Seeking Mac friendly CRM solution
I use Entourage for Mac, but it doesn't provided much in the way of tracking for follow-up calls, emails, meetings, etc. I've looked at some stand alone solutions, but none that I've found integrate to my existing email and calendar. Any guidance?
Thanks
Answers (10)
Hans D
Project manager and Information Management Consultant
Best Answers in: Project Management (1)
Hi,
I've been looking for the same thing. On the windows side you have ACT! and I wanted something similar.
Closest I've seen so far is called Daylite from Marketcircle. Might do the trick for you. Be sure to chime back in if you find something better.
Good luck,
Hans
Links:
absolutelyBUSY is a nice open source, web-based CRM system.
Donald B
Organic Landscape Pioneer
Best Answers in: Business Development (1), Public Relations (1), Starting Up (1)
You have several options that fit into two categories. 1. Find a product that works in the Mac environment or (if you are using Intel based Apple hardware) 2. Use one of the many CRM solutions made for the Windows environment and run it in Parallels or Boot Camp. Look to versiontracker to find products presently available.
Netbooks is a web based CRM solution, although moderately expensive, is feature rich.
Look to MacWorld this coming January as there seems to be a stronger emphasis on business applications this year (for the iPhone and standard computer hardware/OS). Expect to see some pleasant CRM surprises from well known Mac software companies.
Links:
Why not try a web based CRM program? As a designer, I'm not great with taking the time to get stuff set up and that's one of the reasons I like online software, if I don't like it, I move on. I used ACT for a while and tried to make spreadsheet stuff work, but went to SalesForce and it was so much better. But it was expensive. There's a bunch of good stuff out there. Right now I've been using Entellium, it's open source based and has some great features and it's cheap. I have a Mac and a PC and it allows me to use it on both as well has have other the biz dev staff login as they need as well. I'd bag loaded software as much as possible unless it's design software. Something that's used by everybody who sells anything, I'd go with an online solution. You might also take a look at Sugar, but I've not found a good hosting solution for that.
We're a Mac-based consultancy with 22 people and we spent 3 months looking for a solution. We plumped for Daylite from MarketCircle but it is very comprehensice (ie complex). Good web-based system but probably a little too simple is Highrise from 37 Signals. The rest - especially the web stuff - were either too horrible for Mac users to even contemplate (sensitive GUI souls) or glorified address books.
We have tried CentralDesktop and are now using WebEx Office. We have customer service, manufacturing and sales all able to work virtual and keep all CRM records up to date. Great for a Global intranet with extranet features that supports both PC and MAC. The server side made more sense for us as we have sales, manufacturing and customer service in 4 time zones. Very easy to manage security settings and permissions.
Links:
I second the recomendation for Highrise from 37 Signals. Very intuitive, very easy to use, and not too pricey.
I'm preparing to switch to a Mac based office and had used ACT on my PC for 14 years. Their newest version crashed my existing work which also sent me looking for new applications.
I'm trying PlanPlusOnline. It is web based so I don't really worry about Mac or PC. It is customizable (somewhat) to your needs with reminders via email on when things need to be done, etc. It's part of Franklin Covey. Their salespeople use the system to follow up with you, so that part of it definitely works! It's around $10 per month now. The online manual is just "ok".
They are in Beta with a mobile version also. They say that once mobile is up and running, there will probably be a price increase.
Good luck.
Links:
Alan Y
VP Professional Service, CIIO Technology
Best Answers in: Offshoring and Outsourcing (5), Risk Management (1), International Law (1), Writing and Editing (1), Equity Markets (1), Futures Markets (1), Project Management (1), Market Research and Definition (1), Pricing (1)
Well, you can also try salesforce. It is web-based and should work fine with mac
the best software for CRM will be web-based. check out sugarcrm, salesforce.com, vtiger (a sugarcrm fork) and many others.
SugarCRM is the easiest and cheapest, and will host the application for you-
