7Sheep is a marketing automation tool that concentrates on delivering features for what they consider 7 key components of marketing automation software: contact storage, form building, automation triggers, e-mail and text message campaigns, prospect tracking, integration and translation interface.
$0
Above 10 users
BenchmarkONE
Score 3.3 out of 10
Small Businesses (1-50 employees)
BenchmarkONE (formerly Hatchbuck) is an all-in-one sales and marketing software that includes CRM, marketing automation, and email marketing tools. Users can build online forms, manage and segment contacts, engage prospects with relevant follow-up, manage tasks, and track their pipeline.
I use 7Sheep for marketing as a sales person. This works well for me as a single user. I do not think I could use the software together with my colleagues. Although we could have separated lists the access rights might not fit our use case. It has a strong marketing focus and cannot replace a full CRM system.
Hatchbuck is great for small to mid size businesses that are really looking to keep track of their progress with their sales leads as well as their existing customers, as well as tracking the activity their customers are taking from their communications, and automate their sales and marketing funnel as much as possible. We are a SaaS company (software as a service), with sales that range from teeny tiny to very big fish so it's been an easy tool to work with to make sure we are communicating with clients based on their size and needs.
When preparing an event, 7Sheep takes care of pretty much everything you need to select, inform, and register participants, as well as prepare materials for the events, such as name badges and signature lists.
We also use 7Sheep for reporting on communications activities.
7Sheep allows you to build simple or complex forms and questionnaires which we use both for events and independent surveys.
The drag and drop HTML editor makes things look good without a lot of extra effort.
I know that they are working on a simpler way to send a test e-mail to yourself. This will streamline my activities as well and I look forward to that system change (which was suggested by a client. I have also suggested improvements which have been implemented.)
I miss an easy unsubscribe feature (like you get in MailChimp). Overall, 7Sheep's system is more flexible (good) but that does make it more complex to split up (not so good).
Setting up the SPF record in our DNS system was flexible and easy but for DKIM integration we had to contact the 7Sheep support. They do not check or show the necessary records in the tool. Customer service was great, though, so not a very big problem, just a bit of a nuisance.
They may be a little behind the curve when it comes to some of the advanced features, such as integrating various calendars and e-mail clients.
I would like to see them more integrated with social media platforms, such as keeping track of social media activity and adding more platforms that they track within a record.
The onboarding process was a bit bumpy and took much longer than expected.
The tool serves our needs and we like the user interface. The few times we contacted support they were super helpful and responsive. When we asked for more integrations they confirmed the integrations we need (e.g. Hipchat) for the near future.
In case you can't tell, we are in love with Hatchbuck software. Could it be improved? Of course it could, but, based on our current needs, and the needs of our existing and targeted clients so far, Hatchbuck presents the best fit option available. As a partner we are looking to grow with Hacthbuck into the future.
Hatchbuck offers on-boarding, training, and has a suite of videos, which makes it super easy to get started. As with any software that is the key. Have a plan, stay focused, and get started. Once, you begin to play with Hatchbuck you will see that it is very user friendly.
There has never been any downtime for Hatchbuck, which is very reassuring for me as I market and recruit strenuously for the University at Albany's executive Weekend MBA Program. Hatchbuck team members have also been available when I have reached out to them with questions or issues. With one exception, where one of my e-mails became lost in the Internet "black hole," they have gotten back to me in very timely fashion!
With both chat and email support I have always had enough ways to get through to them! Their support is good, honest and most importantly supportive. They helped us set up and start using the tool when we got stuck. Moving from Mailchimp where there were some semantic lessons to learn and they took the time to help us get used to 7Sheep
I always get a response within 24 hours, unless I ask on a weekend. The team seems to work together to resolve my issues, answer my questions, and update me on changes. In fact, they have even connected [with] me to ask how they can improve the Hatchbuck software and their service. This is why I love them so much.
I've mostly used survey monkey and google forms and doodle for small inexpensive jobs - anything more sophisticated always seemed to cost more than the actual fee I charge. 7sheep does everything they do, but it automates a lot of the processing, for a cost which is affordable and makes me more efficient - as I can use my subscription for different clients.
I have had more experience with Hatchbuck, and was introduced to it through someone who is quite familiar. My perspective is that for the money, Hatchbuck does all it needs to, and does it well. I'm sure there are comparable products, but this is the first one that I found user friendly enough to be able to use it consistently
With the translation support we have translated forms into Spanish for our producers and this has been a really positive benefit for them as a partner.
I am able to monitor interest in different products very easily and so re-target particular varieties to specific regions.
Text message campaigns mean that we can directly engage: especially for physical meetings, tasting reminders and so forth.
