A list of web ready CRMs companies and sites (and a cheaper alternative to SalesForce)

Many startups out there need to keep track of customer, prospect, and partner information, including the status of those relationships. For many, SalesForce is too expensive for their needs. Since we’re all living the the ‘new’ web world where software is everywhere, I’d thought I’d put together a list of CRM systems you could use, please add to the comments of other CRMs systems

List of Customer Relationship Management Systems (CRMs):

SalesForce

Daffodil CRM

Centric CRM

SugarCRM

CRM Solution

Sales Boom

Free CRM

Boss CRM

Klyptix

Boss CRM

VTiger

Zoho CRM

Highrise, 37 Signals

VTiger

Solve 360

Big Contacts

Net Suite

ProspectSoft

Instant Sales Tracker

Patoo

Terasoft

Patoo

Easy Customer

Pipeline Deals

Sage software

Goldmine

Avidian

Heap CRM

IT Factory

Batchbook

Geez, what a crowded market.

Other Resources

-Web Worker daily has some analysis of just a few of the above that I listed.
-eCRM has a partial list, they include other applications in addition to CRM, such as Helpdesk, communication tools etc.
-You can glance through this comparison matrix in this vendor showcase, very helpful.

You always get what you pay for, so I’m sure you’ll be a savvy consumer. As you add comments, I’ll add to this list over time.

What’s the difference between a Portal and an Aggreagtor? not much really

Portals are Dead. Portals are Dead. = the mantra of Web 2.0, content is distributed, open, and amorphous.

The Web Portal, which gained fame in the late 1990s was a web application that was intended to keep eyeballs on one page by providing all the information in a dashboard type style at once.

An Aggregator, like a feedreader, techmeme, page flakes, netvibes, and myyahoo (and now facebook) is designed to collect all the information you want on to one page. If you think about it for a moment, Google search results is actually an aggregator too.

So what’s the difference between a Portal and an Aggreagtor? Not much, if you ask me. So if portals are dead, then are aggregators too? While sure, the resources required to create the modern portal/aggregator or low, the strategy is the same: bring all the resources to one page.

Who are the new Influencers? And how in-person Word of Mouth impacts decision making

Two interesting pieces out there today, Takahashi from the San Jose Mercury (link via Jennifer Jones) has a article on the “New Influencers”. He highlights what some early bloggers have done, and how being first helped them to become powerful.

He discusses how “Conversation Marketing” is key in the new marketplace:

“To influence the influencers, companies need to have two-way conversations with bloggers, whom Gillin terms “enthusiasts.” Disney courts John Frost, author of the DisneyBlog, for instance, because it knows that his posts can inspire stories on mainstream TV shows and in news publications.

Such “conversation marketing” requires a completely different set of skills than those that marketers typically use. When New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman criticized General Motors for fuel inefficient cars, GM punched back just as hard with a post on its corporate blog, Fastlane. Friedman fired back, and in the ensuing spotlight, GM got its points across to a big online audience.”

In the article, he futher suggest that being early is the only way to become powerful and infuelntial, which is not true. Guy Kawasaki was a late comer to blogging and quickly rose to the top 100.

While I’m not an A-lister, this blog is in the 2000 Technorati rank, which I started less than a year ago. Of course, I did have a previous URL domain, so reputations matter, and that’s really what’s important, not numbers.

To further the influence of word-of-mouth, eMarketer indicates that decision makers rely on first had, or in-person word of mouth above all other forms. It puts technology bloggers at a influence rate of 19%.

In the past, a few former colleagues and friends have teased me about attending so many tech events on weeknights. Well, if it’s not obvious to you, face to face meetings build so much more than any blog could.

Lastly, eMarketer reports that word of mouth only works when a company has solid offerings, without it, word will not travel effectively; “Without satisfied customers, there was nothing for WOM marketers to talk about. ”