Sell me on something to make selling easier

June 6, 2007 6:16 AM

What's a solid OS X software package for managing small business sales?

I need to find a solid, all in one package for managing sales contacts and invoices on a Mac. I’m walking blind on this one so any experience and insight would be helpful. I see Invoices via the apple site, but I’d like to see my options.

posted by paxton to technology (7 comments total)

I have an uncle who ran a small business using several FileMaker Pro databases. It tracked his orders, products, customers, jobs, invoices, and shipments, from the order form (where he'd type in customer info and the order with a form that gave him back the total price, etc) to the mailing label (which FMP generated from database information and he printed at home).

It involved a lot of hackery, as he basically built the system from ground up, but I gather that's the kind of thing FMP is made for, and he didn't stretch it beyond its capabilities.
posted by lostburner at 6:40 AM on June 6, 2007

I did a short stint as a traffic manager in the design department of a large, multinational consumer-electronics corp. Amazingly, they used FMP, too, to manage and track all of the design work. It's definitely easy to set-up and customize to suit your needs.
posted by Thorzdad at 7:22 AM on June 6, 2007

I've been using Billable for the past few months - it's pretty basic (no CRM, just a basic directory of clients) but that's a very appealing factor to me. I send out <10 invoices a month, though, so your needs may differ. Anyway, there's a free trial available.
posted by blag at 7:37 AM on June 6, 2007

MarketCircle, who make Daylite (a very good Mac-based CRM for businesses) sell Billings to handle invoices. I've tinkered with Daylite but not Billings- these guys make nice apps, but you pay a premium: Billings is $60, but it's light on the contact management (they want you to integrate with Daylite, which is another $150) and does a bunch of time-tracking stuff you probably don't need.

Two things I haven't tried:

Organise (they're British). Interface is Spartan (a good thing, IMO), but it's free and covers your bases.

Here is a FileMaker-based solution that costs $30, which is much less than what it'll cost you to do it yourself in FM. You'll need to purchase FM itself as well, though.
posted by mkultra at 7:56 AM on June 6, 2007

I've used studiometry on a PC, but it supposedly really shines on a Mac.
posted by bigmusic at 9:11 AM on June 6, 2007

I just started using iBiz. I have no complaints so far, but I haven't been using it long enough to make a solid evaluation.
posted by jiiota at 9:49 AM on June 6, 2007

Here's a review from someone who switched from an iBiz/FileMaker Pro combo to Billings/Daylite/Basecamp.
posted by kirkaracha at 12:06 PM on June 6, 2007