Web-Based Contact Manager Needed

Help, I'm Confused. What Tool Is Best for Me? ... Based upon two e-mails last week, there's a growing hunger for Internet-based tools for managing internal company communications and external customer relationships. In the first, a manager in the Midwest asked about software that would "help in establishing a business plan ... forecasting revenue ... establishing benchmarks ... and monitoring performance." In the second, a tech savvy broker in California inquired about "web-based interactive contact management systems with security and privacy." Both are searching for Internet-based collaboration applications.

Boy, this is a perennial question. And it predates the web by years, even decades. How can we work more closely together? How can we avoid conflicts? How can we follow up more effectively? And it doesn’t take long to extend the concept into the process management area, e.g., transaction management, lease administration, and tenant relations. It's a huge question with different answers for different organizations. But here are some preliminary ideas.

You've got the traditional players like Lotus Notes, ACT, CoStar for ACT and REA. And some of these, I believe, are becoming web friendly. Then you've got the pure web-based systems. Generic ones like SalesForce.com, Intranets.com, Visto.com and HotOffice.com (I know that this is an incomplete list!). And real-estate specific ones like DealMover.com, ManagePath.com, Business Integration Group, REApplications and Zethus. (Another incomplete list.) Finally, I know that some large service providers and owners are developing their own enterprise-wide CRM systems. ... So what application is your organization using? Which of these services is gaining traction? Send e-mail to me with details, and I'll report more in a future Dispatch.

--Peter Pike