Comments on: CRM Systems for Writers

By: Lori Widmer

Lori Widmer — Wed, 09 Dec 2015 17:33:56 +0000

Ashley, I did use Saleswah Lite for a while. It wasn't as intuitive as I'd hoped. The system they use is a simple flagging system---purple categories for Saleswah -- that already exists in Outlook. Know how you flag an email red? Same idea.

Then you have the joy of going back and finding it later. There's still a big hurdle in that it doesn't add to your calendar the tasks you need to follow up on, and that's what I personally need.

I noticed Microsoft is announcing a CRM. I'm thinking of trying that. I will say I did like Insightly, but I have gone over their maximum contacts for the free account, and I'm not sure they're the ones I want to stick with.

By: Ashley

Ashley — Wed, 09 Dec 2015 17:04:12 +0000

Hi Lori — this comment is WAY late but I saw you refer to this post in your recent post about success in 2016. I've really been wanting to start a CRM and had a hand-made Excel one for a while. I never kept up with it because the spreadsheet was clunky and not as helpful as I'd hoped. Did you start using one of these CRMs you mentioned in this post? I'm curious to know what worked for you!

By: Lori Widmer

Lori Widmer — Mon, 17 Nov 2014 17:04:08 +0000

Chuck, great seeing you again! It's been a while!

Thanks for the info. I'll look into it. That price isn't bad at all.

By: ChuckB

ChuckB — Sat, 15 Nov 2014 01:51:29 +0000

Hey Lori: I'm gonna throw my nickle's worth into the mix because what you are looking for I've been using since Christ was a kid.

I've been using a product called, "ACT!" It's a relational data base that I think includes all or most of what you think you are looking for. It's been a great tool for my promotional products sales business, but it's not "free" by your defination.

As I look at the website, http://www.act.com, I see today's price for a one subscriber version is something like $269. In salesman's terms, let's back that number up. The version I am using I purchased in 2003 and it's still very functional, so that's 11 years I've been using it on a daily basis. Those 11 years amortize to $24.45 per year, or $2.04 per month. Free by my standards, plus the time it has saved me from creating spreadsheets and calendars has some added value I'm sure. Good luck in your quest. Chuck

By: Lori Widmer

Lori Widmer — Fri, 14 Nov 2014 15:23:47 +0000

Anne, I tried it. It's okay. I wanted something that integrated with Outlook (and was free). It was the "not free" part that made me opt out of it.

By: Anne Wayman

Anne Wayman — Fri, 14 Nov 2014 14:40:16 +0000

I have a coaching client who loves zoho and figures it's a business expense – I'm going to try a couple of these. Thanks.