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Home: Video University Forums: Marketing & Business:
Time, customer, appointment management

 
 


fr0gm@n
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Jul 17, 2007, 8:32 PM

Post #1 of 4 (3423 views)
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Time, customer, appointment management Can't Post
A colleague and I have started a corp video business and we are starting to get inquiries and contacts to the point where we are having trouble remembering who needs a return call and who hasn't contacted us in the time specified etc. We are also looking for easy ways to manage the schedules of 2 independent companies at once as we go through the process of closing one down, merging the other into the new corporation and also keep up with new business that comes our way.

We have setup a free google calendar for our main appointments and it will work fine but we still have this mountain of business cards from previous contacts and people we need to follow up with soon and a number of current and potential customers that need followup for various reasons.

We are looking for some sort of system or software that will help us manage all these customer contacts, appointments, followups etc. We probably need it to be online so we can both access the information and maintain it anytime anywhere. I am still working out of my home keeping up with the wedding division of the company. He is working out of our new office and sometimes his home studio and we are on the phone multiple times a day dividing responsibilities for follow up and job bids.

Are any of you using similar applications to manage your business contact information and schedules? WHat are you using, how well does it work and does it have an online option. We are willing to spend a few dollars on the right application but we can't say we will pay whatever it costs cause and enterprise app for thousands is out of the question. Wink I'm sure there are a few apps out there that will do the trick for a reasonable cost. I know in the past I have found companies offering these kinds of services online for free if you don't mind ads. Pay a little fee and get rid of the ads. Anyone know of one of these kinds of services. I have searched some and not uncovered anything.

Any suggestions or ideas are appreciated.

Thanks,

PHilip


Shouldn't TV's Discovery Channel be on a different station every day?


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krissimmons
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Jul 19, 2007, 9:43 PM

Post #2 of 4 (3391 views)
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Re: [fr0gm@n] Time, customer, appointment management [In reply to] Can't Post
Hi Philip,

Not sure if you guys are Mac heads or not, but my shop uses .MAC effectively for this sort of thing. All it costs to set up an account is $99 per year per user and both of you can create project groups, add calendars, manipulate the calendars, etc. There are plenty of tutorials on apple.com that will give you the total flavor.

We keep groups on .MAC for every project (production or non-production related) along with an individual calendar for each project using iCal. Once the calendar is published, whoever is subscribed to the project will get automatic updates every time something changes to the master calendar. Whenever a new message is composed and posted in the project, all subscribers to the project receive an email with the message. (there are numerous settings of course that you can choose from.)

It's well worth the try (if you are a Mac shop) for the money. It works great for us.

I've also checked out StudioSuite 8. It looks like a pretty awesome studio management software. The website is www.studiosuite.com. It may be better suited for your specific needs.

Hope all is going well with your new business venture!

Kris
____________________________
Kris Simmons
Executive Producer & CEO
Fire Eye Productions, Inc.
http://www.FireEyeMedia.com


fr0gm@n
Veteran


Jul 19, 2007, 9:55 PM

Post #3 of 4 (3389 views)
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Re: [krissimmons] Time, customer, appointment management [In reply to] Can't Post
We are a PC shop so that solution may not work. We do have a google calendar setup but what we really need is a way to manage our contacts, followups, projects etc.


Shouldn't TV's Discovery Channel be on a different station every day?


frog blog


krissimmons
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Jul 19, 2007, 9:59 PM

Post #4 of 4 (3387 views)
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Re: [fr0gm@n] Time, customer, appointment management [In reply to] Can't Post
Check out the studio suite then. It looks amazing but I'm sticking with .mac for now. Good luck!
____________________________
Kris Simmons
Executive Producer & CEO
Fire Eye Productions, Inc.
http://www.FireEyeMedia.com