(Angl.) CRM Comparison: set of articles

After you’ve had a couple presentations from CRM software vendors, it’s time for your selection team to convene and compare notes. Save discussions on individual software choices until this meeting; this prevents premature decisions being made without the benefit of full discussion with all view points represented.

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(Angl.) ACT! vs GoldMine: What You Need To Know To Choose The Best One

For some reason, one of the most asked questions of me is “which is better: ACT! or GoldMine?”

Sometimes, they ask about Maximizer or SalesLogix, but ACT! and GoldMine are currently the two main ones I get asked about for software comparisons.

I remember when I was a Consultant, selling CRM software, I used to wait for the head-to-head product comparisons from the CRM manufacturer. Why? Because it’s what my prospects kept asking for! And I wasn’t alone…this kind of product matrix or comparison chart was probably the most asked for marketing document from the Reseller community.

But they weren’t head-to-head comparisons at all. It wasn’t competitive intelligence. After a while I came to understand that these charts were thinly veiled marketing hype posing as “competitive intelligence” and were very biased and, in my opinion, deviously skewed. (A careful reading will reveal that the features or functions have been worded in such a way as to give one CRM package a better rating or score).

Now when I’m asked which CRM package is best, I tell people “You’re asking the wrong question!”.

For those of you who don’t want to listen to my explanation about what the right approach is, don’t worry. Further down, I have included some specific areas you should examine when evaluating such programs as ACT!, GoldMine and Maximizer. It’s not a comprehensive list, but should provide a really good start. (In the Insider CRM Success Toolkit, I give over 50 pages of detailed notes on comparing feature sets).

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Prophet CRM - pirmas įspūdis

Apžiūrėjau labai įdomų Microsoft Outlook įskiepį Prophet CRM, kuris išdidžiai vadinamas "lengviausia CRM programa Outlook-ui" ("The Easiest CRM Software for Outlook").

Visų pirma džiugina didelis demonstracinių filmukų kiekis. Galima gana gerai apžiūrėti, ką jie sugalvojo, o kartu išmokti teisingai dirbti su ta sistema. Daug ir gana išsamūs aprašymai. Žiūrint filmukus, sudomino tuo, kad veikia MS Outlook viduje, panaudojant įprastą sąsają ir įgūdžius. Bandomosios versijos, deja, - nėra.

Siūlomos 3 versijos asmeniniam naudojimui ir 2 versijos grupėms:

• Prophet personal eddition - 149,95 USD - kontaktams valdyti
• Prophet advanced eddition - 249,95 USD - produktyvumui didinti ir pardavimams automatizuoti
• Prophet premium eddition - 349,95 USD - visiems pardavimo ir rinkodaros poreikiams tenkinti įskaitant automatinį srauto valdymą.
• Prophet professional server - komandos pardavimų ir kontaktų informacijai centralizuoti serveryje
• Prophet enterprice server - aprūpinti komandą paprastu, plečiamu ir patikimu CRM įrankiu

Yra versijos mobiliems įrenginiams.

Išvada: labai įdomi sistemėlė mažąjam veslui. Pirmai progai pasitaikius reikėtų išbandyti.

Microsoft nervai neišlaikė

2008 m. balandžio 22 d, Microsoft Corp. pranešė pradedanti tiekti internetinę Microsoft Dynamics CRM nuomos paslaugą, kurią teiks ir valdys pati Microsoft. Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online bus teikiamas 3-mis pardavimo modeliais:

1. Microsoft on-premise Dynamics CRM modelis (programinė įranga veikianti kliento serveriuose);
2. Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online modelis - tiekiamas iš Microsoft serverių;
3. Specializuoti sprendimai tiekiami iš partnerių serverių su jų prekiniais vardais.
   

Kainos palyginti nedidelės: 44 USD arba 59 USD.

Skelbiama, kad šie verslo modeliai bus teikiami JAV ir Kanadoje. Kita vertus, partneriai teikia savo sprendimus visame pasaulyje.

Kas privertė Microsoft taip kardinaliai keisti savo veiklos modelį? Ar tai reiškia, kad naujieji CRM "žaidėjai" pasidarė tokiais stipriais, kad net tradicinė Microsoft hipermonopolinė galimybė integruoti Microsoft Dynamics CRM į MS Office ir MS Outlook nebepadeda?

Gartner "magiškasis kvadrantas" klientų aptarnavimo centrų CRM (angl., Microsoft)

Magic Quadrant for CRM Customer Service Contact Centers, 2008

The challenge during the next five years for business buyers interested in improving customer service in their contact centers will be to find software suppliers that understand that the central focus of CRM has changed from enabling the agent to enabling the end customer/consumer. The current generation of CRM application providers in the customer service contact center space lags user needs. The major enterprise application providers excel at commodity tasks, such as product selection, order management, payment, account setup and basic support (see "Why Software Is Failing in CRM Initiatives"). However, the most-pressing need for new capabilities revolves around:

• Support of online communities of users
• Extension of agent presence to online communities
• Customer data integration
• Integration of Web self-service into the agent desktop
• Adaptive analytical applications that understand customer intentions and customize services and interactions accordingly
• Providing agents with tools to search swiftly and accurately for action-oriented answers to customer questions

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