Sales tracking for a small business?

March 6, 2012 9:31 PM

I am looking for an online or software-based solution to track monthly/quarterly/yearly sales numbers across multiple markets. As a small company, we are not opposed to paying for the service, but cannot afford anything too expensive. Any suggestions on programs you have used?
posted by Equiprimordial to computers & internet (8 answers total)

A spreadsheet?
posted by trevyn at 9:59 PM on March 6, 2012 [2 favorites]

Randomly enough, I'm developing this application right now. I'm starting a farmer's market business which requires me to track sales at many different locations, so I am developing the app to do that. If you want to PM me with exactly what you need I'll see what I can do.
posted by zug at 10:23 PM on March 6, 2012

Google Docs has a free spreadsheet app.
posted by j03 at 12:29 AM on March 7, 2012

OnePage CRM does this - 30 day free trial, $19 per month, bunch of other stuff in there.
posted by DarlingBri at 2:44 AM on March 7, 2012

For the first guy: We've actually been using a massive spreadsheet for the past 5 years. As our product mix and distribution territory expands, it has just become unwieldy. And trying to share it between 10 people across the country has created some inaccuracies and confusion. Hoping to find something a bit more streamlined.

For the second guy: Thanks so much for the offer. I think at the moment, the boss would like to stick with something that has some sort of track record so we can jump in and immediately start using it.

For the THIRD guy: That looks awesome, just not exactly for what we'll be using it for.

If I can provide some more info: Let me provide a little more detail for you guys. I work for a small, nationally distributed craft brewery. I'm looking less for CRM (although it CRM capability would be ideal...just not 100% necessary) and more for something to input our sales numbers when we receive our monthly depletions reports. So at the end of every month, every distributor of ours sends us a report that says we've sold x number of beer a, x number of beer b, etc. It doesn't necessarily show the customer, so I'm less concerned with being able to link a sale to a specific account. I guess in this case, the customer would be the distributor. I'm not sure if this type of sales tracking is unique the food and beverage industry, but the more I research, the more it kind of seems like it. Sorry for any confusion, but I really appreciate all of your feedback.
posted by Equiprimordial at 7:38 AM on March 7, 2012

Zoho has a number of web-based tools. The very small company that my wife works for is using Zoho Creator, which is a relational database. Basically you're building an application with it. You've got to wrap your mind around the concept of a relational database, figure out your data model, and then create it. The nerd factor is kind of high (and then you need to prevent your technologically naive boss from messing things up). So you can make it be whatever you've got the patience to make it be.
posted by adamrice at 8:22 AM on March 7, 2012

No problem -- good luck with your search. (As an aside, I'm not a guy. Referring to usernames is probably safer than using gendered language 'round here.)
posted by zug at 9:16 AM on March 7, 2012

I am also not a guy.
posted by DarlingBri at 10:22 AM on March 7, 2012