"Documenting Your Business -
Contact Management Systems

I have to be honest, I keep my sales leads in a steno pad. Each prospect gets a page where I write down content information on one side and notes about the contact and what type of product they want on the second side. Every now and then I'll flip through the pages and follow up with them and make a note on the page. Sounds very 70's-ish, so I've been investigating some new solutions that will keep potential clients from getting away and make sure that our sales are as strong as they can be. Because I work with computers all day long, I especially wanted to find a web or software solution that made sense.

My first stop is an online tool called http://www.Salesforce.com. This site is part of the ASP (application service providers) trend that seems to be the next major direction of the web. Salesforce.com offers the features that you would find in off-the-shelf software without the cost of purchasing or upgrading the software in your office. You will need a good Internet connection, and everyone on your sales staff will need to have access to the web on a regular basis for this system to work well for you. Features include: Central, organized area to keep track of appointments and sales activities · Wonderful quick access to your prospect and partner lists · Detailed account management and information sharing · Easily track future deals or sales opportunities · Keep watch on sales forecasts and revenue from sales · Generate sales reports for the department (even an export feature to Excel) · and best of all - Salesforce.com offers import and export functionality to Outlook 2000, Palm, and ACT software. The price is right, too. The first five users from your office are free for the first year. For additional users, the cost is $50 per month.

Next in my search for a better sales and prospect tracking tool took me to http://www.actsoftware.com home of ACT! 2000 by Interactive Software. This type of product is called contact management software for its powerful database system for keeping track of your network of contacts, sales prospects, and customers. At a single license cost of about $200, this software may meet your needs better than Salesforce.com if you are not an always-on web worker. You'll find your core features like prospect and customer contact information, meeting calendar, and sales lifecycle tracking. Additional features can be found in many of the add-ons (other software that improves ACT! with voice recognition, telemarketing, fax on demand, and direct mail campaigns) as well as customization options for those with programming abilities. If your business has a large mission critical sales force, this software may be your answer.

Our last review is for a software system that incorporates enterprise level features to manage sales, customer service, and call center support. Goldmine Frontoffice 2000 is the high-end product for the Goldmine contact management software. Goldmine Frontoffice 2000 has an extensive feature set that allows for integrated organization over your sales and support staff. This product seems to help with that annoying customer perception that the sales force has collected one set of data about them, but after purchasing the product, they have to start over again with the support staff. All of these integrated services come at an entry price of $2,475 for five licenses. Depending on the return on investment in your corporation, this tool may be just what you need to improve customer sales and service and increase your bottom line at the same time. Find out more at http://www.goldminesw.com