ACT! 2005 Tutorial

Opportunity Reports

An opportunity pipeline displays the number of opportunities at each stage in a selected opportunity process. You can click on one of the color-coded stages to create a lookup, or you can save or print the pipeline image.

To create an opportunity pipeline:

1. Open the Opportunity List.
2. Click the Opportunity Pipeline button on the toolbar.

The Opportunity Pipeline Options dialog opens.

1. Under Create graph for, select the contact or lookup option to use.
2. Select the users whose data you want to include.
3. Select the opportunity process to use.
4. You can specify a color for each stage in the process by clicking the browse (…) button next to the stage’s color block.
5. Use the Header/Footer fields to include text in the header and footer.
6. Click Graph.

The opportunity pipeline is displayed in a new window:

1. When you click a color block in the pipeline, the Opportunity List displays the lookup associated with that color and the Opportunity Pipeline window closes.
2. To create a lookup based on several of the stages, click the Lookup button. This opens the Lookup Stage dialog:

Hold down the Ctrl (Control) button on your keyboard and select the stages you want to include in the lookup. Click OK.

The Opportunity List displays the lookup and the Opportunity Pipeline window closes.

1. To save the opportunity pipeline as an image (BMP), click the Save button. Or, click the Print button to print it.

You can use the Options button to change the colors and the header and footer text.

Opportunity graphs are more flexible than pipelines, in that they let you create bar and line graphs based on a number of criteria, such as opportunity value, quantity, date range, and users.

To create an opportunity graph:

1. Open the Opportunity List.
2. Click the Opportunity Graph button on the toolbar.

The Graph Options dialog opens.

1. Under Create graph for, select the contact or lookup option to use for the graph.
2. Under Graph, select the opportunity status to graph.
3. Under Display data for, select the users whose data you want to include.
4. Under Dates to Graph, select the date range option the graph should use. You can graph opportunities by day, week, month, year, or quarter. Then enter a start and end date for the opportunities.
5. Under Value to graph, select Total or Total Quantity.
6. Use the Header/Footer fields to enter any text you want to include in the header and footer.
7. Select the Graph tab to define options for the graph’s appearance:

For example, you can choose a bar or line graph, two dimensions or three, and horizontal or vertical grid lines. You can also change the colors for the graph, the text, and the background by clicking the browse (.) button next to each color block.

1. When you’ve finished, click the Graph button.

The opportunities graph is displayed in a new window:

1. When you click a bar on the graph, the Opportunity List displays the lookup associated with that bar and the graph window closes.
2. To create a lookup based on all the opportunities represented in the graph, click the Lookup button. The Opportunity List displays the lookup and the graph window closes.
3. To save the graph as an image, click the Save button. You can save the graph as a BMP or JPG file by selecting the appropriate option from the Save as type drop-down menu in the Save As dialog.
4. To print the graph, click the Print button.