Hi there,

I was hoping you could possibly help answer my question. I run a mobile spa, and basically what I want to do is input the Customer / Sales Information one time - including the employee for the job, their rate, the amount for the job, etc. Then, I want to hit a button and send an email of some (not all) of the information I entered to my employee. On top of that, I want the software to automatically track the amount of the sale and keep accurate books. I was looking at a combination of QuickBooks and Quick Books Customer Manager, but a few other people told me about Goldmine, ACT, and Saleslogix. Which software would be the best for what I want to do? Since it'll take some time to learn, I just want to learn one.

Thanks,
Evan

Hi Evan - welcome to the forum! :standingw

Hi,

I don't know of any application that will do exactly what you want. As far as using ACT, Goldmine or SalesLogix. All three give you the ability to track customer/client data and schedule activities against (for) the client. You really would need to set up what's called synchronization for your employees to get them the info. This is a process by which they have a copy of the datbase on their computers and changes (data) is exchanged between the Master database and the remote (your employee). All three could do what I mentioned. ACT is by far the most intuitive to use and least expensive. Goldmine is also a great program, a bit more expensive, has a ton of feature most of which you will probaly never use. It is really made for a sales force. Sales Logix also made for the sale arena an extremely powerful, customizable application that can probably do exactly what you originaly posted with enough customization. The issue is that it is be very expensive. Between $1000 - $1500 per user including server software, and SQL Licenses and then ther is the customization on top of that. Whether you buy 10 copies or 100 copies, the amount of customization is the same but the cost per user is much greater for only a few users.
For a small business you really want to look at something like ACT with Quickbooks Pro and tweak it as much as possble to your needs, then adjust your work flow the rest of the way to use them. ACT 2005 runs around $250 - $400 per user for the software, depending on the version. You are looking at $125 - $150 to hire a consultant in your area to customize it to your needs. Here's a link of to find an ACT consultant in your are. You can call one and discuss what you would like to do. http://www.act.com/community/acc/
I am an ACT consultant in NJ, but we only cover the NJ and Manhattan area. I have been consulting for ACT for over 5 years now and have also done some Goldmine and SalesLogix consulting.

Good Luck,

Mike

Welcome to the forum Mike - great first post! :thumbsup: