Manage Tasks

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1

In my never ending challenge to use this as a crm I have started using the “Manage Tasks” dropdown when I am in the Contacts window. It is sort of inconvenient to get to. Is there a way to add a button to the home page to access these? I know there is a task window but it if I understand it it does not show DEAL tasks.

Am I missing something?

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2

You’re probably not missing anything.

The task management screen you access here:

…will show you tasks for contacts and deals.

The task management screen you access here (from the Deals CRM section):

… won’t show you tasks for your contacts (only your deals).

We’re aware that task management needs some work and it’s on our development roadmap which means it’s in the works. What we have now is more or less just the beginning. Thanks to feedback like yours, we have some great ideas on how to make it a much better, much more useful feature. I know the wait is inconvenient, but I think you’ll be happy with the task management update when it’s released.

3

Thanks and I don’t mean to sound bitchy. I can’t imagine trying to please all of our different styles. I’ve found in most parts of AC I am only scratching the surface trying to patch together my own little custom useage. Anyway, to be clear…is the Manage Tasks that is on the home screen ALL tasks or just the ones not attached to a deal?

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4

The widget that appears on your account overview:

… will show you both contact tasks and deal tasks.

The Manage Tasks screen accessible from the Contact overview:

… will show you both Contact and Deal tasks and allow you to filter them.

Also, you didn’t come off as bitchy at all! And, I really appreciate your participation here in the community. I hope you’ll continue to ask questions like this as you’re trying to perfect your workflow. A lot of people lurk here with similar questions but don’t bother asking so it benefits the community at large when you start these discussions.

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5

Thank you Brian. That is helpful to me. And usable, I think.

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6

I admire your persistence trying to use AC as your CRM. I gave up after a month trying to use the CRM. Like many users I use AC with a stand alone CRM. I use OnepageCRM which is $12 a month. Others have had good success with Salesforce but I believe it is a bit more expensive. There are many other options. I’d love to have everything under one roof but it’s just not there yet.

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7

I am trying that out in trial. It seems simple and usable. I hope the Piesync works with it. I really like the Action Stream feature. Thanks for the tip

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8

Did you try out Piesync? How did it go?

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9

Any updates on this Task list feature? This is pretty integral for any CRM with an actual salesforce. We were REALLY hoping to consolidate our Mailchimp email marketing and our Pipedrive CRM under one roof with ActiveCampaign. Already inputted majority of our contacts, etc, and once we were finally ready to move all our sales reps over, we realized there is no Task list! Hoping AC can get this feature live ASAP because until then we won’t be able to use ActiveCampaign at all…

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10

This is still a planned improvement, but its release isn’t imminent. I know that’s probably not the update you want, but this is something that will happen eventually.

11

Any movement on beefed up task features?

Besides some of the aforementioned, we’ve been wondering about tasks and automation. Specifically, is there a way to continue an automation once a task is completed? I’m not seeing that under the Wait > Actions.

Thanks!

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12

I have the same opinion. I am trying to leave Pipedrive and use ActiveCampaign as a CRM, but is impossible. Without a good Report Feature for Tasks.

Just see how Pipedrive made it and you will be amazed. A CRM that does not show how the tasks evolved per user, is not a CRM… :frowning:

13

I also thing the task list sorely needs some improvement! In particular, I find three big problems with the most basic of basic usability when it comes to tasks:

  1. Accessing Tasks
  2. Working with the tasks list (i.e. “manage tasks” view)
  3. Automating tasks

The fixes are so simple that I checked about a dozen times to make sure I wasn’t missing something because I couldn’t believe how much oversight there is in making it about 5x better with just a day or less of dev time.

Here are my observations:

Accessing Tasks

Tasks cannot be accessed from the overview / dashboard page. I can see tasks from that page, but there are two glaring problems with the functionality there:

  1. I can’t click “My Tasks” to see a list of all tasks (i.e. the main “Manage Tasks” window): https://cl.ly/3y0d470I3J0j
  2. The tasks on the overview section only say the type of task, rather than giving the info in the notes of the task, which is the real information that I need

There’s also no menu selection for tasks in the main navigation: https://cl.ly/0z292L2U3k0T

Working With the Task List

The only place to access an overview of tasks is in Contacts > Manage Tasks. Once I get there, I see two big problems with the way the tasks are displayed by default:

  1. They’re sorted by # of days until the task is due, meaning the tasks that are the least pressing today are at the top of the list
  2. All tasks - complete and incomplete - are shown in this view, meaning I’m seeing tasks that I’ve already done when, in fact, the reason I’m in the “Manage Tasks” screen is to do things I haven’t done

At the very least, it’d be good for AC to remember my last settings:

  • Status = Incomplete
  • Sort by tasks due first

Automating Tasks

For some mystifying reason, I can’t automate tasks associated with individuals, only tasks associated with deals. There are workarounds, sure, but they all involve creating deals I don’t want. So for instance, I may want to follow up with a warm lead who says the timing isn’t right like this:

  • Automated email
  • Postcard
  • Automated email
  • Manual email
  • Phone call
  • Automated nurture campaign

The only way to remind myself to send the manual email is to 1) add a deal if it doesn’t already exist, using an If/Then decision point, and 2) add a task to that deal. I’d love it if I could keep my deals nice and clean (i.e. not create deals I don’t want!), and instead add a task to the contact record.

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14

I’m just starting with tasks, because I’m trying to make ActiveCampaign the automation hub of our business…

And I’m amazed by what I’ve just read. Is it really true that I can’t use contact tasks in automations?

I really hope not - I have no interest in creating crud data in our system (i.e. deals that aren’t real) just as a workaround…

Please, ActiveCampaign… Take a look at this as a matter of priority.

Reasons why you should:

  1. I’m a reseller, and have made my decision to go on a journey with you, for better or worse. The better the system is, the more I can credibly promote it and its features.
  2. If tasks actually worked, I, and others would get our teams using ActiveCampaign to manage work. Once the company is managing its work in AC, you’ve got a customer for life - very hard to move away. If it’s just AC for email marketing, Pipedrive for CRM, and something else for delivery, it’s very easy to switch out AC.

If you’re interested in more detail about how I’m intending to build out our operational processes around AC, feel free to get in touch.

15

Thanks so much for your feedback! My name is Marie and Im on the Product Team here at ActiveCampaign. We are aware that our task functionality has some shortfalls. With that said, we will be investing significantly in the CRM in the coming months and specifically beefing up task management. We hear you and we are working hard to meet your needs! I’m always up to connecting with our users and learning about their businesses and how AC can help them. If you would like to chat further, please feel free to reach out to me msarmiento@activecampaign.com.

16

Thank you, Brian. It works for me.

17

Any updates on this? I’m a new user (10+ years on Infusionsoft), and am quite frustrated at the lack of basic functionality.

Much appreciated!