On Wednesday, June 9th, @ 1:00pm Ryan will demonstrate how to use the Add/Edit Contacts feature, the Advanced Search screen and how to add contacts via the Method Outlook Plug-in.

This webinar will take place live but will also be recorded and posted as a comment on the Method Blog and on the complete list of webinars on the Method Forum. 

Complete List of Method Recorded Webinars: 

http://www.methodintegration.com/cs/forums/t/556.aspx

To register for this webinar, click the following link:

https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/351265539

Cheers,

Danny Do Couto
Method Integration

Last week we were at the Scaling New Heights Conference in Atlanta, Georgia, and wow - what an incredible conference it was.  This was the second year Joe Woodard held this conference and his team definitely put together a successful event. 

Scaling New Heights was particularly exciting for us at Method because for the first time ever, we had our own Method Solution Provider Certification track!  For three days, we had the opportunity to train QuickBooks ProAdvisors, ISP’s, consultants and accounting professionals on Method, preparing them for their Level 1 Certified Consultant Certification.  With that said, I’d like to extend a big THANK YOU to all of you who attended Scaling New Heights and took one or more of our Method sessions.  The turnout in the Method track was overwhelming - over 150 people – and was definitely more than we could have ever asked for.  We had nearly 50 people take the Level 1 exam at the end of the course and we were blown away by such enthusiasm!  We also gave attendees a sneak preview of the Method Expense Reports App, and after receiving such positive feedback, you can count on seeing its release in the Method App Library quite soon!  Of course, the conference was also a hit because we got to see so many of your familiar faces, along with the new, and we hope to see you again soon.

Not only did Scaling New Heights represent our first Method Solution Provider Level 1 training, but it also marked the opening of Level 1 Certified Consultant Certification!  Within the next couple of weeks, we will be announcing an online exam process, which will be available to those of you who wish to become a Level 1 Certified Consultant. 

In addition to achieving Level 1 Certification at the conference and online, Level 2 Advanced Certified Consultant Certification Boot Camps will also be held this summer, across the US.  Once you pass your Level 1 exam, you become eligible to register for a Level 2 boot camp, led by none other than Joe Woodard himself.  There will be limited seating (about 20 per class) in these boot camps, which will take a more practical (vs. theoretical) approach to Method.  More information on Level 2 boot camps will be posted soon.

Once again, thank you to all of you who showed interest in Method and the Method Solution Provider Program at the conference, and we will be in touch soon regarding next steps towards various certifications.  If you were not at the conference and would like more information on being involved as a Method Solution Provider, please contact Danny Do Couto at d.docouto@methodintegration.com.   

Have a nice day,

Katie

On Wednesday, May 5 @ 1:00pm, Valbon Shabani will continue on covering exciting new features in Method. The main focus will be around the Estimate to Sales Order, Sales Order to Invoice process. The webinar will guide you through a scenario of creating and converting an estimate into a Sales Order which will then be converted to a QuickBooks Invoice. 

This webinar will take place live but will also be recorded and posted as a comment on the Method Blog and on the complete list of webinars on the Method Forum. 

Complete List of Method Recorded Webinars: 

http://www.methodintegration.com/cs/forums/t/556.aspx

After a long winter in hibernation, Method is finally back on the road again this May, and I’m very excited about it!  Method will be appearing at two conferences in the month of May, with our first stop in Houston, Texas on May 12th for the Houston User’s Conference.

The Houston User’s Conference will be held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel near Reliant Park, and runs from 7am to 7pm.  This full day includes keynote speakers, conference sessions on the power of QuickBooks and how to manage your business, as well as exhibition hours showcasing products that can further improve your business processes.

As a member of the Method Community, I’m able to offer you a $25 discount on your conference registration, and I hope to see some of your familiar faces there.    If you live in the Houston area and are interested in attending the conference, I urge you to click here for more information, or to register.  To receive the “friend of sponsor” discount, you must enter the code SPON25 at the time of registration.

If you have any questions about the conference, feel free to email registration@qbookusers.com.

I look forward to seeing some of you in Houston!

Danny Do Couto
Method Integration

On Wednesday, April 28 @ 1:00pm, Amanda Mahadeo will be covering some exciting new features and updates released for Method CRM.   Some of the topics that will be discussed are how to add attachments/documents to opportunities/solutions, an overview of the new charts on the Sales Center Dashboard and changes to Opportunity Stages.   

This webinar will take place live but will also be recorded and posted as a comment on the Method Blog and on the complete list of webinars on the Method Forum. 

Complete List of Method Recorded Webinars: 

http://www.methodintegration.com/cs/forums/t/556.aspx

On Wednesday, April 21 @ 1:00pm EST, Ryan Bell will be kicking off our next wave of webinars starting with a walk through of our new Outlook Plug-In 2.0.  Learn how to add new leads/customers/vendors/contacts, create and update opportunities, save emails directly to Method and sync calendar appointments using our bi-directional sync.  Plus, learn how to maximize the use of categories in your Outlook calendar.  

This webinar will take place live but also be recorded and posted as a comment on this blog entry.  You can also access a complete list of our webinars by clicking here.

To register for this webinar, click the following link.

https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/827113154

Cheers,

Danny Do Couto
Method Integration

Time tracking in Method now benefits from the new, snazzy timer object.  This timer object not only looks cool, it is extremely efficient and effective.   Check this out.

You enter all your standard information like Date, Name, Customer, etc.  After clicking the “Start Timer” button, your timer starts ticking away while you work.  At the bottom of the timer object, you’ll notice the “Auto Save” feature.  Turning this feature on tells Method to automatically save your time entries for you every 60 seconds.  This means less clicks for you and also ensures that your time gets saved in case you forget.  

So what happens if you get a call from another client and need to clock that time?  No need to fumble around with multiple timers.  Just hit “Save & New” in the bottom right corner of your screen, the timer starts for you automatically and of course saves what you were working on before you started your next time.  When you’re done your call and ready to go back to what you were working on, just click the original entry you were working on from the grid above and the timer starts off where you left off.  What a beautiful thing.

Danny Do Couto
Method Integration

Opportunities, Cases and Solutions in Method CRM now all benefit from our new Document Management feature.  So why is this important to you?  I’ll tell you.

The goal of any sales rep in an organization is simple – drive as many sales as he or she can.  As managers, owners and team leaders, our jobs are to provide our sales teams with the resources they need to do their jobs well.  Many times these key resources can be price sheets, sales presentations, proposal templates, press releases or even the latest marketing ad.  What tends to happen with these documents is that they are stored locally on the sales reps’ computers or, if you’re lucky, on a network drive.  This means if another employee needs access to this information, it isn’t easily accessible, meaning performance drops as well as sales.  

Document Management in Method CRM

The Document Management feature in Method allows you to upload all your documents into specific folders and relate these documents to Opportunities, Cases and Solutions within Method.  The folders help to organize the documents, helping to increase efficiency for your sales team.  This gives you a central location for all your documents.  How many times have you been asked “Can you please email me that Excel spreadsheet that...”?  Exactly!  

More often than not, documents can be reused.  Here is a perfect example which I am sure you can all relate to.  A client comes up to your sales rep with a competitor’s brochure.  After entering the opportunity in Method, your sales rep attaches this to the opportunity so they can refer to it when trying to win the sale.  During your next sales meeting, your team collaborates on how to best deal with the competition and decides to write an internal solution to refer to, which includes how to handle the next client who presents the same brochure.  Normally you’d have 2 copies of this brochure but because this brochure is stored in Method’s Document Management, the brochure has already been uploaded by the sales rep and can be referred to by the writer of the solution.  Talk about a full circle solution.  

If you’re worried about storage space or prefer to store these documents on your web server, you can use external URL links to refer to your documents as well. 

Danny Do Couto
Method Integration

Last night I was enjoying the spring like temperatures here in Toronto and decided to take a stroll with a friend and meet up at a local hangout.  While there, I quickly looked at my iPhone to check my calendar and see how my Friday was looking.  What I loved was the fact that I could see all my scheduled activities, including phone calls and meetings for Friday that were synced from Method to Outlook and over to my iPhone.  It dawned on me at that exact moment that I had to share this with the Method Community.  

Method CRM Activities appearing on an iPhone

My iPhone is connected to our local Exchange box at the office so all my appointments from Outlook already get pushed onto my iPhone.  Now that I am using our new MOPI (Method Outlook Plug-In), my appointments from Method get brought over without me thinking twice about it.  Check this out:

Here is an appointment that I have in my Outlook calendar.  I’ve taken full advantage of categories so “Yellow” means it is “In Progress” and “Black” means “Meeting”.  

When I open up my calendar on my iPhone, I can see my Outlook appointment, including who the appointment is for and a contact number.  

If I check out the appointment details, I can see all the goods on what this appointment is all about including comments, the priority and a number where Mr. Jackson can be reached.  

If I need to get a hold of him, all I need to do is select the number with my finger and it dials the number. 

Voila! How cool is that?!  Yes – I am an iPhone lover.  

Have a great weekend

Danny Do Couto
Method Integration

Last year, I was super excited when we released version 1.0 of our Outlook plug-in tool.   Now, less than a year later, I am thrilled to announce version 2.0 is officially open for public beta.  

Caution – please sit down if you’re not already, as you may experience higher than normal levels of excitement when reading through the list of new features this plug-in has to offer.    Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

New features for our Outlook Plug-In 2.0 

• Create new QuickBooks customers, vendors, leads and contacts directly from Outlook and have it instantly appear in Method and QuickBooks.   This means you will be able to create new contacts on the fly without flipping screens to QuickBooks or Method.
   
• Bi-directional sync of calendar appointments from Method CRM to Outlook or Outlook to Method CRM.  Choose the amount of days you would like to sync, or a specific day and your activities/appointments will appear in both calendars. 
   
• Categories in Outlook can be linked with Method CRM’s Activity Type and Activity Status fields.   Why is this useful?  Say for example, I set my green category in Outlook to match my Method Activity Status “Completed”.   Now when I finish an appointment, in Outlook I can assign the category like I normally would and the next time I sync, that activity would be marked as completed in Method CRM.  
   
• Priority levels can now be assigned to follow-up appointments.  This way your most important activities get the attention they need.  
   
• All email screens now support the ability to send emails directly to Method in a single click!
• Lookup email addresses from Method CRM on any email screen using the “Address” button.  Once the address is located, it is automatically inserted into the To, CC and BCC fields.  No need to switch windows to lookup an email address!  Can’t find the address you’re looking for?  Add it directly from the Address window.  How sweet is that?
• Turn your Outlook Contact into a new QuickBooks customer/vendor/lead/contact in less than two clicks.
• Step-by-step activity submission allows you to quickly see if the activity being added from Outlook to Method CRM has any open Cases or Opportunities that the activity might be associated with or require updating.  
   

The new plug-in packs a lot of punch and a ton of value since its free for all Method users.  A few things to keep in mind though: 

1. During the beta, all questions need to be posted on the forum.  Here is the link for your reference:
   http://www.methodintegration.com/cs/forums/19.aspx 
2. This plug-in only works with Outlook 2007 and higher.  But if you’re using an older version of Outlook, you can still use our older version of the plug-in.  
3. Unfortunately, the plug-in is a desktop app, so it doesn’t have the same flexibility you’re used to with Method to customize it as your heart desires.   See what happens when you get spoiled with the Method mentality?

Now that we are done with all the official business of what it can do and how to get help, click the link below to be taken to the forum post with instructions on getting setup.

http://www.methodintegration.com/cs/forums/p/628/2096.aspx#2096

Once you get the plug-in working for you, please comment on your favorite new features!  

Cheers,

Danny Do Couto
Method Integration

Method’s web based interface already allows you to create a QuickBooks Sales Order and have that Sales Order appear in QuickBooks real-time.  Slick, isn’t it?  What many QuickBooks users are accustomed to is the ability to convert a Sales Order into a QuickBooks Invoice.  

Now you might ask yourself, “What’s the big deal?  If QuickBooks can do it, why can’t Method?”

I get this question all the time and it really comes down to one thing.  Can the QuickBooks SDK support such a feature?  Sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn’t (more on that later).  Lucky for us, the SDK does support the ability for developers (like us) to take advantage of such a feature and we have now made this available to the Method Community. 

“Create Invoice” button on Sales Order Screen

The Sales Order screen now has a “Create Invoice” button located at the very bottom of the screen.  Converting a Sales Order to an Invoice is simple.  In Method, click Customer Center > Sales Order and follow these steps: 

1. Select an existing Sales Order from the left or create a new one.   

2. Click Create Invoice.

3. Each of the items from your Sales Order will appear.  Select the items you would like to appear on the Invoice by checking the checkbox and click Next.  The Invoice screen will appear, preloaded will all your customer information and include the items you selected.  Update the quantity you wish to charge, just like you would in QuickBooks, and click Save & New. 

That’s it!  

Your Invoice has now been created and your Sales Order has been updated accordingly.  So what if you didn’t Invoice all the items or quantity on your Sales Order?  Method acts the same way as QuickBooks, so those items will still be outstanding and waiting to be invoiced.  

Now, remember earlier when I was talking about the SDK and what we can and cannot do using the SDK?

Sometimes we get asked if we can covert other types of QuickBooks transactions, such as an Estimate to an Invoice.  Unfortunately, our hands are tied.  Intuit decides which features the SDK will support and if the features are not added to the SDK, no developer will be able to take advantage of such a feature.  For features that are supported by the SDK, we do our best to leverage these features in Method for the Method Community.  

Cheers,

Danny Do Couto
Method Chief Operating Officer

When entering a customer or vendor into QuickBooks, you already have the ability to add contact information for the main contact, as well as one additional alternate contact.  Is this sufficient?  What happens when you have more than one contact at that company such as the accountant, manager, VP, or sales rep?  In this day in age everyone has a cell phone, so if you’re like me, that alternate contact might already be used to store the main contact’s cell phone number.  Then what?  Thank goodness for the QuickBooks notes field!  With today’s new Method feature, you won’t need to worry about where to store these additional contacts and can do away with the QuickBooks notes workaround. 

Unlimited Contacts to QuickBooks Customers and Vendors

Method users will now benefit from the ability to add an unlimited amount of contacts for customers and vendors.  This means you can now track every point of contact for each of your customers and vendors without worrying about where to store this information.  Clicking on the “Add/Edit All Contacts...” button for a customer/vendor brings up a new contacts screen.  In this screen you can enter in contact information for each contact at the company.  Why stop there?  Because Method has built in CRM functionality, you can also enter in detailed activities for each contact, such as phone call conversations, emails, meetings and more.  So what happens if the fields we provided aren’t enough?  Come on now, this is Method we’re talking about.  Just add your additional fields to the new contacts table and drag the new fields onto the screen.   By the way, if you’re concerned about how to avoid certain contacts getting sensitive information, keep track of that with the “Opt Out” check boxes.  

If you’re wondering where these “additional contacts” live, they are stored in your Method account.  Of course the main contact and alternate contact for the customer and vendor are synced with QuickBooks in real-time.  

Two new features in one week – now that’s impressive!

Cheers,

Danny Do Couto
Method Integration

As a sales representative, managing your sales opportunities is pretty important.  After all, an opportunity that is monitored and managed properly could potentially equal a sale.  Throughout a typical sales process, a sales representative would update the opportunity “stage” to match where the client currently sits in moving ahead with the sale, as well as how likely they will be to pull the trigger.  Now wouldn’t it be nice if all I had to worry about was updating my “stage” and not what probability percentage we were at?  This is especially a nuisance to update if I already know certain stages typically equal certain probability percentages.  Seeing as we use what we preach, we’ve added a little something to help out with this.

New feature: Automatic Probability % 

Clicking the “Stage” dropdown list for any opportunity will expose a new column indicating the default probability percentage associated with that stage.  Once a stage is selected, the probability percentage will automatically update to the default percentage.  How does this benefit you?  You don’t have to worry about entering in the percentage manually by typing it in.  Secondly, you don’t have to remember to do it!  You laugh, but it’s true.  Can you imagine setting an opportunity to “Closed Won” yet forgetting to set your percentage to 100?  That would totally throw off the very cool graphs I talked about last week in my blog post.  

Of course, you can always add your own stages and change the percentages to match your needs by clicking the details button (... – the three dots next to the dropdown list).  If you don’t like the default set by that stage, just type one in manually and override it.  

What’s even cooler is that a new plug-in we are releasing will also update the percentage using the same perference you set in Method.  Oops...more on that later.

Cheers,

Danny Do Couto
Method Integration

When your sales team logs into Method this morning, they might notice a facelift to the Sales Center Dashboard.  “A picture is worth a thousand words” and you’ll see a few pictures, well charts to be exact, to help you know exactly how you’re doing.  We’ve added 4 new charts, each highlighting specific areas of your sales cycle and status.

Pipeline for Opportunities by stage

At a quick glance, your sales reps can now see the stage of each opportunity.

Since each new client starts off as a lead, you’ll be able to see the progression of that client in the pipeline and as the probability percentage increases, so will the potential sales dollars in your pipeline.

Conversion Rate

Shows what percentage of closed opportunities are “won” vs.” lost”.  

Leader board: Pipeline by user

Quickly view total open opportunities for your top 8 sales reps.

Pipeline for Opportunities by month

Instantly shows the estimated future values of your opportunities by month, based on the currently logged in sales rep. 

Oh and don’t worry, we haven’t taken away the activity calendar.  It’s just next to the “Charts” section tab now.

Enjoy the new charts.  I know I do!

Cheers,

Danny Do Couto
Method Integration

The CPA Technology Advisor, an online and print publication, is a definitive resource for more than 40,000 tax and accounting professionals.  Last week, I was asked to be a guest for a podcast hosted by Darren Root (President @ Root & Associates LLC) and Doug Sleeter (President @ The Sleeter Group).  These two individuals know a thing or two about the QuickBooks community and it was my pleasure to spend some time discussing what Method brings to the table.  Click the link below to listen to the podcast.

Podcast - Episode 27: Method Integration

Cheers,

Danny Do Couto
Method Integration