How to Create and Modify Opportunities in Act!

You want to know how to create and modify Opportunities in Act!.

Opportunities in Act! allow you to record details of any potential sales in your database. Within an Opportunity you can record the Products/Services you are trying to sell (and the total price of these), attach the Act! Contacts involved in the sale, associate Groups or Companies that may be involved, and track the sale from the beginning of your sales cycle all the way to the completion of the sale.

The way Opportunities are recorded and the functions that they can perform has changed with newer versions of Act!. Please follow the appropriate instructions to create a new Opportunity per your version of Act!.

Creating New Opportunities in ACT! 2005 - ACT! by Sage 2009 (11.0)

A new Opportunity can be created from the Contact list, Contact Detail view, Group Detail view, Company Detail view, and the Opportunity list. From one of the views listed above; click the Contacts menu, point to Opportunities, and then click New Opportunity. The Opportunity dialog will appear.
Begin by modifying the main section in the Opportunity.
- Opportunity - give the Opportunity a name.
- Contact - choose the Contact for whom the Opportunity is being created.
- Associate With - choose a Group or Company to associate the Opportunity with by clicking the browse button.
- Status - choose Open (default), Closed - Won, Closed - Lost, or Inactive.
Modify the Forecast section accordingly.
- Process - choose the Opportunity Process that contains the sales Stages needed. For more information on Opportunity Processes please refer to the following Knowledgebase document:
  
  Title: How to Manage Opportunities Processes in ACT!
  Answer ID: How to Manage Opportunity Processes in ACT! 2005 - 2009
- Stage - choose the Stage associated with this new Opportunity.
- Probability - enter a Probability from 0 to 100.
- Est. Close Date - choose the estimated Close Date for the new Opportunity.
Use the Add and Delete buttons to add and remove Products/Services related to the new Opportunity under the Products / Services tab.
- Additional Products/Services can be added to the Opportunity. These will be used to compute a Weighted Total and a complete total.
  Note: The Weighted Total is a calculation based on the product Total and the Probability of closing the Opportunities. The grand Total is the sum of all Opportunities in the list, regardless of Stage
If needed, you may add data to the custom Opportunity fields under the User Fields tab
- The names and attributes of these 8 Opportunity fields can be modified to contain customized user data. Please refer to the following Knowledgebase document for more information:
  
  Title: How to Manage Opportunity User Fields
  Answer ID: The article that was linked here is no longer available, try searching our knowledgebase for similar terms.
You may add details or comments to the Opportunity under the Details tab.
- You can modify the font size, color, text alignment and more to any text added to the details tab.
Under the Opportunity Info you can view more information about the Opportunity.
- You can view various dates important to the Opportunity, change the Record Manager for the Opportunity, use the Referred by and Competitor field to assist with sales, and give a Reason as to why the Opportunity was won, lost, or set to inactive.
You may make the Opportunity private by enabling the Private check box. Only the Record Manager for the Opportunity will be able to view the opportunity if it is set to Private.
You may schedule a Follow Up Activity for this Opportunity when you create it.
When finished, click OK.

The Opportunity that was created is now viewable on the Opportunity List and under the Opportunities tab for the contact it was created for. It can also be viewed under the Opportunities tab of any groups or companies that the contact is a member of. You can modify the opportunity once it has been created by locating the opportunity under one of the locations mentioned previously and double-clicking the opportunity. This will show the Opportunity dialog again and allow you to make any changes. Once complete, clicking the OK button will save any changes.

Creating New Opportunities in ACT! by Sage 2010 and later

In Act! 2010 and later, an Opportunity can be created as a stand-alone record, much like a Contact record, or a Group or Company record. Use the following instructions to create a new Opportunity.

Click the Opportunities navigation button on the left of the screen.
On the Opportunities layout, click the New button at the top of the screen. The Opportunity Detail View displays.
Begin by modifying the main section in the Opportunity.
- Opportunity Name - use a descriptive name that would distinguish this Opportunity from others.
- Status - choose Open (default), Close - Won, Close - Lost, or Inactive.
- Process - choose the opportunity process that contains the sales stages needed. You can also create your own sales processes for different parts of your business. For more information on Opportunity Processes please refer to the following Knowledgebase article:
  
  How do I manage Opportunity Processes in Act! versions 2010 and later?
  Answer ID: How do I manage Opportunity Processes in Act! versions 2010 and later?
- Stage - select the stage the most closely matches where you are in the sales process.
- Probability - enter the percentage from 0 to 100, that you will win this deal.
- Est. Close Date - enter the date that you believe the client will close the deal. Today's date appears by default.
If necessary, add an associated Contact record.
- Click the Contacts tab then click Add/Remove Contacts.
- The Select Contacts dialog box appears, locate and select the Contact that you would like to associate with this Opportunity.
- Click the single arrow pointing to the right to move the Contact record into the Selected Contacts box.
- Click OK to add the contact to the Opportunity and close the dialog box.
If necessary, add an associated Company or Group.
- Click the Groups/Companies tab.
- From the Show for: drop-down list, select Groups and Sub Groups or Companies and Divisions then click the Add/Remove button.
- The Add/Remove dialog box appears for either Groups or Companies. Locate the selection that you would like to associate with this Opportunity.
- Click the single arrow pointing to the right to move the Group/Company record into the box to the right of the screen.
- Click OK to add the Group/Company to the Opportunity and close the dialog box.
Click the Products/Services tab and click Add. The Add/Edit Product dialog box appears. Enter the Product/Service or select from the drop-down list.

NOTE: Entering a new ad hoc Product or Service name does not automatically add it to the list. To add a Product to the list, please us the following steps: Adding Product/Services to the list
1. Click the Name or Item # drop-down arrow and select Edit List Values.
2. The Manage Product List dialog box appears. Click Add.
4. Enter a Product/Service name, item number, cost, and price. Click OK to save the new item and close the dialog box.
Enter the quantity/hours for the product/service. You can use the decimal place in Quantity to indicate service hours (e.g., 1.5 hours).
The Cost and Price are automatically entered if you selected a product/service from the drop-down list. If you have not add the item to the drop down list, then you must enter the price and the cost.
If you are offering a discount for the product or service, you may enter that information in the Discount or Adjusted Price field. When you enter an Adjusted Price, the Discount percent is calculated and displayed. If you enter a Discount percent, the Adjusted Price is calculated and displayed.
Click OK to save your Product/Service addition.
On the Notes tab, enter any additional information that you want to associate with this opportunity.
On the Strategy or User Fields tabs enter any additional information that you would like to associate with your Opportunity.
When you are done, you can close the Opportunity view.