Almost once a week I get asked about what Relationship Management tools, email marketing program or other project management software that people should use. I wish I could definitively give an answer. The thing is it depends on the size of your business, the level of investment you can make and what you want the program to do.

What I can do though is to give you a list of some of the programs available so you can begin the process of choosing one.

The beauty of this list is that some range from FREE to top of the line Enterprise systems. No matter where your business is at you will find one suitable.

In no particular order here are some of the most popular tools business owners use to manage their different relationships. I am sure there are more, and if you think another should be included on the list, please comment below.

Mail Chimp
Vertical Response
Aweber
Vision 6
InfusionSoft
Sales Force
Side Kick
Swift
i-contact
benchmark
Get Response
Constant contact

Which relationship management tools you should go with?

My recommendation is that you take some time to record what you want to achieve with the program, both now and in the future.

Work out how much you can or can’t sacrifice. What are the deal breakers for you?

For me it is the ability to segregate my database into different lists and create follow up campaigns that I can set and forget. Open rates is another deal breaker for me (keep in mind what you measure you can manage) still for you it may be something completely different.

Other things relationship management tools can do are manage or sales pipeline and call cycles. Larger enterprises can even have their invoicing taken care of.

Once you have chosen your relationship management tool it is going to have to last you a long time and will contribute considerably to the asset value of your business. For this reason, please, do your homework before proceeding and remember… Google is your friend!

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