Argonaut Systems
PROSPECTS! Lite
Prospect Lists and Sales Forecasts
version 1.0

DESCRIPTION
===========
You have taken the first steps to automate your sales function with Symantec 
ACT! You are managing your contacts, but you still have to manually develop 
sales forecasts from this data since ACT does not allow full manipulation of 
the data in it's reports. The computer is a wonderful, time saving tool, but 
only if you use it to minimize the paperwork required of the company's sales 
team. 

PROSPECTS! is the answer. This new software more accurately forecasts sales 
than educated guesses by the average sales personnel.  PROSPECTS links 
Symantec ACT version 3.x/4.x databases to Microsoft Access version 7 or 97, 
which is usually readily available on newer computers with Microsoft Office 95 
Pro or Microsoft Office 97 Pro. 

Your ACT database (table) is dynamically linked to Access to enable you to 
report your customer contact and sales prospects data sorted and filtered by a 
multitude of parameters. Reports are also available listing orders received 
(bookings) and lost sales as well as sales statistics. In addition to this 
great flexibility in extracting information from your ACT database PROSPECTS 
will plot least squares curve fits of actual orders received and the projected 
orders weighted by probability of receiving each order. This results in a 
realistic trend and the most accurate sales forecast for your company's entire 
fiscal year. No longer will you have to depend on "blue sky" forecasting that 
is based on wishful thinking of sales personnel or intuition. 

The PROSPECTS! Lite software package is distributed as shareware.  The 
UNREGISTERED version is for evaluation purposes only. 

You may use the evaluation copy of PROSPECTS! Lite for 30 days.  If you find 
PROSPECTS! Lite to be a useful tool and wish to continue using it beyond the 30-day 
evaluation period, you must register your copy with Argonaut Systems. 

To register PROSPECTS! Lite, just fill out the form contained at the bottom of 
this document and mail it with a check or money order for $49.95 to: 
David Arnold 
P. O. Box 2616 
Saratoga, CA 95070-0616 

Upon receipt of your registration, Argonaut Systems will send you the latest 
version of PROSPECTS! as an e-mail attachment. 


PREREQUISITES
=============
* Windows 95/98
* Symantec ACT 3.x or 4.x
* Microsoft Access 7 or 97


INSTALLATION
============
***PROSPECTS_Lite makes no changes to your Windows 95/98 registry or Start 
Menu*** 

PROSPECTS! Lite is supplied in a single compressed file. Unzip prosp10.zip.
Copy PROSPECTS_Lite.mdb to "My Documents" folder. 

Start PROSPECTS by clicking on the Windows 95/98 Start button and on "Open 
Office Documents" in the Start menu. Double click on PROSPECTS_Lite. Microsoft 
Access will open with the PROSPECTS logo and menu will be displayed. 
PROSPECTS!_Lite will be refered to as PROSPECTS in the remainder of this 
document. 

If you wish to add a shortcut to your desktop for PROSPECTS:
1.  Right click on the desktop.
2.  Click on "New" in the descending menu.
3.  Click on "Shortcut" in the next menu. The "Create Shortcut" window will open.
4.  Click on the "Browse" button. A "Browse" window will open.
5.  Double click on "My Documents" folder. 
6.  Change "Files of type:" box to "All files".
7.  Double click on PROSPECTS_Lite.
8.  Click on the "Next" button.
9.  Click on the "Finish" button.


Linking to ACT Database 
======================= 
***Before using PROSPECTS you must link to your ACT database!***

1.  Click on the double rectangle icon (third from right) on the minimized 
PROSPECTS program at the bottom left of the Access window. This will open the 
PROSPECTS: Database window. 
 
2.  Click on the Tables tab. Right click on "ACT" and "Delete" in the 
descending menu. Click on "Yes" button when prompted if you want to delete the 
link. This is necessary because you want to replace this file that was linked 
on Argonaut Systems' computer with your own ACT database file. Click on File 
in the top Access menu and "Get External Data" in the descending menu. Click 
on "Link Tables" in the small popup menu. 
 
3. This will open the "Link" window which contains a "Look in:" box. The "Look 
in:" box has a down arrow on the right. Click on this arrow. You will see all 
of your disk drives listed. If your ACT is installed on drive C: click on 
(C:). If your disk drives have labels the (C:) will be preceded by the label. 
The "Link" window will now display all of the folders on disk drive C:. Double 
click on the "Act" folder. All of the folders under the "Act" folder will now 
be displayed. Double click on the "Database" folder. The window display will 
initially be blank. 
 
4.  At the bottom of the window find the "Files of type:" box and click on the 
arrow on the right of the box. Click on "Microsoft FoxPro (*.dbf)" in the menu 
that appears. 
 
(ACT databases have the same format as Microsoft FoxPro databases). The window 
should now display all of your ACT database files. 
 
5. Click on the desired ACT database file.
 
6. Click the "Link" button. A "Select Index Files" window will open. The 
display will be blank. Click on the "Cancel" button. A new window will pop up 
stating "Successfully linked 'ACTfilename'". Click OK. Click "Close" button. 

7. The file that you have just linked will be displayed on the Tables tab list 
as a fox icon with the file name. Right click on the fox icon and rename the 
label "act" (do not include quotation marks). Click the minimize dash in the 
upper right of the Prospects: Database window. 

8. PROSPECTS is ready for use.


ACT PREPARATION
===============
PROSPECTS utilizes ACT fields User 10 through 15 for sales forecasting data. 
The following list is the data that is to be entered in each of these ACT user 
fields: 

User 10	Product (model no., part no., etc.)
User 11	Quantity (quantity of product prospect is expected to purchase)
User 12	Unit Price (unit price of product)
User 13	Probability (probability that order will be received)
User 14	Expected Order Date (date order is expected to be received)
User 15	Sales Cycle Status (current point in sales cycle)

PROSPECTS uses the ACT Creator field as the salesperson name. ACT 
automatically inserts the name of the log-on user in this field. All of these 
fields are displayed in the Contact view Status tab. 

To simplify data entry you should modify the names of the User 10 through 15 
fields in ACT: 

1.  Click on the Status tab at the bottom right of the Contact view in ACT to 
display the fields to be modified. 
 
2.  -Product Field-  Click on User 10 field. Click on Edit in the top menu and 
Define Fields... in the descending menu. User 10 should be highlighted. Enter 
Product in the "Field name:" box. Click on the Drop Down tab. Click on New and 
enter product model number or part number. Enter a description if you wish. 
Repeat for all of your products. Check both the "Allow editing" and "Show 
descriptions" boxes. 
 
3.  -Quantity Field-  Click on User 11 in the Define Fields window. Enter 
Quantity in the "Field name:" box. Change the "Type:" box to Numeric. 
 
4.  -Unit Price Field-  Click on User 12 in the Define Fields window. Enter Unit 
Price in the "Field name:" box. Change the "Type:" box to Currency. 
 
5.  -Probability Field-  Click on User 13 in the Define Fields window. Enter 
Probability in the "Field name:" box. Change the "Type:" box to Numeric. 
Change the "Size:" box to 3. 
 
6.  -Date Order Expected Field-  Click on User 14 in the Define Fields window. 
Enter Date Order Exp in the "Field name:" box. Change the "Type:" box to Date. 
 
7.  -Sales Cycle Status Field-  Click on User 15 in the Define Fields window. 
Enter Sales Cycle Stat in the "Field name:" box. Click on the Drop Down tab. 
Click on New and enter the following items: Initial Contact Presentation Made 
Quoted User Approved Order Authorized Order Received Funds Transferred Lost 
Funds Lost to Competition Check "Show descriptions" box. Uncheck " Allow 
editing" box. 

You are now ready to enter the data that forms the basis for sales forecasting 
into your ACT database. 

ACT DATA ENTRY
==============
For each prospect enter the product that the prospect is expected to purchase 
in the "Product" box (User 10). If the prospect will buy multiple items make a 
separate record for each item. You can use the pull down menu that will show 
all of the product model/part numbers and descriptions that you entered 
previously. If you have a new product not in the list click on Edit at the end 
of the list to add the product. 

Enter the quantity of the product that you expect the prospect to purchase in 
the "Quantity" box (User 11). 

Enter the unit price for the product in the "Unit Price" box (User 12).

Enter the probability (User 13) in whole numbers (e.g., 50% should be entered 
as 50) of receiving the order for the product. For consistency in estimating 
probability use the following chart: 

Probability (%)	Description of Sales Situation

10	Phone conversation; more info requested; casual interest.

20	Prospect using similar product, but is dissatisfied or does not use anything 
and shows good interest. 

30	Prospect willing to set up a personal presentation.

40	Good interest shown; prospect wants to set up mutual activity such as a 
customer visit or demo; competition may also be heavy at this stage. 

50	Interest more serious; more than one mutual activity taking place such as 
formal proposal, executive presentations, or detailed studies. 

60	Your product is favored; competition is much lighter.

70	Prospect states your product will be selected, pending management, board, or 
committee approval. 

80	Management approves; need legal approval.

90	Everything approved; order in the mill; awaiting receipt.

100	Order received.

The date you expect the order to be placed should be entered in the "Date 
Order Exp" box (User 14). 

The sales cycle status is selected from the pull-down on the "Sales Cycle 
Stat" box (User 15). Use only the entries in the pull-down menu. This menu 
cannot be added to or edited. 

ACT PROSPECTS LOOKUP
====================
Since you will undoubtedly have many entries in your ACT database that are not 
necessarily prospects for new orders you may want to perform a lookup to 
display only prospects. 

1.  Click on Lookup in the top menu and By Example in the descending menu.
 
2.  Click on the Convert Query icon in the toolbar. The Query Helper window 
will be displayed. 
 
3.  Click on Product in the "Field name:" box. Click on the "Insert" button.
 
4.  Click on NOT in the "Operators:" box. Click on the "Insert" button.
 
5.  Click on BLANK in the "Operators:" box. Click on the "Insert" button.
 
6.  Click on the Run icon in the toolbar.

You can add the prospect query that you just created to your Lookup menu by 
clicking on Save and saving the lookup as prospects.qry. Click on Modify 
Menu... in the Lookup menu. Click on Add Item. Enter prospects.qry  in the 
"Filename and Location". Enter Prospects in the "Command name to display in 
menu" box. Click OK. 

ACT PROSPECT LIST REPORT
========================
The free Prospect.rep report form may be downloaded from http://home.att.net/~argonaut 
to view/print projected bookings directly in ACT. Although ACT limits reports 
to just the data that you enter in ACT and permits no manipulation of the data 
such as multiplying the quantity by unit price to determine the total amount 
Prospects.rep offers a quick look at your prospects for future orders. 
Prospects.rep presents a columnar list of Company, Contact, ID/Status, Expect 
Order Date, Product, Quantity, Unit Price, Probability and Sales Cycle Status. 
Copy Prospects.rep to the ACT report directory, e.g., c:\ACT\Report. 

Click on Reports in the top menu and Other Reports... in the descending menu. 
Select Prospects.rep and click Open. 

You can also add Prospects.rep to your Reports menu by clicking on Modify 
Menu... Click on Add Item. Enter the Filename and Location. Enter Prospect 
List in the "Command name to display in menu" box. Click OK. 


PROSPECTS! SETUP
================
Start PROSPECTS by clicking on the Windows 95/98 Start button and on "Open 
Office Documents" in the Start menu. Double click on PROSPECTS_Lite. Microsoft 
Access will open and the PROSPECTS logo and menu will be displayed. 

Click on "Enter/Edit My Company Information" and enter your company name and 
your fiscal year starting month. The Company Name is used on the reports and 
the Fiscal Year Starting Month is used to calculate your sales forecasts. The 
other data is optional. Data is saved in PROSPECTS whenever the "X" close icon 
in the upper left corner of a window is clicked. 


PROSPECT LISTS
==============
Prospects or potential customers are, by definition, records in the ACT 
database that do not include those that have submitted purchase orders or 
those that will not be giving forth a purchase order. Thus, the prospect lists 
omit any records in which the sales cycle status is "Order Received", "Funds 
Transferred", "Lost Funds" or "Lost to Competition". Also omitted are any 
records in which the product field is blank. 

Gross $ is the product of expected order quantity and expected unit price. Net 
$ is the Gross $ multiplied by the probability. The total net $ is the amount 
of revenue that can be expected to become sales since it is the total gross $ 
weighted by the probability of getting the orders. 


Prospect List (no orders or lost sales)
=======================================
The first prospect list menu choice will search the entire ACT database and is 
not restricted by date. 

PROSPECTS provides great flexibility in grouping and filtering the prospect 
lists. The prospect list may be previewed and/or printed grouped by 
salesperson, product. ID/Status, expected order date, probability and sales 
cycle status. The prospect list may be further filtered via a pop-up menu that 
presents a series of combo boxes that can be selected individually or 
together. Clicking on "Set Filter" will display the filtered prospect list on 
the screen. If the prospect list is acceptable click on "Print" to output the 
prospect list to the printer. If you would like a new set of filters click on 
"Clear" to reset the filters to none. Click on "Close" to return to PROSPECTS 
menu. 


Prospect List, Specified Date Range
===================================
The second prospect list menu choice displays the same prospect list as 
described above, but is limited to a date range that you specify. The date is 
entered in the yyyymmdd format. Note that the year is first and uses four 
digits. No slashes or other delimiters are used between date elements. A 
complete date does not have to be entered, e.g., if you want to limit the data 
to all dates in 1999 you could enter 1998 for the beginning date and 2000 for 
the ending date. 


Prospect List, Top 90% Prospective Net $
========================================
The third prospect list choice will show prospects that account for the top 
90% of the expected order revenue weighted by the probability of receiving the 
order with the remaining prospects listed as "All Others". 


Total List (Orders and Lost Sales Included)
===========================================
The total list of accounts including those that have purchased your products 
and those that are no longer potential purchasers are available for viewing 
and/or printing. 


Forecasts
=========
Sales forecasts in most organization are at best educated guesses and in most 
cases wishful thinking or blue sky revenue figures. The full registered 
version of PROSPECTS will automatically calculate a sales forecast based on 
actual orders received and the net revenue expected from active prospects. 
This is a more accurate projection of revenue that can realistically be 
expected since it incorporates past history and the revenue expected from 
accounts that the sales personnel are actually working on. It is unrealistic 
to base sales forecasts on sales that are not included in the prospect list. 
It is rare to have unexpected orders that significantly affect the total sales 
revenues. 

The specific method used to determine the sales forecast is to calculate a 
least squares curve fit of the past three months of actual orders received and 
the next three months of net revenue expected from the prospect list. A curve 
fit limited to the next three months of expected revenue because it is 
difficult to assign accurate predictions to long term prospects. 


Enter/Edit Actual Orders Data and Sales Plan
============================================
In the full registered version of PROSPECTS click on "Enter/Edit Actual Orders 
Data and Sales Plan" to open a local database or table in PROSPECTS. Data 
entered in this table does not affect your ACT database in anyway. Enter the 
actual orders received, the actual orders shipped and the sales plan revenue 
for each month. At the end of your fiscal year you can click on the "Clear" 
button at the top of each column to enter zeros in all months in preparation 
for data entry in the new fiscal year. Data is saved in PROSPECTS whenever the 
"X" close icon in the upper left corner of a window is clicked. 


View/Print Sales Forecast
=========================
In the full registered version of PROSPECTS click on "View/Print Sales 
Forecast" to display a graph of the actual orders received and shipped to 
date, the sales plan and the trend or sales forecast (projection). At the 
bottom of the graph is a tabulation of the monthly and cumulative values for 
the graph and the gross revenue predicted from the prospect list and the book 
to bill ratio. 


Orders Received/Lost Sales Report
=================================
The orders received report will display all ACT records that have the sales 
cycle status "Order Received" over the date range you specify 

Likewise, the lost sales report will display all ACT records that have the 
sales cycle status "Funds Transferred", "Lost Funds" or "Lost to Competition" 
over the date range you specify. 


Statistics
==========
Click on "Statistics" to display and/or print the total number of active 
prospects in your ACT database, i.e., the count of all records that do not 
have a blank product field and the sales cycle status is not "Order Received", 
"Funds Transferred", "Lost Funds" or "Lost to Competition". Statistics also 
displays the number of outstanding quotes, i.e., records that have sales cycle 
status of "Quoted", "User Approved" or "Order Authorized". The number of 
orders received and lost sales in the ACT database are also displayed. 


Help
====
An illustrated operation and installation manual is available in Adobe Acrobat 
format at http://home.att.net/~argonaut. 


DISCLAIMER
==========
THIS SOFTWARE AND MANUAL ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND WITHOUT WARRANTIES AS TO 
PERFORMANCE OF MERCHANTABILITY OR ANY OTHER WARRANTIES WHETHER EXPRESSED OR 
IMPLIED. BECAUSE OF THE VARIOUS HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE ENVIRONMENTS INTO WHICH 
THIS PROGRAM MAY BE PUT, NO WARRANTY OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE IS 
OFFERED. GOOD DATA PROCESSING PROCEDURE DICTATES THAT ANY PROGRAM BE 
THOROUGHLY TESTED WITH NON-CRITICAL DATA BEFORE RELYING ON IT. THE USER MUST 
ASSUME THE ENTIRE RISK OF USING THE PROGRAM. THE DEVELOPER DOES NOT RETAIN ANY 
LIABILITY ON ANY DAMAGE CAUSED THROUGH THE USE OF THIS PRODUCT. 

LICENSE
=======
This program is not free, but is copyrighted software that is provided to 
allow the user to evaluate it before paying. If the user makes use of this 
software for any purpose other than evaluation or evaluates it for a longer 
period than 30 days, then the user must purchase and register the software. 

To purchase the software, send a filled out copy of the registration form 
below with a check or money order for $49.95 US payable to: 
David Arnold 
P. O. Box 2616 
Saratoga, CA 95070-0616 

When payment and registration form are received you will be e-mailed the 
latest version of full registered version of PROSPECTS! as an email 
attachement. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PROSPECTS! Registration Form

Name:               __________________________________________

Company (optional): __________________________________________

Street Number:      __________________________________________

City, State, Zip:   __________________________________________

Country:            __________________________________________

E-mail:             __________________________________________


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


DISTRIBUTION
============
PROSPECTS! Lite may be distributed free of charge as the original compressed 
shareware release file without any modification. Any modification of this file 
without prior authorization of the author is a copyright violation. 

Anyone wishing to charge people a fee for giving them a copy of PROSPECTS! 
Lite must have the written authorization of the author, without which, the 
distributor is guilty of a copyright violation. 


OTHER ARGONAUT SYSTEMS SOFTWARE
===============================
**Prospect List Report**
This is a template for Symantec ACT 3.x/4.x. ACT is a very popular contact 
management software used by sales personnel. With a few minor changes to ACT 
field labels and the addition of the free Prospect List Report you will have 
the basis for a sale forecasting system that greatly expands the functionality 
of your software. 
FREE! http://home.att.net/~argonaut 

**SalesOrders**
Sales order processing is often a mixture of software programs such as 
database, spreadsheet, accounting, etc. programs that do not accomplish the 
task in a single integrated program. You would like to automate your sales 
processing function, but you still have to manually move data from one program 
to another and there is usually inadequate reporting and tracking available. 
SalesOrders is the complete sales order processing program. Now you can enter 
sales orders, invoices, and credit memos in a single integrated program and 
track backlog and receivables. Forms, reports, lists and labels may be 
generated directly from the program. 
$99.95. 


Copyright 1999 David Arnold

Argonaut Systems			http://home.att.net/~argonaut
P.  O. Box 2616			argonaut@worldnet.att.net
Saratoga, CA 95070			FAX: 408-867-5029

5/15/99
