Hi Phil,

You should have a look at this site and make a judgement for yourself based on your specific needs (there are lots of options and I dont think there is a "best" option until you really analyse what you need it to do) -

http://www.feedmyapp.com/web_20_crm_applications_sites

FeedMyApp is a great site for finding out about new web based applications.

You can find a few free ones too. But if you want commercial strength multi user options then -

Salesforce.com is probably the market leader.

Sugar CRM has a range of options from a "free host it yourself" open source version to a paid for hosted and supported competitor to Salesforce.com - http://www.sugarcrm.com.

Have fun!

Mike Watson

Hi Phil.. there is a great chap at our local business support group, called Mark Baker. His contact phone is on the web page so you can drop him a line if you like
http://www.ezysolutions.co.uk/

If you use him do feel free to feed back how you get on

Regards

Andy
Principal Physiotherapist
Ships Physio

There's a company that used to be based in the Business centre where we're based called Red Foot. http://www.redfootsolutions.co.uk/ who specialise in a variety of different solutions. They're based down in Southampton. We have started using sugarCRM and so far are quite happy with what it can do.

Hello Phil,

I'm in the process of beta testing a new CRM platform especially built for SME's with a few thousand records. I've been building systems to support loyalty platforms for years and found non bespoke platforms very frustrating as you always want to be able to do more. So I decided to build my own system, called Websand.

The beauty of the Websand system is that unlike other platforms (Sugar et al) you don't need to be technical at all. You just need to be able to tell me what data you have and what you'd like to do with it, and we'll map out the platform for you. I'd love to talk to you a bit more about this. If you or anyone is interested to understand more, my number is 07717 811133.

Thanks//

Saul

If they just want a repository for contact data, then a shared address book will be fine. If they genuinely want a relationship management system for managing relationships from initial contact through the whole client lifecycle, then you need a "proper" system configured for your needs with your business processes built in (ie workflow). In that case then I'd suggest MS Dynamics CRM. They can get it on a hosted basis for about £30 per user per month...

If they want something in between, then there are a myriad of solutions including the ones mentioned above.

another issue to consider is how this company is generating it's leads. Their lead generation system needs to work with the CRM too... eg. If they are using email marketing to generate leads, then they may as well choose a CRM that also incorporates email marketing, and so on.

Whatever they do, make sure all the data is in one place and only entered once!