Question

Topic: Other

Marketing Database Software Recommendation

Posted by cami on 6/3/2010 at 6:57 PM ET 250 Points
I work at the marketing department of a dental manufacturer and we are looking for a new marketing database software to substitute our current one, Riata CRM.
Our sales are processed through dealers and we don't use the software for sales, basically only for marketing. Here are some important points to consider:

1- We want to be able to capture online visitors in the database system
2- The visitors don't place orders through the website but they can order free samples of products and we want to be able to track if they've already requested a sample before
3- The software should be able to be tied into an accounting system
4- It'll be used for direct mail marketing, email marketing campaigns, and data mining.
5- We want to be able to easily extract various reports into excel format
6- We want to be able to easily segment our contacts into various categories based on purchasing and sampling history.
7- We want to be able to have access to a technical support when needed

I really appreciate if you guys could recommend me a good software to cover all the points above.

Thank you!
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RESPONSES

  • Posted on 6/6/2010 at 11:45 PM Accepted
    As you probably know, there are hundreds of systems available for you to choose from. I've used several different pieces of software that accomplish the items you referenced (ie. ACT, SAP, Highrise, Tigerpaw, Sugar, and others) and if I had to recommend one it would be SalesForce.com.

    SalesForce does provide a lot of functionality you may not use (so will every other system)... But it's flexibility to meet your specific needs is why I recommend it. Everything you mentioned should be readily available in SalesForce as long as you've got the integration points setup correctly if you're using 3rd party vendors for anything like email campaigns. The customer service I've received from SalesForce has been great... I was always able to get my rep on the phone or by email fast when I needed them. They're also willing to work with you on functionality and price to make sure you're needs are met.

    Ok... this starting to sound like a commercial for SalesForce, but I promise I don't work for them. :-) In fact, I'm not even a current customer, but I was with a previous employer about a year ago.

    https://www.salesforce.com/

    If you're looking to save money on the software but are willing to put some time into development you might also check out Sugar CRM. It's and open source CRM software that has a large user and developer community behind it. It can definitely be customized to meet your needs but it will take a little bit of work on the front end. BUT the software is free!

    https://www.sugarcrm.com/crm/

    Hope this helps,
    Zack - Corporate Radical
  • Posted by cami on 6/7/2010 at 2:41 PM Author
    Thanks Zack!

    We thought SalesForce wouldn't be the ideal for us because our sales are processed through dealers but I've heard it has a lot of marketing functionalities now. We'll definitely consider your recommendation and search about Sugarcrm too.

    I really appreciate your answer!
  • Posted on 6/8/2010 at 10:54 AM Member
    Glad I could help!
  • Posted by cami on 6/8/2010 at 11:45 AM Author
    Just one more question...
    How about Marketo and Microsoft Dynamics?
    I read they are good pieces of software for marketing too.
    Do you know anything about them?
  • Posted by cami on 6/11/2010 at 12:02 PM Author
    Karen,

    Thanks for the links. Really helpful!
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