Small Business | Forum « What is the best CRM for small business?

What is the best CRM for small business? (17 posts)

Topic tags: CRM

Jeremy Knight said
1 year, 3 months ago:
With growth comes the need for organisation which can hinder growth If you implement the wrong process. With many options out there these days I would be really interested to learn what decisions you made when deciding on a CRM solution – or not! All feedback gratefully received.
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Mark Ritter said
1 year, 3 months ago:
There is no cut and dry answer to this question. So much depends on your organization and what you want to track and what you want to see from the system. Keep in mind that most CRM systems become nothing more than an automated Rolodex if they are not managed and if management doesn’t have clear goals that are made known to the staff using it. Then there is also cost. Do you want a system in the cloud or on your server? Do you need mobile access? The list goes on and on.I have worked with CRM for 20+ years with a variety of clients. I primarily worked with a package called GoldMine which some would argue was the first real CRM solution. It is still an excellent option.
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Mari-Lyn Harris said
1 year, 3 months ago:
@Mark it’s a great package..
I have been using GIST, it’s free all your contacts on online..you can export them into your address book, it pulls your connections from Facebook, Twitter and you can upload from LinkedIn as well. When you contact someone, you can leave a note. The other thing I am doing is adding tags – not just where I know them from, but what category they are in. You can Tweet and repost their content. It’s the best thing, I have trim Contactizer a MAC program it’s a little awkward, Bento Box is another app for MAC.
For PC’s your options are better. And of course there is SalesForce more for med to bigger co.’s
I hope this helps you!
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Mark Ritter said
1 year, 3 months ago:
Sounds like most of your contacts have social networking ids. Take a look at Nimble (www.nimble.com). This allows you to access Facebook, Twitter, Google+, gmail all in one application. It is free for single users and $15/month per user for companies.They are calling this Social CRM.If you like it and sign up for the version that costs please put me down as the partner so I get credit. Thanks.
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Jeremy Knight said
1 year, 3 months ago:
Hey Mark and Mari-Lyn Thanks for the feedback. My interest is in a scalable cloud solution. For me it’s also about integration with third party platforms like Hubspot. Understanding the how’s and whys of a good CRM solution can be a challenge from a newbies perspective. What would be the top three considerations for any small business irrespective of sector when looking for a solution – or, as you say Mark – does it all depend on the multitude of variables?
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Trudy Phillips said
1 year, 3 months ago:
@jeremyknight. I like ACT! and have used it since it was established. Now that SAGE have purchased it, the software has been enhanced enormously. Any size business can use and they do have a cloud version. Look into it for a comparison to the others mentioned. I am going to look at Nimble that @markritter mentioned.
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Dan Gershenson said
1 year, 3 months ago:
A fan of Nimble as well. If you use Google Apps, you may also want to check out Insightly too. I’ve also used Zoho CRM, which isn’t bad as free apps go.
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Mark Ritter said
1 year, 3 months ago:
Nimble integrates currently with Hubspot, Wufoo, and MailChimp with more on the way.
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Joseph Kolakowski said
1 year, 3 months ago:
I use ACT! Very open to learning about what else may be available.
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Rob Peck said
1 year, 3 months ago:
Any of the CRMs have invoicing built in? That is what we need.
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Rob Peck said
1 year, 3 months ago:
Any of the CRMs have invoicing built in? That is what we need.
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Jeremy Knight said
1 year, 3 months ago:
There is a new(ish) product called Brightpearl but not sure how well it is spreading. It integrates a CRM with accounting tools. Has any one heard of this?
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Michael Jelacic said
1 year, 3 months ago:
http://content.zoho.com/small-business-crm/?utm_campaign=CRM_Campaign-US_Opt&gclid=CI2ow4idrK4CFQff4AodYGwjSQ + it’s free!
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Kristy C. Cartier said
1 year, 3 months ago:
@jeremyknight Our association uses ClearVantage. It provides basic functionality; however the add-ons can get to be expensive. For example, I wanted to add mobile registration for our conference. My IT guy said it would be $20k. Outrageous in my book.
I used Sage’s SalesLogix at my previous job and it was fairly simple to use for pulling reports and looking up accounts.
There is also SugarCRM, a free system. And I’ve heard that SalesForce is good. Check out Adam Metz’s The Social Customer as he mentions various kinds of CRM systems for regular and social CRM tracking.
Best wishes.
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Susan Montgomery said
1 year, 3 months ago:
Thanks for all the good information! Signing up for Nimble right now.
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Mark Ritter said
1 year, 3 months ago:
Great Susan. It is a really cool application.
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Mark Ritter said
1 year, 3 months ago:
After working in the CRM market for so long I really worry about anything that is free. Yes, it may be a great way to get your feet wet. But I can’t see how any of these free apps can take you all the way. And please make sure that you can get your data back out of these apps when the time comes to move to something more robust. Because you will move eventually.
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Steve Ireland said
1 year, 3 months ago:
We are currently using Karma. But in the past I was a huge salesforce.com user and still recommend the system.
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