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Do sales people still use Act! and why?
Mind you, I have not implemented a CRM system since 2005 -- but back then, the actual sales people (not sales management) always preferred to use their Act! instead of any CRM system (Salesforce.com, Oracle). Recently, I have heard that this is still the case: there are still a large number of sales people using Act! I only ask because of the mindshare of salesforce.com, sugar, etc, it would seem Act! would be dying.
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2 Answers
You bet they do Craig!
My company specializes in helping ACT users migrate to the cloud and we're very busy!
In a lot of common scenarios, ACT just fits the bill to a T and there is no need to change. We encounter businesses still using versions of ACT from the early 2000s all the time.
If everyone is in the same office, things are pretty simple. You can even get "bolt on" email marketing tools that work with or in ACT.
Its when you need remote access that things get hairy. ACT's answer is either synchronizing databases or maintaining your own web server, neither of which are within the grasp of most small business sales teams technically.
Then there is the big hurdle that keeps businesses using ACT!. If you've accumulated years of valuable customer history in ACT and you want to migrate to a new system, most online CRM vendors will not migrate all your notes and histories. Even if its an option, its extremely costly not easy.
ACT! still has a large and loyal following -- amazing after so many years. At the same time, the program lacks features of more modern web-based products, such as full integration with online calenders from Google. That feature is coming in the next release, but we have to see their implementation. Also, the product now has so many features that it can be confusing to use.
Interestingly, the co-founder of ACT! is on Twitter at @mikemuhney.
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