Zoho?

George Z

After using "Google Apps for your domain" for a while,
we looked for a CRM that syncs with it.
Etelos promised a lot, but it was a pain to install.
Then Salesforce, but it was too expensive and sales oriented.
Zoho CRM seems to be one of the best out there.
Free for the first 3 users, $12 per user after that.
That is for a great quality hosted CRM.
And after looking at their CRM, their office suite is pretty amazing.
It offers way more than Google Apps and their word processor is great.
So, on to cloud computing we go.

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rbsremodeling

George this looks very promising I am going to play with this for a bit thanks for the link. Looks real nice

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Remodel Bud

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George Z

If it's software it's outdated already.
Think of Software As A Service (SAAS).
Also, I would leave accounting to Quickbooks or similar and think of ways to sync.
ZOHO is a complete system, it's ready to be used by any business.
They have a great office suite that surpasses Google Apps, CRM better than Salesforce that does everything you mentioned,
they even have an HR program and applications are written for them almost daily.
To re-invent the wheel is futile, especially the way these wheels are spining these days.

Come to think of it, we contractors are just businesses.
Regular business applications would be fine for us too.
If Zoho or similar is good enough for GE and other large companies, it should be ok for this paint contractor and the rest of us.
But keep us up to date anyway.
I spent enough time and money already looking for the perfec all in one software and system.

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Remodel Bud

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thefencepost

I just started using it as well, glad to see other contractors trying it as we usually have the same issues with various programs. Look forward to seeing comments etc on here in reference to it.

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Keith R. Bloemendaal
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Ed the Roofer

It looks impressive. I think I will get lost in there for a while just checking out the options.

Thanks George.

Ed

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George Z

I don't know, I don't have a Mac.

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kevins9999

After evaluating every CRM and PM SAAS application known to man (and some that are unknown to man...) I've decided that, for me, simplicity is the key. I found that I was spending more time trying to manage complicated software, rather than having the software manage what it was supposed to.

Here are some Contact Managers and Sales tools that are super-easy:

CRM/Contacts:

Highrise (highrisehq.com) - Very easy to use. You manage your contacts, and to-dos. You can bcc emails to a special address and they automatically get associated with the right contact. You can also make "cases," which are pages that collect information about a specific event, client, or whatever you want - and assoicate contacts and to-dos with each case. Great for contact and customer management, not-so-great for sales-pipeline stuff (no forecasting, etc...)

Batchbook (batchbook.com) - Also really easy to use, but the interface is a little confusing at first. They've come up with this cool tagging and "super-tagging" feature. You apply tags to any of your contacts (for example, lead, customer, vendor, etc...whatever words you want). Then, you can create "super-tags" for any of your tags. Super-tags are basically database fields, so, for example, if you create a super-tag for your "customer" tag, you can then super-tag fields like Job Name, Contract price, Date Started, etc... whatever you want. it's a great way to organize your customer info. Also, though, no sales forecasting stuff.


Sales/Pipeline Tools:

PipelineDeals (pipelinedeals.com) Without a doubt, the easiest, most straight-forward sales-based CRM tool I've ever seen... Period. You have leads and customers, and you group those contacts into "deals." You work the deals...so your goal is to simply close deals. No complicated workflow... just a great too to get you to close deals. On the downside, there's not much traditional contact management capability - so you'll basically just use this application to sell, sell, sell.

In the past I had been looking for the "ultimate" do-everything package. I've since come to realize that doesn't really exist, unless you want to pay big bucks for something like salesforce. You'd still have to do a lot of customization to get something that would work for our industry.

Vince_B

I've been playing around with ZOHO for quite a while off and on. There's quite a lot there but the problem for me is putting it all together. It's not very intuitive, for me anyway.

Somebody recommended eGroupware here a while back. It's open source and in my mind integrates better than ZOHO. I'm going to have a run at that this winter when we are slower.

rbsremodeling

I have been having the same opinion it is not very intuitive. I like Zoho a lot but that part is a major kink. I am hoping for some upgrades or changes.

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StairJunkie

I don't see why Zoho wouldn't work on macs since it's web based. I can access the site just fine but haven't had enough time to test out the apps. I'm on a mac as well btw.

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rbsremodeling

has anyone used microsoft sharepoint??

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orson

Rory,

I did subcontract work for a company that used Sharepoint extensively.

My job for them was to solicit bids for non-allowance items for their custom homes.

They utilized the Sharepoint site for all facets of their business including but not limited to: SoftPlan drawings, selection sheets and schedule, production schedule, quotes for accepted selection items, complete financials spreadsheet for each job...

Obviously some of these things were viewable by customer, some only by employees, and some very restricted to just management.

My job was to contact subs, instruct them on how to download the SoftPlan Review software, view the plans and generate a takeoff from the plans online and get bids and choose a sub.

Unfortunately I had a ton of problems finding enough subs who were computer literate enough to do this. If that had not been the case I think it would have worked out great.

Take this with a grain of salt because Lancaster County tends to run a bit behind the rest of the industrialized world.

All in all I thought the Sharepoint sight was a great way to communicate with computer inclined customers, employees and subs.

I was never aware of what the financial investment is for a Sharepoint site so I never evaluated it in that respect.

I found the architecture of the site to be user friendly and intuitive.

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rbsremodeling

It will be a free software when I change over to Comcast internet and phone service so I will not be charged for its use. I looked at the demos and they looked really slick can wait to try it out in 3 weeks when Vonage turns my phone line loose to comcast.

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RPortinga

I've used eGroupware for a few years... you have to host it yourself, but it's run fine for me using Dreamhost shared hosting.

It can be a bit confusing to install, but once it's up and running it's got your calendar, address book, to do list, and a number of other modules. some of the stuff is geared towards IT type uses, but we've used the inventory module to keep track of misc tools as well as office computers and such. It does have an email module, but it does not have "office tools" for doing documents, spreadsheets, etc. There is a file manager and document manager - though I would recommend Dropbox over something like eGroupware for document sharing. Though the module in eGroupware is handy for tracking stuff that doesn't change often, and will allow you to track versions ... like a manual or something maybe?

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Rob Portinga - Bauer Bros. Construction, Inc.
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