Hi all,

Sorry to go off-topic, but I really value the opinions of this group. I am looking for a good, relatively low-cost customer management solution for the organization I work for. We have needed a CRM program for some time and right now we have to do an e-mail blast to about 1500 people -- so in the short term I need an affordable e-mail manager, but I thought perhaps I can kill two birds with one stone. That is, I'd like to convince my boss to buy a CRM program that also does e-mailing.

So I'd love any recommendations you may have for one or the other or both. Thank you!

Steve Z.

InfoQube is currently used as a CRM (group of 10 networked users) by 2 of my customers. It supports e-mail merge. If interested, I can supply more details on how to configure it for this type of use.

Steve,

I don't have extensive experience with either type of software, but I do have suggestions for each. Both are web services.

CRM: Highrise by 37Signals: http://www.highrisehq.com/

Mass email: http://www.constantcontact.com/

I tested Constant Contact a few years ago, with a list a few hundred recipients long, and was pleased; I know others who currently use it and like it. I used Highrise (as a single user) over the last couple years to manage my personal contacts while I was waiting for MobileMe to become fully functional; I now use MobileMe exclusively. Highrise looks like a very powerful CRM for groups, but doesn't do mass emailing.

Another CRM option:

SugarCRM available in the community -open source edition http://www.sugarforge.org/content/open-source/

or commercial http://www.sugarcrm.com/crm/

I have been using an application called Time & Chaos - !ntellect includes e-mail.

Handles mail merges, contacts (over 4k in my current setup), follow-up (called series) tasks etc. Small and fast. Support if required is fast and friendly. Lively support forum available.

http://www.timeandchaos.com
http://www.chaosfranatics.com