PlanPlus Hot Spot

PlanPlus Online Introduces New Video Training Resources

New Video Training Resources Available We have added over 50 new videos organized by: Role Feature Initial Implementation This Video Resource page is located at http://www.planplusonline.com/videos Click Here to View

PlanPlus Online has a new Video Resource page for you to be able to quickly reference according to Function, Task or Tool. You are also able to quickly reference a Function or Task according to the Role of the User. We also have a resource for new Account Administrators while configuring your PlanPlus Online CRM account.

New Features and Enhancements for PlanPlus Online

Once again we are announcing new features and enhancements for subscribers of PlanPlus Online. This newest release is now available for all new and existing customers.  One of the great benefits of having a subscription to PlanPlus Online is that we continue to add new and useful features to assist  your productivity and effectiveness. The best part is that most of these are included in your existing subscription without any additional fees or upgrade hassles. The following list highlights a few of the features in this newest version that we think you will find most interesting.

Google Sync - You can now sync your PlanPlus Online account to Google Calendar. This new release works with both regular Gmail accounts as well as the Google Apps accounts.  If you use  iCal, iPad, iPhone, or Android, this is a great way to get your PlanPlus calendar data synced  with those other devices via Google’s sync with those formats.

Change Week Start Day - Now select from a Saturday, Sunday, OR Monday start day for your 7 day view in your weekly calendar. This has been a big request for both international customers as well as those who want to plan their weekends with Saturday and Sunday next to each other rather than each end of the week.

Mobile Android Task App Support - We recently released PlanPlus Tasks as an application that can be used on Android or in connection with your existing PlanPlus Online account.  This mobile task app allows you to have offline editing of your task list.  *PlanPlus Tasks requires a separate purchase.

vCal Support - You can now send and receive standard vCal appointment requests with PlanPlusOnline. This makes it even easier to schedule appointments with people using other calendar systems and makes it convenient to accept an appointment request.

Project Module Enhancements - As part of ongoing enhancements to this module, we have added the ability to customize the project summary and project details page columns, including adding type and status display options to summary view. We also improved the way project comments are displayed inside of a project.

Numerous Performance Enhancements - We have improved or optimized over 70 additional tiny fixes that make PlanPlus function even better.

Quick Action Sheets for Contacts and Organizations - Define a set of tasks, appointments, reminders and calls that can be created with a single click for the contact (or organization) of interest.

Display Primary Organization in the Contact’s Details -  A contact may be associated with numerous organizations, but only one may be considered the primary organization. Now we can display that primary organization within the contact detail.

Customer to Opportunity Field Transfer - If you wish to pass a field value from your customer to their associated opportunity, now you can setup a rule that will take the customer field value (e.g. category or some status field) and push it to the opportunity that is created.  This is a great asset for tracking opportunity sourcing and ROI.

We are eager to listen to our customers and provide ongoing feature enhancements that meet your needs. If you have suggestions, we have created a new forum for you to share your thoughts with us. Log in to your account, click Help & Training in the upper right-hand corner, on the left side of the screen you will see a box for “Vote & Suggest.”  Here you will find over 80 ideas that have been shared by customers, and you can add your votes to theirs to prioritize these features. Our development team is taking feature requests directly from the top of this list.

Read this article at http://www.franklincoveysoftware.com/resources/blog/entry/new-features-and-enhancements-for-planplus-online-

PlanPlus™ Tasks App for Android is Released

Mobile app for every Android device

• PlanPlus™ Tasks App for Android

PlanPlus™ Tasks is an easy-to-use, feature-rich task manager app that incorporates proven FranklinCovey planning methodology. It allows users to manage daily personal and professional tasks from Android smart phones.

In addition to using the well-known ABC-123 ranking system for prioritizing, this app provides a full range of task management options no matter where you are.

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Features:

• Syncing to PlanPlus™ Online, PlanPlus™ for Outlook® or Microsoft® Outlook®
• Daily tasks listed by priority in ABC-123
• Easy drag and drop tasks for instant reprioritizing
• Assign types to each task, then sort by type
• Add notes, and use filtered views to keep it all clear
• Delegate tasks via email, when the assignee completes the task your list is updated as a completed task
• Includes a free online task manager allowing management and backup from any browser

*Requires PlanPlus Online Sync Utility (Free Download)
Customers will be required to pay a nominal annual fee for sync and backup services. This fee will be billed at the end of the each year of service.

Visit our website for Demo Videos and more information.

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System Requirements:

• Android minimum OS 1.6
• Internet connection required for free Online Task application

Attend a FREE PlanPlus Online Webinar and Gain 3 Hours a Week

PlanPlus Online:  Time Management Software for Planning, Prioritizing and much more...

Make the time you spend Planning more Effective and Productive. Improve your Productivity with PlanPlus Online.

Planning and Prioritizing your Weekly and Daily Tasks and Appointments, based upon your overall Mission, Values and Goals, should be a smooth and seamless process.

Learn Productivity tips from your PlanPlus Online Coaches. We're here to help.

Attend a FREE PlanPlus Online Webinar: http://www.PlanPlusOnline.com/​webinars

Six Steps to a Successful CRM Software Implementation

Have you seen this PlanPlus Online Planning & Productivity Post? Six Steps to a Successful CRM Software Implementation: http://www.franklincoveysoftware.com/resources/blog/entry/six-steps-to-a-successful-crm-software-implementation-

We encourage you to take a look at these steps and implement a plan of action to maximize your productivity and your effectiveness.

Your PlanPlus Online Coaches are available to assist you. Just ask!

Six Steps to a Successful CRM Software Implementation

The PlanPlus Team recommends a 6 step approach to implementing your PlanPlus CRM and automating your business processes for maximum personal and professional effectiveness. The steps are outlined here...

Step 1- Time Management
Before you start planning your implementation goals, it is important to identify how much time you have to work with.  It is important to plan a project that can fit within the time constraints that you have.  The more important the goal, the more likely you will be to spend more time on it. The more people that are involved, the longer it will take. Start with 1-2 hour blocks and establish a time line for identifying both short-term wins and long-term objectives. It is likely that your implementation involves people other than yourselves. How much time and other resources are dedicated to your project, and how important are others' time management skills to your success? If you are unsure, now would be a good time to clarify expectations and time commitments from your team.

Step 2- Define a Plan
What are your goals? What parts of your business are the best opportunities for quick wins, and which areas will take more time? The primary questions here relate to understanding what is possible and how to prioritize your efforts to ensure maximum payoff. Clearly identify the specific use cases in your business as it relates to information and processes flowing from Marketing to Sales, to Product Fulfillment and Customer Support.  You can use the feature list of PlanPlus as a starting point to determine which features are most urgent for your specific situation, or you can talk to one of our consultants for a list of common business goals. 

Step 3- Set Standards
The next step is to get all of your data into one place and to get everyone on the same page with the terminology that you will use to refer to the data.  Setting standards is comparable with making sure everyone is speaking the same language.  For customer relationships, you will want to set standards for classifying your customers, or set the standard that ALL current customers are located in one place. For sales organizations, we recommend using terminology to refer to each step of your sales process. The benefit of setting standards is that you provide a definition to the terms: You make certain that everyone means the same thing when they use those terms to communicate meaning.  Standards can also apply to things such as branding, where a standard email signature or email template is used to provide a consistent message.   Standards can also refer to standard levels of service, such as specific response times to new leads or customer support inquiries.

Step 4- Get "In Control" 
Every process is going to have a certain amount of variances in how it is executed. Some of this variance is normal, expected and tolerable. Process Control means implementing procedures, reports, and views to alert you when a process is outside of the normal variance.  Most managers don’t have time to look at every piece of data. It is a better use of time to manage the exceptions.

Step 5- Automate
Once you have your  Standards Set and your Process Control steps in place, you may want to look for ways to automate the process. Many people may be tempted to jump straight to this step. However, you should resist automating until you have your processes defined and your process control steps in place. Automation can reap tremendous time-saving rewards if done with the proper preparation. Some common automation steps include data synchronization or integration of external data sources, or even lead generation and capture from your website. Automatically triggering email templates, or assigning sales leads or cases are additional automation examples, and are possible with PlanPlus CRM.

Step 6- Evaluate & Refine 
Upon completing an initial phase, it is a good habit to revisit your original goals and to assess how well you did, and how close you came to those original targets.  This entire sequence can be repeated occasionally with successive project phases.  It is generally best to get a single part of your business through all 5 stages, rather than trying to get every part of your business through all 5 steps simultaneously. By taking on a single project and seeing it through, you will increase the velocity at which the subsequent steps are accomplished.