Pipeline marketing - going beyond AWeber part 2, the search

In part 1 of these series I explained why we felt the need to go "beyond AWeber".
If your (web)marketing strategy evolves, the need for a more flexible, compact and efficient tool comes quite quickly to the forefront in order to implement your also evolving tactics.

A chore shared

If you ever have been in the situation where you need a new software program you know it sometimes feels like trying to find that needle in a haystack: which of the so many programs around would suit your needs (now and at least for the coming 2 - 3 years) best? Fortunately I was not alone in this search, a good friend of mine also realised that in order to implement evolved strategies a better fitting CRM program was needed. And a chore shared between two persons who know each others talents well is a chore halved (or so we thought). It still took over 2 months before we made a final decision, both for the same program.

Parameters

We started with setting parameters for the new program. Although we both represent/own two completely different businesses:
one (me) a B2C business: retailer with mostly domestic clients and one B2B: accountancy/business consultancy/financial services (and more) can they still have the same parameters?
Well, both of us know (have come to realise) that informing prospects is the most effective way to convert them into clients, no matter if your business is B2C or B2B - it's the same principle.

The main parameters we set for the new software were:

• online lead capture option (webforms)
• auto-responder option
• pipe-line structure (also known as funnel-process, "driving" leads down the pipe-line/funnel to become clients/returning clients)
• online software
• extended follow-up options (scheduling tasks, letters, meetings etc - besides email options)
• customisable lay-out
• flexible (customisable) segmentation of "lists"
• no restrictions or limits on email messages (follow-up sequence or broadcast) or on contacts
• reasonably priced (I hope you remember we are a one-man/one-woman business where "everything" happens in one - small - location. Your situation - multiple offices, people on the road - can require different parameters and therefore a different price-tag. Also remember that a software program like this should be considered an investment, not just a cost.)

The programs we researched:

The most obvious one to start at was Infusionsoft (US based), seemingly for many former AWeber users the next logical step. Not for us though, way too pricey and if you have to believe some it is rather complicated to handle and control all activities (note: last remark purely based on hear-say, we did not have a trial of the program ourselves).

We also found a newcomer: webCRM, UK based. This one - after a trial - soon showed it lacked many of the parameters we'd set and is more just an online CRM program. (Same functionality as the CRM program that comes with Mamut, our bookkeeping software). Does have a very good pipe-line structure though and at £ 30.00 (for 2 users) good value for money - if you are just looking for an online CRM program that is.

A LinkedIn query on the subject directed us to SalesForce (US and UK based) "the cloud computing" software. The possibility to combine it with other online programs, like Google Mail, and other "bespoke" applications sounded good. Once you find your way on their website - could be just me - it promises to tick all the boxes. However, on closer inspection it doesn't.
Both of us were invited for a Webinar and received log in details plus a phone number to call in for the "meeting" (together with 6 other potential SalesForce users, all with their own questions and areas of interest).

It soon turned out that the standard options in SalesForce focus much more on sales-departments (nice and elaborate graphs to track statistics on almost everything) than on marketing itself and if you needed something "simple" like autoresponder you had to add one of the "partner" applications (and most of these apps come with their own price). Getting a question in during the "meeting" was rather difficult, due IMHO to the number of others (and some you could hear sigh when a question was asked and answered that didn't relate to their business or circumstances). Not the best of experiences I must say.
Totting up all the none-standard applications to meet our parameters SalesForce increased tremendously in price (and then still wouldn't tick all the boxes).

The short-list: 2 programs

Beginning December our spirits were low - on the subject of finding the right program for us that is, normal business proceeded nicely. Then we were pointed in the direction of two "new" programs to check out and in the end these were the two that ended up on our shortlist. We decided to check out one each.

Mine, again through a LinkedIn query, was SalesNexus (US based).
The demo looked promising, and so did the video of one of the webinars. The minute you ask for a test-drive SalesNexus sends you a free report about the hidden costs of other programs (focussing their report on SalesForce and ACT!), which is quite interesting but.... I'll come back to that later.
After watching the Webinar video I signed up for a 30 day trial and had a better look around, asking many question by email in the process (which showed a stumble block we hadn't thought of before: the time difference between UK and USA. Effectively this means that any support you need is mainly restricted to the afternoons.)
There are many functions in SalesNexus I really liked, for instance the Library function (reminded me of ScreenSteps: write once, use in a multiple way) and the "look-up" function that keeps its search results until you decide you've done all you wanted to do at that moment. The principle of SalesNexus is based on: your business is unique so you need unique fields, unique activities, unique segmentation and you name it you can added/edit and customise it.

But...
Chunky, slow, and hidden costs here too. SalesNexus comes in two Editions: Standard and Pro (compared here).

But then somewhere on their website I stumbled on another Edition: Pro Plus (the comparison data sheet is hidden deep down the website, I had to ask SalesNexus support for the link when I could not find it again) The Pro Plus is the Pro with extras but for the lead capture function you're presented with another annual fee.
Now don't get me wrong, during our "quest" we discovered this happen quite often: a price for the basics and than a price per add-on so you can even customise your own program and decide if the additionals are worth the extra money.
Here it was a let down, "pot and kettle" came to mind.

Pity really, because the program ticked many boxes and although the autorespond option was only able to email out one email (and not a sequence of automated follow-up messages) I was rather impressed by it. Specially when I was informed that the auto responder would be improved later on (Q2 2010).

And the winner is....

In the meantime my friend Richard C had further investigated shortlist number 2: Octane HQ "Fuel your Sales" (UK based). In Ed Rivis latest book "E-Mail Marketing Dynamite" this program was mentioned too, but with the side-note it was a "download" program (running on your own pc) and not an "online" program, so we had discarded it at first.
However, as we learned in December, between the moment of writing and the launch of Ed's book, J-Media (the owner of Octane HQ) had made the decision to turn it into an online program after al with also a change in the price structure. So we had a look after al. Well, Richard first.

And reported back with enthusiasm - of course at the same time I'd gotten excited about SalesNexus!

Octane HQ is more focused on marketing to enhance sales in contrast of most of the "cloud" programs we'd seen where marketing is sometimes only an after thought. The banner on the simple website ends with: Put your marketing on autopilot and grow your sales!
Richard was convinced that if I only agreed to a one-on-one webinar with one of the team members of Octane I would be won over too. And so a Go-to-meeting (with the owner!) was arranged quickly and the fun started: show me what you got, does it do what I want it to do and try to impress me. He and it did.

Nothing fancy in the program, just logical and effectiveness combined - with style. When I discovered that the "creator" Dave had also been a big fan of AWeber I understood why it felt both familiar and even more as the next most logical step to take once you realise AWeber can only do so much for your pipe-line marketing.

Let's tick the boxes:

• online lead capture option (webforms) - tick
• auto-responder option - tick
• pipe-line structure - tick
• online software - tick
• extended follow-up options - big tick and then some
• customisable lay-out - tick
• flexible (customisable) segmentation of "lists" - big tick and then some
• no restrictions or limits on email messages (follow-up sequence or broadcast) or on contacts - tick
• reasonably priced - tick

And as extra bonus I was promised they would create a kind of email parser like AWeber has with Paypal (using the Octane HQ autoresponder option as "delivery vehicle" for your digital products).

The day after the over 1 hour lasting "webinar" Richard and I shared notes and started to realise that our quest had ended. He did the honours of informing Octane HQ they had gained two new and eager clients and that was that.

Well, not quite.
That was the moment the work of implementing the evolved strategies and tactics really started. Which will be revealed in part 3.

Comments

[richard]

It's always an epic finding the right software to do the job right - too often one has to ‘make do’ and adapt one’s owns systems (usually detrimentally) to fit in with a mediocre common denominator.

So it's really noble that you've taken time to document and share the frustrations, shortcomings and pitfalls of all your research for the benefit of others, struggling to find something ‘more appropriate’ to their respective businesses. I've talked to a number of business people where ‘promises of beneficial change’ have been thwarted by the inflexibility of the very systems they purchased – to such an extent they literally ‘give up’ and resort to using their software for basics only.

Obviously, every business is unique, and the final choice of any software will be subjective and appropriate to the individual requirements of each business respectively. Business owners should therefore still do some research of their own too - to make absolutely sure they’ve covered their own specific issues and requirements.

[Karin H.]

Hi Richard

You're right, every business is unique and requires an "unique" solution. That's why we started with setting the parameters of what the new program should be able to do - and that has been a great help IMHO.
It prevented us from going for the most fancy one, or the one with the most promises. I also recommend to take a trial - if one is on offer, not all programs do such a thing.

In the meantime I can report increasing success of the implemented tactics using the new software. As you and I often discuss: these (strategies and tactics) are more important than the tool used - where the tool is just that, a tool to execute the tactics and not a mean on its own.

Karin H (Keep It Simple Sweetheart, specially in business)

[Maurice]

Hi Karin
I've read with interest your journey in looking for a replacement for Aweber to take your marketing efforts to the next stage.

However, I'm a little surprised when you say that Infusionsoft was more pricey than Octane.

When I did a comparison towards the end of last year I found Octane to be the more expensive of the two as it was priced in pound sterling whereas Infusionsoft is priced in US dollars.

Or, am I missing something?

Would be interested to see what you found in you actual price comparison.

[Karin H.]

Hi Maurice

Rightful question. Best way to compare prices is setting the DeLuxe edition of Infusionsoft next to Octane HQ (where Octane does not have any caps on contacts or emails, I know 75.000 emails per month is a tremendous amount but there is absolutely no cap with Octane).
$ 299.00 per month (£191 at today's business currency rate) for 2 users versus £ 150.00 per month for 2 users.

Then again price isn't always the best guide I found. SalesNexus was cheaper in first instance, until you discover you need extras which are included in others. Not sure how that is with Infusionsoft, like AWeber it seems the more successful you become at pipeline marketing the more the software program is charging you ;-) (however not Octane HQ)

Having worked with Octane now for 1.5 - almost 2 months I must rave about their customer service and quick responses to my enquiries and even wishes (with the last upgrade, which seems to happen every 3 months, some of my wishes were already integrated as standard features for all other users too). I'm known for my impatience, especially when something goes wrong, but have found everyone at Octane always "on the ball".

In part 4 I hope to explain/show more how flexible Octane is for any type of business.

Also hope I answered your query sufficient?

Karin H