Six CRM packages tested

Editor's choice:T&B Editor's choiceLegrand CRM and Co-ordimax

There are two Editor's choice winners this month, one for the small- to medium-end of the market and one for the larger organisations. For an out-of-the-box solution, Legrand would be very hard to go past. Sure, it does not have all the features that some of the other applications do--this is why we suggest trialling one or more of these applications to ensure that they meet your specific custom requirements.

Alternatively if you are a large-scale organisation that does not want to go through the hassles of deploying your own CRM application and requires a more tailored custom solution, then Co-ordimax fits the bill.

 CRM packages

 CRM software reviews:
 ACT! v6
 Co-ordimax
 GoldMine 6.0
 Legrand CRM PRO CS
 Maximizer Enterprise 7.5
 salesforce.com W4
 
 How we tested
 Specifications
 Editor's choice
 Sample scenario
 Final words
 About RMIT
Sample Scenario

Company: Spiced Ham Marketing.

This company's sales staff keep all their contacts on Excel spreadsheets, and customers are complaining that they get contacted by multiple salespeople for different products. The company wants to centralise its contacts into a database that all the sales staff can access.

Approximate budget: Open.

Requires: Contact management software suitable for 50 sales staff.

Concerns: The contacts database needs to be located on a central server so that there's one version of the truth. Staff should be able to synchronise their databases easily over a network or over a VPN while outside the office. Staff and management should be able to track each customer's contact history to better coordinate sales activities across the whole organisation.

Best solution: salesforce.com definitely fits the mould perfectly here. It may take a brief while for the administrator to gather each employees Excel spreadsheets and import them, but with salesforce.com this operation would be as painless as data importing could be.

Final words

CRM has certainly come of age. With the plethora of packages, features and options, there is certainly something available to suit almost any situation, from a few people in a small business to a sales team with many hundreds of staff spread over a large geographic area. If you are contemplating CRM then it is worth starting your evaluation now.

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Talkback 30 comments

  1. It seems like now ACT! 6.0 also includes the PocketPC sync tool in the package (which is available for $229,- with a $20 discount for the download version at their website in the US store). "With ACT! Link for Pocket PC and ACT! for Palm OS now Anonymous -- 13/04/04

    It seems like now ACT! 6.0 also includes the PocketPC sync tool in the package (which is available for $229,- with a $20 discount for the download version at their website in the US store).
    "With ACT! Link for Pocket PC and ACT! for Palm OS now included, you can access your data in the office or on the go."
    =>

  2. I wouldn't rate Coordimax Service as 4 stars. Our experience with them as been disgraceful. Although we are only a small organisation and are probably not worth enough for them to provide excellent service to us. The product has the potential Anonymous -- 10/05/04

    I wouldn't rate Coordimax Service as 4 stars. Our experience with them as been disgraceful. Although we are only a small organisation and are probably not worth enough for them to provide excellent service to us.

    The product has the potential to be excellent if we could get the bugs sorted out - but unfortunately we are not a high priority for them.

    1. Co ordimax Anonymous -- 13/04/06

      It is money sucking software? we are dealing with it and suffering from it.

    2. Coordimax Anonymous -- 13/05/06

      I don't think it's money sucking software. We have a small user group and have found it very affordable. Their consultants really helped us identify which aspects of it would economically deliver the most benefits.

    3. Easy to post a comment when you remain annomymous!!!!! Anonymous -- 24/08/08

      Well I guess some people are gutless, easy to post this stuff when you remain annonymous!!!!!!, just crap!!!

  3. Easy to bag someone out without disclosing your identity huh? For a software vendor we have found them to be much better than average. Anonymous -- 28/05/04

    Easy to bag someone out without disclosing your identity huh? For a software vendor we have found them to be much better than average.

  4. I would like to see a review on Office Talk V4 since if you actually get a hold of someone to help with install purch or general questions is a task in itself Anonymous -- 04/06/04

    I would like to see a review on Office Talk V4 since if you actually get a hold of someone to help with install purch or general questions is a task in itself

  5. Why was Microsoft CRM not included in the analysis? Anonymous -- 23/08/04

    Why was Microsoft CRM not included in the analysis?

    1. MS CRM 3 Anonymous -- 27/11/05

      Agreed, how can you do a serious review and not include the MS offering?

  6. I don't support the comments about the export/import capabilities of LeGrand - very poor in fact! Anonymous -- 02/11/04

    I don't support the comments about the export/import capabilities of LeGrand - very poor in fact!

  7. I found another CRM software package. At www.vividsoftware.net Anonymous -- 24/12/04

    I found another CRM software package. At www.vividsoftware.net

    1. Do you have a vested interest in this product? Anonymous -- 10/09/05

      Have you attempted to download and trial it?

  8. Quicken produce a customer management package that works alongside QuickBooks accounting software. It would be worth looking at that if SMEs use QuickBooks Anonymous -- 07/01/05

    Quicken produce a customer management package that works alongside QuickBooks accounting software. It would be worth looking at that if SMEs use QuickBooks

  9. I have used both Legrand and Act V6. You would have to be crazy to go anywhere near LeGrand! The database is quite inflexible in terms of user defined fields and field attributes - overall very difficult to navigate quickly. I found Act far more flexible, Anonymous -- 30/03/05

    I have used both Legrand and Act V6. You would have to be crazy to go anywhere near LeGrand! The database is quite inflexible in terms of user defined fields and field attributes - overall very difficult to navigate quickly. I found Act far more flexible, interoperable and able to be customised with ease (even by a relative ludite like me)

    1. Legrand CRM's database design Richard Zielinski -- 08/11/05

      Yes, Legrand CRM does not allow database changes however it allows almost all GUI labels to be changed, including Module names (ie Opportunities can be changed to say Sales Funnel).
      It is this fixed database structure that makes Legrand CRM extremely easy to deploy, easy to train and easy to support. From our experience, perfect for the company that is seeking productivity and reliability from the database. But, keep in mind, we are a reseller!

    2. CRM's Legrand vs ACT David -- 20/12/05

      Matt, for basic 2 person business (but growing of course) needing contact managment and some link to accounting package would you still feel the same?

      Ease of use and customisation being the deciders.

  10. Maximizer CRM Enterprise 8 Anonymous -- 11/08/05

    have a look at Maximizer Enterprise 8, it will meet all your CRM needs- your company will definately benefit in the long run-so many companies world wide can not be wrong-they must know something to implement such a powerful tool.

    1. Maximizer problems Anonymous -- 04/11/05

      something that gets overlooked when Maximizer is reviewed is the (lack of)associations with their user defined fields. These reviews never go to that extent, and this only becomes apparent after you have been a user for a while.

      For instance, you might have a user defined field (UDF) called Type Of Printer, and another called Printer Serial Number. It is not possible to associate the two, which creates obvious problems later. I think this is a programming issue as the product is now very old.

  11. Would love it if you reviewed our software Damian Spaulding -- 22/08/05

    Our latest site revision is now complete. Our new GBM software site is now rich with documentation, descriptions and screen shots. Everyone is welcome to visit. I am confident you will be impressed by the product we have created. Please let me know if you would desire to review our software
    http://darwinproductions.net
    http://theevolutionofbusiness.com

  12. SugarCRM, 2nd Generation CRM Marc Englaro -- 14/09/05

    Since this article was written, SugarCRM Inc. in the US has release a commercial open source web-based CRM system providing comparable features to Salesforce.com, with far more flexibility to run either On-Demand or On-Premise at a fraction of the price. To have a look, check out the live demo at http://www.insightful.com.au and click on the Demo link.

  13. Legrand is Good! anonymous -- 08/11/05

    I have been in the industry (software) for many years (since 1984), and have used/tested over 40 CRM systems (from the ones that cost you $m's to the smaller ones). In my current business, I again did the review of all the major systems out there - and Legrand came out on top!

    Utlimately, you need to test each package to see if it works for you. But for bang for your buck, Legrand is very good. It has a ton of features, which are actually very useful (some only available in much more expensive packages. If you just need a contact manager, go with Act. But if you need a decent CRM, check out Legrand. I would like to see more in built reports in Legrand, but since you slice/dice your own reports via ODBC that's fine.

    It's just typical of Zdnet to post a bad comment on their home page - Shame on you Zdnet. Typical.

  14. SFM Customer Manager is a better and more cost effective choice... Dan Green -- 26/11/05

    SFM Customer Manager is a better and more cost effective choice...

    A CRM Solution with no analytics is like muscles with no brain.

    1. Great product - thanks. Anonymous -- 26/11/05

      Great product - thanks.

  15. CRM software in general Anonymous -- 20/06/07

    Common these comments are not objective at all. Its all from the people who want their products sold or competitors dissing their competitions products. poor website

    1. Give him a cigar! Anonymous -- 26/09/07

      I totally agree with you! I am doing research for a college project and found most comments to be useless.

  16. IMPORTING FROM ACCESS DATA BASE Anonymous -- 10/04/08

    We currently have a large Access database. Is there any of these CRM software that can be customised to interface with the existing Access database.

  17. CRM Report generation Carlos Blanco -- 18/07/08

    I am disastisfied with th ereport generation of ACT . I understand that most CRM offer crappy custom Report Generator Capanilities. Has anyone found a CRM with easy use of custom report designs?

  18. Free Online CRM Josh Aronowitz -- 26/08/08

    I think the move lately however is to increasingly free online CRM systems, instead of large software expenditures that can end up costing a fortune and way more than a company intended. http://www.octopuscity.com, for example, is a free web-based crm system / contact manager that’s taking quite a different route from the large and costly CRM software systems.

  19. what is the importance of crm? Anonymous -- 04/09/08

    doing a report and i dont see the importance

    1. Does anybody know anything about 3gb? Anonymous -- 13/11/08

      I came across this CRM provider called 3G Business does any body know anything about them? www.3gb.com.au

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