As a sales rep who began learning database programming 12 years ago because
the contact managers were inadequate........
1. Yes, ACT can be used to manage marketing campaigns. It no longer has a
proprietary file format (years ago) but I'll never recommend it's use
because it used to be proprietary and it's always been 2-3 steps behind in
implementing changes in its program to match the changing sales process. I
still think of ACT as calendar oriented instead of client oriented.
2. There are better contact managers. I would recommend Goldmine for
companies with multiple locations, reps and resources who need to assign
activities to a team and track results. It also has some good sales
management reports built in and the ability to script and collect
information from telemarketing contacts. It's flexible, can be customized,
links to internet leads but can be a little confusing to a sales rep who
just wants to get in and get done. Maximizer is another product on my
recommended list. It's newest version (I just downloaded it yesterday)
appears to have many useful internet integration capabilities.
If you're client has more than one sales rep or more than one department
involved in the process they are going to need to synchronize their contact
databases. Goldmine was the first product (that I know of) to offer field
level synchronization and their new version is even better. I don't think
you could custom develop a product that could offer the same features for
$100-200 per user. It might be more useful to steer them to a contact
manager that meets 75-80% of their needs, allows customization and then
supply the customization.
There's an old (8/97) review at
http://www.zdnet.com/products/content/cshp/1708/cshp0009.html and I'm trying
to refind an overview that I had from several months ago.
Hope this helps you and your client.
Christie Mason
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Peter J. Schoenster <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Date: Tuesday, October 27, 1998 11:58 PM
>Subject: WC:>: application development - pre/post net
>
>
>>Hello,
>>
>>I would not expect everyone to recreate the wheel, but I just have
>>this adversion to using packaged software.
>>
>>Where I work the company telephone book is "in a database" and can
>>only be released by the physical gate keeper of the database. People
>>complain that their address or number is wrong and the gatekeeper is
>>too busy to fix it. This just sound odd as hell to me.
>>
>>I threw up a quick database in mysql with the basic fields and I
>>wrote some update,modify and search features and stuck it on my
>>intranet. A user can log in and change anything in THEIR profile.
>>No need to ask someone else and hope they do it. This just seems
>>like the most common sensical approach. Yet I find few others who
>>think this way.
>>
>>I recently attended a meeting about creating a marketing database. My
>>amazement was that something like this wasn't already in place. Yet
>>much of the focus seemed to stem around the use of ACT. Never during
>>the whole meeting was their any mention of the word net (neither
>>inter,intra, or extra).
>>
>>My idea of a solution was to use a rdbms behind the scenes. All users
>>could connect from wherever, if they had permissions, via a browser.
>>I would design the database, queries etc. after sufficient interview
>>process.
>>
>>There is an interesting story on perl.com about how a perl programmer
>>wrote a document management system with perl and the net.
>>
>>Perhaps there are some people here who have experience with ACT.
>>Could it actually be used by many people as a "marketing database" to
>>track leads, do followup, update and delete entries etc.? I recall
>>that my first experience with computers was when I used MS Word (on a
>>Zenith laptop with 2 floppies and NO hard drive) to create a
>>"marketing database". I used to track who I sent to whom and how
>>they replied. I wonder if using ACT now would be similar to what I
>>did with MS Word back then.
>>
>>I hope to stir up some discussion about current software development.
>>I like the idea of using perl (so many great modules and exisiting
>>programs) and the net with a rdbms. And how are software solutions
>>found? I reckon you would first determine what you want to do and
>>then find the best solution, as opposed to creating limits by
>>thinking first of how to mold the software to do what you want.
>>
>>Peter
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