What is the best contact manager (or customer relationship management) program?

This is far and away the most frequently asked question and I’m afraid there is no simple answer. Think about it, selling is one of the most varied disciplines I know. Millions of companies sell very different products, to very different customers, through very different processes. The challenge is to find the programs that best match your selling cycle and the activities you go through to take care of your customers. Browse this web site. Participate in the discussions. Ask me questions. I will help you discover the best ways to put this technology to work!

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How do we know you are objective? How do you make your money?

I do not sell any customer relationship management software. Nor do I take any advertising dollars from the customer relationship management software companies. We earn our living through the "Rich's Picks" needs analysis process, software reviews, and the sale of various books, tapes and other information products that I think you might find useful. On a related point, I have made the decision to offer as much of the information in this web site as possible free of charge, as well. That means I’m counting on you folks to purchase enough reviews and other information goodies to keep my wife in shoes (she prefers Ferragamo's!). So, let’s see how it goes. My pledge to you is simple, I guarantee candid, no BS software reviews and advice on other sales & marketing issues - all at prices low enough that you should find it an outstanding value.

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Just what is covered in your CRM reviews?

Whenever I discover a new program, I begin a dialog with the company by asking them to send me a press kit. Then I ask them to answer a series of questions to give me a better idea of just who they are and why they think they have something to offer this already overcrowded market. This information forms the basis for the first four sections of the In-Depth Review and the In-Depth Reviews published elsewhere on this site. By the way, many software developers have trouble getting past even this basic step!

Then, I ask them to provide me with a complete working version of the program (including full documentation), just like you would get if you bought the program. I also have another detailed round of questions that I ask at this point, on average, about 15 questions for each of the section headings listed above. Once I get answers to these questions, I load the program and put it through my own complete battery of tests. First, I look at things from the perspective of the sales people who will have to use the program every day. Here, the key question is, How does this program help the sales team take better care of their customers? Then, I look at things from the perspective of sales management. Here, the key question is, Do the opportunity management capabilities provide the tools needed to improve forecasting and management of the sales process? Finally, I look at things from the perspective of the IT manager (or, whoever will be responsible for installing and maintaining the system). Here the key issues include just how extensively, and easily, the system can be customized. I also load my test database and evaluate the database synchronization capabilities at this point.

Once I do this work, I sit down with my notes and write the final In-Depth Review documents. You should know that I work hard to write all the reviews in a consistent and structured format. This way you can easily compare the features most important to you across several programs.  If I have a current review on a program, you will find an order button at the bottom of that program's In-Depth Review. I also show the actual number of pages and the date of the last update at that point.

To learn more details about my In-Depth Reviews, Click Here.

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Why Burley, Idaho?

The short answer is that my wife grew up in Burley. As we have gotten older we both felt it would be nicer to have a little more family around. Thanks to the internet, I can operate this business from just about anywhere. So, after nearly 20 years in Issaquah, we were off to Burley.

More about Burley, if you are curious!

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