# Opinions on CRM software **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 28, 2018, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-on-crm-software/811359 "2018-03-28T15:58:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lady\_Venom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9fc348/32.png) [@Lady\_Venom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lady_Venom)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2018, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-on-crm-software/811359/1 "2018-03-28T15:58:37Z")
Okay, I haven’t been here in like 10+ years and I am sure no one will remember me anyway lol So, I have a new job and they are doing everything old school…quotes in excel, PO’s in a book, etc. We are missing deadlines as there is no organization and my control-freakishness is FREAKING out! We are an HVAC company and we are looking for a good cloud based CRM tool that will not only track our clients that we do work for directly, but also manage our bids, does PO’s and invoicing, schedules, etc. Any suggestions? I have been looking for a few hours and I have NO idea what to choose. We would prefer cloud based as some users in our team (~10-15 at most) have macs, some have PCs, some work in the office, some work from home. Any suggestions would be welcomed. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2018, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-on-crm-software/811359/2 "2018-03-28T21:54:13Z")
Are we talking about the CRM-114 Discriminator circuits on a B-52? ---
**Author:** ![Whiskey\_Dickens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9fc348/32.png) [@Whiskey\_Dickens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whiskey_Dickens)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2018, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-on-crm-software/811359/3 "2018-03-28T22:59:56Z")
I have limited first hand experience, but I understand that Sales Force is the most popular tool. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2018, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-on-crm-software/811359/4 "2018-03-28T23:50:25Z")
Salesforce is expensive and better on larger, more complex scales. FreshDesk and ZenDesk are good brands to compare via Google. You want to get out the gate easily, get service level tracking and alerting, centralized records/notes and have some way to have everyone see various content, so they can get help from a knowledge base (for example, Chuck INC called in, and no on on staff today knows how to reset their widget mathingy, but we have notes on the last contacts from them, and the knowledgebase has a guide on Chuck INC’s specific installation. Start there. Salesforce Service Cloud and MS Dynamics are some of the heavy hitters, they are expensive and come with an ROI turn time and effort that requires you to develop lot of advanced features… otherwise it’s just cost. But it also sounds like you need more than CRM, because you want some sort of procurement/sourcing/payment software, such as those from GEP, BravoSolution, Ariba, Coupa??? [https://www.smartbygep.com/procurement-software/procure-to-pay](https://www.smartbygep.com/procurement-software/procure-to-pay) You might be seeking two different solutions. . ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2018, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-on-crm-software/811359/5 "2018-03-28T23:56:48Z")
But visit SAP, too, because they have full suites on everything mentioned and then some, but typically on large, complex scales. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2018, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-on-crm-software/811359/6 "2018-03-29T00:58:20Z")
You’ve come to the right place. (Full disclosure, I’m an IT consultant and this is what I do.) If you are looking for strictly CRM cloud bases tool, one not yet mentioned, I can recommend SugarCRM. It will set your company back about $5000 per year for 10 to 15 users. If you want a more general tool that you can use as a lite CRM solution and have a way to collaborate over documents, track tasks, store invoices, use for basic HR tasks, spreadsheets, team calendars, all kinds of other handy back-office tracking things, I highly recommend MS SharePoint Online. It’s also a cloud based service but much less expensive than any CRM tools like SalesForce or CRM Dynamic, or SugarCRM. You’ll need someone with SharePoint knowledge to help configure the CRM tracking solution for you initially, and various other helpful tools, but then you’ll be off to the races. ---
**Author:** ![Lady\_Venom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9fc348/32.png) [@Lady\_Venom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lady_Venom)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2018, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-on-crm-software/811359/7 "2018-03-29T14:02:18Z")
Thanks guys, much appreciated! Sales Force is definitely too advanced for what we need at this point. I will try out some demos of your recommendations! ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2018, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-on-crm-software/811359/8 "2018-03-29T14:09:36Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > Are we talking about the CRM-114 Discriminator circuits on a B-52? Hardy har har. Customer Relationship Management. ---
**Author:** ![AlonzoSWhitebeard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/71c47a/32.png) [@AlonzoSWhitebeard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlonzoSWhitebeard)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2018, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-on-crm-software/811359/9 "2018-03-29T14:25:00Z")
if you want to spend absolutely zero money, ZOHO is the way forward. It’s considerably better than nothing.