Turn It Up Tuesday: Tips from Insightly to Take Your Business to 11
Welcome to Turn It Up Tuesday, where we bring you 3 weekly tips—a tip on running your business, a tip on using Insightly CRM, and a tip on improving your life.
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Making a Digital Move |
| Have you ever given any thought to what it means to make a “digital move?” By my definition, making a digital move is about upgrading the way you manage your business-related data. If you find yourself in need of an upgrade, take the time to prepare a strategy.
As you begin a digital move, your first task should be to ask yourself, “what do I move and what do I toss?” Insightly CRM makes that part of the decision making process a bit easier because it allows you create custom fields that I find to be useful for organizing existing data. For example, before I migrate data over to Insightly, I like start be creating a custom field called “met date.” I also create a field called “met where,” which helps me put the initial meeting into context, particularly if and when I see that person again.
Even with the best of planning, organizing data can feel like heavy lifting. The good news is that there are specialists who are adept at organizing data. Consider working with someone who can help you think through some of the nuances of what to toss, how to stage the move, and how to get familiar with your new digital data home. Also, talk to friends, colleagues, and others who share your industry or profession. If your needs are going to be changing in the upcoming 3-5 years, be sure the system you move your data over to will be able to grow and adapt. You wouldn’t want to be moving your home every year, and the same is true with your digital home. Give yourself some time to adjust to your new digital digs. Be patient and congratulate yourself—moving isn’t easy. This business tip was provided by Diane Darling, the author of McGraw-Hill’s definitive book on networking, The Networking Survival Guide. |
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Invoice on the Fly With Insightly + Xero |
| One of the most powerful features of the Insightly + Xero integration is having the option to create draft Xero invoices right from your Insightly account. To create an invoice for a particular contact or organization, begin by logging into your Insightly and Xero accounts.
From your Insightly account you then:
Enter the name of the contact, project, or organization to bring up the associated record, then click the Create Invoice Draft button. If the correct Xero contact does not appear in the Contact list, cancel the action, then create a new contact using the Create Xero Contact button on the previous page.
After the Create New Invoice Draft in Xero pop-up window appears, simply click on the Create Invoice Draft button and the invoice, including the balance due, will be automatically generated. |
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Don’t Forget to Remember
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Remembering faces and names is one of the most gratifying aspects of being a truly engaged business person. It can also be pretty challenging. You likely meet dozens of people in any given year, yet the chances of recalling every single person’s name are slim. Still, we all feel a deeper sense of being appreciated when someone we’ve met briefly not only remembers our face, but also remembers the name to match. Fortunately, there are a few tricks–using a well tested technique called mnemonics–that can keep your memory for recalling names sharp. For instance, when you meet somebody for the first time, say their name back to them when they introduce themselves. Next, repeat the name in your head over and over. To help solidify the memory, continue to use their name in conversation as much as possible. If you’re still having trouble, make up a rhyme about their name: “Lisa with the Mona Lisa smile,” for example. Creating a personalized trigger is also very effective. You can do this by associating names with things people tell you about themselves (hobbies, world travels, etc.) that will, in turn, trigger the sound or association of that person’s name in your mind. “Kevin finds the sport of fishing heaven” or “Judy likes to drink fruit punch.” You get the gist. Playing the naming game may feel a bit silly, but it’s an easy trick that really works.
Check out Insightly’s features and plans on our pricing page or sign up for a free trial right now. Send Us Your TipsWould you like to share your tips with Insightly customers? Send them to us! About the author: Marta Bright is Insightly’s Content Manager. She’s been writing about the “business of technology” in the Silicon Valley for more than a decade.
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