If I adjust my settings in Daylite Preferences, there is a category for activity set, what is this linked to and how do I use it?

Activity set is a collection of activities which may be either tasks or appointments or both. The category that you see in Daylite > Preferences applies to the activity you create. For example, if the first activity in your activity set is a task, then the category applies to that task only. If the second activity is an appointment, the category applies to that appointment. When you create an activity set for your contact, click the Activity tab of your Details pane of the contact. You will see a list of tasks and/or appointments linked to the contact. Each of those tasks and appointments appear in Daylite with a category that you had specified in the Preferences.

Tagging your tasks or appointments with a category is very useful. For example, you can create smart lists and include all tasks belonging to a specific category. As you add more items into Daylite with the same category, the smart list gets updated.

Hope this helps

not really
wish there was some sort of book or manual, other than the online one with advice and help.

I thought that I would transition from ACT over to Daylite and have all sorts of great things happen. But, I have relegated myself to just using the organization and contact section of this program, nothing else.

Hi Danny

It's usually not ideal to use the contact management features of Daylte alone: What's currently preventing you from using other aspects of the application? I'm sure we at Marketcircle, as well as hundreds of other dedicated users here on the forums, would be happy to help you get going.

Thx,

Adam -

Thanks for the reply. I originally asked back in the industry specific forum about using Daylite for Recruiting. There are apparently, only a few people using it for this industry and no one seems to have a handle on how to make it all flow together.

How do you do your business--in other words, how does stuff get done? Do you call people, or do they call you? How do you currently manage files, and indeed, what is a "file" to you? Etc.

Learning how to use Daylite effectively is really just a bit of detective work. I liken it to writing down and really looking hard at things you do all the time, like, say, brushing your teeth or making breakfast. What things do you do, in what order? And are there surprising hills or obstacles, etc.

not sure where to start?

Well what exactly do you do? Recruiting is a big field and there are all kinds of different businesses that are involved in recruitment. What kind of work do you do? How do you get business? Who are your clients or customers? Do you call people a lot during the day, or do you tend to do more "quiet" work. Or are you out of the office a lot?

Thanks for sharing here; hopefully you and others will find the experience useful--we find that the more discussion there is about how to use Daylite in a particular context, the more ideas it sparks for us and for users!

I am a boutique recruiter. I deal with many industries and companies. I also have many contacts within each of those companies. I also belong to associations and groups related to the industries. Then on the other side, I have many candidates. I receive their resumes and other applications that I have set up in word. I am on the phone almost all day, either receiving calls or making calls. In most cases, cold calling. I also try to track resumes that I send out to a client for review. Then I set up follow up calls or emails. Interviews and follow ups to those.
I am trying to get the process streamlined and have everything connected, the emails, the word documents, calendar, etc.
Much more but this is a start.

Excellent, a great start to understanding how you work. So, it sounds like you have more than one process for 'doing business.' I would guess that there are at least a couple of paths:

1) A contact at a company calls you and says they're looking for a candidate. What happens next?

2) You are seeking or collecting information on candidates, perhaps exclusive of existing opportunities?

Do you maintain a database of all the candidates' resumes?

It would be especially helpful to know more about the steps that you follow for the various things that you do. Most businesses seem to have at least three or four core 'processes' -- the business equivalents of brushing teeth, styling hair, and making breakfast, which all go together to complete the morning routine.

deal with #1 first -
a contact at a company calls me or I will cold call an organization and then I will build up my contacts as I speak with people in different departments. If it is a new contact or organization, I set one up. First as an organization, then as a contact to that organization. I do not keep track of the phone call since I do not know where to put it. I usually correspond a few times with the client. Send him a form to fill out and receive the job description and a contract. Sometimes this can go back and forth a few times. My forms and contracts are kept in word since I have not figured out how to link them together.

I have not modified any of the fields in the organization table other than some keywords or categories. I have in the contact table. As much as I can for the person I am dealing with. I have also created some groups to link people with.

Jump ahead - I then call the client and send resumes to review. Follow up with calls and emails. Set up interviews. (this of couse would have to link the candidate to the client).

I do not know where to put the job I am working on? Would it go in opportunities or projects? Don't understand how the pipeline works or the stages. What is the difference between the two?

What would I use notes and tasks for?

question #2-

yes, I actively collect information on candidates. I maintain a job application form and the resumes in my word database. They are not linked to the contact in any way, but should be. I do not keep track of calls to and from them. I do not keep track of resumes sent out and interviews set up or rejections of resumes.

(I do keep all these records in excel and word, as well as some other places, just not in Daylite)

workflow - you can kind of see how things progress by my earlier notes.

this is my current workflow pertaining to Daylite:
if I get a job order - I speak with the client, get all the information, enter either new organization or new contact. I then search out candidates for the job order. Put the candidate info into Daylite.

get a candidate and his resume and then call existing clients or organizations to try send resume and set up an interview.

i do not use the calendar function in Daylite since I can not figure out how to link it to contact or organization.

Okay, thanks for the info. It will help get started with a good solution.

So first, to address a simple question, the difference between projects and opportunities. Opportunities are chances for new business, usually. So, if I were a design firm, it would be people I'm wooing for design work. When I finally get the work, the opportunity becomes a project.

Pipelines are logical processes that one follows to complete an opportunity or a project. In the case of a design firm, there might be two or three project pipelines: One for print work, one for web work, and maybe one for video work or something like that. Each pipeline has its own stages, which define the steps that are always followed to complete a project (or opportunity). Stages are not individual tasks that must be done, but "milestones" that have to be accomplished.