So whats everybody’s CRM software preference?
I am really considering Customer Factor but haven’t pulled the trigger yet. I’ll be looking to see everyone’s response to this. Maybe there is something else that’s better.
I just purchased Sage ACT! 2011 but haven’t had a chance to start using it yet.
I want to experiement with customer factor, the price certainly isn’t a problem.
Customer factor rock! Easy to use and is desiged for what we do.
I have George online also called Aworka
I’ve been using Highrise from 37signals… makers of Basecamp and other software. I love it… it’s not customized for window cleaning but it has so many features you can make it your own. It’s for keeping track of contact info – addresses, names, emails, numbers, conversations, notes, etc and keeping them all sorted and easily exportable.
LOL at all you guys not using TCF!
Get it!
Tcf
I have a little notebook actually we use google calendars. Planning on making the switch to TCF.
There are a lot of options out there. I’ve designed and implemented crm services for several different companies. I’ve been administrating CRM solutions since a product called Remedy, was on the market back in 1997. Times have sure changed.
I’ve seen some people throwing names of ‘Contact Managment’ applications out there. Were are talking about a Customer Relation Management here. A good CRM solution should be able to provide 360 degree viability into most aspects of your organization. This would include Sales, Marketing and Operations.
What’s important to you?
- Sales - track sales, run reports, automate followups
- Marketing - which marketing campaign is generating the most revenue. Which ones just suck?
- Operations - staff and hr management, scheduling, procurement.
My favorite over all these years has been salesforce.com.
Salesforce is highly customizable, offers field level security, runs in the cloud and in most cases you can integrate your existing cloud services into salesforce allowing you a seamless insight and realtime view of your metadata.
A CRM should compliment and assist with automating your business. Many on the market fall very short of this goal.
I also use serviceceo for all my scheduling, and billing, but falls short when trying to manage opportunities and sales pipelines. That’s where salesforce excells. Im also preparing for a migration to infusionsoft services in 2013 to really step up my game.
I’ve never been a fan of ACT, as its (used to be anyways) very difficult to get data out. 37Signals has a great, easy to use product line that’s perfect for contact management.
Whatever you decide, invest in the best solution you can afford and that will grow with you. Good metadata about your client and prospect base turns that investment into real dollars as your company grows.
ok I signed up for tcf
what do you use Chris?
WCR should come out with some CRM software!
We use service ceo - and Im not sure I can handle anything else on my plate now.
But WCR has just partnered with TCF and members can now get some nice discounts at WCR through there CF dashboard.
Hi All,
Good morning. I just thought I’d pop in here real quick and see if anyone might have any questions about The Customer Factor. I encourage you to give it a spin if you’re on the fence. We’re very committed to making sure that 100% of the features and functionality available will work for any service based business. And as anyone who is a member will tell you, we are constantly striving to improve based on member suggestions. Just a couple of days ago for example we uploaded a new feature that integrates The Customer Factor with Google Maps making it super easy to print directions for individual prospects or customers or to print directions for all appointments on a particular day by clicking one button.
I won’t take the time to list all the features here because you can do that on our website (note: google maps integration isn’t listed yet on that web page), but I did want to add that there are some other benefits to joining as well. We provide free web hosting if you need it, so if you currently spend money on web hosting, you’re more than welcome to have us host it and put that money back in your pocket. We have dedicated servers with a huge amount of space on them, so we figured free web hosting would be a nice value added bonus to include.
And as chris mentioned above, we also provide a sign up area inside each account where a user can sign up to wcr and receive discounted window cleaning supplies. Once you sign up, you can then access your wcr account directly from within The Customer Factor. These discounts are available to no one else except to our members.
Another reason why you might want to consider joining us is that over the next 2 to 4 months, we’ll more than likely be increasing our pricing. Maybe after we complete the mobile website version of The Customer Factor and/or our one click email feature where members can send individual or broadcast emails to prospects/customers.
Some folks may think the mention of a price increase is just a sales tactic, but we really need to keep the pricing equal with the value. The last time we had a price increase was back in august of 2007. Here it is 4 years later and so many more features have been introduced into The Customer Factor since then.
Currently we’re at 24.95 monthly and we’re thinking about 29.95 or 34.95 monthly. Still a great deal for the value received. The important thing to note is that no current member is ever affected by any future pricing bump. Everyone is grandfathered in forever. That’s a bit unique. We’re all used to our bills increasing for a variety of reasons, but The Customer Factor is stable throughout. So all new features, upgrades, modifications, increased functionality, and support are all included in return for a small monthly investment that never increases.
The biggest concern I have with our current pricing is some may think that because it’s so low, they’ll “get what they pay for”. I had a new member just a few days ago tell me this exact thing. He looked at The Customer Factor a year ago and decided against it at that time because he didn’t think he’d get much for 25 bucks a month. He took the plunge recently and now he’s singing a different tune. But it is a concern that folks out there may think that they might not get much functionality or value due to our low pricing.
So if you’d like to join us, please do so before we increase our price. 
It won’t be a sudden thing though. I’ll make plenty of announcements to all members prior to any increase just so they can let their fellow service and window cleaning business owner colleagues and acquaintances know about it (a reminder that current member pricing never goes up). Plus I’ll make a couple of announcements in wcr. We’re looking at probably sometime between oct and jan 1.
Lastly I just wanted to quickly mention that if used regularly, The Customer Factor is designed to increase your profits, so it’s not just a contact management software program. It does this by automatically tracking each and every prospect and customer in your account and when they’re ready to be contacted, the software will let you know who and how many right on the home screen as soon as you login. There’s no digging around trying to figure out where to access this info.
A member recently sent us a pdf which talks about how her business has doubled by using The Customer Factor. If you’re interested in reading what she wrote, here’s the pdf.
Again, if anyone has questions, please let us know. Take care and have a great day.
Regards,
Steve
The Customer Factor
anyone try this? [MENTION=7230]c_wininger[/MENTION] [MENTION=1377]Bruce[/MENTION]
Sent from my iPhone using Window Cleaning Resource
I use the Customer Factor.
Ive tried a few others incl Jobber but not found any of them to be as in depth of TCF’s features and functions.
Anything requested on TCF has or is implemented - thats the good thing about Steve, he listens to his customers, and is very helpful.
OK, TCF is not the quickest or best looking “software” out there… but then im not the quickest or the best looking window cleaner, but my customers come to me for the service they receive (not because im super quick and a handsome chap)
All said… the best software is the one you feel is the best fit for you and your business.
