Act! CRM vs. Pipeliner CRM

Swiftpage ACT! would be well suited if you are using a desktop computing environment. ACT! is an old product and they were on the desktop for many years (and still are). Also, ACT! would also be well suited if you are not as concerned about implementing a CRM product that might require a little more training (e.g. if you had employees/salespeople that needed to be trained). Also, ACT! seems to be more generic than some of the industry focused products you see nowadays. For example, MethodCRM works well with non-profits that are on the cloud.

Incentivized

Pipeliner CRM is very flexible, easy to work with, data capturing is at [its] best, its integration to other major software’s and it aids in the monitoring of the core work process. One distinctive feature is it is very easy to learn without extensive training. This really helps in the [execution] of the task in our organization.

• 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.

• Clear and easy visualisation of Sales Process
• Great capability in reporting both in-app with 'filter' and reporting module built-in is easy to use
• Reporting into pivot table is also easy and very useful
• Mobile app has always been very good and easy to use since 2015

• The auto saving function is not great. It means a simple slip or mistype can change an entire record easily.
• The reports are clunky and if you've changed the field names, that doesn't get reflected in the reports.
• The interface is still clunky. It is hard to see all the information for a contact all in one place. It gets broken up too much.

Incentivized

• The product development team at Pipeliner CRM always seems to be a step or two ahead of what I'm experiencing. Therefore they've already addressed improvements I could have suggested. They are really in touch with their users and overall user experience.

Once our current subscription expires, we no longer plan to use ACT. We are moving to a more complete CRM system that allows us, as a project based service company, to track projects, contacts, time and employees all with one software program. ACT has very limited modules to integrate these functions and therefore is no longer a good fit for us.

Incentivized

Currently the company is using the Pipeliner CRM because we believe it is a tool that puts the customer as the main focus of business processes in order to understand and anticipate their needs, and then serve them in the best way.

ACT follows the basic rules you would expect for this type of software, but actually doing anything sophisticated with it is near impossible without assistance or training. Unless you use it regularly it is difficult to use. I wouldn't recommend it unless you have internal IT support and it will be used regularly.

I gave that rating level because it reflects both my satisfaction and expectations about PipelinerCRM.Plus, the adoption rate of this software. I mean the usability rate is very low. It just takes, for learning, a couple of hours less than three days roughly. Return on time investment is low also.

There has been an ongoing problem with Google synchronisation which no one seems to be bothered about fixing, even though it clearly states on the website that the software synchronises with Google. When the customer-facing support team are on the phone, they are brilliant, it's the back-end development support which is severely lacking.

The support from Pipeliner CRM is superb; they have instant customer support and they are on time. They also give enough knowledge of sales and other material for the knowledge. They also have AI in the support by talking with customer support directly from the web or app and so on.

Delay your upgrades! ACT appears to ship out new software with virtually no checking and no concern about bad installs do to their customers.

ACT! CRM is more cost effective than like a Salesforce, but that is for a reason, it lacks a lot of the functionality that a Salesforce has. Pipedrive is actually another cost effective platform I've been evaluating as a potential ACT! CRM replacement. I like it's modern day look and feel versus ACT!.

Incentivized

The most important reason for selecting pipeliner CRM:-exceptional user engagement through its sales-friendly interface. With its uniform navigation and visual approach, users can learn the system quickly. Users can easily customize what they see to make the system their own. Best user interface & fast to learn.

Incentivized

• It's been easy to keep track of progress of goals with the software. This provides the opportunity to know what is working and what is not.
• We have had to adjust a lot of things since the Virus issue took a foothold, but it is providing invaluable to make those adjustments.
• Our ROI has increased at least 30%.

Incentivized

• As a VisualCRM tool, our clients sales teams seem to accelerate their deal closes.
• The visual tools allow those "no good deals" to be spotted and resource usage limited.
• A great tool to manage those "pipelines" within the company. A pipe is really a series of actions that constitute a planned result.