Earlier, we sent you part one of the latest features added to Simple Sales Tracking. In part 2 of 2, we’ll highlight the new real-time collaboration capability called the “News Feed”.

If it looks familiar to you, it’s because it probably is. Each time you use Facebook or Twitter you find something similar. Facebook with its latest news feed and Twitter with it status lists. In the same way, you now have the ability to communicate and stay up-to-date privately and securely with others in your team.

2 Types of News

There are two types of news that make it to the news feed.

  • Status Updates – On the Start Page you’ll find a new text box near the top of the page which reads “What are you working on?”. Simply answer this question and keep in touch with others on your team throughout the day.
  • Auto Updates – Each time you, for example, create a new Lead or upgrade an Opportunity to an Account, the news feed will automatically announce the upgrade to others in your team.

News Feed on the Start Page

You’ll find that the Notice Box on the Start Page has been replaced with the “Latest News”. Whatever news item is most recent is now automatically displayed in the box.

To view a full list of recent news, click the blue “Show News Feed” button directly underneath the Latest News box. Click it again to switch back and forth between the news list and the chart and follow up information.

If, as a Full Account user, you’re operating in the “Closed” access model, you’ll find that auto-updates on anything marked as closed, will not be displayed in the News Feed.

Comments

Included with the new News Feed is the ability to comment on any piece of news. In that way, you can discuss an idea back and forth, get clarification or provide suggestions.

Smells like Chatter?

Not only is the news feed similar to both Facebook and Twitter, but it has also become a simpler (and more cost effective) alternative to Saleforce’s new Chatter platform, which they released earlier this year.

With each new piece of functionality added to Simple Sales Tracking, we aim to keep ease of use and simplicity at the forefront. Include the most important features and reduce hardly-used ‘extras’, which serve mostly to complicate.

In the same way, what’s included in the news feed is what we’ve uncovered as most important, without a lot of extra bell’s and whistles.

As for cost? The news feed is available at no extra cost to Everyone who uses Simple Sales Tracking. And for that, there is no alternative.