Oh, Magic 8 Ball….what is the answer?
Whenever I encounter crossroads in life, whenever I am unsure about what to do, I turn to the foremost adviser that’s been dispensing wisdom to people of all ages since the 1950s. No, it’s not my mom (but don’t tell her I just revealed her age), and it’s not my best friend…it’s my Magic 8 Ball® . And as a LexisNexis InterAction trainer , I thought it would be fun to see what the Magic 8 Ball has to say about some of the common questions I get from my clients about InterAction.
CLIENT: Will my users be hesitant to share information and use our CRM tool?
M8B: MOST LIKELY
There’s a natural tendency to want to protect your fee-generating contacts, but once users realize that sharing contacts with the firm actually reinforces the connections they have, and helps to ensure that other professionals don’t step on their toes, they’re more likely to share their contact data.
CLIENT: Will we be able to maintain the integrity of our database?
M8B: AS I SEE IT, YES
Data integrity is the key in any CRM tool. To stay on top of it, make sure you understand that data quality in InterAction is achieved by doing two things; maintaining an even balance of 1. DCM ticket work and 2. data quality searches and tools. We encourage you to escape from the ticket inbox every once in a while, and use the built-in data quality tools to bring more balance to your work.
CLIENT: Are my professional’s personal contacts visible to everyone?
M8B: CONCENTRATE AND ASK AGAIN
M8B: MY REPLY IS NO
Everyone else at the firm only sees their own contacts and contacts that have been shared with the firm list. A good way to think about it is the “3 Ps.” Contacts can be Private, Personal or Public.
Private: A contact has been marked as private in Outlook, it syncs to the User List, but only the professional can see it.
Personal: A contact has sync’d from Outlook to the User list, but will not be shared with the firm (like a family member, a florist or an airline’s 800 number) but is visible to both the professional and the assistant.
Public: A contact has sync’d from Outlook to the User List and will be shared up to the Firm list so that everyone can see it.
CLIENT: Using InterAction needs to be easy for my professionals.
M8B: “OUTLOOK” IS GOOD (ok, I forced that one)
Using InterAction needs to be easy and it doesn’t get much easier for users than through Outlook. The IMO (InterAction for Microsoft Outlook) pane integrates with Outlook objects like emails, calendar items and contacts to expand the professional’s view of available intelligence. Directly from Outlook, they can add contacts to InterAction lists, add business development activities, and explore InterAction relationships.
CLIENT: Can I access InterAction on my cell/tablet?
M8B: IT IS CERTAIN
Take a peek at InterAction Mobility . Yup, there’s an “app” for that…a secure access point from which users can interface with your InterAction database. My favorite features in Mobility are the Nearby Contacts, and the ability to log an activity on the fly right after a phone call.
Want more info or have other questions? Contact us at lntraining @lexisnexis.com
– Maggie Hepburn