with the Export wizard here is that if the additional contact doesn’t have an address listed the Export wizard won’t automatically pick up the address of the primary contact.

Which brings us to our last method of export, a SQL Query, actually three.

For a review of using SQL Query’s Check Out This Post: http://www.thegoldmineblog.com/2007/10/the-one-that-didnt-get-away-finding-the-last-time-you-visited-a-client-or-prospect/

Here’s one for primary contacts:

select company, contact, title, address1, address2, address3, city, state, zip, phone1, contact1.accountno from contact1 where mergecodes like ‘%HC%’ order by company, contact

Here’s one for secondary contacts without an address (It’ll pick up the address from the primary contact):

select contact1.company, contsupp.contact, contsupp.title, contact1.address1, contact1.address2, contact1.address3, contact1.city, contact1.state, contact1.zip, contsupp.phone, contact1.accountno from contact1, contsupp where rectype = ‘C’ and (contsupp.address1 is null or contsupp.address1 <= ”) and contact1.accountno = contsupp.accountno and contsupp.mergecodes like ‘%HC%’ order by company, contsupp.contact

Finally one for secondary contacts with an address:

select contact1.company, contsupp.contact, contsupp.title, contsupp.address1, contsupp.address2, contsupp.address3, contsupp.city, contsupp.state, contsupp.zip, contsupp.phone, contact1.accountno from contact1, contsupp where rectype = ‘C’ and contsupp.address1 > ‘ ‘ and contact1.accountno = contsupp.accountno and contsupp.mergecodes like ‘%HC%’
order by company, contsupp.contact

Just change the ‘HC’ in each query to the mergecode you’re using.  After running each you, can do the Right-Click | Output to Excel trick and you’re on your way!

It’s getting to be that time of year again, and with it the challenge of figuring out who should be getting what during the holiday season.

There are several different ways of doing this in GoldMine, but let me show you my favorite… This method uses the “Merge” field – and is usable for both primary and secondary contacts.

To configure the merge field for Holiday use we just have to change the lookup values for the primary contact, the same merge codes will automatically be used for secondary contacts.

Within the Merge field, either use the Right-Arrow or use the F2 key on the keyboard to see the Lookup list.

Single Left-Click on the New button to add different merge codes.  You may want to use a single one or multiple depending on how you handle cards and gifts.  The two I have here are:

HC for Holiday Card and
HG for Holiday Gift.

We use the format:

HC;//Holiday Card (Code, semi-colon, two slashes, and then description).

Only the code will be placed in the field.  With this format you can fit up to 5 codes in the merge code field.  Select one code, as you normally would when using the lookup list, then select a second in the same manner.  GoldMine will automatically place a comma and space between the two instead of replacing one code with another.

You can use any number of letters or numbers for the code but all codes should have the same number of characters.  I prefer two which allows up to 5 codes in the merge field but also makes it easy to remember what each is for.  You may want to use HC for Holiday Cards, but H1, H2, and H3 for different levels of gifts…

Get started on this and in our next  entry we’ll discuss getting that list out of GoldMine using SQL queries and the export wizard.

{ 0 comments }

… “Great, I’ll call you back tomorrow then.”  We’ve all said it!  Then we diligently go into GoldMine and schedule ourselves a call for tomorrow so we actually remember to call him or her back.

Here’s a trick to make that process a little bit quicker.  In the Date field when scheduling the call (But this works for any type of activity), instead of typing in a date, or using the lookup to bring up a calendar, type in 1D.

Then, magically, when you tab or click, to the next field the date will be set for 1 day from today.

Assume, then, that you want to schedule the activity 2 days from now, well, just type in 2D, for 3 days 3D.

D works for Days, W for Weeks, and M for Months.  So to schedule something 2 months from now, Just 2M!

In our last blog post we looked at how to see all of our past due calls: http://www.thegoldmineblog.com/2009/08/question-how-can-i-see-all-of-my-past-due-calls/ I had a couple of questions in, “How do I delete ALL these at once, not one at a time?”

So here’s how.

First, be sure the activities you are viewing in your Activity List are the ones you want to complete or delete.  You may want to use the Filter option under show to further limit the activities you see.  (If you’re on GoldMine Corporate or Standard use Right-Click | Options | Filter).

Next, Right-Click | Options | Auto Update

You’ll be presented with the Auto-Update Activities screen.  Select the options that are correct for your situation and click OK. GoldMine will auto-complete or auto-delete up to 500 activities at a time, so you may need to repeat the process if you have a lot of activities to deal with en masse.

One last word, be careful!  There’s no “Undo” to this operation short of restoring your database from a backup.

{ 0 comments }

Got this question emailed in from a client a couple of days ago and I thought it’d make a great blog post.

The easiest way to do this is to use the Activity List, which displays, in list view, activities.

First, select  Activity List from the “Go To” menu (For GoldMine Standard/Corporate use View | Activity List) or click on Activities in the Navigation Pane.

Then under Open Activities select Calls (For GoldMine Standard/Corporate find the Calls tab)

Finally, select Today and Prior from the Show drop down (For GoldMine Standard/Corporate use a Right-Click | Options | Date Range)

Easy as that!

{ 3 comments }

New and long-time GoldMine users may find the nine (9) different activity types a bit confusing…

Here’s a brief description and when to use each. I’ll break them down into the “Big 4” which you’ll probably use all the time and then “The Rest”.

The Big 4

Calls – Phone calls, not a “sales call” when you go visit someone, follow up phone calls, introductory phone calls, conference calls, etc.

Next Action – I use these almost as a “To Do” related to a prospect or customer such as writing up a quote, preparing for a demo, doing research or following up via email.

Appointment – Face to face meeting could be for sales, service, or an internal meeting.

Sale – Forecasted Sales are to help you develop and keep track of your sales pipeline up to date so you know what deals you have in your sales funnel.

The Rest

Literature Request – Seldom used portion of GoldMine that lets your delegate the task of sending our literature.

Other Action – Activities that can’t be categorized into one of the other categories.

Events – Multiple day activity such as sales conference or sales meeting. These don’t show up in the timed portion of your calendar in the Day and Week view so it can be easy to schedule over them.

To Do – A generic to do. These don’t have due dates associated with them so I generally prefer to use Next Actions for anything that’s time sensitive. Also, To Dos are not, by default, linked to a contact record.

GoldMine E-mail – An email sent to another GoldMine user via it’s internal email center. These won’t go do Outlook so unless you’re using GoldMine for your incoming and outgoing back you’ll be better off not using these as the message might not get read.

The GoldMine calendar will show a small icon indicating which activity type everything you’ve scheduled is!

{ 0 comments }

The GM+View Tab, introduced in GoldMine 6.0, can display relevant information about the contact you are on from just about any web site out there, including the contact’s own web site!

Great for finding out more about a prospect or current customer before you call!

 
To set this up go to File | Configure | GM+View or Web | Setup GM+View in GoldMine Premium Edition.

Note: You do need Master Rights to do this. 

Then click the New button.

Type in the Template name, e.g. Web Site, then click down into the white space below, then click on the <H> button in the upper right.  This allows us to tell the view what we want to display.

Note: If your <H> button is grayed out it indicates you’re using a version of GoldMine below 6.70.70226 with Internet Explorer 7.0 installed.  Uninstall Internet Explorer 7.0 or, better yet, it’s time for a GoldMine update.

After clicking <H> you’ll see some HTML code…  Highlight all of it and delete it.

In its place copy and paste this:

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<SCRIPT language=JavaScript>
<!--
function redirect()
{
window.location = "&lt;&lt;&amp;website&gt;&gt;"
}
setTimeout ("redirect();", 0000)
// -->
</SCRIPT><META content="MSHTML 6.00.6001.18203" name=GENERATOR></HEAD>
<BODY leftMargin=1 topMargin=1 rightMargin=1></BODY></HTML>

Then choose Save & Exit.

Click OK from the GM+View Tab Settings screen. 

Now, the GM+View tab you can select your contact’s web site!

Normally when we use the GoldMine calendar we’re scheduling activities for prospects, customers, vendors, etc. Of course, and thankfully, our lives aren’t all work!

So when you need to put that doctor’s visit, the parent/teacher conference, or any other personal activities on your calendar it won’t be attached or linked to any contact in GoldMine.

So when scheduling these activities simply ‘Unlink’ it!

You’ll notice when you un-check the Linked to selected Contact the name of the person the activity was scheduled with disappears, you can type in there or leave it blank. Use Reference to describe the activity, as usual, and add any notes, etc.

You may also want to mark the activity as private so other users only see that time is blocked off, not the details of the activity.

Maintaining an updated and accurate sales pipeline is important for managers and sales personnel alike even in the best of times, and especially now.

In the course of a day though, it can be easy to forget to create a new opportunity after we visit or call a prospect.

Forget to create that opportunity and it can be a good prospect that we forget about and one that ends up falling through ‘the crack’.  Here’s a simple trick to make the process of creating a new opportunity easier and part our everyday workflow.
When completing an activity, e.g. a call or appointment, if it’s a good prospect, click the “New” button in the Complete window to create a new opportunity for the prospect.

After clicking New, you’ll be asked to confirm who the opportunity is for…

Then finish off the basic information.  After clicking OK here, the opportunity will show up in the Opportunity Manager like any other…

First, my apologies to readers in Africa, Oceania, and South America, for the “Northern Hemisphere-Centric” nature of the title!

But the tip will help you, whether you’re entering spring or fall!

I love Garrison Keillor’s quote, “God designed the month of March ‘to show people who don’t drink what a hangover feels like.’”

So, the spring season has now begun and, it’s time for some Spring cleaning on our GoldMine database!  Or, for our friends in the Southern Hemisphere, you can do some fall cleaning as well.

Today’s tip is how to do a ‘Merge Purge on Tagged Records’.  When a merge/purge is done we combine two records into one.  Information on the contacts, details, referrals, history, links, opportunity, and project tabs will be combined into a single record.  For fields like contact, company, etc. the record we tag first will win.  If the first record tagged is missing information, say a fax number, but the second tagged record isn’t, the fax number will be populated in the surviving record.  This is my favorite method for removing duplicate records from my GoldMine!

First, we need to Tag two records.  This is done in the Contact Search Center by holding down the Control key and doing a Single-Left Click on the two records you want to merge together.

If you’re using GoldMine Premium Edition, we’ll still do this within the Search Center, but just click the check boxes to the two duplicates.

After tagging two records you’ll notice the title bar of your contact record will tell you that you have two tagged records.

… or in GoldMine Premium Edition

There is no undo after a merge/purge so be sure you have the correct two records tagged.  Check and Double-Check!

With the two records tagged choose Tools | Merge/Purge Records | Merge Tagged Records from the main menu.

Or in GoldMine Premium Edition choose Tools | Data Management| Merge/Purge Records  |Merge Tagged Records

GoldMine will warn you…

Click Yes to complete the Merge/Purge.

Happy GoldMining!

{ 2 comments }

GoldMine allows you to automatically be reminded every year of a customer, prospect or any acquaintance’s birthday, anniversary, etc. using Occasions.  Once set, you’ll get a reminder every year before the day of the event.

Never forget your wife or husband’s birthday again!

First, find the contact record you want to create the Occasion for.

Then go to Edit | Record Properties | Contact Details in GoldMine Standard, Corporate Edition or Premium Edition…

Then click New to create a new Occasion.  A contact can have multiple Occasions.

Use the Reference field as a reminder of the detail of the Occasion, and use the Category field for the type.  GoldMine has predefined the categories as: Other, Anniversary, Birthday, Festival, Reunion and Retreat.  The User will be who gets the reminder.  It’ll default to you, but can be changed.

Then click on the Date Span tab.

Here you’ll want to set the Date as well as how many days before the date you’ll want an Alarm.  The “Occurs” section will automatically update based on the Date.

Click OK.

You’ll now see the new Occasion!

Occasions also show up in your Activity List and Calendar!

In the Activity List thy will show up in the Occasions folder in GoldMine Classic & Premium Edition.

In the GoldMine Calendar they will show up in the Occasions area…