Act! Pricing Overview

Integrated Email Marketing: For a small business, you can have a strong method to handle email marketing in an integrated non-disparate solution. Tailoring: There are no limits on what data you can store in the system and the ease of making changes can be done by a nontechnical person. User Interface: The tool is easy to get around in both the desktop (fat client) and (webclient) which both are quite similar in functionality. Integration: The tool integrates with Word, Excel, and Outlook nicely. And, it integrates with Google Mail and Contacts. There is a nice selection of third party tools available for various needs like AddressGrabber which allows for easy input of contacts from various sources such as email signatures, webpages, etc. Templates: I have enjoyed being able to store tons of various templates for letters which we use over and over for various communications like sales proposals, quotes, and nudging clients along the funnel and sales process. Automation: SwiftPage ACT! has a small business automation engine which allows for reminders and workflow to be administered by the system. It's not as sophisticated as some enterprise workflow automation solutions but for the price it's an awesome addition. Maintenance: Very rarely have a problem which needs to be dealt with and costs to upgrade are minimal at best. We hosted the system internally for the web client and implemented it ourselves initially but had upgrades subsequently done by a local partner simply due to time/cost scenario. In other words, less to have someone else do it.

Social Integration: The tool has a basic feed for LinkedIn information to feed into the system. The infusion of more Social Selling "signals" and "feeds" would be very helpful to instill more social selling into the framework. Account vs. Contact: If you are a company which works to B to B rather than B to C there is a still a bit of cumbersome way to handle "joining" accounts and contacts through links. It is better with 16.1 release but still it's a "contact" centric solution which is great for some business relationships like realtors, insurance, & financial services etc.

The tool was used for leads and prospects. And, one of the compelling reasons for using the system was the integration with SwiftPage email marketing solution which provided Lead Call Lists which allowed our email marketing, surveys, and database to be integrated. With the integration, we could easily see who was a "hot" lead based on times they opened an email campaign and then assign out for proper handling by a telemarketer.

What I liked about ACT! was its ease of use as a CRM, low cost and a one-time fee for the program (for when we used it) vs a SAAS with ongoing monthly or annual fees to remain a user of the software.

Not so much a dislike as we as a business out grew the limited functionality of the CRM and it capabilities as somewhat cumbersome to use as a cloud version across platforms and for the fact that it did not have native email marketing built in (at the time of our use) but instead integrated with a third party program called Swift. Also the limits of the size of the contacts in the database do not lend itself to the campaigns that we now set up and use in our business.

We needed a CRM to store and work with all of our contacts send one-off emails and we were able to use it for its intended function as a smaller low-cost limited capability CRM.

At one time, I would have said that despite its flaws, it was an affordable option. In the past, tech support was included in a subscription, but that is no more.

The every increasing yearly subscription model is a big change for legacy Act! users. The yearly subscription costs more than Microsoft 365, and is leading me to explore other options.

I originally purchased Act! as an affordable database management tool for my freelance business. It worked then, even with some flaws, including the difficulty of finding duplicates, since it was a a contact management system aligned with cost structure that made sense for a freelance business model. A disciplined approach to list management could reduce the occurrence of duplicates. Unfortunately, switching to a yearly subscription model has resulted in a significant increase in pricing and is more so than I even pay for the MS Office Suite.

I can add companies, groups and contacts, and the marketing software is decent. The program is not easy to use- as some of the features are not self-explanatory so expect to have to hire a consultant or have an IT guy you can refer to for situations when you have no clue how to use a certain feature.

We work in finance and if we do another loan with a customer they have to be entered in as a second entry instead of having them on the same file- this makes it difficult to differentiate between a duplicate entry and an actual file. Also, there is no way to remove duplicate entries so you have to go in and manually delete each one or pay for an additional program to handle this- when you add that charge to the cost of ACT, and the cost of having a consultant- the main selling point of ACT which is the cost has now gone down quite a bit- which is why I have given it 6 out of ten. The cost is still better than the top-notch CRM like salesforce and Pipedrive but sometimes cheaper just isn't better- especially with the lack of features and ability to connect it to other popular programs like zoom info which you would have with the better CRM software.

Keeping track of our prospects, deals and customers in at least some kind of order- we have been using ACT for years which is the only reason we have stayed with it- well that and the cost differential compared to Salesforce and PipeDrive. However, if I were to compare ACT to either of those the difference is immense I would give ACT a 2 and SalesForce and PipeDrive a 10.

Ease of Use, Simple, Better Than Excellent Technical Support. The feeling of confidence when I use the app. I am accustomed to appearance and responses to keyboard inputs. Tech support is excellent, but unavailable after working hours or on weekends. I like AMA, Act Marketing Automation. However, the learning curve is steep. I am still looking for a replacement app that is easier to use. But I have not yet found one that does give me the confidence I feel with ACT! So I am abandoning trials of two more highly rated CRM/marketing automation apps today. I am expecting a consultation with a G2 advisor later today, and I may try more apps that may be recommended. But I am put off by the misleading introductions to the trial apps that make me feel less trusting of them. When they talk about customization I get the idea that the app is more of a do it yourself opportunity to have to learn way more than I care to and knowledge that they should already have to offer the product.

No Dislikes Presently. But would technical help 24 hours. When I call for reasons other than tech support sometimes no one answers. Expand the bid functionality. As I recall, the bids could be best prepared by a template for the opportunities. Make it possible to prepare bids from the opportunity ACT! training videos are pretty good, but they could be excellent with more effort. The trainer is excellent, but I want more of all. ACT! should give him a new contract to prepare and publish more training videos.

Tracking email campaigns. contact details, using groups effectively. Staying on top of day to day activities as well as longer range goals.

Act is a mandatory program for my area of work. The issue I have with act is just a few years ago I bought the program on a cd rom for everyone in my company. Just four years later the cd rom version no longer works and they now require a monthly charge for the program. The cd rom version no longer works and to me thats a scam. But I have to use act so I now pay over priced for a program I already own.

That you no longer support CD rom versions of the program.

Act is a must have for the number of contacts we need to keep track of with our business. It would not be possible with out act.

The software is relatively easy to navigate, but falls flat in modification. the user interface is mostly simple to navigate. Top navigation works fine for switching between contacts and companies - those of which propagate each other pretty consistently. The organization of information is clearly stated on the left toolbar. Adjusting search queries as well, has enough options for cross value comparisons. Opportunity function and dashboard reporting seems to have potential but i have yet to try them out.

I don't have much experience with CRM software but ACT! feels dated - we are currently using version 17 - from what I can tell, version 18 (cloud based) looks much sleeker and user friendly. Biggest complaint is the inability to calculate fields from other calculated fields - this much needed feature greatly reduces the benefits of the CRM. Supposedly there are "tons" of add-ons to beef up the software, but most are paid and bundled with unneeded features

The software is current;y used for sales team prospecting management. We are a small team, but must handle thousands of prospects. The system has been set up and works as intended mostly. We are still working on full implementations within the full workflow. I do not wish to continue using this product - but will make do

ACT provides some of the most straightforward tools when it relates to CRM. I have no trouble making new contacts, setting appointments, and calling my clients. This tool is beneficial if you have an extensive network of contacts. I currently have over 2500 contacts, and because of ACT's alarm feature, which alerts me to important meetings or phone calls, I never forget to call or email anyone. Additionally, I can program an email to be sent on particular anniversaries or when the patient's AMC is going to renew.

Starting in 2020, ACT has transferred all of its products to the cloud, even for the CRM is no longer accessible offline. This represents a worry for a business that takes data safety extremely seriously. We are still utilizing the early draft of offline CRM since we don't want company knowledge to be kept in another nation. An internet solution ought to be less expensive, yet the price has drastically increased in the case of ACT. It undoubtedly provides portability, but not at the expense of information security.

The program well maintains your customer experience knowledge. However, if you change computers, you must purchase their new application. This business does everything in its power to mistreat its clients.