April 1 marks the 25^th birthday for ACT!, the product that literally created the entire Contact Management category back in 1987, and is attributed with being the catalyst that helped to inspire today’s enterprise-focused CRM (Customer Relationship Management) category. Why am I so proud of this? Beyond the fact that not many software products achieve such longevity and usefulness…that’s the most obvious. More specifically, it’s because I am the co-inventor of ACT!, along with Pat Sullivan.

We are in many ways very proud parents, as you might imagine. I’m not saying that the world wouldn’t have been different had Pat and I not co-invented ACT! any more than I would say that America wouldn’t have been discovered had Christopher Columbus not done so. Argue all you want (especially you follow-on competitors) but it was the two of us pioneering a new frontier, and that can’t be denied. What’s that cliché? It’s not bragging if it’s true!

The world was quite different back then: technologically from a hardware standpoint, sparse from a software standpoint, and so many of us were stuck in the, well, you know, “comfortable” ways of “managing” your relationships in a DayTimer® paper-organizer era. After all, personal computers were really just emerging, not to mention the even newer technology of a laptop. They were really only meant for word processing, spreadsheets, and simple databases. Or so most people thought.

Except it wasn’t enough for us. All we wanted was to gain more relationship effectiveness and thereby improved productivity. It wasn’t rocket science—we wanted to surpass our competition. We needed a way to apply technology to the mission-critical task of building, maintaining, and expanding our networks. The success of most jobs, ours included, required personal and professional relationships with depth and breadth. From that perspective not much has changed at all.

Meaningful business has, and always will, depend on meaningful relationships. Although we can reach more people today than ever before through the likes of social media, it cannot come at the cost and risk of thinking that personal relationships can now be diminished or trivialized. Greater technology does not trump stronger relationships. It’s just the opposite, in fact. We may live in a social-me(dia) world, but we must have a “value-you” perspective. If we achieve that, we can help others build relationships that will elevate them above and beyond their competitors, just like ACT! did when it began 25 years ago.

So, again, Happy 25^th Birthday ACT! Like any parent at the birth of their child, I could never have imagined what a significant impact you’d make on the world. For those interested in a more detailed perspective of that era, and our efforts to create ACT! and the Contact Management category, below are links to a 3-part series I wrote for Software Advice.

Today, the quest continues with VIPorbit and the creation of an even larger category called Mobile Relationship Management. More people in more industries than ever before have access to relationship management tools on their smartphones and tablets. With VIPorbit, I hope to empower professionals to harness the infinite power of building stronger relationships on the devices they use every day.

As published in Software Advice (www.softwareadvice.com):

Part 1 – The Birth of a Category Known as Contact Management
http://blog.softwareadvice.com/articles/crm/the-birth-of-a-category-known-as-contact-management-1100411/

Part 2 – Carving a New Niche – Establishing Contact Management
http://blog.softwareadvice.com/articles/crm/establishing-contact-management-1102011/

Part 3 – The Future of CRM – Going Backward to Move Forward
http://blog.softwareadvice.com/articles/crm/the-future-of-crm-1112911/

Click to watch a personal message from ACT! Co-Inventor Mike Muhney

For those of you who weren’t among the nearly 20,000 who flocked to Austin, Texas for South by, I want to share a quick summary of the two themes I touched on in my presentation from the book that Max J. Pucher and I co-authored, Who’s in Your Orbit? Beyond Facebook—Creating Relationships That Matter.

First, a truly meaningful life requires meaningful personal relationships. Those mutually beneficial relationships represent your spheres of resource and influence, or Orbits. The people in your Orbits are not separate from the social networking world, but in fact they are the strongest elements of it. What I thought might be a bold and controversial premise was instead heartily endorsed by the audience members.

My second point was simply this:  Truly meaningful personal relationships require effort to develop and sustain, but it is much better to invest in the infinite potential of close relationships than to be duped by the illusion of connection built by accumulating followers and “friends.” The bottom line? You need more than a social network.

I concluded my presentation with a look at the contrast between the “me-centric” attitude that is so prevalent in social media with the “you-centric” attitude necessary to build a strong personal network. I wholeheartedly believe that to be successful, in whatever we seek to accomplish, we must abandon relational voyeurism and opt to build relationships that truly matter.

I was reflecting on this as a result of the loss of one of our great contemporaries—Steve Jobs. Not only am I in the information technology industry, I’m also one of millions of delighted Apple customers. And so I found myself watching several of the videos of him that were circulating upon the announcement of his death. In one video, he told the story of a device that had been created long ago. The engineers were quite proud of its whiz-bang components and all sorts of new uses. In fact, it was way beyond anything available on the market at the time.

The engineers were focusing on the product rather than the customer and their experience. However, Jobs thought it was too complex and would fail to live up to his vision—the customer experience, or rather, an incomparable customer experience. It was that experience that mattered most to Jobs. Nothing more; nothing less. So, they never released the product.

He made a key distinction:  There is a difference between what the employees imagined that the customer wanted and what the customer actually wanted. Instead of projecting onto the customer what the employees thought the customer might be looking for and working from the inside out, he wanted to understand and meet the customer’s expectations, from the outside in. In other words, he applied the criteria backwards to drive the company forward. And we all know the outcome.

Jobs accomplished this by simplifying, not complicating things. You only have to visit an Apple store (here in our community or anywhere in the world) to feel what a delightful customer experience Apple has created. From the simplicity of product design to their streamlined storefronts, Jobs succeeded in focusing on the customer experience.

The question we should all be asking ourselves is simple:  Are we creating that type of experience for our customers?

If none of your customers have commented about how delighted they are with their experience, you might want to take a lesson from Steve Jobs. I’m not saying you should try to become the next Apple or even try to emulate their business model. What you should do is reverse your thinking…from selling to buying. Whether you’re a restaurant owner, a dry cleaner, a fitness instructor, or a real estate agent, the focus of your business should be to provide the best customer experience possible.

How do you provide that kind of experience? Again, take a cue from Jobs and shift your focus. Don’t think from the inside-out. Sell like a buyer. It’s all too easy on the selling side of business to lose the buyer’s perspective, but even sellers are buyers, too. And as buyers, we all know what distinguishes an enjoyable and, ideally repeatable, experience. Unfortunately, we also know what it’s like to have an unpleasant customer experience.

Remember that your best client is also your competitor’s best prospect. With each positive interaction, you’re increasing the likelihood of their repeating that experience with you. One of the most straightforward and simple ways to accomplish this is by implementing effective relationship management. It’s an attitude first and a strategy second, and it must be adopted by every member of your organization.

After all, we manage inventory, we manage “the books,” we (attempt to) manage our time, but we don’t often manage our business relationships with the same degree of care and concern. Implement simple, consistent relationship management practices, and you’ll achieve your ultimate goal:  providing an excellent customer experience.

Poet John Greenleaf Whittier once wrote, “Of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these: It might have been.”

Who of us at one point or other in our lives hasn’t felt that way about something? If we had only done that one more thing. Can you relate to any of the following?

I’m missing only one piece of the puzzle…

One more minute would’ve made the difference…

If only I’d had that one extra piece of information…

One more inch and we would have come in first place…

I lost the golf tournament and a $xxx purse by one stroke…

Whether in sports, in school, or in business, no doubt, we can all relate. Not only does the power of that one detail make all the difference in terms of results, but it’s YOU who can make that difference with an understanding of what it takes to capture its power. If it’s your goal to be the very best, most successful version of yourself, then the power of one is the distinguishing factor between second best and very best.

The power of one has an even greater application for the personal interactions of professionals in relationship-centric industries. When it comes to dealing with other people, they can accept or dismiss you based on that power of one. The power of one can be the difference between success and failure, between yes and no, between moving forward or not moving at all.

At the temperature of 211? water is extremely hot, but at 212? it boils. That one-degree difference produces steam that can be captured as energy. That energy can be used to power machinery, even huge locomotives. But reduce the water temperature by one degree and you won’t move that train an inch.

The same holds true for the powers of persuasion, inspiration, and motivation. If you remove that power of one from the equation, what might have been an otherwise compelling interaction fails to move hearts or open minds.

In each of us is the potential to produce that difference of one. And that one thing can make all the difference. That extra gesture of kindness, that extra effort, that extra perk you weren’t contractually obligated to provide, that extra minute when a customer shows up at closing time, that extra phone call answered after hours. The list is endless. But the difference is infinite.

A single idea can launch an entire company, some of which can pioneer entire industries, technologies, resulting in benefits for us all. The power of imagination may be that one thing that leads to your discovering a new solution that makes the difference between survival of your company and overwhelming success.

Finding your power of one as it relates to each and every one of your personal interactions will provide favor and opportunity previously unattainable. As I like to always say, there is no traffic jam on that one extra mile.

Raising the bar of your own standards, even those proven successful in the past, is the only way to continue surpassing your competition. Don’t settle for beating your competitors. Strive to be better than the best you’ve ever been. Washington Allston said “The only competition worthy of a wise man is himself.” And the source for constant improvement comes from the power of one. That means that it first and always must come from within.

Without seeking to accomplish that one degree of difference, you’ll likely find yourself wondering, “What might have been….”

There is infinite value in closer relationships. And that one understanding can make all the difference. Equip yourself with the right contact management tools to enhance your own personal relationship management.

I agree. In fact, I’d venture to say that no other public forum relies more on the power of, and the need for, deeply developed personal relationships than politics. Despite anyone’s opinion of politicians, one thing is certain—without their personal networks, their influence would be minimal.

But isn’t that so in any business? Whether you’re a politician or a professional, you need more than a social network.

The interactions leading up to that “magical handshake” often occur behind the scenes, not on social media platforms. Converting contacts from your social network to your personal network creates the momentum that leads to lasting value. Better still, capitalizing on the orbital, or extended, networks of those in your personal network allows you to extend your reach beyond those whom you know to those whom you need to know…and those who stand to benefit from an awareness of you and what you have to offer.

By discovering common connections, you develop deeper bonds. But it’s organized, disciplined contact management that helps you make the most of the details you learn about people. In any field, those little details don’t mean a lot—they mean everything!

Bill Daley understands the importance of building and maintaining a personal network. He has painstakingly and determinedly developed relationships that matter.  When needed, it’s those relationships that get results. In his case, it took him all the way to the White House and the President’s inner circle.

Daley also adds that while relationships have their limitations, “… if there is a personal relationship, there is a comfort that if you say you’ll do A, B, and C, you’ll do it.”

In the Oval Office or your corner office, relationships matter. Look for opportunities to reach out to the people in your network—and the people in their networks—in ways that offer true value to others. Offer to make introductions and connections for those in your orbits of influence. Record the details that could prove valuable later. Make your personal networks, well, personal.

I find it interesting that at the end of the day, it comes down to the strength and reach of one’s REAL personal network. Not the size of one’s social media presence. What does that tell you?

I couldn’t agree more. His statement strikes at the heart of what each of us do every day—juggle a variety of relationships and interactions. Undoubtedly, you see yourself doing business, but do you see yourself as a business—or a brand—within your respective field? And further, are you effectively managing your personal brand?

If you understand the need to manage yourself as a business, then you probably understand how crucial it is to develop sustainability by providing value to others. It comes down to the quality of your relationships, not the quantity of connections you’ve made. It’s not only about the follow-up but also the follow-through when it comes to finding, keeping, and satisfying those we deal with on a business level.

In the process of managing your personal business brand, you’ll find it’s not just “who you know,” but often, it’s what you know about others that helps you land a job, sell an idea, or seal a deal.

We can connect with more people than ever before, but our old methods of remembering important details are inefficient at best, ineffective at worst. Consider the discipline and competence successful professionals demonstrate. Too many people fail to apply that same discipline to the relationship-centric aspects of their personal business. And that disconnect is often the difference between success and failure.

The crux of the problem then is implementing the right tools to manage your relationships. Failing to do so is mismanagement of you as a business.

Bottom line? You have a choice:  stay the same or improve. What’s it gonna be?

Effective selling, as you may have experienced, is also great story-telling. Stories matter, they mean something and help to paint a picture, and ideally, to inspire another person. Real life stories can touch a person’s heart and soul. Recently, as a result of an article I was writing for another publication, I was asked what I have done for a living, and why I’m a big believer that effective contact management is such an integral part of successful selling. Here’s my true story that led this belief.

The Background

I started my career with IBM in 1975 as a sales guy selling mainframes. It was not yet a PC- or Mac-based world. I cold-called on the CEO of a very large distribution company late on a Friday afternoon. I got to speak with him, but literally for only about two minutes. In that period of time he told me that he couldn’t talk then because he was getting ready to leave for a two-week skiing vacation with his family in Colorado. He said that I was welcome to contact him upon his return. When I left that sales call and returned to my car, I “scheduled” a follow up in my DayTimer for three weeks out and noted two very important things - his executive assistant’s name, and to ask him about his Colorado skiing vacation with his family.

The Follow Up

Three weeks later I called him. I addressed his executive assistant by name. Once connected to the CEO, and after identifying myself, the first words out of my mouth were “Mr. Smith, how was your family skiing vacation in Colorado?” Silence, for a few seconds that seemed longer. Then he said, “You know, you’re probably a pretty smart guy if you’re working for IBM, and you’re probably assuming that your competitors are trying to sell me a computer system as well, which would be a correct assumption. They have all called on me in the last few weeks as you did, and each of them knew that I was going on the skiing vacation. Since I’ve returned they have all already contacted me, and you are the last one to do so. But, and this is what stands out, you are the only one who asked me how my vacation went. What that tells me is that you listened to me, you showed that you care about what I say, and that you are a professional. I like to deal with professionals and I like to deal with people I like, so yes, let’s set up that meeting.” I sold him an IBM computer solution! I never forgot what he said and what seemed incidental, perhaps even trivial, to me at the time. Remembering that personal detail was the key – the key to him buying, and the key to me selling better. Two simple details that were recorded, recalled, and used, in a then paper-based system, had made the difference. Using technology today allows me, and you, to do it even better.

The Distinguished Difference

So remember, little things don’t mean a lot….they mean everything! You just never know which detail may be the one to make the difference. How are you managing those details?

I had an interesting conversation the other day with a gentleman by the name of John Donaldson. I need to first tell you a little bit about John. We met at the University of North Texas where I am presently serving as Entrepreneur in Residence for Technology in addition to my normal business. John is a student there – but not your typical student. John is a 40+ old ex-Army serviceman who is a married with two kids African American who is trying to continually improve himself and his opportunities and is taking advantage of the Army covering his college expenses as an ex-serviceman (commendable in and of itself I feel for anyone serving our country and willing to risk their life). In addition to being married and a full-time college student at his age he also runs a business called StopSignz.com. I found John to be a most enjoyable and articulate person to speak with, and there is a reason that I included the fact that he is African American because it is pertinent to this story. I’ll get to that more in a moment…..

As we sat talking for nearly an hour we really spent time exploring those experiences in life that led each of us to where we are today. Upon meeting John, I asked him why he signed up to come and have a one-on-one with me for and how could I help him. He simply said he came because he wanted to learn from whatever experiences that have helped me in my career and hopefully find them useful to his own endeavors, present and post-graduation, himself. I instantly liked John because he was, well, a no-BS straight-shooter kind of guy, the kind of person you really enjoy being around – and he smiled and laughed a lot which made my experience with him that much more enjoyable and memorable.

He proceeded to ask me about being a software developer focusing on Relationship Management and the co-invention of ACT! many years ago that created the Contact Management category, and now my efforts in building VIPorbit Software endeavoring to surpass that category with one that me and my team are now calling Mobile Relationship Management. John revealed that he had been at one time an ACT! user before he had served in the Army. And so we got around to talking about how we saw people, and how we valued them, and how given the ubiquity today of mobile devices how it was possible to deal with more people more effectively in truly developing meaningful personal relationships with others via the use of software designed for smart phones and tablets. After talking about that for a bit, John then proceeded to really reveal to me his past, and what lessons he learned that have driven him to this day, and they corresponded with my own views of how I value people.

This is where I will pick up on his being an African American. He said that he was the 9^th of 14 children, and that his was the true Sanford and Son story because his Father not only owned a junkyard in south Dallas where he grew up, but that the junkyard was also their home, so his playground, as it was, was the junkyard itself. He, by the way, was the one that made reference to his Sanford and Son-like upbringing having been raised in a poor Black family. As he grew older, and began to think more about his entering the business world and carving his own path towards and in it, he shared a lesson learned from his Dad. Wisdom knows no bounds, and his Dad had plenty of it in a lesson he purposely applied to John as a young man coming of age. One day he took John to the office window and had John look out at, well, the junk. He asked John, “What do you see over there Son?”, to which John replied “copper”. Reflectively, his Dad said “I see bread.” He then proceeded to ask again of John what he saw in another area of the junkyard, to which John replied “tires”. Again, his Dad reflectively said, “I see meat”. What John saw, and what his Dad saw and taught him to see, was different altogether. He taught John to see hidden value, and how that value converted to the means by which the Dad was able to feed and shelter his family and provide a livelihood. He proceeded to tell him that people too needed to be seen differently than what was apparent, and that relationships in the business world had intrinsic value beyond one’s appearance. Despite the Sanford and Son similarity in occupation, this was no comparison at all because it was real, and it was formidable, in shaping a very true and serious attitude in a young man toward learning, seeing clearly, and working toward deriving more value out of something that others didn’t naturally see in others.

When John was done, the tide had turned as to who was really inspiring whom, and I said to John that his story was more meaningful to me than he would ever realize, and I’m definitely a relationship-centric guy and have been my entire career. And, it has always been stories like his that have inspired me to keep improving on how I see them too. And so I simply want to ask you as it relates to your own personal and business relationships - how do you deal with them, and how do you perceive them? What are you doing to not only see, but also to develop, genuine value that provides your livelihood through, and really only through, the quality of the relationships that you have? It starts with how you look through that window and change how you see more than others do, and then what you do about it.

To further set the stage of explanation, please allow me to describe a whole new and as yet unattended market and market opportunity. Here are some figures to support my claim that come from analyst’s such as Forrester, Gartner, and Mary Meeker (then of Morgan Stanley and now Kleiner Perkins VC firm):

• In the world today there are 5 billion mobile phone users, and nearly 3 billion people who access the internet
• By the end of this year, the number of “smart phone” users of these mobile phones will number 1.4 billion.
• Also, estimates range from 60-100 million tablet users by the end of the year as well (so let’s use 100  million, why not?)
• Excluding any notebook metrics, the smart phone/tablet mobile market by the end of this year will encompass users who have 1.5 billion of these devices - now that’s a pretty big market!
• The current global user base of all CRM and CM products produced by the “Big 7″ (Siebel/Oracle, Salesforce, SugarCRM, and Microsoft CRM on the CRM side; and ACT!, Goldmine, and Maximizer on the CM side) numbers less than 20 million, and I am being generous here. As “big” as Salesforce is thought to be, they only have around 2 million users globally - hardly noticeable, and more so even still with the aggregate of the Big 7 user base against the ubiquitous mobile-device user market thus mentioned

And so, without further elaboration or defense at this point, CRM & CM are just too insignificant to hitch a ride on their meager numbers, much less the category with which them represent. Subsequently, a much bigger, and new, category needed to be identified and named, and so the VIPorbit team has stepped up to do so, and we are calling it Mobile Relationship Management, or MRM. If you think of it as a circle that can contain 1.5 billion items, you can see that 20 million items in the circle can hardly be seen.

With any “category”, there will be later members who today still do not exist to directly appeal to this market of people who are relationship-centric, who want mobile simplicity, who will never be able to be reached by any of the Big 7 because their business models do not support (and come on, they’ve had plenty of time to do so) a new market momentum controlled by the consumer and no longer the enterprise, and who just don’t have the soul of relationship management to appeal to that level or type of user.

And so, beginning with VIPorbit as the first full-function Mobile Relationship Manager designed for these ubiquitous devices beginning with the iPhone, a new era is born. Grab a ringside seat of the birth of software solutions for a whole new class of prospective users at www.viporbit.com. It’s just our beginning, and we and this new category are only going to get stronger from here. And oh yeah, feel free to drop me a line at Mike@viporbit.com. I’ve got a whole lot more to say than this brief blog if you care to engage!

Erik Grob

International Business Development Team Lead

Not only did he draw a core of hard core ACT! Fans to attend but his presentation was insightful, funny and easy to digest for a non-technical person. Armed with practical advice gained from years of real life business experience I would enthusiastically recommend Mike as an ideal speaker on sales, marketing and CRM topics”.

Peter Joeckel
Managing Partner
Clients First

Mike’s presence, vision and drive were an inspiration to us all and I am sure helped us and many others world wide build their fledgling businesses. Many sales professionals whether they know it or not owe a great deal to Mike for creating ACT!

If you get a chance to hear Mike speak grab it! Mikes electrifyingly, motivational and visionary speeches will leave a lasting impression on you. And you will fully understand why thousands of sales staff world wide truly appreciate the contribution Mike has made to their careers with ACT!, still the worlds favourite software for sales professionals 20 years down the road.

Alan G. Brown - Orgraphics Ltd. London, England

Anise Mulkey
Owner/Agent of Mulkey Nationwide Insurance

Bas Reichgelt
Geospatial Channel & Strategic Sales Manager
Autodesk - Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Mike has a great blend of exceptional knowledge, experience, charm, style, integrity and passion about what he does. When Mike has the floor these attributes wash over the audience as he communicates at a personal level. Mike is a great businessman and communicator and I am proud to consider him a friend.

Ian C Corner PhD MPhil MCMI
Barston Consultancy Ltd. >Appleby Magna, UK

He is one of the great inspirational speakers who has always given value to those lucky enough to hear him.”

Mike Lazarus, Owner
GL Computing
Sydney, Australia

MIKE MUHNEY IS ONE PRESENTER YOU WILL DEFINITELY REMEMBER ! - I KNOW I STILL DO, EVEN AFTER ALMOST 20 YEARS.”

Milton Rodrigues
formerly SoftWare Manager, TECHNOMATIC Ltd, London.