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Up until now I have used GOOGLE apps,EXCELL to manage clients. I have been looking at Sage/Act but it seems a bit complex, not ideally suited for what I do. I really need to manage the comings and goings of a fairly large buyer-client base...as seamlessly and simple as possible. I am not interested in generating leads etc. Just managing clients.
Any recommendations?
Thanks,
Keith Burkhardt
TBG
what is it that you're trying to do with your current set-up thats not working?
Keep track of a large buyer client base, various stages of each deal (offers-signed contract to board package completion). Basically handle each client from soup to nuts in one simple, preferably cloud based platform).
The excel spread sheets we have created are just not cutting it. I mean I can make due but would love something better, more efficient.
i know this is going to be irritating but....
for your own sake, you need to define the problem.
Classic case of two lists: what works, what doesn't.
Size of universe, i.e. think of it as number of rows (clients), # of columns (data you want on each)
You may or may not want to post that here but you absolutely should do this for yourself.
P.S. Anyone who tells you that there is a solution to "basically handle each client from soup to nuts in one simple, preferably cloud based platform" is picking your pocket. It's always going to be a trade-off.
Appreciate the advice . They seem to promise that , then when I dig into it a bit I find it's just a more elegant (more expensive) platform than what I use. Much of the real estate stuff is all about generating leads and sending out automated (annoying) follow up emails etc. just about to have dinner, will read your post more carefully after.
Wouldn't a salesparson's contact-management type of program basically do what you want?
Yes ALAN, SAGE/Act is basically just that.
my friend bought Sage for his plumbing production business and you'll have to spend hundreds of thousands to get it to a worthwhile state. the worst part of it is that 1/2 of the software is written in French, so good luck trying to figure it out.
If you define your issues clearly, I would go the route of having a custom built application that will sit on your website. It will be what you want and cost you less. i would guess that it should take less than 20 hrs to build.
and what about if you don't define your issues clearly or they change?
Keith,
How is Excel not meeting your needs? Where does it fall short?
Please list out everything you want to do that you can not easily do right now.
salesforce.com
After really digging into some of the crm or contact management software, what I have may be just fine. They basically do what we have set up with excel , they just have more bells and whistles. I am primarily concerned with tracking a clients flow once we engage in a deal. I have no need to retain clients nor solicit them or store a lot of personal information for sales calls etc. I can set alerts to remind me about follow ups via outlook.
Thanks for all the feedback!
You may well have already thought about this but if you are interested in seeing status by customer or status flow, you can easily add one or more status columns and add a number indicating status which you can then sort on easily.
Keith,
Take a look at Highrise CRM. It's cloud based, simple, cheap ($15 month) and flexible. We've used it for three years and it works for us.
http://highrisehq.com/
Cc the spreadsheet jockey is expert at manipulating numbers.
Dreamer thanks! Ironically my associates aunt who is in the biz also recommend high rise .
@NYCDreamer Highrise has worked out really well for us. It is a bit basic but for now is making tracking our clients so much easier. The task function has been a life saver, no more forgetting things when I'm out of the office and I get a call with a request, just email a task and it uploads to HighriseHQ.
Keith Burkhardt
TBG