Salesnet Offers a Small Business Express Lane to CRM

Sure, you’ve heard about customer relationship management (CRM) software, but chances are you haven’t thought about what it means to your business — which is understandable. Large enterprises have the time and resources to explore tracking everything from lead generation, to prospecting, to sales forecasting, to service and support, to credit history. However, small businesses tend to be more pracitcal, instead relying on programs like ACT! or Goldmine to handle contacts.

Like many software and service vendors, Boston-based CRM provider Salesnet.com sees an opportunity to help small businesses implement some of the advanced features enterprises use. In a move designed to help small business increase sales, Salesnet today announced its Express version.

“Express specifically targets small businesses with 10 or fewer users or seats,” said Dan Starr, chief marketing officer. Because it’s aimed at smaller businesses, Starr said, Express doesn’t have all the capabilities of the Standard the Extended versions of the application.

“It’s a featured-down version. For example, it doesn’t have things like multiple visibility rules.” Starr said. Instead, Express comes preconfigured with a workflow, making it quick to deploy. “For many small business, that will be all they need.”

However, Starr said, companies can also customize the application and set up their own business process. “This will appeal to companies looking to grow. Process is the key to growth.”

According to Salesnet, the features of Salesnet Express fall into the following categories:

• Opportunity management: Designed to track contacts from lead to close to shorten sales cycles.
• Process for best practices: Aims to help you build a sales process to manage account activity and reinforce best practices.
• Just-in-time business intelligence center: Lets you generate reports, see forecasts, and monitor the pipeline in real time.
• Team-based access and account management: Designed to manage accounts, contacts and opportunities so leads and prospects are never lost or neglected
• Sales and marketing support: Helps you create and send bulk e-mail and letters to customers and prospects.

“Small businesses have been slow to adopt CRM, and their business needs have been ignored,” Mike Doyle, chairman and CEO of Salesnet, said. “They’ve been struggling to accelerate their sales and marketing activities by using limited contact management applications.”

Salesnet Express is available immediately in two annual subscription packages: Salesnet Express Ten User Edition for $1,795 (equivalent to $14.95 per user per month) and Salesnet Express Five User Edition for $1,195 (equivalent to $19.95 per user per month). Salesnet Express is limited to 10 users.

Salesnet also announced today its Business Partner Program, which is designed to help system integrators, vertical market solution providers, CRM consultants, and sales methodology consultants and trainers sell, implement, and manage a Salesnet’s online CRM service.

Partners looking to offer a more customized approach to Salesnet’s Web-based CRM service include the following companies: