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Surefire Contact System Help Document
The context number is the page number and is set with @HELP(context).
Context # Description
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
2 Main Menu
3 Profile
4 Notes - Profile Notes, Add Notes, Edit Notes
5 Actions - Profile Actions, Add Actions, Edit Actions
6 Agenda - Agenda, Scheduling
7 Correspondence
8 Reports
9 Accounting
10 Travel Expenses
11 P & L, Cash Flow
12 Off-Hours
è.pa
Getting around in Surefire Contact Manager
Welcome to Surefire Contact Manager. We offer these tips to
get you quickly using and enjoying its features.
This screen is the main menu of Surefire Contact Manager. From here
you may access all the Contact Manager features.
Use buttons on this screen or those located at the tops of some
screens to go to other screens or to perform specific actions.
Profiles is an example of a button. Move between buttons by using
Home/End or the arrow keys . Press Enter to activate a button.
Esc will always gets you back to the previous screen (but NOT to DOS)
Press F2 anytime in Surefire Contact Manager to display information
about the current screen.
Press Page Down for more Help
Pressing F1 will provide help about the Surefire System and will
discuss how to use general word-processing features.
"Fields" are generally those areas of the screen that are underlined
(on monochrome) or reversed (on color). Fields allow you to type in
text, numbers or dates. Move from field to field by using Home/End or
the arrow keys .
Press F10 to access the Surefire Menu Bar. Once here, use the arrow
keys to select and open one of the seven Menus.
Press Shift + F10 to see the Surefire keystroke Hint Line at the
bottom of the screen. It will remain until you press Shift + F10
again.
To exit from Surefire Contact Manager to DOS, press ALT + X.
Remember to first press ESC to close any open windows.
Press Page Down for more Help
Choose Button -
Profiles to see and maintain Lead, Prospect and Customer
Information. This also allows account management and order
processing.
Agenda to see your schedule for today and to schedule appointments.
Reports to generate reports such as Call reports, Win/Loss reports
and Followup and Account Lists.
Correspondence to send Letters, Memos or generate Mailing Labels.
Accounting to track Travel Expenses and generate Financial
Statements.
Off-Hours to see Restaurant and Accomodations Guides, and other
Entertainment information.
Press Esc to exit from Help
è.pa
Choose Button -
Activities to see the call history of displayed client or to
schedule a follow-up action.
Notes to see or add other information about the client.
Correspondence to send a letter to this client.
Profile Fields
In general, many fields allow "Zoom" for a list of choices. Press
ALT + Z on these fields to see choices, use to position cursor on
desired choice and press Enter to put choice in the field. These
fields are used for other than addressing.
Type: Is profile a prospect, customer, etc? Zoom for types.
Business: Client's main business. Zoom for businesses.
Source: How client was found. Zoom for sources.
Ref'd by: Name of person who referred this client.
Prob: Likelihood to buy. Zoom for probability categories.
Terr #: Number corresponding to the territory of the client.
Potential: Estimated maximum sales possible in dollars.
Tag: Use this Y/N field to do arbitrary profile selections.
To Add a new profile -
1) Press Acct # to put a unique account number (time stamp) in
Account #: field, or enter your own unique account code.
2) Enter the appropriate information for screens 1 and 2.
3) Press ALT + A to add the record to the profile data base.
4) To add another, Use ALT + Y to clear the field and repeat above.
Searching for Profile records
■ Before searching, if an 'S' is in the status line, press ALT + K to
clear the previous search.
■ After searching, use F8 and F7 to go forward and backward through
the records that were found.
The following examples show a few of the most common ways to search:
To find the profile of a known client -
1) Enter the client name in the Client: field.
2) Press ALT + S. The profile will be displayed if found.
To find all clients who have a "Hot" sales probability -
1) Enter Hot in the Prob: field.
2) Press ALT + S to do the search.
3) Press F8 to display each profile.
To Update an existing profile -
1) Use a search to display the record to be updated.
2) Change the desired fields.
3) Press ALT + U to update the profile in the data base.
To Delete a profile record -
1) Use a search to display the record to be deleted.
2) Press ALT + F5 to delete the recored.
PLEASE REFER to CHAPTERS 17 and 21 of the SUREFIRE USER'S GUIDE for
complete information on using Surefire databases.
è.pa
PROFILE NOTES Screen
Choose Button -
Add Notes to write a new note for this profile.
Edit Notes to change or delete an existing note.
This screen shows additional freeform information about the current
profile along with the date on which it was noted. Use notes for
personal information about contacts, addition financial information,
directions to the place of business, etc.
When looking at this screen, use Page Down to look at more notes and
Page Up to go back to 1st screen. Press F3 to put cursor back on
buttons.
ADD NOTES Screen
Enter information in the Date and Note fields and press ALT + A to
add the note for the current profile. Do not change the account
number or client information.
EDIT NOTES Screen
Use F8 and F7 to display each note corresponding to the current
profile.
Enter new information in the Date and Note fields and press ALT + U
to update the displayed note. Do not change the account number or
client information. Press ALT + F5 to delete the displayed note.
PLEASE REFER to CHAPTERS 17 and 21 of the SUREFIRE USER'S GUIDE for
complete information on using Surefire databases.
è.pa
LOGGED ACTIVITIES Screen
Choose Button -
New Activity to log a new activity or follow-up for this profile.
Scheduled Activities to see future activities for this profile.
Edit Activities to change information about an activity that
already occured.
This screen shows a history of activities, most recent first, with
the current profile. These are activities such as calls made, letters
written, demonstrations given, etc.
When looking at this screen, you can use Page Down to look at more
activities and Page Up to go back to the 1st screen. Press F3 to put
cursor back on buttons.
NEW ACTIVITY Screen
Use View Agenda to see if there are conflicts with desired
follow-up date.
Type in a activity information, then press ALT+A to Add.
Activity Fields -
Some fields allow "Zoom" for a list of choices. Press ALT + Z on
these fields to see choices, use to position cursor on desired
choice and press Enter to put choice in the field.
Date: Date the activity was logged.
Activity Type: Meeting, Phone call, etc.. Zoom for types.
Duration: How much time did it take in hours?
Comment: Remarks about this activity.
The following fields pertain to scheduling a follow-up.
Status: Status of follow-up. Set to "Open" when scheduled.
Date: Date to follow-up. Default is 2 weeks from logged
date.
Time: Time to follow-up as hours:minutes. (ex. 10:15 am,
2:30 pm)
Action Type: Phone, Send Letter, etc.. Zoom for action types.
Priority: 1 - 9 where 1 is highest priority.
Comment: Remarks about follow-up.
EDIT ACTIVITIES Screen
Use View Agenda to see if there are conflicts with desired
follow-up date.
See above for a description of activity fields.
Press F8/F7 to see activities. Type changes, then use ALT+U to Update
SCHEDULED PROFILE ACTIVITIES Screen
This screen shows future activies from "Today" onward that have been
scheduled with the current profile.
When looking at this screen, you can use Page Down to look at more
activities and Page Up to go back to the 1st screen. Press F3 to put
cursor back on buttons.
Choose Button -
Check-off Activity to log the fact that a scheduled activity was
either completed or cancelled.
è.pa
AGENDA and SCHEDULE ENTRY Screens
Use the Agenda screen for reviewing currently scheduled daily
activities. These may be initial or followup appointments with
clients, or other appointments such as staff meetings, dentist, etc.
You will see appointments that have been scheduled through the
Schedule Entry screen (see below) and through the Activity screens
accessible from the Profile.
When you select Agenda from the Surefire Contact System Main menu,
you will see all activities or appointments scheduled for "Today" as
well as any missed or non-completed appointments.
Choose Button -
Schedule/Edit Activity to Add, Edit or Log a scheduled activity.
Log Activity to log the fact that an unscheduled activity occurred.
Select to browse and choose an entry for this agenda date.
Then use F8 and F7 to display each appointment.
Profile to view the profile associated with a chosen entry.
List to look at the entire agenda for the displayed date (or week
starting at the displayed date).
Next Day to look at the day after the agenda date.
Prev Day to look at the day before the agenda date.
This Week to look at the week starting on the agenda date.
Next Week to look at the week starting one week after agenda date.
Prev Week to look at the week starting one week before agenda date.
Notes to enter a personal note that does not pertain to a profile.
Move from field to field by using Home/End or the arrow keys . To
use the agenda, you may type in any date. The day of the week will be
displayed when you move off the field to choose any button.
Description of Agenda Information -
Date: The date of the appointment.
Time: The time of the appointment.
Priority: The priority of the appointment.
Client (Subject) Appointment concerns this client (from profile)
or subject (if unrelated to profile).
Comment: Additional information about appointment.
Type: The type of appointment, Meeting, Phone Call, etc.
SCHEDULE ENTRY Screen
Use this screen to schedule something that is unrelated to a profile
record such as a staff meeting or dentist appointment. You may also
enter information that is not scheduled to track long term goals.
Once here you can press Esc to return to AGENDA.
New appointment - Type in schedule information, then press ALT+A to
add the appointment.
Existing appointment - Press F8/F7 to see each existing appointment.
When the one you want to change or log is displayed:
1) Enter changes and press ALT+U to Update the entry.
OR 2) Choose Completed or Cancelled to log the appointment.
Schedule Fields -
Date: Date of the appointment.
Day: Day of the week (filled in automatically)
Time: Time of the appointment.
Activity Type: Type of appointment, Meeting, Phone Call, etc.
Zoom (ALT + Z) for types.
Priority: 1 - 9 where 1 is highest priority.
Status: Status of the appointment. Default is Open.
Subject: What or who is this appointment about.
Comment: More information about the appointment.è.pa
SUREFIRE CONTACT MANAGER CORRESPONDANCE
First time setup -
The first time you access any of the letters or envelopes, you
should type your company name and address in the area designated by
<..>. You may clear this area if you will be printing on letterhead
stationery.
You should access Correspondance from the Surefire Contact Manager
menu. Then, choose a specific correspondance type. For types other
than New Letter, Switch to Document Edit and type the appropriate
text for the body of the letter. Then, save the letter by pressing
ALT + F, choosing Save... and choosing OK in the Save File window.
Access from PROFILE versus SUREFIRE CONTACT SYSTEM menu -
When Correspondance is accessed from the Profile Data screen, any
item you select will automatically fill in data from the current
profile. This is useful for sending letters to a specific client.
When Correspondance is accessed from the Contact Manager main menu,
no information will be pre-filled. This is useful for setting up a
database query to send letters or generate mailing labels for many
clients at one time. See Mail Merge below for more information.
Print a single letter -
To print a letter, press ALT + F, choose Print... and press PRINT.
Mail Merge -
After choosing the desired Correspondance item, you must indicate
the persons or companies from the Profile with which you wish to
correspond. You do this by building a query or selecting a stored
query. A query allows such things as selecting all records in a
given zipcode or city; clients with expected sales potential in some
range; etc.
Building a Query -
Move the cursor to any field, and press ALT + D to open the Data men
Then choose Build Query... Press F1 for help on building a query.
Once a query is built or a stored query has been selected, you may
perform a merge operation to generate and print all letters or
mailing labels. Press ALT + F, choose Print... and press
SEARCH & PRINT.
Autosizing of fields -
To remove extra space from fields, press ALT + O, and choose Text.
Then Print the letter or mailing label.
Adding a new menu choice to Correspondance -
To add other standard letters, first choose New Letter. Type the
desired text into the body of the letter and Save the document with
a new name. Press Esc to return to Correspondance.
To add the button, you must switch to Document Edit mode. Press F3
to free the cursor. Position the cursor for the new button and
choose Create... from the Field menu. Press F1 for help if needed.
Once the button is there, you should copy the field command from
the New Letter button. To do this, choose Commands... from the Field
menu to open the Command window. Press F1 for help on copying and
editing field commands. After the command has been copied to the
new button, change the name in the @GODOC command to that of the new
document. Press Esc to close the window.
Since the Correspondance document has been changed, Save it. Your
letter is now accessible from the menu.è.pa
SUREFIRE REPORTS Screen
Use this screen to access reports that present or analyze data that
you have stored in Surefire Contact System.
Choose Button -
Account List (no address) to list all profile records without
addresses. This shows Client, Business Type, Contact and Phone.
Account List with address to list all profile records with
addresses. This shows Client, Address, Contact and Phone.
Activity/Call History to see a report of all activities noted for
profiles for four weeks prior to the current date.
Follow-up List to see the follow-up dates for all profiles that have
outstanding scheduled follow-up appointments.
Won/Lost Report to see a report of closed versus unclosed sales.
See below for a further description of each report.
ACCOUNT LIST (no address) Report
Choose Button -
Alphabetically to produce an alphabetized profile list
Business to produce a profile list sorted by business type.
Select Client to look at single list items. Press F8 to see each
item then choose Profile to see full profile for the item.
Profile after Select Client to see full profile for the item.
ACCOUNT LIST with address Report
Choose Button -
Alphabetically to produce an alphabetized profile list
State to produce a profile list sorted by state.
Select Client to look at single list items. Press F8 to see each
item then choose Profile to see full profile for the item.
Profile after Select Client to see full profile for the item.
ACTIVITY/CALL HISTORY Report
This report shows the Date, client name, comment about the activity,
and the type of activity.
Choose Button -
New Report to see a new report based on the current beginning and
ending dates. Move to and change the beginning and ending dates
before choosing this button.
Select Client to look at single list items. Press F8 to see each
item then choose Profile to see full profile for the item.
Profile after Select Client to see full profile for the item.
FOLLOW-UP Report
This report lists all outstanding scheduled activities appointments
that have not been Completed or Cancelled
Choose Button -
List to regenerate the report after looking at single items.
Select Client to look at single list items. Press F8 to see each
item then choose Profile to see full profile for the item.
Profile after Select Client to see full profile for the item.
WON/LOST Report
This report lists whether a sale has been "Closed", whether the client
has purchased from a "Competitor" or whether there was "No Close" for
some other reason. To use this report, you must log one of these 3
activity codes from the Edit or New Activity Screen.
Choose Button -
List to regenerate the report after looking at single items.
Select Client to look at single list items. Press F8 to see each
item then choose Profile to see full profile for the item.
Profile after Select Client to see full profile for the item.
PLEASE REFER to CHAPTERS 22 of the SUREFIRE USER'S GUIDE for complete
information on creating your own Surefire Contacts reports.è.pa
SUREFIRE ACCOUNTING Screen
This screen leads to spreadsheet-like forms and documents that allow
you to manage the financial state of your business. Additional menu
items may be added to a track or calculate information specific to
your business or accounting needs such as training expenses, etc.
Choose Button -
Travel Expenses to calculate current and to review past expenses.
Financial Statements to generate Profit & Loss and Cash Flow
statements.
è.pa
This screen keeps travel expense information for a given week on a
daily basis in a printable form. By using database queries, you may
analyze past travel expenses for any time period.
Travel Expense Fields -
Name: Your name.
Purpose: The reason for the trip.
Week Beginning: The date representing the Sunday that started the
week of travel.
Location: The city in which expenses are incurred.
LODGING: Expenses for hotel, motel, etc for each day.
MEALS: Expenses for each of 3 meals for a day.
TRAVEL: Cost of the actual transportation by category.
MISC. Other costs incurred during the trip.
Moving around and Calculating
Use the arrow keys or Home and End to move among cells and fields
Enter the values for the appropriate fields and press F9 to
Calculate the spreadsheet.
Printing the expense report -
To print the expense report, press ALT + F, choose Print... and
press PRINT.
Adding an Expense Report to the Database
Once the information for the week is entered, you may press ALT+A to
add the travel expense record for that week.
PLEASE REFER to CHAPTER 16 of the SUREFIRE USER'S GUIDE for complete
information on using Spreadsheets in Surefire.
è.pa
Profit and Loss, Cash Flow Screens
The first screen presented is a Profit and Loss statement. It is
used to calculate the profit and loss for your business on a twelve
month basis. The Cash Flow statement, on the following page, allows
the entry of information used to manage the cash flow of your business
on a twelve month basis. Some fields in Cash Flow are automatically
filled-in with data from the P & L.
To display Cash Flow -
Press CTRL + Page Down.
To display Profit and Loss -
Press CTRL + Page Up.
Moving around and Calculating
Use the arrow keys or Home and End to move among cells and fields
Enter the values for the appropriate fields and press F9 to
Calculate the spreadsheet.
Printing the P&L and Cash Flow -
To print the Profit and Loss/Cash Flow statements, press ALT + F,
choose Print... and press PRINT. Since this is an extra wide
document, each visible page will be printed on 2 8½ x 11 sheets of
paper that show the entire statement when placed side by side.
Profit and Loss Fields -
Each entry is totaled downward for a month and across for the year.
Revenues: revenue on a per-product basis.
Total Revenues: total revenues from all products.
Cost of Sales: cost on a per-product basis.
Total Cost of Sales: total costs from all products.
Gross Profit: total revenues - total costs
Itemized Expenses: salaries, insurance, advertising, phone, etc.
Total Expenses: total of itemized expenses
Net profit: gross profit - total expenses
Cash Flow Fields -
Each entry is totaled downward for a month and across for the year.
Cash on Hand: cash at the start of a month
Cash Receipts: revenue, credit cards, loans, etc.
Total Cash Receipts:
Total Cash Available: cash on hand + total cash receipts
Cash Paid Out: cost of sales, expenses(from P&L), etc.
Total Cash Paid Out:
Cash Flow: total cash available - total cash paid out
Cash Position: cash on hand - cash flow
Other Essential Data: sales volume, accounts receivable/payable,
bad debt, inventory on hand, depreciation.
Customizing the Spreadsheet
In the text fields along the left edge of the screen you may type
the names of specific categories of interest to you. Now save the
document using the Save choice on the File menu. Every time you
display this screen, those categories will be there.
PLEASE REFER to CHAPTER 16 of the SUREFIRE USER'S GUIDE for complete
information on using Spreadsheets in Surefire.
è.pa
OFF-HOURS Screen
This is the place to come when you have made the big sale, when you
need inspiration or when you are traveling to another city.
Piaf, Inc has provided some jokes and pithy sayings. You may of
course add your own words of wisdom to this database.
For Dining, Accomodations and Entertainment, you may either enter
your own information or import the data from other Surefire Contact
System users. The documents are already there. A database will be
created automatically the first time an entry is added.
To add an entry to any database -
1) Choose one of the menu buttons
2) Enter the information in the fields provided. Some fields have
choices that you may select. Press (ALT + Z) when the cursor is
in a field to see them. You may edit this list by pressing
CTRL + Z. Type each new selection on its own line and press
Enter. After the list is complete, press ESC.
3) Press ALT + A to add the record.
Choose Button -
Dining to see information on Restaurants, Pubs, etc.
Accommodations to see information on Hotels, Motels, Inns, etc
Entertainment to see information on Attractions, Theater, and Clubs
Wise Words to enter your own Inspirational and Motivational
sayings for any occasion.