Make the perfect pitch - 11 contact managers - includes related article on sales-automation packages for contact managers - Software Review - Evaluation

Rick Broida

Pitch Prospects, Manage Relationships, and Get Results With These 11 Mac and Windows Products

YOU'RE ON THE PHONE WITH A PROSPECTIVE CLIENT. IN the course of a few minutes you learn that she wants to see your brochure, she'd like you to call again in a few weeks, she just got a new e-mail address, and she's expecting a baby in three months (and can't wait to take the little tyke to his or her first Detroit Tigers game). A PIM (personal information manager) could leave you scrambling to find places to transcribe this vital information. A contact manager, on the other hand, will simply absorb the details into the client's record in an instant. The results: a ready-made cover letter to accompany your brochure; a follow-up call you'll be reminded to make; a record of the e-mail address; and detailed notes about the impending motherhood and future Tigers allegiance.

In today's competitive market, you may find it's time to give your PIM the heave-ho. Nothing is more important to your business than sales, and yet PIMs-- although fine for basic organization of names, addresses, appointments, and anniversaries-don't have the muscle to provide effective sales management. A contact manager, on the other hand, lets you schedule follow-up calls, take notes during phone conversations, print contact-history reports, and produce mass mailings, faxes, and e-mails. In short, it gives you the tools you need to sell.

Indeed, to help simplify the sales process, a contact manager should offer strong call-management features, flexible note-taking abilities, lots of customization options, and built-in database synchronization. That last feature is particularly important for maintaining the vital sales directory. Suppose you and an associate are on a business trip and have met a few potential clients. Thanks to data synchronization, you can merge your notebook's new contact management records with the contact manager data on your desktop PC. Not only will it accept the new entries from the notebook, it'll merge new data that may have been entered at the office that same day. Some contact managers accomplish this via direct modem, some require a special add-on utility, and others send and receive databases via e-mail. An unfortunate few products in this roundup don't support database synchronization at all.

The market is positively rife with contact management software right now. Although some take only baby steps beyond basic PIM features, others travel light-years toward improving your business life. For this buyer's guide, we looked for Windows and Mac contact managers that offer e-mail links, the ability to link records (so you can access a sales client with his or her partner or other firm), file synchronization, and strong customization features. We did not include PIMs, such as Lotus Organizer, Starfish Sidekick, or Day-Timer Organizer, because these products do not have the rich feature set of full-blown contact managers. The 11 candidates in this roundup have much in common, but at the same time they're apples and oranges. We looked first for ease of operation: Could you learn the program in an hour, or would you have to spend days wading through a thick manual? Next came the interface: Was it logically structured and easy on the eyes, or was it disorganized and stark?

Speed drew our scrutiny as well. There's only so much idle chitchat you can make over the phone with a client while you're waiting for his or her information to appear onscreen. If you don't have the system resources to keep the contact manager running on your desktop, you' 11 want one that loads quickly. We clocked each Windows product's load time on a 75MHz Pentium system equipped with 8MB of RAM; each Macintosh product was run on a PowerBook 5300c with 24MB of RAM.

Finally, because upgrading from a PIM to a contact manager shouldn't necessitate retyping all of your data, we checked each product's ability to import information from outside sources.

Act! 2.0 for Windows

Rating: ***

WIN

Symantec Act! 2.0 has begun to show its age. What was once the market's most robust (and often copied) contact manager has seen only minor updates since its 1994 release. Still, even Act!'s dated interface, cumbersome notepad, and awkwardly implemented calendar don't diminish its overall effectiveness in organizing one's work life.

Among the easiest contact managers to learn, Act! boasts an admirably uncluttered, contact-oriented main screen. You can customize virtually any field, and a handful of predefined field layouts let you view different blocks of contact information. Unfortunately, you can't create your own layouts. Act!'s powerful contact-grouping and event-planning features are well suited to sales, but the program has a limited number of import filters for transferring your existing PIM data. It can only import other Act! files, DBF files, and CSV text files.

Synchronizing and merging data from multiple Act! databases is easy, if you have separate databases on a notebook and a desktop PC; but remote record synchronization requires Act! Mobile Link, a $299 add-on product. A recent program update (version 2.08) adds Microsoft Exchange and Internet e-mall support to Act!'s solid fax- and mail-merge capabilities.

Version 3.0 of Act! wasn't available for review but should be on software store shelves by the time you read this. The new version, according to company representatives, will incorporate a retooled interface, new help, greater customizability, strong links to Word and WordPerfect, and extensive project management tools. Based on its track record as a category standard bearer, Act! 3.0 for Windows 95 could easily reclaim the contact manager crown. Stay tuned for more details.

Act! 2.5 for Macintosh

Rating: * * *

MAC

Bearing more than a casual resemblance to its high-profile Windows counterpart, Act! 2.5 for the Macintosh offers simple operation, an elegant interface, and strong contact management tools. Furthermore, Act!'s seamless cross-platform support means you can share databases with Windows users, and vice versa.

An interactive tutorial walks you through such program basics as creating a database and scheduling activities. Act!'s clean, form-based screen displays one contact at a time. You can choose from a selection of layouts to view different sets of fields. You can't set up your own layouts, but you can modify most of the fields (15 of which are already designated as user-definable). Act!'s calendar and task list could be better.

New to Act! is file attachment, which lets you link external files to individual contact records. Oddly, attached files are listed in Act['s history window. As with the Windows version, importing databases is easy but limited by a small number of filters.

Local database synchronization is a snap. Remote synchronization is limited to network and Apple Remote Access connections. Internet e-mail requires a PowerTalk connection but can't be sent directly via your Internet provider. Act! includes native Power Macintosh support as an installation option.

Strong in most areas but not quite perfect, Act! 2.5 nevertheless remains a tough contact manager to beat.

Commence 3.1

Rating: * 1.2

WIN

Commence Corp.'s eponymous information manager is like a database construction yard: All the materials are there, but you have to build the edifice. Prepare to set aside a few hours to customize Commence. If you have the time to tap into the program's considerable power, this total customizability could prove valuable. But because the program has no out-of-box application, it's not our first choice.

Commence made its name as a contact manager designed for large companies. It was sold primarily through VARs (value-added resellers) that customize Commence for specific companies. A standalone version of Commence is also available at retail, and that's the one we look at here.

If you buy the optional Sales Tracking Database, you can get started more quickly. Commence's flexible but often awkward interface employs tabbed dividers to organize groups of information. That's straight-forward enough, but the layers of poorly implemented dialog boxes used to input new data can be confusing. If you need to import data from a PIM, forget it; Commence has few filters, and the procedure is a mess. An agonizingly dull interactive tutorial doesn't lessen the program's learning curve.

Among its amenities are project management tools, macro-like "agents" that trigger various actions, and an above-average calendar. But most of the basic contact management tools are so unwieldy that they're a burden rather than a boon. Commence's clumsy but capable Sync Link option can synchronize multiple databases, but the program has no remote-access capabilities. That and support for e-mail are limited to the Workgroup version.

Flexibility is Commence's strength, usability its downfall. For most users who aren't programmers or who don't have hours to spend personalizing the program, this contact manager won't be worth the struggle.

Ecco Pro 3.0

Rating: ***

WIN

One of the most well-rounded packages in the group, NetManage's Ecco Pro is an excellent contact management solution. Though not targeted directly to salespeople, Ecco does offer profession-specific templates---one for sales is among them. (Sharkware and Tracker also ship with profession-specific templates.)

Navigating within Ecco is like operating a clutch: tricky at first but natural after a little practice. The program packs loads of information on the screen, yet manages to maintain an exceptionally clean interface. User-definable tabbed folders separate the various tools, and there are almost limitless options for modifying the views within each. Phone-book fields are easy to customize. Ecco's outline-oriented notebook is ideal for organizing tasks and projects, but it requires some tweaking to make it effective for call management. Scheduling is Ecco's strong suit; you can drag and drop a contact directly onto the appointment calendar.

Ecco deftly handles the importing of text-based PIM files, but it has no program-specific filters. You can synchronize databases remotely using e-mail and merge records locally. Ecco does not directly support Internet e-mail, but it can launch your Web browser and go to a selected page. First-rate documentation complements the package.

Ecco Pro shines as a general-purpose contact manager but it lacks sales-specific tools. The program is easy to customize, but even the aforementioned sales template doesn't completely fill in the gaps.

GoldMine for Windows 95

Rating: *** 1/2

WIN 95

The treasure inside GoldMine for Windows 95 is pure contact management muscle. Although wrapped inside a somewhat daunting interface, GoldMine's benefits far outweigh its rather steep learning curve.

What clutters the interface are seven separate toolbars and the dozens of buttons therein. Fortunately, you can turn off or modify any of them. The contact window is splendidly organized, with tabbed folders providing quick access to notes, links, history, and so forth. Data fields are easy to redefine, but adding new ones is unnecessarily complicated. Highly contact-centric, GoldMine associates every operation--be it an appointment, phone call, or letter--with a contact.

GoldMine's unparalleled sales tools include forecasting; branching telemarketing scripts; and detailed analyses of leads, quotas, and activities. The InfoCenter is a customizable knowledge base you can use to create information libraries. To help simplify complicated tasks--such as merging duplicate files and importing external data-- GoldMine has added automated help.

GoldMine can send and receive Internet e-mail, and it links incoming messages directly to contacts. It can even dial a pager at a predetermined time. Options for remote synchronization include direct modem link and Internet connection.

Challenging to learn but undeniably powerful, GoldMine for Windows 95 could be a salesperson's best friend.

Janna Contact 95

Rating: **

WIN 95

A good contact manager must be quick; Janna Contact 95 is a turtle. Because it requires at least 12MB of RAM, the program ran like molasses on our test system. But even when we bumped it to a system armed with 16MB, Janna Contact proved painfully slow. Until Janna addresses the speed issue, you may want to steer clear of this package.

In other respects, Janna Contact is a capable contact manager. Its stylish interface looks like an extension of Microsoft Office, and its functionality isn't far removed. The program classifies everything from appointments to phone calls as action items, and it uses icons to represent each. Each contact has a Windows Explorer-like information log containing action items, external documents (such as letters and presentation files), and company information. This familiar drag-and-drop framework carries with it a clean design but only moderate customizability.

Janna Contact has import filters for most competing products, and its import wizard greatly simplifies conversions. The program is tightly integrated with Microsoft Exchange and the strong faxing and e-mail capabilities therein. What's missing is any form of database synchronization. That option requires a separate product, Janna Remote.

Even if your computer is powerful enough to overcome Janna Contact's speed deficiencies, you may find yourself hindered by its lack of sales tools.

Maximizer 3.0is

Rating: ****

WIN 95/ WIN

Before contact management software existed, people stayed organized by making lists. Maximizer 3.0is --the is stands for Internet savvy--employs a list-based interface and puts it to very effective use. Innovative, easy to operate, and armed with useful sales tools, Maximizer covers all the contact management bases.

Among other things, its Internet capability pertains to an online database offered by Maximizer's parent company. Point your Web browser to this subscription-based service, and you can perform saleslead searches and download the results directly into your contact list. Maximizer can send e-mail via Microsoft Exchange and supports e-mail transfer of databases. Synchronization of databases is a complicated task; MaxExchange, a $395 add-on product, automates and simplifies the process.

Separate windows hold each of Maximizer's lists. The program's highly customizable interface offers numerous dragand-drop functions, unlimited user-definable fields, and the best built-in word processor we've seen in a contact manager. Maximizer's excellent note-taking and call-management capabilities are ideally suited to sales.

The package comes with two sets of disks: one for Windows 3.1, the other for Windows 95 and NT. The two programs are virtually identical, but the Windows 3.1 version doesn't include access to Microsoft Exchange.

With its intelligent blend of sales-friendly features and user-friendly operation, Maximizer ranks at the top of the contact management heap.

Now Up-to-Date 1.5 for

Windows 95

Rating: ***

WIN

Like Maximizer 3.0is, Now Up-to-Date 1.5 offers a wide set of tools for exploring the World Wide Web. Whereas most contact managers are limited to basic e-mail, Now Up-to-Date ups the Internet ante with two unique abilities: pushbutton access to any contact's Web site, and calendars and address books you can download from the Web and drop into the program.

Even if your contacts (and third-party companies) start using Now Up-to-Date Web Publisher--a separate product--to publish such information, the benefits of this innovation may prove elusive. Further-more, to take advantage of Now Up-toDate's Web and e-mail powers, you must use Netscape Navigator as your browser.

Internet options aside, Now Up-to-Date offers a good blend of features. Its interface is attractive and uncluttered, though it can't be modified much. The program employs a spreadsheet-style address book and a tabbed calendar. In addition to Web site addresses, Now Up-to-Date can attach external files to any contact. To create visual groups, you can color-code contacts and events. To facilitate easy searches, you can assign keywords to contacts. Especially handy is the QuickAccess menu, which lets you add contacts and events from outside the program.

Now Up-to-Date has numerous import filters, but we had trouble completing the process with both text and Act! files. More troubling, this contact manager has no provision for database synchronization, neither internally nor through an add-on utility.

Technically innovative but not rich in sales features, Now Up-to-Date is within reach of the brass ring.

Now Up-to-Date & Contact

3.6 for Macintosh

Rating: ****

MAC

A Macintosh contact management veteran, Now Up-to-Date & Contact goes to the head of the class with version 3.6. Although it adds only a few features to version 3.5, this contact manager was plenty smart to begin with.

Although they're bundled together, Up-to-Date & Contact are actually two separate applications. Links between them keep contacts and events in sync, but life would be easier if the two were merged. Both programs offer clean, customizable interfaces, with spreadsheet-format contact listings and push-button calendar views. Of particular merit is QuickPads, which let you manage calls, tasks, and appointments-- without running either Up-to-Date or Contact. QuickPads are invoked using hotkeys or the Apple menu.

Support for the Internet is the big news in version 3.6. As with the Windows version, you can drag and drop events and contacts from Web pages into Contact or Up-to-Date. These features, and the program's e~mail capabilities, require Netscape Navigator to be loaded. Now Upto-Date & Contact can also attach external files to any contact.

After our difficulties importing a database into the Windows version, we were surprised when the process here went quickly and easily. Database synchronization-remote or otherwise--requires a network connection.

Having smoothed out virtually every rough edge, Now Up-to-Date & Contact deserves a home on your Macintosh.

Sharkware Professional

Rating: ** 1/2

WIN

Ostensibly the most sales-oriented contact manager in the group, Cognitech Corp.'s Sharkware Professional is a collaborative effort between the company and sales guru Harvey Mackay, author of Swim With the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive and Sharkproof (both William Morrow and Co.). The program integrates Mackay's advice into a good, solid set of contact management tools.

Sharkware's crude interface comprises large toolbar buttons, a Rolodex-like contact card, and tabbed folders that organize contact-related information. One of them, the Mackay 66, helps you obtain the customer information that Mackay says will win sales. The software is quite easy to learn and use, though certain customization options are complicated. Sharkware supports unlimited user-definable fields and offers solid search capabilities. What's missing is a decent list view for contacts.

Importing is limited to a few types of data files (ASCII and dbase IV), but the procedure is mostly straightforward. Sharkware's call management features are commendable, but its calendar leaves much to be desired (like monthly and yearly views). Every time you load the program, a sales-friendly Mackay quote appears. Sharkware also includes a special Help file packed with Mackay's sales advice, a valuable addition for the salesperson but a potential annoyance to others.

Regrettably, Sharkware lacks database synchronization abilities and Internet e-mail support. Version 2.0 of the software, which should be available by the time you read this, promises to add both.

Good--but not great--at just about everything, Sharkware can help you keep your sales afloat.

Tracker 2

Rating: **

WIN

Tracker 2 packs a considerable amount of contact management punch. The problem is getting to it. The interface is cluttered and clumsy, with illogically designed dialog boxes and a confusing toolbar. Nevertheless, Tracker is not without merits. If you're willing to wrestle with it, there are benefits to be reaped.

Tracker offers a handful of predefined database configurations; personnel and real estate are among the options, but unfortunately, sales is not. The program divides its contact manager and scheduler into two separate applications, similar to the setup of Now Up-to-Date for the Mac. However, unlike the Mac product, Tracker's separate programs have a higher learning curve and limited drag-and-drop capabilities. The contact manager partitions an impressive 75 fields--most of them user-definable-- into four tabbed folders. To simplify searches, you can create contact groups and assign keywords to each contact. Also, Tracker grants 10 individual notepads to each contact, a great solution for categorizing notes. The scheduler module is complete but, like the rest of the program, awkward to use.

Tracker does not support Internet e-mail or remote database synchronization. You can merge records locally via floppy disk, but it's an awkward process that isn't mentioned in the documentation. The program's import utility has a limited number of filters and requires you to know all the field names from your original database. The import process was slow but ultimately successful.

Approach Tracker with caution. Its underlying power is overshadowed by its rough edges.

PHILIP SAYS:

Just because Microsoft won the desktop operating system war doesn't mean you have to hand over all your money to Bill Gates. There's a whole world of outstanding software on the market today that's well designed and inexpensive, increases productivity, and doesn't have the Microsoft brand name. Here are the top 10 programs I can't live without (and you might consider, as well) that don't hail from Redmond, Washington.

1. Ecco Pro 3.0--Schedule + instead of Ecco? Please 2. HiJaak 95--Converts, manages, and thumbnails graphic images in a snap.

3. Quicken 5.0 Deluxe--MS Money is for ninnies. Just ask Microsoft--they tried to buy Intuit last year.

4. Netscape Navigator--The best Web browser around. Period.

5. Delrina WinFax PromSend faxes with Win 95's fax applet? Sure, when I have a free hour to fill out all those dialog boxes.

6. America Online--Still friendlier and livelier than MSN on a good day.

7. LapLink--Flawless file transfer and remote access; what Exchange should have been.

8. McAfee VirusScan--A true lifesaver.

9. WordPerfect 7.0--A great Win 95 word processor from the dean of word processors.

10. WinZip--A small miracle, this compression utility should have been bundled with Win 95.

--Philip Albinus

Software Editor,

AUTOMATE YOUR SELLING

Just as PIMs are adopting features from contact managers, contact managers are adopting features from sales-automation software packages. What happens when you outgrow your contact manager? You could buy a high-end sales-automation package that offers branching telemarketing scripts for cold-calling, price quote and invoice generation, and order fulfillment.

Never heard of sales-automation software? That's not surprising since it requires the presence of a sales force. Generally reserved for large businesses with a network and a fleet of salespeople, sales-automation software can handle such tasks as territory management, lead distribution, telemarketing, and so on. If you're running a one-person show or have configured a team with fewer than 10 salespeople, you probably have little need for this software category.

Still, the more automation you throw into your sales efforts, the more effective you'll be. With less paperwork, you'll have more time to focus on the customer. Of the 11 contact managers in our guide, only two include sales-automation features: GoldMine, with its outstanding analysis, forecasting, and telemarketing tools; and Maximizer 3.0is , which can download sales-lead searches from the Internet into a contact list. The new version of Act! 3.0 for Windows 95, which should be released by the time you read this, will include a series of sales-automation dialog boxes for making the initial phone call, taking the sales or purchase order, and billing the client. We expect more contact managers to incorporate high-end sales-automation software features in the near future.

In the meantime, visit the Sales and Marketing Exchange Web site (http:// www.sme.com/smsoft.htm) to see the current crop of sales-automation programs or download a shareware version of Raider Software's ClientLink (client.zip) from America Online's Software Library by using the search function.

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