CRM and Email Marketing Package

[Tonymegacon]

Hello,

I am on the search for a simple to use, install and maintain CRM package with intregal email marketing capabilities.

I am looking for either web or server based installations.

My objective is to load all our contacts into one database, classify them and then target market to them via email. We simply do not have enough people to do the job so we need to rely on technology.

I would like to attach quotes done in word as pdf's, set follow ups and run reports showing orders won versus quotes done.

I am aware that it's "garbage in garbage out" rule applies to these packages, but all my colleagues are gened up on how important it is we get this sorted.

Are there any low cost solutions or does anyone have experience of such a package that did not cost an arm and a leg to purchase and install nor require a computer degree to operate.

Any advise help or recommendations would be greatfully received.

Regards

Tony

 

[Pete Crane]

I'd start off with asking why you need CRM. You would probably be better off looking at a Contact Manager solution instead. They're far simpler, you will still be able to centralise your customer and prospect data and segment accordingly, and for sending out quotes and very basic emails most will do the job fine. Basically you will be up and running in a shorter time frame than with a CRM system.

I've worked on several different CRM system, and they are very, very useful solutions. But they take time to set up, tailor to your needs, train your staff, monitor to ensure data quality is up to scratch and so on.

 

[garyk]

I'd agree with Pete, many businesses think that a CRM will improve their business process. What you need to do is understand, define and refine those processes and then build your crm around it. It is not a silver bullet for curing business ills. There are open source crm offerings such as vtiger which may well do what you want although I think the feature set is daunting for a first time CRM user but you could hide some of that.

 

[Tonymegacon]

Gents thank you for your input. I have two core objectives:

1) Get all our customer contact details and contact action, telephone call enquires, quotes etc onto a central system

2) Have the ability to email market all or selective groups.

We are a small company operating internationally via value added resellers and agents. We operate direct sales in the UK and Sacndic regions.

In our two core markets we have around 300-400 customers with several contacts in some cases. We have only 1 "sales" person in each territory who can/does work at visiting customers.

What is extremely inportant is a method by which we can market to our customer/prospects in a measureable way. By emailing them we are not neccessarily talking about selling them a product but very often just jolting their memory or supplying an application note etc.

The product is very technical and a niche market place.

 

[Pete Crane]

Obviously as you have offices in Norway and Denmark whatever you choose has to be useable across a web interface or thin client.

To a large extent something like a MS Access based app would go a long way to helping you out. Your product lines are not huge, your customer base is similarly very manageable, and a good setup showing the customer details and contacts within each firm, along with what was purchased and when would be 90% of what you really need. Multiple sites and contacts for each frm can be trickier to set up but if you structure it correctly then you're halfway there.

Something I would suggest is to make sure you detail the purchasing level of a contact - decision maker, budget holder, influencer etc. You may in time want to send tailored messages to different people based on their position and role.

A quick note on email marketing -it's not really a good idea to do this in-house. It robs your bandwidth, can annoy your ISP to the extent of being blacklisted, and a lot of CM/CRM apps are frankly poor at creating decent mails that will render across different mail clients. Happy to help give any advice where requried though.

 

[dstockdill]

Hi Tony, there's a wide range of web based CRM's which in my view are the easiest way for most businesses to get going. When it comes to databases and email integration, you are usually talking about complicated server installs, so going for a web solution is typically easier and cheaper option in the long run.

As Pete Crane has already pointed out, email marketing is often best done with an external service. We used MailChimp (yeah strange name, but good product!) recently and it worked a treat. Cost is about $0.03 per email. There are similar services such as CampaignMonitor although that requires colaboration with a designer typically. Using an external service does require an export of data but this is supported by most CRM systems.

If you're keen on an all in one solution that does email, Relenta might be a good option. It's not a traditional CRM in that it doesn't track opportunities, but might do what you need. Zoho CRM is also worth a look, but feels more like salesforce so can be daunting.

I'd also welcome any views you have on our newly launched CRM called Javelin. There's a no obligation free account that you can get going with in minutes.

 

[telemax]

Netsuite is a good one to look at too, basically an Online version of Oracle, it should tick all the boxes

 

[KM Trainer]

Im a big fan of salesforce, very flexible yet scalable as the users needs grow and develop. Can also email from it. I think they still offer free trialsl and indeed a basic CRM for free if its just an individual requirement. http://www.salesforce.com/uk/