4 Google Apps Contacts Tips

October 5, 2011 by · Leave a Comment

Google Apps Contacts helps you to organize the people in your life for doing business or building relationships.  Over time, it has evolved to become more useful while retaining the signature Google simplicity in appearance and experience.

As you grow your use of Google Apps, here are some productivity and collaboration tips to help you with managing the relationships in your world:

  1. Starred In Android Google ContactsAssign Android Starred Contacts.  If you have an Android mobile phone, you can assign people to a group called “Starred In Android.”  This is a quick and accessible list of your Google Contacts that you can scan and keep top of mind for next steps in your business interactions.  Refresh this list weekly to help you keep a prioritized list of people and to touch base to nurture the relationships.
  2. Add Birthdays.  The birthday field can be added to a Contact record.  Your person’s birthday then appears in your Google Apps Calendar.  This allows you to send something special to help them know they are remembered.  An email, Facebook comment or an e-card via Hallmark all work.
  3. Group Contacts For Easy Email Distribution.  You can communicate quickly and easily with Groups.  Add people to their respective groups.  Be sure to BCC the Group distribution list to protect recipients from data mining of their email addresses.  This is also easy for regular Calendar meeting invites when adding Contacts to specific meetings.
  4. Use SMS On Mobile Phone Numbers.  It is easy to work from within your Gmail interface and send an SMS to specific people.  Be sure your Google Voice is also integrated for quick VOIP calls.  You can rely on your keyboard and consolidated workspace this powerful feature integrated into your Google Apps environment.

The people you touch moves the ball forward in your business and life.  Take a bit of extra steps to integrate these practices into your personal workflow to experience easier ways to connect and drive your activities.

How else are you using Google Contacts?  Feel free to comment below.

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Gmail Rocks: Kicking Outlook To The Curb

September 30, 2011 by · 1 Comment

When we set up business systems for a startup, it is easy and elegant.  We implement Google Apps.  Everyone works out of their web client to interact with their email.  It is fast.  You can search.  You can chat in real-time with your team.  The other options for productivity are numerous:

  • There is no VPN to worry about
  • There is no downloading of email
  • You can work from anywhere
  • You can search everything
  • You don’t have to set up a new user with some crazy IT configuration
  • Calendars, contacts and tasks are in one browser interface
  • Did we mention it is fast?

Startups enjoy an advantage.  They are not bogged down by tradition, culture, emotion and irrationality.  They can adopt what works and is cost-effective.

Before Google Apps, businesses used Outlook connected to Microsoft Exchange servers on the back end.  We all accepted the world of IT.  There was a server.  There was an IT person.  There was Outlook and a VPN connection.  There was pain setting people up and making sure the connections were all maintained.

Back then, it was acceptable and worked.  We thought it was necessary because there were not other options.  As older businesses try to take advantage of the cost savings and productivity increases of cloud computing, they have a problem.  It is not a technology problem.  That can be accomplished with good consulting.  Migrating data, setting up Google Apps and driving collaboration are all able to be accomplished.

The challenge lies in getting people to embrace what is good for them.  They love that old interface they have grown comfortable with.  It is a change management issue.  They like the Outlook experience because they are familiar with it.  They want the old and the new.  Sometimes, they just want the old and ignore the fact the world has changed and moved with great speed.

Outlook can work.  However, it creates drag on what is possible.  It is an artificial connection between the old and new.  Using the web client to interact with Google Apps is the true form design which millions of people get along with and enjoy.  They are not thinking about the IT.  They are just getting things done.

Outlook synced with Google Apps means:

  • There is still one more failure point
  • There is an IMAP or POP3 connection which has to be maintained
  • Google Sync has to be used to maintain two sets of data – your email client and a server on the internet
  • Bandwidth usage from connecting to a server on the internet
  • Configuration of individual Outlook clients (You can’t just turn it on)
  • Missing collaboration and productivity opportunities by being connected in real-time with your team

It is doable.  It is precarious and more work.  Google Sync has to be used and its power can be found by clicking here.

I say, kick Outlook to the curb and get rid of the IT headaches.  Better to be uncomfortable for a small bit and learn to change than insist on old outdated forms which keep you in the slow lane.  Of course, it takes leadership to make it happen either way.

What do you think?  Feel free to comment.

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Google Sites For Customer Collaboration

September 13, 2011 by · Leave a Comment

Google Sites is a ready-made environment for an intranet to store your knowledge base.  Anyone on your team can collaborate with others in a secure area around files, process, content and numerous other internal pieces of information that helps your team get things done.

There is also great opportunity to enhance your customer experience by using Google Sites to create a secure or public access site for your service delivery.  In our Google Apps consulting, we have implemented many different types of strategies and solutions.  Here are a few which can help you leverage Google Sites for increasing customer loyalty and revenue:

  1. Project management.  You can set up a Google Site with specific external user access to track items related to a project.  A checklist of outstanding action items, a blog for ongoing communications and a file storage area can all be pages within the site.  You can build individual pages as necessary.  Keep the design simple and easy so that everyone adopts the tool.  Your customer can set up notifications to see what work has been done.  Every project may require different combinations of pages depending on what you are delivering.  Customize the look and feel to create a rich experience for your customer.
  2. Reporting and dashboards.  If you are managing any type of metrics for your customers, you can create a Google Site which acts as a home base for ongoing reporting.  Use this to give your analysis.  Combine it with Google Spreadsheets as well.  This becomes a historical ledger for the value you created.  The collaboration can be a strong point of partnering with your customers.
  3. Requirements and scoping.  If you are engaged in defining a problem or bringing together multiple groups of people to explore an issue, then creating a securely accessed Google Site that shares your findings and thoughts consolidates the group’s thinking.  They can add their thoughts to a stream of messages and help build the picture you may be seeking to define.  This can work for consulting work or sales.
  4. Sharing private value.  You may have some marquis customers that you want to share value with over time.  Keeping your information consolidated and using Google Docs in conjunction with your Google Sites, you can design an extranet for special customers.  They can find special white papers in a file manager, executive briefs, analysis and special news content.  Think about how information can be consolidated and used to bring heightened and precise value to your specific customer or set of customers.

As you can see, Google Sites can be extended to collaborate with customers in a way that increases your value perception.  By building secure access sites that are custom designed, it shows great care and design.  The value of this asset can grow between you and your specific customer or exclusive audiences.

What do you think of using such strategies for your customers?

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Growing Your Business With Google Apps

August 30, 2011 by · 2 Comments

If you have more than one person and have customers, then growing your business with Google Apps is one of the most strategic systems you can use.  It is a cloud-based software system which allows you to interact with your team wherever they are in the world instantly.  Google Apps also allows you to provide real-time interaction with your customers to provide a high level of service to them.

If you are getting started, here are some strategies to allow your business to grow with Google Apps:

  1. Hire anywhere and everywhere.  Free yourself from geography.  Look for talent where it is found and trust your system to help you manage the projects and communications of your business.  Setting up a new person is secure and takes minutes to do.  It is not like the old days of having an IT setup of a computer with image software for someone far off and ensuring their VPN is connected.  Today, you can set up a username and let them be part of your team.
  2. Use Google Sites for a powerful intranet.  Your knowledge base and knowledge sharing should be captured in Google Sites.  Without a username, others are not able to access your information.  Store what is important, accessible and searchable for your team.  Anticipate that people will come and go.  However, your data and processes should be in one place.  If you ever sell your company, it is a valuable asset which allows you to extend your business and grow it continually.
  3. Connect everyone on Google Chat.  Part of each user’s setup should be their Google Chat within their Gmail setup as well as on their mobile devices.  Regardless of where people are located, they can connect instantly for answers.  Set rules for avoiding interruption by changing user statuses.  You can see when your team is online and get access to the people you need quickly.
  4. Share Google Docs.  Drive collaboration by using Google Docs to share and work on documents, spreadsheets and presentations together.  This will drive a culture where everyone works together.  Furthermore, knowledge sharing will be promoted by allowing access to documents online.  Salespeople can use past presentations and gain access to tools.  Support staff can find answers and resources to solve customer problems.  Make strategic use of how your documents are accessed.

There are many other strategies to help you grow your business with this vital asset.  You can continue discovering and stretching the capabilities of Google Apps as you grow your team.  You have agility and ease-of-use built into the way the system works.  Collaboration and productivity without obstacles is the key focus.

 

How are you using Google Apps to grow your business?

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Google Apps Maven: Mark Cuban

August 23, 2011 by · Leave a Comment

“True story. I was walking to a business dinner in NYC. Someone told me they were going to start working with a new manager and asked me if I knew him. The name sounded familiar and I thought I had done something with him during the Broadcast.com days.  A quick GMail search from my phone and I found 2 emails we had exchanged when he was trying to sell a company he was involved with back in 1996. That’s why I use GMail.” – Mark Cuban

Mark Cuban BlogIn case you haven’t read Mark Cuban’s blog post, “Am I Living The Google Lifestyle?” it’s a great testimonial on his use of Google Apps.  He is using the technology to move fast, get things done and make deals happen.  Speed and productivity are the allure.  As a platform, working with information, especially on a large scale is much easier to manage with the paradigm of Google Apps.  Cuban claimed over 500K emails and an additional 2 Terabytes of storage upgrade.  He saves everything for easy search and access later.

Google Apps Strategy Takeaways

Some takeaways for using Google Apps more effectively in your own world:

  1. Integrate your devices.  Your mobile devices, laptops and desktops all work with the cloud.  Use them fluidly, quickly and with ease.  Ensure they are fast so your searching is quick.
  2. If in question, save everything.  This allows you to have an accessible history of work.  Email yourself notes.  Treat your Gmail and Google Docs like an archive of your personal search repository.
  3. Keep voice and text integrated.  Google Voice should be used for logging information, accessing it quickly and responding.  It becomes part of your searchable archive.
  4. Value your content.  Your inbound and outbound content is valuable to you.  It has meaning in your world.  Treat it like an asset for business decision making and action.  Make it easy for yourself to access anywhere any time.

There are other deductions to make as well.  In our Google Apps consulting, we work on best practices, so depending on your use case, the strategies for productivity and collaboration can range quite a bit.  Push it to its limits and discover how you can go faster.

What are strategies you have developed in your Google Apps use?

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Google Apps APIs For Your Organization

August 15, 2011 by · 4 Comments

Google Apps APIAs your company adopts Google Apps, there are likely other features or other applications you would like to integrate with.  Google Apps APIs allows you to create custom applications and gadgets for your users that extend Google Apps.

Imagine that there are some specific ways you use documents in your company workflow.  You might want to create a Google Apps API application that integrates with an internal application to pull in the custom data for the next step in a process.

Or your Google Calendar might feed another sales system which syncs user data based on specific rules.

Or you may have an archiving structure you would like to implement for inbound and outbound emails.  Programming such solutions based on your custom requirements can be done quickly within the Google Apps platform.

Integrating For Business Process

In our work with our consulting clients, Google Apps is the everyday productivity tool of an organization.  Over time, there are new requirements which come from the desire to make business processes more efficient.  The data which is inside each users’ instance of Google Apps becomes valuable for further next steps.  Often times, double data entry may be tedious.  Thus, a custom application built for an internal or customer process can speed up the workflow for a team.

If you watch how your users are adopting Google Apps, consider the types of data which would be valuable to bring into other systems within your organization.  Then list out requirements for an integration app that would work to keep data flowing one-way or both ways.

Typically, the programming for such custom applications can be done quickly and changed as requirements change over time.

Your uses may want special gadgets they can add to their Gmail as well which can be other smaller projects to create as you find opportunities for productivity and collaboration enhancements.

What kind of applications would you wish to have working with Google Apps?  Feel free to comment below.

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Embedding Google Voice

August 12, 2011 by · 2 Comments



Google Voice used within your Google Apps Gmail account helps to drive outbound phone calls quickly and manage inbound communications from within your daily workspace.  We spend most of our time using the keyboard to generate content.  However, the integration of Google Voice within your email and your website (see icon above to give us a call!) can be used strategically for customer interactions and support.

Google Voice Voice To Text

The voice to text feature of your Google Voice mailbox allows the content to become searchable and part of an archive.  The audio file can be played easily and quickly from within your browser as well.

Using your smartphone such as your iPhone or Android device opens up another complete feature set.

Google Apps Strategies

Here are some ideas to consider in your adoption of Google Voice:

  • Create a support portal and control the redirect of the number at different times
  • Log messages to yourself for ideas and searching later
  • Use the voicemail to capture requests and tasks
  • Line up your calls and make them from Google Voice within your email/chat interface
  • Design a sales process to trigger your Google Voice in outbound marketing

The strategy for using Google Voice can open up new opportunities for collaboration with your customers.  Examine your processes and systems to leverage it fully.

What are some ideas you have?  Feel free to comment below.

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3 Google Presentation Tips For Your Marketing

July 19, 2011 by · Leave a Comment

Google Docs quickly becomes the mainstay of your marketing materials.  As new information becomes available, you can quickly update previous versions of a document.  This allows for collaboration to continue refining your marketing and sales presentations for your field team.

AscendWorks Consulting Kick-Off

Google Presentation

Google Presentations works like PowerPoint.  Slide decks can be created with graphical backgrounds and transitions to create a visual show for your sales and marketing teams.

Here are 3 tips to help get the most out of using this Google Apps software for your team:

  1. Initiate With Content. Ensure the people on your team that will be delivering the presentation in a speech, sales or marketing setting are the ones that create the content.  They need to feel it is theirs.  Start with a Blank presentation format and have your Google Presentation in the font and size that is desirable.
  2. Collaborate With Graphics. Once the content has been created, share out the Google Presentation with your graphic design team members to create the background and adjust for things such as font coloring, logo placement, etc.  Do not worry about the iterations.  You can track changes via the Google Apps revision history in the respective document.
  3. Use Speaker Notes For Consistency. You can add speaker notes to each slide.  This is visible to the speaker, but not to the viewer.  If the presentation is being given on a monitor or perhaps online in a web meeting, these will help anyone on your team remain congruent with the presentation any other team member would give.

Over time, you should continually refine the presentations so they are current and relevant.  Anyone on your team that has access to the Google Presentation should be able to use it, refine it and help the team make effective use of your new sales or marketing tool.

The strategy should center around these best practices so that all of your content in your Google Docs is optimized and ready for team selling.

What are some ways you use Google Presentations?


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Google Apps As Part Of Your Website

July 13, 2011 by · Leave a Comment

Google Apps is a powerful suite of web-based applications.  Unlike desktop applications, the documents are web pages.  Thus, they can become strategic in your way to market or service your customers via your organization’s website.

Typically, your website is controlled in a centralized fashion.  This makes change and driving real-time connection difficult.

However, you can partition how your website works from a design and functionality standpoint.  If your CSS is set up to keep a consistent look and feel, you can designate public navbar pages or private pages to contain embedded or linked Google Docs, Sites or Calendars.

Here are some ways to empower your team to update information using Google Apps with your website:

  1. Embed a public calendar of events. Whether you have seminars to promote or key dates for your company, you can have someone manage a Google Calendar from their Google Apps interface.  Embed this on a page and allow this to be bookmarked by your customers and fans.
  2. Sharing Google Spreadsheets. Take a Google Spreadsheet and have a team manage it via collaboration and sharing rules.  Publish this on a site where it is updated.  Keeping a count towards a financial donation goal with a real-time chart or a list of attendees for an upcoming event are a few ideas to use this for.
  3. Embedding Google Presentations. Make your sales presentation or marketing materials self-service and updated.  Your sales and marketing team can manage the content, look and feel of company presentations.  Your website can keep the most up to date copy available on a page.  Customers can access this easily.
  4. Sign up or registrations. These can be managed via the Forms function inside of Google Spreadsheets and embedded on a page on your site.  Your respective Google Spreadsheet will collect any incoming form information creating an easily managed database of registrants.
  5. Share white papers or case studies. Have a hidden page accessible from a form registration.  Allow the hidden page to provide a managed Google Doc with your white papers, case studies or ebooks.  As content is modified or added, it will be consumed as current by your website visitors.

Your website is your touchpoint with the world.  If there are barriers to changing the data, it becomes difficult to keep a fresh connection.  Structure your systems to take advantage of Google Apps intrinsic web platform.  It will allow your team to actively participate in serving your partners and customers.

What are some ways you could use Google Apps for your website?

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Google Apps People Widget

July 6, 2011 by · Leave a Comment

Google Apps People Widget

The Google Apps People Widget has been introduced to help connect you with people quicker and more conveniently.

It is located on the right-hand side of your Gmail messages and provides context from the message content to take action with relevant people in your message threads.

Saved mouse-clicks increase productivity and reduce friction.  The resistance you feel from taking action can literally come down to small extra efforts.

Some best practices to adopting this new widget in your personal workflow and collaboration:

  • Convert Email To Chat.  For people in your Google Chat network, a real-time interactive dialogue may need to take place.  Move the asynchronous conversation to real-time to get to decisions quickly without wasting back and forth cycles.
  • Get On The Phone With Google Talk. You have the option to resume the dialogue with a phone call or Google Talk conversation.  The controls allow for either.  Be sure to set up your Google Voice number as well for return calls.
  • Keep Your People Information Current. Moving quickly means having the right information at the right time.  Glance and check that Contact information is up to date and complete so you can act in the future or currently.
  • Think People.  Relevance is key to the information you receiving.  Turning information into action involves people.  Use the Google Apps People Widget to ensure you are connecting with relevant people around the dialogue from email.
  • Get Context. The People Widget focuses on people as the centerpoint.  Get other relevant email in an organization around the person.  It adds another dimension of context for driving relationships deeper.

Enhancements which help you with your speed will help you with higher levels of success in your execution.  Take note and integrate in the new habits to maximize your productivity and collaboration with your team and customers.

What do you think of the new Google Apps People Widget?

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