CRM?

[Jesse]

I’m curious do you use software or services for CRM?  CRM = Customer Relationship Management.  I’ve talked to a lot of people in other fields who are a big fan of Sales Force.  www.salesforce.com  .   There are some interesting CRM programs that can integrate with Constant Contact so you can manage your lists and your relationships.    When did you contact the individual vs the list.  I’m also curious if anyone here is generating leads through data.com  … Artists?  Galleries?  Would love to hear your opinions on this subject.

[lotsabrushes]

The organization I work for uses CiviCRM. It is open-source, so there is no monthly fee for using it. http://civicrm.org/

[Jesse]

Awesome!  Thanks for posting the links.  I wonder how those compare to other services.

[lotsabrushes]

Hmm. I don't have any experience with the other services. We chose CiviCRM because it is free and works with the content management system of our Web site (Drupal).

Keep in mind that CiviCRM, being open-source, is really best for "do-it-yourselfers". You won't have a vendor that provides tech support.

[Jesse]

Drupal’s great.  That’s wonderful that they work together, a very important feature.  The DIY nature is a very important fact to note.  I’m sure that will have a heavy impact on some potential users.  What’s your favorite feature about the software?

[lotsabrushes]

I like CiviCRM's ability to create publicly viewable pages for events and accept online registrations. I also like that you can use it to compose and send email to people in your contact list and it will archive the messages.

I know it has other cool features, but I don't have much experience using them. My boss is the only person at our organization who uses CiviCRM with any regularity, since he is the one who handles conference and membership registrations. I just installed it on my test Drupal site and played with it for a bit before recommending it to him.

[Jesse]

It sounds like there are some great cross overs with the features that I like about constant contact.  I really appreciate the feed back on it.