I have used many CRM solutions and spent many hours researching
and testing solutions for some of my customers. I have found that there are a
few options that work really well depending on what you're looking for.
Salesforce.com:
The Good: This is an excellent CRM and sales
management tool. The level of customization that can be done is more than sufficient
and the fact that it's an industry standard means there's plenty of help out
there for it. The layout and most of the functionality is straight forward and
easy to jump in and start using it right away.
The Ugly: I have two problems with this product.
First, the expense - it's probably one of the more expensive products available
on a per user bases. Second, is the fact that several of the plug-ins are built
for the most expensive model. Sure, you can get the group model which is not so
expensive. However, the level of functionality is greatly decreased and makes
the product not such a great choice.
Sugar:
The Good: It's open source! You can download it onto
your own server and run the whole thing yourself. The level of customizing you
can without code knowledge equals - in my opinion - that of Salesforce.
Additionally, since you're running it on your own servers you have even greater
flexibility. Last time I checked they also have paid plans. However, if you're
tech savvy and want a free CRM this is probably the way to go.
The Ugly: It's Open source! The amount of time you'll
end up putting into doing all the little technical stuff you need to do in
order for it to work the way you want may very well make it more expensive than
some of the paid products available. However, if you have a tech team in place
to take care of it or you're a tech and love messing with stuff like this it's
worth a go.
ZOHO CRM:
The Good: I just started using this one recently and
have been pleasantly surprised. I'm able to do many of the customizations that
I was able to do with Salesforce. Also, I have access to lots of functionality
for only $12.00 a month per user. They also have a free version for 3 users
that has some limitations. However, if you just want to give it a go that's the
best way to get started.
The Ugly: I haven't found much ugly with this one
yet. I will say that the new interface is so much better than the previous. One
downfall of the free version is the inability to setup e-mail reminders on
tasks. Now that I'm paying though I can do this and have found it to be an
excellent tool. I'm still exploring this one and may have more ugly a few
months down the road. However, I have been using it for about 4 months now and
have really enjoyed its interface and functionality.
do you have any feedback on Nimble? have you worked with it before? Very interesting how they integrate social media feeds and profiles automatically. Any thoughts? The good ? The Bad? The Ugly?
ReplyDeleteI've yet to work with Nimble. However, I'll do some testing with it and post back with some feedback.
ReplyDeleteJust posted a blog on Nimble.com http://bit.ly/nCuTeQ
ReplyDeleteI have installed Zoho at a number of clients who need a pure SaaS solution and it has been very effective for me. I, like you, am not enamored with the expense or complexity of Salesforce in most environments. I believe it is a manager-centric tool rather than a sales-centric tool and consequently doesn't operate as easily as I would like.
ReplyDeleteOften I use a product called Chaos Intellect. This is a resident software but you can host an online database common to multiple users. While quite simple, it is feature rich for most sales tasks. Because of it's simplicity to use and significant functionality, and because I can load my personal database, along with the operating software onto a thumb drive I carry with me, and because it has a functional email client inherent, this is the one I use personally for my operations.