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Templates Make You More Productive!

Save re-typing the same thing!  Keep a consistent Corporate Image!  Avoid typing errors!

Microsoft Word and Excel allow you to set up templates with your own layout, logo, fonts, and even (if desired!) your signature. We can produce custom templates that, in addition, will look at the data source of your choice (for example, your corporate database on Microsoft Access or SQL Server) and pull through the contact information of your choice.

Example 1: Put Sender and Recipient details into Microsoft Word from a Custom Database using a dialog box:

In Word, click File > New. The templates have been previously loaded on your Workgroup Templates folder. Choose Company letter, fax, memo or e-mail. Click OK. The following dialog box appears:

From the "To" drop-down list, select a company contact drawn from the company's Microsoft Access database. Their details are automatically filled in, but can be overtyped for this letter.

From the "From" drop-down list, select a sender or choose "New Sender". If you enter a new sender, their details are stored on your PC and will appear in the list then next time you use this template. The Delete button is used to remove a sender.

Click OK and the details are filled in automatically in the company template. The document is also saved to a folder on a pre-set path in either the "project"" or "internal" folder, with sub-folder as specified. The file is serially numbered, and its details are stored on a log file.

Meeting Minutes

Minutes are usually tricky, containing a distribution list, sequential numbering of headings and paragraphs, and an "Action" column. We have set up successful minutes templates on Microsoft Word with these attributes, and even included the meeting number as the first part of the heading and paragraph numbers.

Other Possibilities

While we have looked at word processors in the above examples, we also do templates on spreadsheets (Excel) and Presentation Graphics packages (PowerPoint). For example, we produced an Excel quotation template for a heavy engineering company in Randburg and a pricing calculator for a national chemical company.

You can download a free Excel spreadsheet for producing general quotations. It allows you to put in your own price lists and then select items from those lists when you produce a quote. For more information on the Quote Sheet, click here.

Of course, your staff must also know how to use the tools you give them, so you should also look at Training them.

Here's a look at how a major organisation's expensive corporate image (which you've paid for!) is trashed by a lack of templates and suitable training...

Contact us:

For software training, support and sales – Sales Director

For templates, programming and database needs – Development Director


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