This all changed for me a few years later when I joined Commence Corporation, a provider of Customer Relationship Management software.  At Commence, I was forced to trade in my spiral notebook and for a sales automation tool and while I was a bit dubious that a sales automation system would help me, after a few weeks of use I thought I had died and gone to heaven.  I began capturing every customer and prospect interaction from basic telephone calls, quotes and documents I had sent to e-mail correspondence.   I learned to enter follow-up activities on my calendar and set alerts that reminded me to contact people on the dates and times I committed to.  Each day new leads with contact information were dispatched to me electronically and an automated sales methodology helped me to manage each opportunity through a structures sales cycle.  Best of all, with the simple click of a button I had the ability to view a complete 360 degree view of all current and historical information about my customers and prospects.  This was truly unbelievable.   I even learned that I could integrate a Smart Phone so that I could have contact information at my disposal and have also begun to utilize the systems mass e-mail feature to help generate more business.  I had never imagined that I would attain so much value from this tool.

The CRM system has impacted me both personally and professionally.  On a personal level I am more productive than ever.  I have access to customer and prospect information anytime and anywhere and I am confident that things are no longer falling through the cracks. On a professional level I have become almost fanatical about the product, which has helped me to serve potential customers more effectively.  I continue to utilize my past experience as a vehicle for delivering a powerful testimonial of how CRM software has helped me better manage the sales cycle and improve sales execution.  It’s a well known fact that prospects are more likely to buy from someone who believes whole heartedly in the product or service they are selling and my newly found enthusiasm for CRM software has enabled me to gain credibility with potential buyers.

As I talk with new prospects each day I understand and appreciate the reluctance they may have in implementing a Customer Relationship Management solution.  I’ve learned that It’s a lot easier to understand their concerns and provide valuable assistance if you have been in a similar position, so I tell my story.  Their interest level grows and often turns into a new sale. If you are considering a CRM system give me a call.  I am confident that I can help you consolidate data, and improve sales execution so that your team and sell more and sell more easily.

About the author: Steve Fischkin is an Account Manager at Commence Corporation, a leading provider of CRM software which can be deployed in a web-based, cloud-computing environment or on premise. For more information about Commence visit www.commence.com or e-mail Steve at s.fischkin@commence.com

“Many of these businesses have simply stayed put and have continued to utilize discontinued versions of the Goldmine software”, said Nicole Reed, Customer Manager at Commence Corporation, “but with the release of the Microsoft Windows 7 operating system, these older versions will no longer work. This has generated a number of calls to Commence Corporation from Goldmine customers seeking a migration path to newer, supported CRM software.”

Commence offers a robust contact manager along with a suite of CRM software applications for managing sales, marketing and customer support. The Customer Management software is available for deployment on-premise or hosted under a “software as a service” or SaaS model.  Commence also supports the Microsoft Vista and Windows 7 operating systems along with the upcoming Microsoft Office 2010 software.

Larry Caretsky, president of Commence Corporation, welcomes the addition of these customers. “Commence has been servicing SME businesses  for twenty years,” noted Caretsky. “A good portion of our business comes from companies that have outgrown traditional contact management software such as Sage ACT software and Goldmine software. These companies need more then a simple contact manager, but not the cost and complexity of enterprise CRM software. We are positioned right in the middle of the two, which has served our business very well over the years. Our CRM solution is comprehensive yet intuitive and affordable, and can be deployed over the Internet,” says Caretsky.

About Commence Corporation:

Commence Corporation is a leading provider of Customer Manager software. The company’s products are designed to provide small to mid-size businesses with flexible solutions that leverage the Web to offer an integrated platform for managing sales execution and customer service. Commence supports several thousand customers through a worldwide distribution network, with outlets in North and South America, Europe and Asia. For more information see www.commence.com or call 1-877-COMMENCE.

Commence has been providing contact management, sales force automation and CRM software for more than two decades and has several thousand customers in more than 22 countries around the world.   The company’s web based CRM software has proven to be a comprehensive and affordable alternative to industry leaders such as Microsoft CRM and SalesForce.com.

The company provides personal demonstrations and free trials of their on-line customer management software.

TINTON FALLS, N.J., (October 15, 2009) – Commence Corporation, a leading provider of customer relationship management (CRM) software solutions, today announced that it is extending its managed services offering to existing desktop customers and offering a complimentary software upgrade with its new hosting service.

“Today’s economic crisis has created an environment whereby companies are finding it difficult to upgrade and maintain their own IT infrastructure,” said Larry Caretsky, president of Commence Corporation. “Some have been forced to reduce their IT staff, making the management of their systems even more challenging. As a result, these businesses may now be working with older, fragile hardware or unsupported software and they are rightfully concerned about the impact this will have on their business.”

Commence Corporation has created a unique Managed Service designed to address this business challenge for existing customers.  The service places the role of managing and maintaining the Commence Server hardware and software with Commence Corporation.  It provides customers with the use of state-of-the-art high-speed server hardware at Commence Corporation’s data center as well as 24/7 management of the system by trained engineers. Customers are also entitled to a free software upgrade and continued upgrades for as long as they remain on the service. This ensures that they are always working with the highest quality server hardware and the latest version of the software. 

Abhijit Joshi, president of White Hedge Inc., recently switched over to the service and is pleased with the outcome.  “As a small company I did not have the resources to purchase the equipment and staff necessary to manage and maintain my Commence system,” said Joshi.  “In addition, keeping up with the latest product releases became difficult.  By outsourcing this function to Commence I freed up time and resources to dedicate to growing my business while Commence manages and maintains the hardware and software.”

Joshi, is not alone, several dozen new companies are already utilizing Commence’s managed service. For more information contact Commence sales at 1-877 – COMMENCE.

More About Commence Corporation

Founded in 1988, Commence develops and delivers a diverse suite of award-winning CRM products that integrate people, processes and technology. Delivered via the popular software-as-a-service (SaaS) model or implemented as on premised licensed software, Commence CRM solutions are used by thousands of companies to streamline sales and customer service front end business processes.  As a result, Commence clients increase workforce productivity, generate positive customer interactions, and reduce cost. More information about Commence can be accessed at www.commence.com

Industrial CRM Solutions That Eliminate Company Inefficiencies

When it comes to using Contact Management and Customer Relationship Management software for Industrial Sales, Commence literally wrote the book. Using Six Sigma, lean practices, Commence CRM can help you implement smart business processes that will make your company a more efficient sales and service organization. Manage the selling cycle from introduction to closure though our contact management, lead management, activity management, quoting and sales automation software. Our off-line or disconnected capability is ideal for field sales representatives who need customer information with them at all times.

Our Sales Tools Combined with Smart Business Practices will Help You To Maximize Every Business Interaction and Achieve Your Sales Potential

Industrial Sales Tools

Rapidly deployable, easy to use tools for managing the sales cycle from introduction to closure. Commence takes the guess work out of sales management, contact management, lead management, pipeline management, forecasting and reporting. Commence can even help your company set up it’s own sales force automation services.

Smart Practices for Industry

This compendium of smart practices offers real life examples of how to create a customer centric marketing strategy, efficiently manage the sales process and use CRM technology to achieve industrial selling results.

Amazon EC2 is a Web service that provides resizable computing capacity for the “cloud,” enabling users to increase or decrease capacity needed for applications within minutes. In the EC2 environment, Commence’s popular CRM software will be run on secure, shared servers; customers will not need a data center, additional office space, or a technology team. The service will be offered under a subscription model, enabling customers to pay only for the functionality they desire.

“We are excited to leverage Amazon’s EC2 cloud computing environment and take advantage of the increased scalability, high availability, reliability and disaster recovery options that it offers, ” commented Todd Pape, chief technology officer at Commence. “This approach enables us to offer a world-class solution to our customers at a fraction of the cost of implementation on their own. In addition, the service leverages Amazon’s global cloud data centers enabling Commence to further extend our service within Europe.”

Commence provides a central database for capturing, managing and sharing vital customer information, while customers retain ownership of data and business processes. It can be tailored to fit different industries and business requirements and, with the cloud technology, there are no restrictions on customizability. Its adaptable, modular design allows users to select applications from a comprehensive suite of business functions, including contact management, lead management, activity management, sales force automation, marketing and campaign management, quoting, project management and customer service.

Commence Corporation, a leading provider of customer  relationship management (CRM  ) software solutions designed specifically for small- to mid-size businesses, today announced enhancements to its reports  library in the newest version of its software-as-a-service (SaaS) CRM solution, Commence OnDemand.

“While most CRM solutions offer report writing capabilities, the small- to mid-size business sector often under utilizes this capability simply because they do not have the time or resources to design the reports. With Commence OnDemand, users can view pre-built reports immediately with a simple click of the mouse. Sales and marketing management, for example, can easily access strategic reports such as a 30-, 60-, 90-day forecast, sales activity by sales rep or customer account or marketing campaign analysis. Customer service can review the number of open support tickets, who is handling them and how long they have been open,” commented Larry Caretsky, Commence’s CEO. “For many of the reports, users can choose between text-based or graphic formats.”

With capabilities that rival many enterprise-level solutions, Commence OnDemand provides a central database for capturing, managing and sharing vital customer information. Its customizable, modular design allows users to select applications from a comprehensive suite of business functions, including contact management, lead management, activity management, sales force automation, marketing and campaign management, quoting, project management, and customer service. A flexible, Web-based hosted solution, Commence OnDemand provides automatic updates and enhancements and seamlessly integrates with both PC and Mac operating systems.

The enhanced reports library is available immediately to Commence OnDemand customers. More information about Commence OnDemand can be accessed at www.commence.com.