A good CRM?

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njh93

Free Member
Mar 17, 2017
3
1
  • #1
    Hi everyone,

    I've tried endless Demo's and nothing seems to fit my needs. A lot of these CRM/Sales software are so wrapped around the same concepts and on leads etc.

    I deal with 500+ customers over the UK who all by different things at different times of the year. I just need a basic system to manage customer by customer, info on their buying, and put dates in some sort of calendar when to ring them and info on that.

    Everything I try seems overly advanced for what I need and can't be dealing with it.
     
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    njh93

    Free Member
    Mar 17, 2017
    3
    1
  • #3
    No idea, want it totally separate as I'm a Rep and do things day by day which I want to do myself. Managing so many customers is hard & I'm currently using OneNote as sort of an online diary which is becoming annoying.
     
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    ffox

  • #7
    njh93 said:
    I deal with 500+ customers over the UK who all by different things at different times of the year. I just need a basic system to manage customer by customer, info on their buying, and put dates in some sort of calendar when to ring them and info on that.
    Click to expand...

    You're using OneNote, so I'm assuming you use other Microsoft products. If that's the case you cold use some of the more advanced features of Outlook. You can use the PC version, or the Cloud version. The tools are there, all you need is a methodology to bring it together.
     
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    Basilur Tea UK Ltd

    Basilur Tea UK Ltd

    Free Member
    Feb 27, 2017
    2
    0
    Sheffield, UK
  • #10
    For basic collation of company and contact information, I use Hubspot - which is free forever (being a Yorkshire man, that attracted me straight away) and unlimited. Sorry I cannot add a link, I've only just joined and this is my first post.

    I have tried Insightly, which I thought was better, but they wanted money from me after a short period, once I had maxed out the small amount of storage space they start you off with.
     
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    Oliver King

    Oliver King

    Free Member
    Dec 29, 2016
    41
    10
  • #11
    Hi there. I apologise if I have missed this question, but do you need to hold any specific information / custom fields, flows etc? Additionally, does / could any data (for example from an email service) ever be required to be imported into the system. These questions may help point you in the right direction of what's best.

    I quite like Hubspot (already mentioned) and Capsule CRM is a good, cheap alternative too. (please note I am not involved with either of these companies!)
     
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    MyDigitalFarm

    MyDigitalFarm

    Free Member
    Apr 1, 2017
    4
    1
  • #13
    We use Zoho CRM, I'm sure you are aware of it. It may be a good option, though. At first, we found it a bit all over the place and not very useful but one I found out how to take away all the unnecessary clutter you start out with it has become a really good system for us.
     
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    Dean Furniss

    Free Member
    Apr 11, 2017
    2
    0
  • #15
    njh93 said:
    No idea, want it totally separate as I'm a Rep and do things day by day which I want to do myself. Managing so many customers is hard & I'm currently using OneNote as sort of an online diary which is becoming annoying.
    Click to expand...
    I used something called Really Simple Systems which is free. You can manipulate it to your requirements. Zoho not bad too.
     
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    threenine

    threenine

    Free Member
    Nov 30, 2012
    767
    174
    Swindon
  • #18
    We use X2CRM and have done so for a good few years! It works perfectly for us
    It definitely has the capability that you need, as we need that too.

    The great part about it is that is absolutely free, or at least it is for us. We have a hosting account based on CPanel, and our account package entitles us to install a number of different PHP applications, and X2CRM is one of those.

    We had a look at Hubspot, and it was OK, and it is really basic, however we quickly found that when we wanted to use what we consider basic marketing functionality, it quickly became very expensive to upgrade to the marketing version
     
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    L

    London Gary

  • #21
    The key with whatever CRM you settle on is to ignore how it wants to work and simply make use of the couple of elements you need.

    So for a given customer - Joe Blogs at Acme Ltd - I would simply create one company record (Acme Ltd) then attach one Contact to it (Joe Blogs). Every time I speak to Joe I'd record the conversation under his contact record. If I need to call him in 4 weeks I set a reminder.

    I ignore all the sales funnel, deal tracking, opportunities etc. That's for reporting to a manager - which I don't have.

    I used Capsule CRM years ago and am just about to start using it again. The free edition allows 250 contacts (I think) so you might want to sign up for two free editions...
     
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    M

    Mike_Cartwright

  • #23
    You can make use of free CRMs like Hubspot and connect it to whatever phone system and email server you're using as of late using a CTI software. We're using Hubspot with Avaya and integrating them via Tenfold CTI. You mentioned that you can do the sales part so leave out all the funneling, etc. We don't make use of all its features all the time, too. Get a free CRM subscription then just make use of the features that you need.

    Once you integrate everything in your system using a CTI, you'll get the click-to-dial functionality, which lets you make calls faster. Aside from that, emails, call logs, and call recordings are made available for each client that you have made contact with using different communication channels. This makes it easier for you to access everything all in one place. Good luck!
     
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    Harry Hillier

    Harry Hillier

    Free Member
    Jun 4, 2017
    2
    0
  • #24
    I'd second what London Gary said. All the good CRMs let you build custom modules as well with point and click so you can tailor to what you need. But really he's totally right using a few features of a great package is way better than looking for something very stripped down imo. Especially as CRMs are something you get locked into long term. I'm a massive fan of suitecrm and espocrm as they are open source projects you run on your own server. You can use half of them today, when the time comes you need to upgrade you can add modules & remove modules etc just as you can in salesforce. The drawback of salesforce & zoho etc is that if they put their prices up in the future you are somewhat locked in, especially if you need something specific later in the expensive package.

    On the other hand, support is way better with the commercial packages. The open source packages are great, the features are all there but you are on your own or you have to have someone around you can get advice from here and there. It is a very tough decision because it will have a ripple effect for so long. You can export data from zoho and salesforce etc and move providers but if you have a long list of customisations you've made over the years they will not move with the providers, hence the lock in. If you can avoid customising the CRM over the years and really just stick with the basics then they really are much alike and you don't have that lock in risk as much. All of them should export your contacts in a friendly format. If that is the case I'd probably just register for a free demo for at least a few of the ones listed and see which one feels most comfortable to you.
     
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    J

    John Sterba

    Free Member
    Dec 20, 2015
    2
    0
  • #29
    njh93 said:
    Hi everyone,

    I've tried endless Demo's and nothing seems to fit my needs. A lot of these CRM/Sales software are so wrapped around the same concepts and on leads etc.

    I deal with 500+ customers over the UK who all by different things at different times of the year. I just need a basic system to manage customer by customer, info on their buying, and put dates in some sort of calendar when to ring them and info on that.

    Everything I try seems overly advanced for what I need and can't be dealing with it.
    Click to expand...
    ERPNext
     
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    fancymore

    Free Member
    Jun 20, 2017
    11
    0
  • #31
    I recommend you bpm'online crm solution. It has office in the UK. I use this software and I am satisfied with it. They provide what you need: customers’ contacts management documentation management and automation of the marketing, sales and service processes.

    Although, they are not so widely advertised like Zoho or HubSpot, however as you know “All is not gold that glitters”. Bpm’online software was named a leader in The Forrester Wave™: CRM Suites for Midsize Organizations. Believe me, by doing all the investigation by my own, I came to this solution. In any case, you can try and see if it can fulfill your needs.
     
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