Customer Reviews

GoldMine 6.7 Standard Edition

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I have used Goldmine for five years and find it to be invaluable for managing contacts and projects for my consulting business.

Best Features:
#1) Organization Charts can be created that can include other organizations as a subset. This is the feature that I utilize the most and don't know of any other product that has this capability. To manage projects, I include vendors that I have contacted under the client organization chart that they support, yet can tie them to other clients as well and maintain their own independent org charts.
#2) All phone calls are logged under my contacts as are emails. You can file relevant documents such as Word and Excel documents under a contact also but this is not a feature that I make use of.
#3) There is sales forecasting feature that I've worked with that is another important capabiity but I'm not taking full advantage of that yet.

Other Comments:
Another reveiwer found the syncronization and learning curve to be a problem. I was syncing Goldmine with my Palm Pilot and it was a two step process - first syncing to Outlook and then another step to sync to the Palm. I have stopped using this feature as I'm generally in the field and didn't have the cradle available for the Palm. I'm looking at using a smartphone as my PDA that has a USB connection, so I expect to go back to syncing. The two-step process is inconvenient but like other workarounds with technology, I've gotten use to it. Goldmine definitely has a learning curve but there are a lot of features and is a very powerful program, so I expect that.

Tip:
I recently started to keep four quadrants open in the program at all times: 1) Contact Records, 2) Calendar, 3) Contact Search Center, and 4) E-mail Center. I read about this technique and it greatly speeds up my use of the application.

Things Goldmine Could Do Better:
#1) I would like to see a To Do List similar to Franklin Planner method whereby you could assign priorities along with the suspense date that you want them to show up on instead showing future items before they are needed.
#2) Have a more flexible method of showing more phone numbers under a contact - I have contacts with multiple work numbers (as they work at multiple locations), two cell phones (work and personal), home phone, fax numbers (work and home)and the list goes on. As I recall, ACT does a better job at handling this issue but I find Goldmine's other features to offset this.

I totally depend on this program to manage my contacts and feel that it is an ideal program for small businesses. While it isn't perfect, I can recommend that you seriously consider it. I give it four stars as while it is quite robust - it can benefit from further improvement.

This is by far the worst product I ever had the displeasure and unfortunate circumstance of purchasing. I'm very computer savvy and have been in the graphic design field for over 7 years using many different software programs and systems with no problem. Due to an "optional" password I had to install and uninstall this program 3 times before I could even open the program. Once I had it installed I tried to import a .csv contact list only to find no option listed for that. Then I found that I could import the list using Goldmine and Excel. I clicked the link and found I needed additional software from Microsoft which I downloaded. After that, I opened my list in Excel and clicked on Export to Goldmine to which I received an error about target tags. It said to use the help screen in Excel and of course there is no mention of target tags except to say that they are needed to export to Goldmine. I tried EVERY single other option to import my data list into Goldmine and sometime the program did nothing but freeze up or do nothing at all. Other times half a list would import or just names but no addresses would import. Even if I got the list into Goldmine correctly, the program is confusing and filled with bells and whistles that 99% of users will never use. I use contact software to manage my current and potential client list, schedule new calls, keep notes on clients and mail merge to print envelopes. I have used a program called ACT for years and loved it. It's simple and user friendly but I had an old version so I figured I would try Goldmine since their website touted that it was such a great product. It is HORRIBLE! They also offer no support for their product. Their website says to use its support forums for advice on the product but the links to that forum on their website are broken. They offer no support UNLESS YOU PAY $60 PER HALF HOUR OF PHONE SUPPORT. The fact that they know you will need support and then bilk you for $120 an hour to get it should tell you what kind of company this is, the quality of software they sell, and how they conduct business. Buy ACT or any other product under the sun but DON'T BUY THIS PRODUCT! You are better off writing all of your contacts down on toilet paper with a crayon than using any product by FrontRange.

Just to let users know, Frontrange (creators of Goldmine) has discontinued the Goldmine Std(dBase) version. Although it was/is a very good CRM solution, the new versions are quite costly for a very small business(< 5 users).

I have been using Goldmine daily for 10 years, with about 10,000 customer records.

Never lost a record, in spite of no maintenance other than an index refresh once a year.

The product was originally designed to be supported by expensive "consultants" all over the country. In the early versions, you couldn't even get basic standard reports. I called their support and was told, "You need to contract a local GM consultant to write that for you."

So their business idea was to feed the local consultants by referring customers to them to pay for "custom development" of the same standard Customer Report each time.

A few years ago, they finally made it possible to easily create reports yourself, and you can also do Mail Merge with MS Word etc.

I'm familiar with Highrise and other online solutions, but don't like being at the mercy of the reliability of my internet provider to access my own info. My company uses a pricey Verizon Business DSL, and still we are without access from time to time due to mysterious outages.

ACT, etc. are a joke, imho. I simply don't know of any other CRM product that is as robust as GM, so I'm sticking with it.

I have found some of the negative reviews offensive, as I consider this an exceptional package that gives you an advanced CRM system with facilities and possibilities that are mindbugling.

It offers email marketing possibilities that no email marketing application can properly compete with. It has exceptional email integration and you don't even have to worry about viruses.

I have been using a number of different CRM solutions, and though Goldmine is not perfect, it is superb in the things that you can ask the software to do for you. I have lately had the displeasure to work with the touted salesforce.com, and in that comparison Goldmine is sublime.

The interface is not terribly user friendly but if you use the system capabilities I have never come across a system that offered more value for money.

There are two areas that I dont like about the application;

1. I deal with companies moreso than with individuals, and if you use the ability to use secondary contacts and define the account at the highest level you loose the part about the application that is truely exceptional - the automated tracks that run on primary contacts only.

2. If you have a call list that you need to go through it is inferiour to ACT2000 that i used before. Going through a call list takes longer, and this will only be fixed by expensive add ons.

Great value for money, especially if you have several sales people. Used right this offers something that I have not seen in other applications, though the two points i mentioned reduces the value.

It is a package with so many add ons that you can develop your use based on standard components. I have not found a better total solution yet!

This is a confusing product to use and has problems with synchronization. There are too many alternatives that are better including online ASP CRM products and even free CRM products online. The product is build on dbase and requires rebuilding periodically. Has lots of features which makes it very difficult to learn. You will spend more time trying to get this product to work, rather than selling.

The product claimed to be "brand new in original packaging". It was not.

When received, the box had been opened, the CD envelope opened, the CD has scratches on it and the box was crushed.

Not from s shipping problem, as it was inside another box.

Fortunately the CD installed properly.