“Glorified address book” switched off

Another mid-sized company has switched CRM systems; so, no huge news there. However, you’ve got to love the unabashed honesty of Australian customer Superior Water Tanks, whose spokesperson called the replaced Legrand CRM system as “a glorified address book.” Nice.

Seeking functions such as mobile device accessibility and MYOB integratability, Superior Water Tanks reported to Australian industry news outlet ComputerWorld.com that the company had switched to Sage Act! to manage customer service and warranty issues. Superior Water Tanks general manager Suzanne Evans stated it needed CRM to list manufacturing, sales and installation details of its water tanks and to synchronize the data between the office and mobile staff.

The $10,000 project included implementation, six licences for Sage Act, three for Sage Link pocket PC and one for Sage Link MYOB. Implementation took six weeks and some initial glitches were reportedly experienced. Sage reseller Evolution Marketing Services assisted with vendor selection, implementation and training, performing a customization which required thousands of customer records to be migrated from the old system to Act!

A spokesperson for Legrand told ComputerWorld that its solution did not have remote access but said it does integrate with MYOB accounting software. The company plans to release a web-based CRM version in November.