ACT! contact management software was introduced over 20 years ago. Although originally designed as the simplest of tools, ACT! has evolved considerably over the last few years. The changes in ACT! have been so significant, in fact, that it’s often lumped into the CRM category (erroneously, but we’ll get to that). Unlike enterprise-level applications, ACT! is contact-centric, with a focus on managing and maintaining interactions with individuals.
The current version of ACT! (2009, v 11.1) supports pipeline management, account-level management, manages relationships between contact records, and even has modest workflow capabilties. While ACT! isn’t as feature-rich as CRM software, depending on your business requirements, that might be a distinction without a difference.
A big advantage of CRM is that it provides a 360 degree view of the customer – let’s call that the whole pie. But, what if your business only needs a slice of pie?
The cost of customer relationship management software is exponentially greater than the cost of contact management software. I’ve seen companies spend 10’s of thousands of dollars for CRM software when all they required were a few features not natively in ACT! That’s not sound ROI management and there are alternatives.