Customer Relationship Management Software Recommendation ReportAn Overview of Uses, Products, and Comparison Criteria

Prepared by Austin Communications Consulting

One ACC Center, Ste. 100Austin, TX 78754

512-454-1000

Customer Relationship Management Software Recommendation Report: Outline

• Description of CRM• How Cultural Embrace uses CRM– Past and current use– Changes in how CRM are used

Outline Continued

• Products reviewed– Sage ACT! 2011– Intuit QuickBase– Salesforce Professional Edition– Zoho CRM Enterprise Edition

Outline Continued

• Comparison Criteria by Product– Price– System requirements– Number of users– Number of customers– Ability to group customers– Ability to manage email– Ability to track information from website forms– Ability to track Google Adwords– Ability to import or use files from existing system– Independent Reviews

Outline Continued

• Conclusions by comparison criteria• Recommendations

Description of CRM

• Centralized record• All data sources • Organize• Automate• Synchronize

How Cultural Embrace Uses CRM

Past and current use• Store all customer contact information• Notes on communications with customers• Progress notes for development of each

customer’s travel program• Create and send weekly email newsletter

Changes in How Cultural Embrace Uses CRM

• Tracking leads generated on social media such as Facebook and Twitter

• Tracking the effectiveness of Google Adwords• Collecting data customers enter on the

Cultural Embrace website• Need for mobile access

Products Reviewed

• Sage ACT! 2011– Current system– DVD or download, installed on office server

• Intuit QuickBase– Integration with QuickBooks– Software as a Service (SaaS) model, hosted on

remote servers

Products Reviewed Continued

• Salesforce Professional Edition– Replacement product– Software as a Service (SaaS) model, hosted on

remote servers• Zoho CRM Enterprise Edition– Replacement product– Software as a Service (SaaS) model, hosted on

remote servers

Product Price System Requirements

Number of Users

Number of Customers

Sage ACT! 2011 $299.95/user upgrade cost($1199.80)

- 2 GB available HD space (4 GB if downloaded) - 1.0 GHz Pentium® IV processor - 1 GB system memory

Up to 10 Unlimited

Intuit QuickBase $299/month per user ($1794/mo.)

N/A, SaaS model Up to 100 25,000 records

Salesforce Professional Edition

$65/month per user ($260/mo.)

N/A, SaaS model Unlimited Unlimited

Zoho CRM Enterprise Edition

$25/month per user ($100/mo.)

N/A, SaaS model Unlimited Unlimited

Product Specifications

Product Features Product Ability to Link or

Group ClientsAbility to Manage Email

Ability to Track Website Forms

Ability to track Google AdWords

Sage ACT! 2011I Specific groups feature included

Schedule & send, tracking$59.99/month for 2 users, $5.99/month each additional user ($71.97)

Yes, only included with email service

no

Intuit QuickBase possible Schedule & send, tracking$28/month

no no

Salesforce Professional Edition

possible Schedule & send, trackingIncluded

yes yes

Zoho CRM Enterprise Edition

possible Schedule & send, tracking$3/user/month ($12)

yes planned

Ability to use or import existing CRM files

• Sage ACT! 2011– Use existing files

• Intuit QuickBase– Import existing files

• Salesforce Professional Edition– Import existing files

• Zoho CRM Enterprise Edition– Import existing files

Independent Reviews

Reviews for Sage ACT! 2011

• PC Magazine– Tons of help within in the interface– Handy Sage Business Info Service– Slow performance when switching between tasks– Puzzling placement of some Menu commands

• Salesmark.com– Good product, great features– Pricing and delivery model miss the mark– 3.5 out of 5 stars

Reviews for Sage ACT! 2011 Continued

• Zdnet.com– Good Outlook integration– Social media integration not as complete as other

services– Company responds well to user suggestions

• Adavidcreation.com– Highly customizable and full-featured– Expensive upfront– No remote access

Reviews for Intuit QuickBase

• PC Magazine– Powerful, fast, reliable online database– Easy to use– Document files can only be exported one by one

• Brighthub.com– Highly customizable and full-featured– Pricing puts it out of reach of small businesses

Reviews for Intuit QuickBase Continued

• Onlinedatabasefiles.com– Difficulty importing files– Errors when importing data from ACT!– User interface complicated and non-standard– Very difficult to learn

• Techrepublic.com– Geared toward medium to large business– Large application that can be intimidating to get

started with

Reviews for Salesforce Professional Edition

• PC magazine– Streamlined interface with incredibly informative

Dashboard views– Smooth workflow process– Pricing gets expensive – Lower-cost packages lack basic functions other

CRM include for free• Customers.com– Good analytical capability for companies with lots

of personal contact with customers

Reviews for Salesforce Professional Edition Continued

• Eweek.com– Easy to navigate– Ample tabs and menu items, very complete– Integration with other applications could be

improved– Overall 5-star rating

• Techrepublic.com– Some remote access, but incomplete– One year of Salesforce costs as much as one-time

cost of ACT!

Reviews for Zoho CRM Enterprise Edition

• PC Magazine– Good email and Web integration– Inexpensive– Requires customization at outset– Lacks scalability

• Customers.com– Available integration with QuickBooks and Gmail

works well– Lacks the email marketing functionality of other

products

Reviews for Zoho CRM Enterprise Edition Continued

• Netprofitmarketing.com– Intuitive, easy-to-use interface– No features that a small business doesn’t need– Automation makes it easy to track leads and

create tasks• Techrepublic.com– Many of the same features as Salesforce, for much

less– Good mobile access

Conclusions

Conclusions

• Price (including monthly email service fees)Zoho CRM Enterprise Edition $112/month

• System requirementsNo product has advantage

• Number of usersNo product has advantage

• Number of customersQuickBase is only product with limit (25,000)

Conclusions Continued• Ability to group clients

Only ACT! has built in• Ability to manage email

Part of basic service with Salesforce• Ability to track website leads

Included with Salesforce and Zoho• Ability to track Google Adwords

Only offered with Salesforce• Ability to use or import files from existing

systemNo issue with ACT!

Conclusion from Reviews

Zoho CRM Enterprise Edition• Good email and web integration• Inexpensive• Automation to track leads and create tasks• Good mobile access

Recommendation

Zoho CRM Enterprise Edition• Low cost• Email and web integration• Mobile access• Accommodate company growth