Looing for a complete Contact Management System 1

[kwh71]

Hi,

I am trying to establish a complete contact management solution. Goldmine is one package we are looking at and Maximizer is another. However both of these packages have problems with duplication.

Can somebody point me in the direction of a few more options?

Additionally, has anyone had experience with Intelliview? It is a reporting tool alternative to Crystal reports. Seems to be as functional, if not more but there is no real market penetration. Is it worth the risk?

 

[MHPGuy]

It depends on what you are looking for as your defininiton of complete, as well as the application of the tool you choose. The easiest answer is that you can have anything you want for the right price- you have Outlook (free) al the way to SalesLogix ($1200+ / seat) and up.

For example, if you decide that "complete" means the ability to integrate seamlessly with Outlook, then GM BCM is not for you, but the SQL version may be. Depending on the time and money you have, waiting fro M$'s Great Plains based product would be advisable as well.

If you are looking at very large scale and full custom work, SalesLogix could be your cup of tea.

Or, if you are in the healthcare sector, perhaps QMACS could help. But you had better have a $5 million + implementation budget.

If you are a single user, ACT is quaint, but far from complete by my standards. But it's cheap, easy, and covers the basics.

You also need to consider your output as well- GMBCM has very easy output for "non-techies", as does ACT, but maximizer is a bit less cooperative with non-canned reports (I hear).

So basically, can you be a bit more specific as to "complete"?

Also, in terms of duplication I'm assuming you are talking about records- if so, all of the latest versions of GM have a great duplication prevention tool provided you are doing only direct entry. The upload tool is less accurate. However if you are speaking in terms of multiple databases duplicating the same data (as found in a more spread out sales model in which reps rarely come to the office and maintain regular, but not constant contact to a centralized network) then GM can work well using GoldSync. However SalesLogix works well over a VPN and rumor has it that the Microsoft tool will have a CE version.... Michael Phipps
Technical Business Analyst
Mercy Health Plans

 

[kwh71]

Some excellent information Michael. I wasn't sure to what depth I should explain, so here goes.

We have a specific requirement for a distributed contact management system. It is to cater for up to 60 users spread throughout the world. The business is tourism marketing. It needs to provide for connectivity to Lotus Notes for email and a mid range fax facitlity. The number of companies will list up to 10000 with the potential for 30000 contacts (on average of 3 contacts per company).

The system needs to be compatible with SQL Server, web enabled and fully customisable.

The duplication I referred to was to do with the Company and Contact relationships. Some CRMS are based on Companies with multiple Contacts. This creates a problem when a Contact is related to multiple comapnies. As you are unable to relate a Contact to multiple Companies, you must maintain duplicate contact details for the same contact.

Others are based on Contacts who are related to Companies. Depending on how this is done, I think GoldMine is based on the Contacts. The fact that multiple contacts are members of the same company is coincidental (I have heard). ANyway, I think you get the picture.

Where can I find more details on the Great Plains application? When is this due for release?

Thanks for your feedback on this. I do have a detailed Functional Requirement, but I feel that would be asking a little much.

Keith Hutton
Data Administrator
NT Tourist Commission

 

[MHPGuy]

Quote:

"The duplication I referred to was to do with the Company and Contact relationships. Some CRMS are based on Companies with multiple Contacts. This creates a problem when a Contact is related to multiple comapnies. As you are unable to relate a Contact to multiple Companies, you must maintain duplicate contact details for the same contact."

Well, sort of.

If you follow the official definition of contact according to GM, then yes, you are correct. A given contact can only exist in one record (without duplication, of course). However, if you establish your contacts as independent records, then you can use the referral function to tie the records together. That presents many more options for you, including both having a contact tied to multiple records, but also the ability to "map out" a given organization.

It may not be the "canned" solution, but I don't know anyone who uses GM as it came out of the box.

It sounds like goldmine could be a match for you. Your biggest problem that I can see is the international connectivity one. Instead of trying to Sync all of those sites or building a massive VPN, try looking into Everywhere Server. It makes GM a web-based tool, which effectively resolves the issue.

I am not a reseller, but I do have someone I have worked with for several years and would be happy to have them talk to you. You can email me at mphipps@mhp.mercy.net if you would like that info. Michael Phipps
Technical Business Analyst
Mercy Health Plans

 

[MHPGuy]

By the way, you can find information about the M$ Great plains product here:

http://www.greatplains.com/solution...agement&Type=Solution&Link=solution/sales.htm

I haven't actually seen it, but I can't wait to demo it. Michael Phipps
Technical Business Analyst
Mercy Health Plans

 

[kwh71]

Thanks Michael.

I have spoken recently with the Sales and Marketing for Goldmine. The only problem I have with GM is it is not compatible with Lotus Notes (I meant to mention that in my last post).

A similar company has implemented Goldmine as their CRMS. It all sounded very good, however I have spoken to the contractor hired to implement and all is not going as smoothly as first planned. The Contact/Comapny relationships are creating problems with data from the primary SQL data source. I think this is mainly due to poor planning though.

Other products I have considered are -

Maximiser 7 - Seems to be based quite similar to GM in the way it handles Contacts and Companies. It has a web interface of sorts and is compatible with Lotus Notes.

Great Plains looks like a good product. It is compatible with Lotus Notes, has all the bells and whistles and can change the oil in your car. Expensive though.

ACT! - Not scaleable enough I believe. A bit dodgy in the networked department apparently.

Have I missed any obvious players?

 

[MHPGuy]

If you want to do some research, here is a website I would suggest:

http://www.crmbuyer.com/perl/cad_directory.pl?category=5&start=0&x=5&y=4&scope=bycat

They have a pretty good list of CRM solutions, but not everything (can you ever have a list of all applications to solve a problem??). There are links to websites as well as a few reviews. I have never found a complete list.

I agree with your opinion about ACT!. I've tried a network install of an older version, and it isn't something I'd like to attempt again. They claim that they have solved the problems with the latest releases, but I still don't think that it is 100% reliable, especially if you look into the ACT forum. I have demo'd Maximizer, and I just didn't care for the UI- not that GM is that much better, it's just that GM is easier to manipulate.

Don't get me wrong- I'm not trying to push GM. If you need Lotus Notes and GM can't handle it, then it shouldn't be considered. Personally, I'm not familiar enough with Lotus to intelligently discuss it. Perhaps there is a Lotus forum that you could watch which will be more knowledgeable.

In terms of a "CRM only" solution, I think the list above should do, but I would also suggest you look into industry solutions as well. For example, in my company (a medical insurance provider) our primary application blends membership, claims, AP, AR, medical management, and provider contracting into one solution. It isn't the answer to all of our CRM needs, but there are other solutions we declined that did offer that aspect. I wouldn't be surprised if there were several such amalgamated solutions for the travel industry.

Granted, those solutions are often much larger scale (read: expensive) than an initial CRM rollout, but they also offer other value beyond CRM when you can measure not only the sale, but the long term quality of the client based on factors other than the initial sale such as time to pay, number of service calls and complaints, etc. I'm sure you get the idea. Call it a poor man's data mart.

Of course, I can make no suggestions for you in that arena- that is entirely relative to your industry, in which I have no experience. You could try industry publications.... Michael Phipps
Technical Business Analyst
Mercy Health Plans

 

[kwh71]

Thanks Michael. You have been very helpful and a good introduction to these Newsgroups. I appreciate the time you put into replying to my queries.

Keith Hutton
Data Administrator
NT Tourist Commission