Finding a Simple Online CRM - You'd think it would be easy!
This is going to be a long post.
Recently I asked for your help in finding a suitable CRM system via google+ (not a back office I already have one of those)
Many G+’s helped me out with suggestions and ideas - which I have worked through as you helped me I feel it is only fare that I post my findings on each of the systems so that it may be an aid to other advisers in the future.
Background
For many years (about 9) I have used ACT! CRM which I have highly customised in to a hybrid CRM/Back Office. I have always been very happy with ACT! it is very powerful (more than I knew now I have compared it to many of the modern offerings) I use the swiftpage emarketing add on and it does a very good job for me. Why then you might ask would I want to leave them!
Well basically ACT! is a locally installed program and I have to manually sync to my laptop, it’s all fairly simple to do if not a little laborious, but that is not why I want to leave. Basically things go wrong with ACT! and I have to call support (I pay for a support package) the support people are excellent but because it is a local install they always need me to be sat at my PC or on the end of a phone to help fix the problem - everytime there is an issue I lose half a day. I also think that the emarketing module is overpriced.
So I though a web based CRM would be a great solution as I wont have to worry about sync and update and will probably find more integration with alternative email marketing systems.
So I put together a list of requirements (security, functionality, integration) and asked you guys for suggestions then moved on to contact the companies you (and others) suggested to see who would be most suitable. As an aside something I missed was that most online CRM don’t let you have number fields so you can do more than, less than and equal to type searches.
As in the UK we have a regulatory obligation to make sure that marketing is targeted to those for whom we believe it is relevant - so being able to separate clients in to segments adhoc is really quite important - more than / less than searches have always been one of my go to solutions.
The Systems I investigated and the views I formed.
This was the first suggestion made to me.
I contacted them with my list of questions and they came back to me really quickly saying that their system is more a collaborative contact system than a full CRM and they think I would be disappointed if I signed up. Great service in my view straight answers and no time wasted.
Looked initially like it could be the one - it wasn’t trying to be a back office system and had some adviser customisations. However, their response to my email was rather odd - basically they are phasing it out and the CEO has started another company www.Wealthbox.com that he thought I might like - wealthbox is still in Beta and they answer none of my worries on their website so that one is out the window for me.
Good support service came back with in depth answers to my queries.
The compromises I would have to accept with them are,
- No calculated fields (i.e. assets - liabilities etc)
- Custom fields can not be number, so you can not do more than, less than type searches
- Mailing integration is with Mailchimp and click and open stats are not on an individual basis and not pulled back into the CRM (however they have other services coming online)
Zoho - https://www.zoho.com/crm/
Zoho response was the least personalised but everything I wanted to know was there.
It appears they can do everything I need using a series of add on components that they have developed themselves - however I am finding it incredibly difficult to work out which add on’s I need and therefore how much it will actually be costing me!
Also haven’t been able to establish if I would be locked in.
Looks like it can be configured to do everything i need/want but getting them to give the info is hard they have insisted on a phonecall which we have just had - not really any further forward and will be having to have a second phonecall with someone else.
Seems like a nice simple system, pretty and mobile friendly.
Support were fairly slow to respond but they did so fully.
If I went with Insightly I will have to live with a few things;
- No calculated fields.
So not missing a lot and it is fairly cheap - and gives more user licences than I currently need.
I found this one by Googling like many of the others there are no calculated or number fields!
They have however based the sytem on the “getting things done” principles and I think it could be a real performance and productivity driver for me.
Crucially there is no contract tie in.
Again I found this by googling - it looks really neat and simple a big plus from me - it’s also very reasonably priced.
despite the silly name I feel intrigued;
- no calculated fields - but it is coming soon.
- again they integrate with mailchimp
- They only have custom number fields in opportunities - not on the contact record so it’s not ideal
Ultimately I think the whole thing comes down to what I value most - simplicity or comprehensive abilities - I might even stick with my current system in the end as it now looks better than I thought.
However what i am actually planning is to continue talking to salesforce and investigate zoho further as these are the most comprehensive systems to evaluate and take out a free trial on the following;
- Capsule
- Insightly
- Onepage
- LessAnnoying
they all offer 30 days or so but I think I will give each of them a week of fooling around with some fake data to see how it goes - I’ll probably start with the cheapest and work my way up - if I find I need more comprehensive solution i will then take zoho and salesforce a bit more seriously!
If you have any further tips or horror stories I would love to hear them!
Thanks for sharing all this John. Useful stuff.
ReplyDeleteNice one John - a great summary of the available options.
ReplyDeleteThere are many more options pete - but one has to limit the scope somewhere
DeleteThanks for sharing this John. I have been going through the same headache for nearly a year and arrived at either Zoho or Salesforce but still haven't decided so your blog was really helpful
ReplyDelete