Contact Management System

Maxine · #1 (**permalink**) 09-05-2008, 23:02

Has anyone used this

http://www.batchblue.com/product-info.html

I have spent a bit of time looking around for a suitable Contact Management System and thought this looked like the best option and interested to know if any of you use anything like it and how you get on with it?

CPLTD · #2 (**permalink**) 10-05-2008, 06:37

I havent any experience of that one but can high recomend this

Poppy Design · #3 (**permalink**) 10-05-2008, 08:49

Hi

Or you could have a look at Snippetmaster (.com) - it has a really simple interface for the end user - much like word.
Plus as the name suggests you can make just parts of a webpage editable by a client or the whole page.
It is also free! though worth upgrading to the professional version which costs about £12.

Joanne

Kent Tiger · #4 (**permalink**) 10-05-2008, 10:03

It's a tricky choice. Businesses are all very different, so much depends on how the facilities of a CRM relate to other business processes. Sorry that was a very grand way of saying "does it suit what you need to do?".

If being stuck with 'State' and 'Zip' in address fields bothers you - it does me, I'm British! - then beware US software that cannot be UK customised.

Bear in mind that in the future you might want to change. Can your data be easily and readily exported into another application?

freelancer · #5 (**permalink**) 10-05-2008, 11:11

I like to use drupal, joomla, mambo and wordpress occasionally, and all are free

ParentsforPlay · #6 (**permalink**) 10-05-2008, 16:06

Hang on. I'm getting confused. She was after a contact managment system isn't that a completely different thing to a content management system

Sarah

freelancer · #7 (**permalink**) 10-05-2008, 17:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by ParentsforPlay

Hang on. I'm getting confused. She was after a contact managment system isn't that a completely different thing to a content management system

Sarah

wow, I really do need to get my eyes tested, I read that 4 times as content management system

For a good contact management, why not try highrise by 37signals http://www.highrisehq.com/?source=37s+home

Its a web app, so you can access it anywhere, which is great, and its priced from £12 P/M

Maxine · #8 (**permalink**) 11-05-2008, 00:09

sorry its taken me so long to reply but I have been looking at them all plus a few others

thanks all so much for responding.

When I say Contact Management System I dont just want a glorified address book but something simple if that makes sense. I made a list of my must haves and nice to haves as like someone else said all businesses are different and I didnt want to get sidetracked by something that looked funky but wasnt what I really needed. On my list of must-haves I have

* Unlimited contacts (about 40,000 needed as import a lot of lists and expected to grow)
* Multi users can all update the same records
* Customisable fields
* Decent storage
* Things to do / Diary function
* Contact notes
* Ability to assign a record to an individual user
* Teeny bit of reporting
* Import and export from csv, xls etc

On my nice to haves
* Dashboard
* Emails directly from system lists
* Lead ratings such as Warm, Hot, Cold sort of thing
* Cheap as chips!

So far batchblue ticks most of the boxes but I am still looking around as worried I am going to start using this only to want to change pretty soon

but hey ho... women and changing minds and all that

CPLTD · #9 (**permalink**) 11-05-2008, 07:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by CPLTD

I havent any experience of that one but can high recomend this

this ticks all your boxes and more!

Maxine · #10 (**permalink**) 11-05-2008, 23:58

Thanks Simon - will give it a whirl