Act!

Pros

It is easy to understand and use. You can add fields on any screen and it's user friendly.

Cons

Integration with exchange is unreliable. Support is spotty at best.

Pros

It organizes my contacts and the notes updates me quickly to what's happening with that account. Documents for each customer are also at my fingertips.

Cons

It takes too long to load. I have to open it first at the beginning of my day so nothing else interferes with the time to load. (I just updated it with your customer service and it still takes longer than I'd like, FYI).

Pros

Act is a great program when it works. I have been using it for well over 25 years.

Cons

After purchasing ACT from Costco 25 or more years ago the software ownership has changed multiple times. Each time the customer service has gotten worse and the program updates have gotten more expensive. Subcontractor customer service people have been really poor and unable to solve problems when contacted and in some cases made the problems worse. For example having to restart the program 11 times in one eight hour period of time because it crashed.... among many other problems

Pros

It's easy to set up and use. Support staff answer questions and show the user new things that varied from previous versions of the database.

Cons

Making changes to personalize the contact screens were a tad bit tricky at first. However, once I completed that process, everything else was a breeze.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Act!

Pros

We can adapt the layout to our needs and the support from [sensitive content hidden] is absolutely fantastic, even if it is a small query. It works well with our records with dates etc and getting the reports we require is perfect

Cons

There are no cons as we have adapted the system to suit our needs with the help of [sensitive content hidden]

Pros

All in one affordable solution for a CRM with AMA.

Cons

APC does not have all the functionality of the Desktop version. Therefore we have RDB's and sync so that we have the extra functionality. Often times the ACT servers are too busy for us to sync successfully during the day. We have to wait until after hours to sync.

Pros

the easy way to synchronize with outlook

Cons

Not able to create links between contact

Pros

Very powerful app with lots of flexibility to meet a variety of needs.

Cons

I wish they would have created an email program to go with it.

Pros

I have been an ACT user for over 30 years. It has evovled with my business. I think I used to snyc it with my Palm Pilot! Today I continue to appreciate how it keeps the info on my precious clients. I am also very appreciative of the top-notch screen sharing technical support I get so quickly .

Cons

I wish I had the time to learn to use more features.

Pros

I have been using ACT since early 1990's and is still my "Go To" for contact management.

Cons

I wish the iPhone app would interact with the native app and not have to use a 3rd party interface.

Pros

Familiar from days gone past.

Cons

The marketing is limited for larger-scale campaigns. To their credit, they did reach out and offer very well-crafted training.

Pros

Act! keeps me organized, despite all of the people I work with each day. It helps me keep track of all the quotes, orders and to-dos so I don’t miss important deadlines.

Cons

I really don’t have any. Honestly if I did not have Act!, I would not be able to stay on top of all the activity going on in my daily workload. I would end up losing contacts as well as missing many of my customer needs.

Pros

ACT! is working hard to make itself my highly valued CRM/Partner. Frequent functionality upgrades and increased reliability. Excellent technical assistance.
Expanded training videos and knowledge database. Act CRM is well integrated with Marketing Automation. It is not an add-on, but is central to and easy to use.

Cons

I have used ACT! for a long time. For much of the time, I was intimidated by its complications. Weak training did not help. A steep learning curve also required that I learn by trial and error. Much time was wasted learning to use ACT!'s power. ACT! 's muscle was hidden by requiring that I learn on my own instead of having good training.
ACT! would benefit from seeking out suggestions from users as to improvements in training. Some of these stunning features took forever to learn on my own.

Pros

keeps track of all communication, from emails to sms and phone calls

Cons

nothing, everything performs as expected.

Pros

We have used the system for year and it is a fantastic way to manage our customer database. You can keep things very simple or you can integrate the system to run your complete business.

Cons

The initial setup modifying the fields can be a little confusing at first but once you get into a rhythm it doesn't take too long.

Pros

Act's is a powerful organization tool. For example, one can talk to an individual on the telephone, hang-up, record in ACT a brief of the discussion, than later (on a defined date) talk to that individual again.

Cons

If your ACT goes down, you're now very likely in a quite difficult situation.

Pros

very easy to use the sales and support staff are great based locally

Cons

no features in ACT! that are not liked all very well though out

Pros

Act is great, the customer service at ACT! is even better.

Cons

Some of the reports cannot be done on site. But always contact ACT! and they sort it for me.

Pros

One stop location for all necessary client details and records

Cons

I don't use it to it's full capability. My problem, not theprogram

Pros

comfortable to use. dependable and accurate

Cons

unable to transfer history to another database

Pros

Custom design and perfect for me. Love how easy it is to use.

Cons

Nothing. Exceeds my needs and highly recommend it.

Pros

Simple, easy to use. In the cloud and backed up so I can pull it up on any device.

Cons

Sometimes it doesn't want to change company names when you are doing a search.

Pros

[sensitive content hidden] was awesome to work with on getting me to the cloud and understanding what I wanted, he did it all on the technical side , I also commend [sensitive content hidden] on the sales side he was excellent at explaining my options

Cons

I called Enhanced support about 4 other times, and they were ok but really did not understand what I was trying to accomplish (Reason why I called 4 xs ) but once I got [sensitive content hidden] we spoke , He understood and did it while also teaching me

Pros

I use ACT for my customer database and storing info about my clients. I use it daily for writing letters or referring to information I keep in the notes. I also use it for printing labels for my newsletters

Cons

It has trouble opening on occasion which makes using it frustrating

Pros

As a company who deals with a LOT of different third party vendors, I can genuinely say the customer support at ACT was absolutely top notch and couldnt fault them. Went out of their way to solve the problem we had after a powercut and even though it turned out to be a complicated job they were professional at all times, knowledgeable and efficient.

Cons

I do not have anything bad to say about ACT!

Pros

There to explain and assist, wherever I have needed them to be.

Cons

My only comment is about a design change in 2022, but as indicated, with the help of this organization it was resolved.

Pros

What's not to like First of all Client set up is a breeze! Once entered all notes are time dated. To email your client their is an Icon click on it and it automatically opens up Outlook and fills out the email address. Send and email and it keeps a copy of the email you sent to them and or received from them time dated. It allows you to set have set groups of which you can email everyone in that group. For instance maybe you have people who use tank cars, people may use box cars or need certain products you can have send a blast just to those people with a simple click on the group or groups. Want to see the locations a client there is an ico click on that a google maps opens and you can do a satellite view. Suffice it to say it does everything but wash the dishes.

Cons

Nothing! The survey is asking for a min of 40 words to describe what I don't like ok its not free!

Pros

I like that I can still use a PC-based product that I control and provide security necessary to product our client and internal information. I like that my customized version fits my basic needs to manage contacts and periodically send email messages and letters.

Cons

I need ACT support to fix problems with email merge too often. The time required to send routine communications annually has increased at least 10 fold due to time needed to fix problems. Most of the problems seem to be keeping up with Microsoft.

Pros

We have been using ACT for 19+ years. To make the switch to the cloud version just seemed logical. It has the basics features that we need and was simple to transfer over to the client.

Cons

ACT does not have all the bells and whistles that we would like such as power dialers and automatic reporting.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing Act!

Switched From

Reasons for Switching to Act!

Pros

I used ACT! for nearly 20 years in my previous role and when I went freelance I really missed it but thought it was not affordable. I am now so busy I really needed to get organised and I was pleasantly surprised at how affordable it actually is. It only really needs to save me one hour a month to give me more than return on investment - and it did that on day 1!

Cons

I made a silly error uploading and couldn't figure out how to undo so I shall be calling on the onboarding team for help.

Pros

Easy and simplicity of use that we've customised for our business.

Cons

We possibly aren't maximising the use of our solution, but it does a great job for what we ant out of it.

Pros

I love how simple it is to get started with this program. It is a great database for the business that has NEVER used one. It keeps all my information, notes, contact information and documents all in one place. I have used it in three business that previously had nothing but spreadsheets.

Cons

The program does so much, that someone is not technologically savvy has trouble using all the features. I think more people would be willing to "give it a "try" if tech support was free.

Pros

Contact management across numerous platforms.

Cons

Mobile app needs work. Too cumbersome to enter contact data and tracking.

Pros

I have been using ACT since 1995. It has been a central part of my business. Act allows one to keep the essential data on contacts and has easy many methods for looking up customers or information that might be elusive when one has several thousand contacts..

Cons

Over the years updates were often sketchy. Today those issues have been solved.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Act!

Pros

The information that is logged, the communication history is vital!
ACT is the best product I've ever used and I've been using it for 12 years!

Cons

Nothing and I mean nothing!!!!
The system has never let me down but I have to admit, you only get what you as the user input in!!!!

Pros

Act imports large data at once... without loss of any records. Stable, desktop version. Create shortcuts.

Cons

Everything is fine. It was hard to contact sales department due to high call volume but they did get back to me quickly.

Pros

Main features are easy to use such as adding companies and contacts. Lots of training videos available.

Cons

Some features feel a bit clunky but this could be a system issue rather than the software itself.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Act!

Pros

East of use. Have used it since it was just ACT and not a version. Kept all of my records for at least the last 25 years.

Cons

When an update or new version is implemented, it is rarely a smooth transition. Normally can take between a day or a month to get things straightened out correctly. Each time we need to have technical support help us out. If it is a good tech, the process is smooth. If not, normally we just need to call back. Forget chat, just wastes time.

Pros

It literally runs all aspects of my life seamlessly.
The recent upgrade was assisted by your technician, [sensitive content hidden]. I have been resisting an upgrade for years (I think I was on 20 because I was concerned of a failure during the process. He was outstanding and to sum up my impression of him in succinctly:
very Patient, very intelligent and very knowledgeable

Cons

Nothing

Pros

We have been using Act Desktop for years. We recently converted to the online program to allow for easy coordination between partners. I was able to instruct an 80 year old man-set in his ways- how to use the new version within 30 minutes with very few questions. That in itself is worth the price!

Cons

So far, I haven’t seen anything that I don’t like.

Pros

To use as a true CRM to manage my relationship with my clients.

Cons

Problems with the integration with Microsoft

Pros

The act database is one area to keep all files and information. It is tied to Outlook and saves all emails under contact as well.

Cons

That you have to pay for each feature that you might want to use.

Pros

Keeps everthing in one place for my business.

Cons

Can be a little slow and drags on my computers resources

Pros

Very easy to customize, with lots of add-ons and a decent price.

Cons

they are not too quick to respond to the other companies developments

Pros

Easy access to several functions and reference information access.

Cons

In the past it was poor support because of long delays in answering and sometimes not able to understand the support person.

Pros

the customer support services from [sensitive content hidden] Senior Act! Account Executive has been outstanding!

Cons

Its not the best service on the market but is sufficient for what we need.

Pros

I have been using ACT for over 30 years, it is easy to use, comprehensive, works great either on my PC or with the Cloud. ACT's customer support is the best I have ever used.

Cons

Actually, nothing!

Pros

I have used several versions of Act for years now. I like the easy conversions of making excel spreadsheets to share data.

Cons

The Cons go back to the very early versions.

Pros

I like the different sorting options. The mail merge is also a good tool for us.

Cons

The synchronization feature does not work after 2:30 pm for us.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Act!

Pros

n/a.

Cons

the format design seems to have been taken away from a salesperson and given to a techie. The history now can be tricky to follow. It used to be very straight forward with corresponding dates/times per entry. No lomger the case you can have multiple entries per date so not accurate any more. also changing date for mat for future task was much easier, now you have to scroll through to get to a date. Painful, again a techie must have taken over design role, a sales guy would keep in nimple.