CRM Excel Template - How to Use and FAQs V2 Copy

CRMExcelTemplate.com V2.0 1

How to use this template tool

1. The value of this template is to help you organize and keep track of customers, clients, projects and assignments. 2. Start by viewing the Dashboard page to see how the contact information appears. Select the "Choose Columns to Display" button to display only the fields you wish to see on the Dashboard page. Start with a smaller number and add later if you wish to see more information displayed. 3. Next spend some time on the Settings page defining your Category Names, Status & Priority Codes, and User Column (Dashboard) names. 4. Colors of the Date fields can be customized; guidelines for customization appear at the bottom of the Settings page. 5. Once the Settings page has been defined to fit your particular needs, you can start to add contacts to the Dashboard page. 6. On the Dashboard page, click on the "Insert Contact" button at the top. This will bring up a blank contact sheet for you to fill out. 7. After completing the contact sheet, navigate back to the Dashboard page to view the contact/project you created. 8. At the top of the Dashboard page you have the option of which columns, defined on the settings page, are to be displayed. Once again select the "Columns to Display" button to modify the fields you wish to see displayed on the Dashboard page. 9. To record a note, select the desired contact name or project name (hyperlinks underlined) on the Dashboard page, which will take you back to that specific person's project and the contact sheet. 10. Select "Insert Note" at the top of the contact sheet. Enter the date, your notes and an appropriate follow up date. Once complete, click the "Save Note" button. The new note appears below, creating a record of the project status / conversation.


11. A continuous set of project / conversation notes is created each time a note is created; previous notes automatically saved, move down a row. 12. Once done entering notes, navigate back to the Dashboard to see an overview of all projects. Click on the contact name or project name (hyperlink) to return back to the contact page to add additional notes or to edit contact information. 13. On the Dashboard page, choose the "Columns to Display" button at the top, to display only the columns you wish you view / sort / organize. You may choose to use the "clear sorting" button prior to starting your sort. 14. Each column on the Dashboard page, in the lower right hand corner, has a mini sort/selection button to allow you to further fine tune what information is displayed. 15. On the Settings page, you are able to rename the title of the Home Page, set the height of new contact and notes, as well as controlling the colors used to signal the last contact date and the follow up date, back on the Dashboard page. To update the colors select the "Update Color Format" button at the top of the Setting page. 16. To duplicate an existing contact (for a client with more than one project), start on the Dashboard page and select insert contact. Once on the insert contact input page, select "Copy Existing Contact" in the upper left hand corner. 17. To delete an existing contact, select the "Delete Contact" button at the top the Dashboard page, and select the contact from the drop down menu you wish to delete. 18. Be sure and read the FAQs to address additional questions.


Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q: What platforms does CRM Excel Template function on? A: Windows XP and 7: Office 2003, 2007 and 2010, and Mac OS X: Office 2011. Q: How to get started? A: Read the "How to Use" section on the Home page. Q: How to add contacts or clients to the Dashboard page? A: Click the "Insert Contact" button at the top of the Dashboard page, fill in the contact information and select "insert" when completed. Q: How to duplicate an existing contact to create more than one project for a client? A: Start on the Dashboard page and select "Insert Contact". Once the Insert Contact page appears, select "Copy Existing Contact" in the upper left hand corner and select the contact you wish to duplicate. Q: How to delete a contact from the Dashboard page? Q: How to delete the "demo" contacts from the Dashboard page? A: Select the "Delete Contact" button at the top of the Dashboard page. Select the contact you wish to delete from the pull down menu. To make the contact you wish to delete easier to identify, put an "X" in front of the contact's first name; on the contact input page. Q: How to search your list of clients and projects to find what you are looking for on the Dashboard page? A: Utilize the built in Excel Find feature by pressing Control F or Command F. Enter your key search word(s) to Find Within: Sheet | Search: By Rows | Look in: Values. Q: How to navigate back to a client's contact information? A: Select the desired name (hyperlink underlined) from the Contact Name column on the Dashboard page? Q: How to record a new note for a contact / project? A: Select the desired name (hyperlink underlined) from the Contact Name or Project column on the Dashboard page. Select "Insert Note" at the top of the contact sheet. Enter the date, your notes and an appropriate follow up date. Once complete, click on the "Save Note" button. The new note is saved, creating a record of the project status / conversation.


Q: How to choose which columns get displayed on the Dashboard page? A: Select the "Choose Columns to Display" button to select the fields you wish to see on the Dashboard page. Q: How to sort the contents on the Dashboard page? A: Choose the "Clear Sorting" button at the top of the Dashboard page. Choose the column you wish to sort by, and select the first cell below the desired column heading; do not select the column title cell. Next select either the Sort Ascending or Sort Descending button. You may continue building your sorts to create prioritized lists. Q: What are the little arrows in the right hand corner of each of the column headers on the Dashboard page? A: Each column on the Dashboard page, in the lower right hand corner, has a mini sort/selection button to allow you to further fine tune which information is displayed. Q: How to change the colors of the date fields on the Dashboard page? A: Colors for the date fields can be customized at the bottom of the Settings page. Change the colors and/or fonts in the cells and then click "Update Color Format" at the top of the Settings page. The date colors on the Dashboard page will then reflect the new color settings. Q: How to change the number of days for the follow up reminder date fields on the Dashboard page? A: At the bottom of the Settings page , type in number of days in the input boxes provided; "Days Since Last Contact", "Days Since Follow up" and "Days Until Follow up" all initially set for 7 days. Q: What on the Dashboard page can be changed? A: Text alignment of columns or rows can be changed using the Excel formatting tool bar options (center, align right, bolding ...). Q: How to see the rows and column headings to resize them if desired? A: Utilize the Excel Preferences setting, under view, select "show row and column headings". Q: How to change the contact height on the Dashboard page and the note height within each of the contact pages. A: At the bottom of the Settings page , type in the desired New Contact Height and/or the New Note Height.


Q: How to change the User Defined Columns on the contact page? A: On the Settings page, type in the custom fields you wish to track. Q: What can be defined on the Settings page? A: On the Settings page, you can define Category Names (Active Client, Business Building …), along with the Status Codes (Action Item, Awaiting Reply …), and your priority codes (A,B,C). Customized Dashboard Column Definitions (B-‐day, Admin's name…) are also created and edited here. Q: How to utilize the tool for portfolio management? A: Utilize the Customized Dashboard Column Definitions on the Settings page to establish ranking criteria such as: Technical feasibility, Estimated ROI, Factory Capacity … Q: Which cells can be edited and which are fixed? A: Cells with this color background, on the Settings page and the Contact Name pages can be customized. Insert Contact and Insert Note pop ups, also allow for inputting of data. Q: What are the little red triangles on the Setting page? A: These are pop up notes explaining each of the input fields. Slide your cursor over the red triangle to make the comment box appear. Q: How to change the title at the top of the Home page? A: At the top of the Settings page, you are able to rename the title of the Home page. Q: How to export information out of the template to a CSV file to create e-‐mail, mail merge lists or mailing labels. (CSV = Comma-‐Separated Value) A: To export all your contacts, click on the "Export All Contacts" button in the upper right hand corner of the Dashboard page and select Method #1. This creates a single CSV file which you can save and edit as you wish. Q: How to export all notes for all contacts? A: To export all your contacts and all their related notes, click on the "Export All Contacts" button in the upper right hand corner of the Dashboard page and select Method #2. This creates a series of CSV files, one for each of the contacts and all it's related notes.


Q: How to export all notes for a single contact / project to a CSV file? (CSV = Comma-‐Separated Value) A: From the Contact Page, click on the "Export Contact" button in the upper right hand corner of the page (appears to the right of the "Delete Note" button). Q: Importing previous CRM Excel version contacts or contacts from other sources into this version of the template tool? A: To import contacts from a previous version of the CRM Excel Template the contacts should be exported to a CSV file using the export feature. The import feature will then request that you select the CSV data file to be inputted. A: To import contacts from other sources you'll first need to create a CSV file with headings as display in an exported file from the template (see Export Contact -‐ Method #1 above). Next consistently format the data to be inputted using the exported file headings as a guide. Q: What are the Show Averages (Hide Averages) and Show Totals (Hide Totals) buttons at the top of the Dashboard page? A: Clicking on these buttons show or hide the Average and Totals of the 8 custom dashboard columns located at the bottom of the Dashboard page. Useful for tracking resource hours, financial benchmarks or any numerical rating or scores associated with a portfolio of projects. Note: all rows (displayed or hidden) are included in the calculations. Q: How to create action item lists within a single note? A: Entering a "hard return" after each action item will return the cursor to the next line allowing the creation of a list. Will need to enter the "hard return" after the note appears in the yellow text box. Q: What do I do with the Resource Tables in the upper right hand section of each of the contact pages? A: The entire yellow colored block is available to create any type of resource table desired. Three example templates (Project Team Contacts, Project Time Tracking and Hyperlinks to Project files) are included to be customized as desired/appropriate for each project or client. Q: Where to e-‐mail to provide feedback or if you have a question? A: Please feel free to e-‐mail us at [email protected]

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CRM Excel Template - How to Use and FAQs V2 Copy