At Work On a Mac

There are a lot of Customer Relation Management (CRM) solutions out there to help you conduct business on a Mac. Some of them tap on Address Book others run a database or simply provide cloud computing, Software as a Service (SaaS). I’m really impressed by three of them for different reasons. In terms of price and ease of use, I recommend CONTACTIZER by Objective Decision. Be patient, this software is not bug free although none of the bugs are dramatic since it is in fact talking to Mac run applications (Address Book, iCal, Mail, etc.).

One of its most impressive feature is its mass mailer capability with email templates. The templates accept HTML and txt and conveniently include customizable fields that can be programmed to read your contacts to personalize your email. You can also set categories for your contacts and separate them in groups.

If we move up a notch we have to recognize Elements SBM by Ntractive. This is by far one of the best designed software I’ve seen in years. But are you and your organization ready for cloud computing? If the answer is positive then this is the one to buy.

Finally comes Daylite by Marketcircle, a cross between both solutions. A bit of a power horse and a power price. I guess it’s the price to pay for a very mature solution, seamlessly integrated to mail.

I also experimented with XTuple to no avail. Never succeeded in installing it. It looks promising but its interface is sort of dated and “PC” inspired.

Have fun contacting and keeping track of your marketing efforts.

I wanted to buy Adobe’s inDesign CS4. This has been one of the most painstaking buying experience ever. And believe me, I have been on the web since the beginning of times…

First the online store was slow, confused and plainly put, out to lunch. With perseverance and constant browser refresh, I finally got PayPal approval to talk to the archaic ColdFusion Adobe store which seems to have been programmed before CSS were invented, ignoring least path of resistance online buying concept and user-friendliness. Had I not needed inDesign CS4 to produce a magazine and had not Quark Express been so overpriced, I would have quit immediately.

Are you still with me? It’s not over it only gets worse. Then, I received a lame email basically saying that my order was being processed and that I would receive a download link eventually. This, after PayPal had approved the transaction! After 2 days of wait (order was placed over the week-end and everybody knows servers don’t work week-ends), I decided to call support. I had to wait 10 minutes to finally talk to a nice person with an Indian accent who told me the store was undergoing overhaul and was experiencing problems. Understatement of the year.

After this call, I finally received a confirmation email with a link to download asking me to login to start downloading. A dated Java application looking like it was part of the original 1984 Mac OS, started “managing” the over 1 Gig file transfer. Much to my surprised, the download got stuck on 86% and I had to stop it and restart it to finish off the 9 minute portion of this ordeal (it had been downloading all night!). Praise download management, all together now “It ain’t automatic and a human had to intervene to make it work”.

And to top it all, after all this I’m back to square one. After having received a second email confirming my serial number that is apparent on the web page where you actually download the application, I had the pleasant surprise of finding out that the installer does not accept it. SUPPORT, SUPPORT and SUPPORT again. Hey Adobe get your act together you’ re leaving money on the table… How many have resigned in front of such a disappointing online buying experience? When will it be resolved?

Inventory
Product is not showcased immediately on the storefront, i.e. you have to find it.
ColdFusion store should be dropped, it just does not cut it, too many steps and slow refreshes.
Why send an email to verify a transaction that has been approved?
Why such a long week-end wait time?
Why do we have to call support to obtain results?
Why send a second email for the link that does not contain the serial number?
Why send a third email with a serial number when the download page already includes that serial number?
Why is the serial number not working!

Who is minding the store? Let me know when you open…