As a buyer, I’m all about calculating the ROI of each purchase. It’s an inexact science – trying to put an objective number on a decision that’s loaded with uncertainty. But just going through the exercise of listing all of the benefits and expenses associated with the decision is eye-opening. The biggest benefit is that it helps me “normalize” the different options, and often makes it clear that the lowest priced option isn’t the one with the best ROI.
In that spirit, here’s my top 5 list of alternatives to TrackVia’s online database that may be helpful in thinking about the ROI for your business or organization.
1) Call a web developer and get a quote for a custom database application that would include a web form (gathering more sales leads from your website – great for the front end of the funnel!) that sends info straight into a web-based CRM that allows you to send personalized, targeted email campaigns.
2) Call a custom database developer and ask how much it would cost to take your existing database and web-enable it, including hardware, systems administration services (gotta apply those patches!), backups and redundancy.
3) Take a look at your Salesforce.com monthly bill, and then look at TrackVia’s pricing. I know – your employees will whine and complain about having to switch to a new application. But in the current economy, isn’t it worth putting up with a bit of whining to switch and save the money? And don’t worry, the whining won’t last long, soon it will be raving that you hear.
4) Take a look at your QuickBase monthly bill, and then look at TrackVia’s pricing and included online database features. Sure, the entry-level prices are the same, but continue reading. You’re paying extra for all of those database records and file storage. And if you don’t have at least 100 seats, you don’t even have access to important security features like IP filtering that come standard in TrackVia.
5) Take a look at some low-priced web applications, and use them for a while. See if you find yourself tapping your foot each time you click to do something (“loading – please wait….”). See if you find consistent complaints about the service’s uptime and response time. And, try to get hands-on help from a real human who’ll do things like customize your HTML web forms and HTML templates for you – for free!
