Really Simple Systems vs. Sparkcentral (discontinued)

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Really Simple Systems
Score 7.6 out of 10
Small Businesses (1-50 employees)
Really Simple Systems is a customer relationship management (CRM) software deployed via cloud with built-in features like email marketing, pipeline management, and case management.
$8
per month
Sparkcentral (discontinued)
Score 9.9 out of 10
N/A
Sparkcentral was a social customer care solution and cloud-based customer engagement platform that catered specifically to customer care teams within large enterprises, enabling them to deliver real-time social customer service. Sparkcentral was acquired by Hootsuite in January 2021. The product has since been discontinued.N/A
Pricing
Really Simple SystemsSparkcentral (discontinued)
Editions & Modules
Free CRM
$0
2 Users and 100 Company Records
Starter
$15
per User, 1000 Company Records, Unlimited Contacts, 1 GB Document Storage, MailSync, Custom Settings, Custom Reports, API Integration, Online ‘self-service’ Support Hub, Email and Online Chat Support, Optional Marketing Module
Professional
$33
per User, 5000 Company Records, Unlimited Contacts, 5 GB Document Storage, MailSync, Custom Settings, Custom Reports, API Integration, Advanced User Permission Levels, Online ‘self-service’ Support Hub, Free Email, Chat and Phone Support, Priority Technical Support, Optional Marketing and Service Desk Modules
Enterprise
$50
per User, Unlimited Company Records, Unlimited Contacts, Unlimited Document Storage, MailSync, Advanced Reporting, Custom Settings, Advanced User Permission Levels, API Integration, Online ‘self-service’ Support Hub, Free Email, Chat and Phone Support , Top Priority Technical Support, Dedicated Account Manager, Free Online Team Training , Optional Marketing and Service Desk Modules
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Really Simple SystemsSparkcentral (discontinued)
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
YesNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsAll plans include free customer support and setup help.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Really Simple SystemsSparkcentral (discontinued)
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
Really Simple SystemsSparkcentral (discontinued)
Sales Force Automation
Comparison of Sales Force Automation features of Product A and Product B
Really Simple Systems
7.2
33 Ratings
7% below category average
Sparkcentral (discontinued)
-
Ratings
Customer data management / contact management7.833 Ratings00 Ratings
Workflow management7.213 Ratings00 Ratings
Territory management6.98 Ratings00 Ratings
Opportunity management7.727 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration with email client (e.g., Outlook or Gmail)6.325 Ratings00 Ratings
Interaction tracking7.525 Ratings00 Ratings
Customer Service & Support
Comparison of Customer Service & Support features of Product A and Product B
Really Simple Systems
7.2
25 Ratings
4% below category average
Sparkcentral (discontinued)
-
Ratings
Case management7.423 Ratings00 Ratings
Help desk management7.024 Ratings00 Ratings
Marketing Automation
Comparison of Marketing Automation features of Product A and Product B
Really Simple Systems
7.1
27 Ratings
6% below category average
Sparkcentral (discontinued)
-
Ratings
Lead management7.024 Ratings00 Ratings
Email marketing7.220 Ratings00 Ratings
CRM Project Management
Comparison of CRM Project Management features of Product A and Product B
Really Simple Systems
7.0
29 Ratings
8% below category average
Sparkcentral (discontinued)
-
Ratings
Task management7.127 Ratings00 Ratings
Reporting6.925 Ratings00 Ratings
CRM Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of CRM Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
Really Simple Systems
6.5
25 Ratings
16% below category average
Sparkcentral (discontinued)
-
Ratings
Forecasting6.320 Ratings00 Ratings
Pipeline visualization6.321 Ratings00 Ratings
Customizable reports6.824 Ratings00 Ratings
Customization
Comparison of Customization features of Product A and Product B
Really Simple Systems
6.8
28 Ratings
11% below category average
Sparkcentral (discontinued)
-
Ratings
Custom fields7.128 Ratings00 Ratings
Custom objects6.824 Ratings00 Ratings
API for custom integration6.517 Ratings00 Ratings
Platform
Comparison of Platform features of Product A and Product B
Really Simple Systems
6.8
21 Ratings
10% below category average
Sparkcentral (discontinued)
-
Ratings
Mobile access6.821 Ratings00 Ratings
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
Really Simple Systems
7.8
28 Ratings
6% below category average
Sparkcentral (discontinued)
-
Ratings
Role-based user permissions7.828 Ratings00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Really Simple SystemsSparkcentral (discontinued)
Small Businesses
Salesmate
Salesmate
Score 9.8 out of 10
Simplify360
Simplify360
Score 7.8 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Creatio
Creatio
Score 9.1 out of 10
Emplifi Social Marketing Cloud
Emplifi Social Marketing Cloud
Score 8.9 out of 10
Enterprises
Creatio
Creatio
Score 9.1 out of 10
Emplifi Social Marketing Cloud
Emplifi Social Marketing Cloud
Score 8.9 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Really Simple SystemsSparkcentral (discontinued)
Likelihood to Recommend
7.6
(34 ratings)
10.0
(16 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.1
(1 ratings)
8.7
(4 ratings)
Usability
7.8
(18 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
8.0
(17 ratings)
10.0
(3 ratings)
User Testimonials
Really Simple SystemsSparkcentral (discontinued)
Likelihood to Recommend
Really Simple Systems CRM
If you have a customer/job where there are steps to be followed such as quotes, follow up, purchase orders received, etc. You can set reminders for a member of the team with their next step and they will be sent reminders. Works well as long as it is kept updated.
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Discontinued Products
Sparkcentral has an extremely dedicated customer service team The platform UX is brilliant Reports are very detailed & easy to export The system is stable more than 98% of the time Queue management is extremely easy They need to work on a mobile app / making the website mobile friendly The ability to add more social media channels is essential
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Pros
Really Simple Systems CRM
  • Can send out marketing emailers within 5 minutes of an industry-specific update from any device
  • Sales dashboard [can be] built how I want it using the Really Simple Systems widgets
  • Activity integration from email accounts included
  • Manage my sales pipeline opportunities effectively
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Discontinued Products
  • The biggest advantage of the Sparkcentral platform is its "inbox zero" philosophy. With this, our customer support requests are queued within the app, and agents need to work down the queue to keep it empty.
  • The app is designed from the ground up for customer care - instead of taking a generic social platform, and sprinkling in some customer care tools. Everything about Sparkcental is designed for helping our customers.
  • Sparkcentral allows us to do much better CRM. We can make customer notes, see recent interactions, determine who helped the customer (and when).
Read full review
Cons
Really Simple Systems CRM
  • Resends - I would like a simple [one-click] function to resend email campaigns to [non-openers.]
  • [Emails] that have been created but not sent or attached to a campaign I would like to see a place that they could be in [the] draft so I can come back to them at a later date without them appearing on the email list[.]
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Discontinued Products
  • In the beginning our team had the option to see what another user was typing as they responded to a post. With the latest update, this was taken away. That feature was key for us to shadow agents remotely who are still in training to provide real time feedback.
  • Our company has a number of different brands that we manage. Having a truly unified queue would be a great addition for us!
  • The bulk resolve should allow the option to select on the posts that you wish to resolve instead of selecting a time frame for bulk resolve. Often we find that marketing posts generate more volume in the evening. However, there are sometimes posts where the customer needs assistance during that time. So, if we were to bulk resolve for a certain number of evening hours we would potentially miss a customer's concern through that option as it is currently. But, if the option was to go through and select on all marketing posts and then bulk resolve you would ensure that you are not missing a post where a customer needs assistance.
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Likelihood to Renew
Really Simple Systems CRM
No answers on this topic
Discontinued Products
Sparkcentral has never given us a good reason to consider any other option. Aside from all the positive points I mentioned in previous areas of this review, something else that has really impressed us is their customer service (makes sense, they're a customer service company after all!). Any time we have a question or concern, we send them an email and we get a response almost instantly.
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Usability
Really Simple Systems CRM
Simple systems is great for smaller sales and marketing teams to log their territories and report on progress on their opportunities. There are many useful features such as tasks and reporting to show to management how opportunities are progressing and when the estimated close date would occur. The two main issues are scalability within larger [organizations] and the ease to duplicate contacts.
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Discontinued Products
The system meets all my expectations.
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Support Rating
Really Simple Systems CRM
Whenever I have had any issues, which is probably only 3 times in 10 years, the back office support has been fantastic and got me up and running again in a very short time. Cannot fault them at all. But as I stated, problems have been very few and far between.
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Discontinued Products
Incredible customer service team that replies back very quickly, follows up on the reported issue till it's resolved in a very timely manner.
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Alternatives Considered
Really Simple Systems CRM
We choose RSS due to cost. We are a startup and needed a great solution that did not cost [a lot]. RSS [fits] all our needs at the perfect price. We could not be more thrilled with our choice and it has simplified our client interaction[.]
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Discontinued Products
Sparkcentral does what it has offered to do, where other software made empty promises, Sparkcentral delivers. They also inform us, anytime they are undergoing maintenance or when Twitter or Facebook has an API change, where in previous cases we would have to discover this ourselves.
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Return on Investment
Really Simple Systems CRM
  • A very positive effect on our understanding of our customers and what kind of events are working well at the venue and which aren't. This will allow us to work more smartly when responsive to enquiries, improving our overall productivity.
  • Very positive impact on our current review of marketing and sales strategy.
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Discontinued Products
  • Customers appreciate fast responses to the things they post on social media. This tool allows that to happen.
  • The dashboard allows us to keep up with how many are waiting in our queue so we can keep up with how busy we are during the day and manage it.
  • Customer satisfaction has seemed to increase while using this tool.
  • Being able to add notes with the customers address and phone info is awesome as well.
Read full review
ScreenShots

Really Simple Systems Screenshots

Screenshot of Accounts PageScreenshot of Tasks PageScreenshot of Marketing Dashboard