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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    PFL Direct Mail Platform

    Score9 out of 10
    N/APFL helps businesses deliver authentic moments by creating impactful direct mail that is data-driven, bringing measurement, personalization, and predictability from digital to direct mail. PFL offers direct mail that is... Simplified: PFL simplifies direct mail execution by managing the entire process under one roof from strategy and production to delivery and measurement. Engaging: Supports engagement that results in action by paring digital tactics with memorable…

    $40,000

    per year

    Sales Engine International

    Score9 out of 10
    N/ASales Engine International is a new company resulting from the merger of Manticore and Sales Engine in 2012. The product has email marketing and landing page functionality with strong template libraries. The product provides connectors to both Microsoft Dynamics CRM and Salesforce.com. Primary customers are SMBs.N/A
    Pricing
    PFL Direct Mail PlatformSales Engine International
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    PFL Direct Mail PlatformSales Engine International
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    YesNo
    Entry-level Setup Fee$10,000No setup fee
    Additional Details
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    PFL Direct Mail PlatformSales Engine International
    Considered Both Products
    PFL
    No answer on this topic
    Sales Engine Media
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    88%
    Would buy again
    28 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    93%
    Delivers good value for the price
    28 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    84%
    Happy with the feature set
    27 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    81%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    21 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    84%
    Implementation went as expected
    21 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Features
    PFL Direct Mail PlatformSales Engine International
    Email & Online Marketing
    Comparison of Email & Online Marketing features of PFL Direct Mail Platform and Sales Engine International
    Feature
    PFL Direct Mail Platform
    -
    Ratings
    Sales Engine International
    2.3
    1 Ratings
    108% below category average
    WYSIWYG email editor00 Ratings2.01 Ratings
    Landing pages00 Ratings4.01 Ratings
    Email deliverability reporting00 Ratings1.01 Ratings
    List management00 Ratings2.01 Ratings
    Lead Management
    Comparison of Lead Management features of PFL Direct Mail Platform and Sales Engine International
    Feature
    PFL Direct Mail Platform
    -
    Ratings
    Sales Engine International
    2.3
    1 Ratings
    109% below category average
    Lead nurturing automation00 Ratings1.01 Ratings
    Lead scoring and grading00 Ratings2.01 Ratings
    Data quality management00 Ratings2.01 Ratings
    Automated sales alerts and tasks00 Ratings4.01 Ratings
    Campaign Management
    Comparison of Campaign Management features of PFL Direct Mail Platform and Sales Engine International
    Feature
    PFL Direct Mail Platform
    -
    Ratings
    Sales Engine International
    1.0
    1 Ratings
    152% below category average
    Calendaring00 Ratings1.01 Ratings
    Event/webinar marketing00 Ratings1.01 Ratings
    Social Media Marketing
    Comparison of Social Media Marketing features of PFL Direct Mail Platform and Sales Engine International
    Feature
    PFL Direct Mail Platform
    -
    Ratings
    Sales Engine International
    1.0
    1 Ratings
    153% below category average
    Social sharing and campaigns00 Ratings1.01 Ratings
    Reporting & Analytics
    Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of PFL Direct Mail Platform and Sales Engine International
    Feature
    PFL Direct Mail Platform
    -
    Ratings
    Sales Engine International
    1.0
    1 Ratings
    152% below category average
    Dashboards00 Ratings1.01 Ratings
    Standard reports00 Ratings1.01 Ratings
    Custom reports00 Ratings1.01 Ratings
    Platform & Infrastructure
    Comparison of Platform & Infrastructure features of PFL Direct Mail Platform and Sales Engine International
    Feature
    PFL Direct Mail Platform
    -
    Ratings
    Sales Engine International
    1.5
    1 Ratings
    134% below category average
    API00 Ratings1.01 Ratings
    Role-based workflow & approvals00 Ratings3.01 Ratings
    Customizability00 Ratings1.01 Ratings
    Integration with Microsoft Dynamics CRM00 Ratings1.01 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    PFL Direct Mail PlatformSales Engine International
    Small Businesses
    No answers on this topic
    Vbout
    Score9.9 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Sendoso
    Score8.3 out of 10
    Bloomreach
    Score9.2 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Sendoso
    Score8.3 out of 10
    Iterable
    Score8.2 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    PFL Direct Mail PlatformSales Engine International
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.0
    (33 ratings)
    3.1
    (3 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    7.3
    (1 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    Usability
    7.3
    (1 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Availability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Performance
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.4
    (3 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Online Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    9.9
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    PFL Direct Mail PlatformSales Engine International
    Likelihood to Recommend
    PFL
    The reason it's not a seven or above is purely because of the timing of a solution we had requested originally back in August 2023. It's now February 2024, and we're waiting for a wow-factor pitch deck. Previously, we only received a demo recording and an order form quote. These truthfully aren't helpful enough to convince and sway our senior leaders into spending the $35k+ investment into the PMC.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Sales Engine Media
    We used the Manticore Marketing Automation solution for almost/just over 2 years, and initially, it was a great solution. Everything just seemed to work. When Manticore Technology, Inc. and Sales Engine International merged on May 31st of 2012, the overall product quality began to decline. As browsers and other programs (like our CRM environment) went through updates and new releases, Manticore just didn't keep up. Parts of the program became incompatible with certain browsers, forcing us to change where and how we logged into the back-end of the system. It was a silly workaround, but not the end of the world. When we learned that other client-facing portions didn't work with certain browsers, we brought it to their attention, and were told that we needed to find some way to work with it, and that the changes to the system were not possible. We ended up having to change our 200+ landing pages/forms, and could no longer have the State/Province field as a required field for registrations. That is just one example of our experience, and there have been others that are just as troublesome.
    Read full review
    Pros
    PFL
    • Personalization: It allows us to create highly personalized direct mail pieces tailored to individual recipients. For instance, we can include the recipient's name, relevant product recommendations, or even custom images that resonate with their preferences.
    • Multi-Channel Integration: The platform seamlessly integrates with our existing digital marketing tools and CRM systems. It enables us to orchestrate cohesive campaigns that combine email, social media, and direct mail to reach our target audience through multiple touchpoints.
    • Automated Workflows: PFL offers robust automation capabilities, streamlining the entire direct mail process. We can set triggers, such as website visits or email engagement, to automatically trigger the sending of personalized direct mail pieces, ensuring timely and relevant outreach.
    • Variable Data Printing: The platform simplifies variable data printing, enabling us to print custom content for each recipient efficiently. This is particularly useful for A/B testing different messaging or designs within a single campaign.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Sales Engine Media
    • Awesome integration with CRM/SFDC.
    • Support is US-based, free with subscription, and very helpful.
    • Best workflow capability (drag and drop) I've seen in any comparable product.
    • Custom templates are available for purchase and are great for branding.
    • Easy to use landing pages.
    Read full review
    Cons
    PFL
    • There is no built-in functionality to automate direct mail; this has to be created through triggers in Salesforce.
    • The sales cloud integration didn't give us the syncing or reporting we thought would be available.
    • We would like to see more support from team members in the post-onboarding process.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Sales Engine Media
    • List Building for Resends - I like to resend my email campaigns to non-openers and there is no easy way to pull this list within Manticore (If did not open this email is not an option). Typically I pull the report for the campaign, then re-import my list of non-openers to create a new list.
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    PFL
    I will continue to use the platform as long as my employer provides access, but I do not have purchasing power myself.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Sales Engine Media
    I've been incredibly pleased with Manticore/SEI and have selected them at several companies now. It's worked in a variety of different business environments, both big and small, and everyone on both the sales and marketing side have been extremely pleased with the results
    Read full review
    Usability
    PFL
    The UI is friendly, clear, and accessible, and I access it directly through the interface (Salesforce) that I perform my function in every day. It is intuitive to navigate, and I am able to find most functionalities I need without the need to consult an admin and/or support teams.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Sales Engine Media
    Some of the actions require you to be in a specific section before actions are available to you, like adding a list. You first have to navigate to that section for options to be available to you
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    PFL
    No answers on this topic
    Sales Engine Media
    Manticore hardly ever has "product down time" and almost never during a normal work day for our company
    Read full review
    Performance
    PFL
    No answers on this topic
    Sales Engine Media
    Email campaigns are deployed instantly when you launch, unlike other Marketing Automation tools I've used in the past that queue emails in batches and can take hours to complete a send
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    PFL
    Only thing holding me back from a perfect 10 would be the timelines for involving the technical team on occasion. There have been a few times where the PFL technical support team has been booked up for days or more than a week out which can delay our project timelines. This doesn't happen often, let me be clear. But when it does, it's usually at the worst time for our campaigns.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Sales Engine Media
    The Manticore team is very knowledgeable, I haven't had an issue where a ticket was left unanswered or unresolved
    Read full review
    Online Training
    PFL
    No answers on this topic
    Sales Engine Media
    Training was done online, but was one-on-one, giving me a lot of time to ask very specific product questions. They also walk you through setting up a test campaign, email, and landing page
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    PFL
    No answers on this topic
    Sales Engine Media
    It was the easiest integration and implementation that I've ever experienced. I've implemented other CRM integrated services before that provided the same services as Manticore that were extremely technical and expensive to integrate with Salesforce.com or Microsoft CRM Dynamics, or just plain couldn't integrate
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    PFL
    JourneyMail is one I have evaluated. It did not seem as full featured as PFL Direct Mail Platform, nor did it integrate with the rest of the Salesforce products like PFL Direct Mail Platform (journeymail ONLY integrates to marketing cloud). My customers tend to be cross-cloud and own multiple products and want solutions that can integrate across their stack easily.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Sales Engine Media
    We migrated to Marketo approximately 6 months
    ago, and were extremely happy with the change. Besides the higher sticker
    price and the "everything's a sales pitch" communications from
    Marketo, we can't find any fault.

    Sales
    Engine International - Manticore (commonly referred to as Manti-beast
    internally) created many problems for us. And while they did integrate
    with our Microsoft Dynamics environment, the software quickly ate through our
    purchased storage and forced us to constantly purchase more. That alone
    cost us many hundreds of dollars in Microsoft Dynamics CRM storage every year.
    And, when confronted about it, Manticore support flat out lied about how
    much storage their activities were taking up in our system. So, while it
    integrates, it's a very poor integration.
    Read full review
    Scalability
    PFL
    It does take a while to launch or re-launch a campaign, which can make it difficult to pivot quickly. However, if you're integrated with Marketo, then PFL is as scalable as your database and marketing strategy! The sky is the limit in terms of creativity. Post launch, the program is hands-off apart from report monitoring and potential optimization tweaks.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Sales Engine Media
    No answers on this topic
    Return on Investment
    PFL
    • We've sometimes struggled to maintain a positive ROI due to some issues with packages not arriving, arriving broken, or including the wrong items.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Sales Engine Media
    • Errors in forms led to a decrease in registrations - found workaround to correct it, but was never informed of certain incompatibilities
    • Reports have been inaccurate and very inflexible, and have not allowed for reliable forecasting/planning
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    PFL Direct Mail Platform Screenshots

    Screenshot of Custom kits available for useScreenshot of Entering the sender addressScreenshot of Personalization at scale with custom messaging and signaturesScreenshot of Product selection with product details, template data, and advanced options