Specialist · Lakewood, CO · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
My note business is growing and I am a rabid supporter of scalable, smart systems and processes. If I have to do something 1 or more times, there should be a system for it. I have heard quite a bit of good for PipeDrive. I have also heard how customizable Podio is. The Googles seem to give me comparisons about what major industries use them or if they offer a free trial, but nothing very deep into if they are effective for a note business. Has anyone used both? Or have an opinion about either product? Pros or cons?
Investor · Small Town, TX · Member since 2016 · 110 posts · 252 votes
9y
I just checked Podio and they still use the same system as before. Each deal has its own email address. To assign an email to a deal, you will have to forward that email to the deal specific email address. Multiply the number of deals you have and that is how many email addresses you will have to maintain. You'll be spending a lot of time looking up email addresses.
Investor · Boca Raton, FL · Member since 2012 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
8y
@Adam Adams I forgot to mention that there is an Insightly add-in/app tool for both Gmail and Outlook so that you can attach the email directly to a deal or anything else within Insightly, right from the email platform.
Investor · Small Town, TX · Member since 2016 · 110 posts · 252 votes
8y
@Chad U. I installed that and used it. And when I say Pipedrive and my Gmail are integrated, I mean that I open Pipedrive and I read my emails from GMail all in the same app. I never have to open up my GMail.
What I had to do with Insightly was open up GMail and forward emails to Insightly using that addon. I still have to go to Insightly to do my work. And once I am in Insightly, then I have to deal with the email that I forwarded from Gmail by connecting it to what I want. That is not integration and it certainly isn't simplifying anything. I'm dealing with 2 apps at this point and that is exactly what I'm trying to avoid simply because it adds a level of work and I'm trying to avoid working.
Correct me if I am wrong, but I am still under the impression that I have to do something similar with Podio.
Investor · Boca Raton, FL · Member since 2012 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
8y
@Adam Adams Strange, I connected an email from Outlook to one of the "projects" within my test account in Insightly, and it was automatically saved under that project as well as the contact. I didn't have to do anything after that - this actually works better than Podio out of the box.
True, you still have to use your email platform outside of the CRM as it's not totally integrated. It would be nice if Podio/Insightly had this feature, but if you're like me who's old school and prefers to answer emails in the traditional manner, then this isn't a grave concern for me.
My preference for Podio is the scalability and customization it offers to automate my business. For instance, I can dump an entire set of addresses into Podio during my DD phase, and it automatically gives me the Zestimate, Comps and Google streetview pic of the property. People are paying $5 per asset or $25/mth to get this information when I get it for free immediately.
Investor · Small Town, TX · Member since 2016 · 110 posts · 252 votes
8y
@Chad U. I don't know what old school traditional manner is. I use email and I use it through Pipedrive which is my GMail account. As far as Scalability, what's that mean? You can have multiple users in Pipedrive. And in regards to automating comps and Zestimates and such, that's a preference. I don't believe in Zestimates or automated comps. And I really don't need an instant streetview. What I do is send the assets off to my realtors and property managers to tell me the values because they know better than anything automated. And I send it in email format, so I need to be able to track those emails easily and efficiently.
Pipedrive also allows for imports and I find their imports better than most. I've been able to replicate Distressed Pro in Pipedrive using simple spreadsheet imports from the FDIC. I couldn't do that with Insightly.
And I don't know how many times I can say this, but if I have 1 attorney handling 20 of my assets, how I could Podio possibly automatically know which project to assign his email to if he originated it.
And I'll say this over and over again. As soon as any other CRM out there integrates email into their system, I'll probably switch because a lot of other systems have better gadgets. At the moment though, no one else seems to be doing that. And I'll say this one more time, keeping track of my communications without adding extra steps is the most important aspect of a CRM for me.
So if email integration isn't that important to you, then Soho, Insightly, Podio and even Trello are better products. If email integration is important, then Pipedrive is better. For me, correspondence tracking is the most important part of the CRM.
Investor · Merrillville, IN · Member since 2009 · 252 posts · 104 votes
8y
Hi @Adam Adams , I wanted to chime in here to offer a possible solution to your CRM issues/request. I'm currently using several CRMs, but, that's only because as you have pointed out already, and most people know, there isn't one system that will work for everyone. I'm also an avid Gmail user and when looking for any software to use in my business, it must integrate nicely with Gmail or I'm not using it. Gmail is the "hub" of my business and that's where I start. If you are still looking for a CRM that integrates with Gmail, meaning, that you can literally use it without going back and forth into the Gmail application and this system to get things done, you might want to check out the Cloze CRM. Once set up, it allows you to view your actual emails within the CRM as well as it automatically connects your emails, documents, conversations with contacts, etc. to those contacts. I could go on and on about the many things that this system can do, but, it's a very lengthy list. See it for yourself here: http://www.cloze.com. I will say that with this app, as we all know, there is a slight learning curve, but, it's not that bad. The cost is small for what it can do for you in your business. Also, you can check out how it works via their youtube channel: Cloze Youtube Channel Lastly, if you are into mobile access, they're mobile apps work exactly like their website does. At least the IOS version does. I'm not sure about Android. Hope This Helps
Pipedrive does integrate email, so I'm not really looking for one. I'll check out this Cloze CRM and see what I think. If it is better, then I may switch. Maybe it will be my next video.
Investor · Merrillville, IN · Member since 2009 · 252 posts · 104 votes
8y
Thanks for the response @Adam Adams , I just realized that you weren't the original poster on this thread. I was just trying to help out the original poster, when I saw your post about Pipedrive. I've checked out Pipedrive in the past but really can't remember why I didn't go with that one. It looks pretty good. I found Cloze after another company's system (IqTell), that I was using for managing my real estate projects, went out of business.