BQE CORE vs. Zendesk Sell

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
BQE CORE
Score 8.5 out of 10
Small Businesses (1-50 employees)
BQE CORE is a business management solution built specifically for professional service firms. BQE CORE is a combination of a billing assistant, project management, and accounting solution. CORE is designed to do the hard work of delivering actionable insights directly to the user's dashboards or inbox. BQE CORE replaces the products Engineeroffice, Archioffice, and BillQuick; the functionality of these applications is now found in BQE CORE.N/A
Zendesk Sell
Score 7.7 out of 10
N/A
Zendesk Sell (formerly Base CRM) is a CRM that aims to give reps access to integrated tools that provide the full context of a customer account. This keeps them in the loop and allows them to capitalize on opportunities. Zendesk Sell can be extended with Reach, a lead generation and engagement tool that automates the process of finding and keeping leads interested, so reps can focus more on building relationships and crushing their quotas. Base CRM was founded in 2009, and acquired by Zendesk…
$19
per seat/month billed annually
Pricing
BQE COREZendesk Sell
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Sell Team
$19.00
per seat/month billed annually
Reach prospecting enrichment add-on (requires a Sell Subscription)
$27.00
Per User Per Month (billed annually)
Sell Professional
$49.00
per seat/month billed annually
Sell Enterprise
$99.00
per seat/month billed annually
Sell Elite
$199.00
per seat/month billed annually
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
BQE COREZendesk Sell
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
BQE COREZendesk Sell
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
BQE COREZendesk Sell
Project Management
Comparison of Project Management features of Product A and Product B
BQE CORE
8.1
55 Ratings
8% above category average
Zendesk Sell
-
Ratings
Task Management8.537 Ratings00 Ratings
Resource Management9.138 Ratings00 Ratings
Gantt Charts6.716 Ratings00 Ratings
Scheduling8.226 Ratings00 Ratings
Workflow Automation7.627 Ratings00 Ratings
Team Collaboration8.031 Ratings00 Ratings
Support for Agile Methodology8.712 Ratings00 Ratings
Support for Waterfall Methodology8.312 Ratings00 Ratings
Document Management7.230 Ratings00 Ratings
Email integration7.225 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile Access8.532 Ratings00 Ratings
Timesheet Tracking9.355 Ratings00 Ratings
Change request and Case Management8.521 Ratings00 Ratings
Budget and Expense Management7.343 Ratings00 Ratings
Professional Services Automation
Comparison of Professional Services Automation features of Product A and Product B
BQE CORE
8.4
38 Ratings
13% above category average
Zendesk Sell
-
Ratings
Quotes/estimates7.820 Ratings00 Ratings
Invoicing8.833 Ratings00 Ratings
Project & financial reporting8.737 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration with accounting software8.424 Ratings00 Ratings
Sales Force Automation
Comparison of Sales Force Automation features of Product A and Product B
BQE CORE
-
Ratings
Zendesk Sell
6.6
15 Ratings
15% below category average
Customer data management / contact management00 Ratings8.914 Ratings
Workflow management00 Ratings6.115 Ratings
Territory management00 Ratings4.98 Ratings
Opportunity management00 Ratings7.813 Ratings
Integration with email client (e.g., Outlook or Gmail)00 Ratings6.915 Ratings
Contract management00 Ratings5.410 Ratings
Quote & order management00 Ratings3.97 Ratings
Interaction tracking00 Ratings7.915 Ratings
Channel / partner relationship management00 Ratings7.811 Ratings
Customer Service & Support
Comparison of Customer Service & Support features of Product A and Product B
BQE CORE
-
Ratings
Zendesk Sell
9.0
12 Ratings
18% above category average
Case management00 Ratings9.07 Ratings
Call center management00 Ratings9.08 Ratings
Help desk management00 Ratings9.011 Ratings
Marketing Automation
Comparison of Marketing Automation features of Product A and Product B
BQE CORE
-
Ratings
Zendesk Sell
6.9
12 Ratings
9% below category average
Lead management00 Ratings6.012 Ratings
Email marketing00 Ratings7.89 Ratings
CRM Project Management
Comparison of CRM Project Management features of Product A and Product B
BQE CORE
-
Ratings
Zendesk Sell
5.3
13 Ratings
36% below category average
Task management00 Ratings8.013 Ratings
Billing and invoicing management00 Ratings1.05 Ratings
Reporting00 Ratings7.013 Ratings
CRM Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of CRM Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
BQE CORE
-
Ratings
Zendesk Sell
8.2
15 Ratings
7% above category average
Forecasting00 Ratings7.812 Ratings
Pipeline visualization00 Ratings7.814 Ratings
Customizable reports00 Ratings9.014 Ratings
Customization
Comparison of Customization features of Product A and Product B
BQE CORE
-
Ratings
Zendesk Sell
4.2
15 Ratings
57% below category average
Custom fields00 Ratings7.815 Ratings
Custom objects00 Ratings4.910 Ratings
Scripting environment00 Ratings1.16 Ratings
API for custom integration00 Ratings3.08 Ratings
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
BQE CORE
-
Ratings
Zendesk Sell
9.5
14 Ratings
13% above category average
Single sign-on capability00 Ratings9.912 Ratings
Role-based user permissions00 Ratings9.011 Ratings
Social CRM
Comparison of Social CRM features of Product A and Product B
BQE CORE
-
Ratings
Zendesk Sell
4.0
5 Ratings
58% below category average
Social data00 Ratings1.04 Ratings
Social engagement00 Ratings6.95 Ratings
Integrations with 3rd-party Software
Comparison of Integrations with 3rd-party Software features of Product A and Product B
BQE CORE
-
Ratings
Zendesk Sell
5.4
7 Ratings
28% below category average
Marketing automation00 Ratings9.87 Ratings
Compensation management00 Ratings1.03 Ratings
Platform
Comparison of Platform features of Product A and Product B
BQE CORE
-
Ratings
Zendesk Sell
8.0
13 Ratings
6% above category average
Mobile access00 Ratings8.013 Ratings
Best Alternatives
BQE COREZendesk Sell
Small Businesses
FunctionFox
FunctionFox
Score 8.3 out of 10
Salesmate
Salesmate
Score 9.8 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
SAP Ruum
SAP Ruum
Score 9.0 out of 10
Creatio
Creatio
Score 9.1 out of 10
Enterprises
Quickbase
Quickbase
Score 9.2 out of 10
Creatio
Creatio
Score 9.1 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
BQE COREZendesk Sell
Likelihood to Recommend
8.6
(148 ratings)
8.9
(15 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
7.2
(8 ratings)
3.0
(1 ratings)
Usability
8.1
(100 ratings)
8.9
(4 ratings)
Availability
8.2
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
7.3
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.0
(90 ratings)
8.8
(4 ratings)
Online Training
6.4
(1 ratings)
7.0
(1 ratings)
Implementation Rating
2.9
(6 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
Ease of integration
4.5
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
8.2
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
8.2
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
8.2
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
BQE COREZendesk Sell
Likelihood to Recommend
BQE Software Inc.
BQE CORE is well suited for a firm trying to get a better understanding of their project performance as a whole as well as better manage time and project resources. It is not the greatest for client management through a project or through invoicing, but it is do-able within the system.
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Zendesk
Zendesk sell is best for organizations that want a clean and simple, yet powerfully effective CRM tool. It's intuitive, extremely user-friendly, supplies lots of video tutorials and access to the California team for FAQ's, and has all the features other, more complicated, expensive CRM's have. Great for institutions that have a need to tailor their database to fit your needs; and track sales, tasks, and pipeline projects in graphic form. It's affordable and has a great app for mobile phones that allows access to contacts, notes, tasks, and a workable platform while on the go in real time. It's simple to teach new users how to navigate and utilize. Adding or deleting users is simple, and access to the CRM information can be limited/private or made public for the entire team to access. Not as costly as some of the competing products, so if you are on a tight budget this may be the tool for you.
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Pros
BQE Software Inc.
  • Invoice Collections within Billing is a great tool because of the ability to take notes and track contact.
  • Invoices are professional looking and easy for our clients to understand the overall progress within each phase of their project.
  • Dashboards are the best tool EVER!
  • The Contact List feature within Clients setup is the perfect way to track multiple project managers within a large company that also has multiple contracts with us.
Read full review
Zendesk
  • My favorite piece is the Tasks connected to the Clients OR the Deals themselves that keep the process moving with the right steps, and helps our team from doubling our work, or missing a piece that is crucial for the completion of the sale.
  • The email integration helps to keep all things housed in one place also, so that you're not bouncing back and forth in multiple platforms to stay on top of the orders.
  • Customizations are a HUGE part of why we use Base CRM right now. We can make sure we are recording all of the right information, and not wasting time by having to fill in or skip over content that doesn't apply to our business model.
  • I also like the ability to tied Deals to multiple people, especially as Referrals come across, so we don't forget how we got in touch with different clients.
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Cons
BQE Software Inc.
  • Customizable Reporting
  • Linking Project to Payment all together
  • Assigning contacts to particular roles - such as Invoicing, Contracts, etc.
  • Accounting Functionality - they are basically a project management accounting software, so in my opinion, they could learn some things from other accounting software such as QuickBooks etc.
Read full review
Zendesk
  • There was no ability to add prospects from a company domain or email to auto-fill any data.
  • You had to type in all of the data you gathered about that prospect.
  • The default only gave you two phone numbers for the company, too few.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
BQE Software Inc.
We have been using Core for a few years now, and honestly started to look at other software systems to see what was out there. What we chose was a nightmare for migration so we never left Core. Now we have added invoicing and payments from Core instead of double entry with QBO. Still only a few cycles in but looks like it will be up to speed soon and working smoothly.
Read full review
Zendesk
We have moved on to a more robust option of CMS.
Read full review
Usability
BQE Software Inc.
The foundation is awesome, like I have said before, however the house being built on it, the educational resources being provided to us (more of sales pitches that don't work), and flexible workflow opportunities, is making us look elsewhere for how much we will be spending on per user. It's crazy to think how flexible they are not when it comes to user settings. Lack of integration with other sources is awful.
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Zendesk
I received about two hours worth of training on Zendesk Sell (formerly Base CRM). I will say it's a clean look and the ability to change views is extremely helpful. I do wish there were other features that allowed the views to be more simplistic. Some views can be overwhelming to look at. Nevertheless with the minimum training, I am still able to navigate through Zendesk Sell (formerly Base CRM) successfully due to the ease of usability.
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Reliability and Availability
BQE Software Inc.
I can only remember a couple of times in 4 years that Core has been unavailable.
Read full review
Zendesk
No answers on this topic
Performance
BQE Software Inc.
This is one area that does need some improvement. It can be slow at time, so we had our IT look at it from our side and we had no issues, so it has to be some slowness on their side.
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Zendesk
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
BQE Software Inc.
As a new employee and CORE user, I talk to support on a weekly basis. I have never had to wait for more than 3 min to get connect with a support rep, and all my questions have been answered. The support representatives are polite and eager to help no matter how simple your question is.
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Zendesk
Due to the ease of the product, I have not had the chance to reach out to support yet. I’ve had no reason. The resources provided to clients are extremely helpful and detailed. So far my questions have been pretty basic and I generally just ask my colleague or teammate. They're able to assist with the answer.
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Online Training
BQE Software Inc.
Make sure you have someone training you that fits your style of learning.
Read full review
Zendesk
This product has a great backing of users, but needs more options direct from Base CRM on all operations of the software. YouTube videos do a great job of helping implement, and the back end support is a great help as well. The CRM is a great free option, and should be treated as such.
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Implementation Rating
BQE Software Inc.
It does take some time to understand the options and to find the best invoice template.
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Zendesk
Simple, and straight forward.
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Alternatives Considered
BQE Software Inc.
Deltek Vision is far more advanced, more encompassing and offers more flexibility with what you want to do. However, it's also quite difficult to use, whereas BQE CORE is intuitive and user friendly. The trade off is worth it in some arenas but overall it's not suited for a larger fast paced company. Great for smaller companies.
Read full review
Zendesk
Simpler than most CRMs, which can be good if your sales team is not very tech savvy. We switched to HubSpot which provides a lot more value than Base did, but it isn't right for everyone. HubSpot is focused on capturing in-bound leads and has its own flaws and limitations, but overall it's a better fit for our needs.
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Scalability
BQE Software Inc.
This software works on a small and large scale.
Read full review
Zendesk
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
BQE Software Inc.
  • Quick setup of new tasks under a parent project, with immediate hourly billing to it.
  • Monitoring of details of non-chargeable efforts in appropriate detail
  • Validation of hourly cost, billing cost, benefit cost, profitability by person and role
  • Company tracking of write-off's included in corporate and project reporting, no data is "lost"
  • Can track excessive work time as +PTO in lieu of pay for use as future vacation
Read full review
Zendesk
  • Using Base has allowed us to double the number of active sales and partner engagements that we can keep track of and make progress on.
  • This has led to us being able to follow up on many smaller deals that were falling through the cracks.
Read full review
ScreenShots

BQE CORE Screenshots

Screenshot of Core powered by BQE SoftwareScreenshot of BQE CORE Project Dashboard ViewScreenshot of BQE CORE 360* Firm Performance ViewScreenshot of BQE CORE Reporting & AnalyticsScreenshot of BQE CORE Project Time EntryScreenshot of BQE CORE Project Expense Tracking