Summary: Infusionsoft offers users a powerful Customer Relationship Management system, but is this overkill for small business (and is it worth the price?)
Retail Price: $199/mo
TWR Price: $199/mo
PROS:
Infusionsoft IS the most powerful small business CRM tool in the business. You will not find an all-in-one management system (which includes autoresponders, sales force management, shopping carts, order forms, multiple users, affiliate programs, etc.) without spending tens of thousands of dollars. This caters to the online small business owner. This is one of the very few systems that allows you to tap directly into your database via an API. This alone provides unlimited ability to manage, manipulate and customize your own sales funnels. I personally use Infusionsoft to manage multiple websites (including TheWebReviewer.com). I was able to integrate Infusionsoft into my existing membership site database, too.
CONS:
I would not say Infusionsoft is intuitive. The integration time took a bit longer than I originally planned and tools like the autoresponder are managed very differently than what you may be used to with your Aweber or GetResponse account. The reporting I have found kind of weak, since it is very minimally graphics-based (most reports are in spreadsheet formats). As for some of the features, I was mildly disappointed in the limitations with their order forms (no PayPal and restrictions with the templates...though, the Shopping Cart is much more customizable and PayPal friendly). The affiliate module, which originally stunk, has improved a lot over the past year. My tasks and requirements of Infusionsoft have been very complicated. Using the API, I have been able to achieve mostly all of my goals. So flexibility is a huge plus of Infusionsoft, but to achieve all of your needs, you may need to a third-party API designer to help you out! (or email me!...I'll give you a few tips! I'm pretty good with the InfusionSoft API these days!)
User Review: Although the product is ok, the support is lacking. They promised to send me a marketing kit as part of my sign up with them and it never arrived. When i went to cancel my account with them they canceled it and charged me an extra month. When i asked ...Read More
OK, let's start out by NOT discussing the price because frankly, this kind of distracted me from getting this at the beginning. (though, when I originally purchased, the price was very different than it is now. It is now more affordable...read the full story below...)
In middle 2008, I found myself pulling my hair out trying to manage a handful of websites and a whole lot of email lists. I was using 1AutomationWiz (1ShoppingCart) at the time to manage NetWebVideo (which included processing credit cards, managing affiliate marketing campaigns, and email marketing). For TheWebReviewer, I was using GetResponse to manage my email and I was about to start selling a few products, too. I have another website that had an email list that was managed by Aweber and another site (that had a huge list, but not quite a responsive list) which I managed my email list with Autoresponse Plus on my own server.
This does not include the content management system and CRM that I built in-house for NetWebVideo and Tru-Guru.
Data was flying all over the place and this was the point where the $5000 set-up cost and $299/month membership fee for Infusionsoft sounded very reasonable.
Now understand at this point that I was already paying $99/month for 1AutomationWiz, $45/month for GetResponse, and $20/month for Aweber. So I was already paying about $165/month just to be very disorganized.
(Now I still like all of those products a lot they all were a necessity to get me where I am at today, but I really needed some better organization and data consolidation).
You may also ask: Well, what about using 1AutomationWiz (1ShoppingCart) for everything? And to be honest, that was my initial plan, but there were some very serious limitations to 1AutomationWiz.
First, even though it handled recurring payments for my membership sites, I did not do it very well.
Second, flexibility and external interconnectivity. Even though I was managing my sites well within my own CRM, I found the disconnect to be rather frustrating. Right now, 1AutomationWiz does not offer much of an API interface (something that InfusionSoft does VERY WELL!...Custom applications and reports are pretty easy...with a little bit of technical know-how).
Third, email importation. How was I going to be able to import all of these random lists from other programs. 1AutomationWiz (as well as Aweber and GetResponse) require a double opt-in on all email imports. That would have KILLED my lists! InfusionSoft allows for direct importation of contact details (though, you do need to verify and validate the method of capture, per CAN-SPAM Act laws).
So to save my sanity (and my businesses from collapsing in a mass of disorganization), I elected to give InfusionSoft a chance.
* When I originally purchased InfusionSoft, there was a $5000 set-up fee. Now this price has been reduced to $2000, referred to as the "Quick-Start Services Bundle".
With my experience, I received the following services.
He walked me through the program (and believe it or not, this was important because InfusionSoft is initially counter-intuitive, especially if you are used to traditional auto-responder services).
He helped in importing and consolidating all of the information that I had splattered all over the place (it took me close to two weeks to complete this task due to my disorganization).
He provided the resources and support that I need when it came to customization and using the API interface.
He provided strategy on how to maximize the marketing potential of InfusionSoft. We also strategized a bit on the general marketing of my websites.
So I did get quite a bit for that initial set-up fee (more than I thought, personally!). Plus, you'll also get invited to their annual InfusionCon events to network with other online marketers as part of your service package.
This is a one-time fee (which is required, but extremely useful).
But did this do what I wanted?
Well, like I said above, I did find InfusionSoft to be counter-intuitive at first. But after playing around with tag assignments, template creations, round-robin assignment (and so much more), I saw "the light".
Everything makes a lot of sense now and I cannot tell you how much easier it has been to manage all of my websites. And with API, I have been able to interconnect InfusionSoft with my own CRM.
The final benefits?
I spend MUCH less time on simple customer/list management (over 50%!)
My email marketing campaigns are bringing in more money then ever.
Customer complaints (usually due to incorrect billing) are down 50%.
Implementation of more complicated marketing funnels are now possible (and easy).
The scalability of using InfusionSoft seems rather endless.
Do I recommend InfusionSoft?
Yes, but make sure you are ready for it. If you are just starting out online, this may be overkill for you. In fact, 1AutomationWiz worked well for quite some time, but it did have its limitations (especially when trying to manage multiple websites at once).
But this IS the future of Online Customer Relationship Management for small business. I feel the price was well worth it and I can quite easily justify its price by what it saves me in time and what it earns me in additional profit.
If you have a hint of thinking that you need InfusionSoft, you probably do!
*** UPDATED ***
So WHAT Infusionsoft hasn't really changed since I started back in October 2008. In fact, it has improved quite a bit. I used to struggle with the poorly documented API (that is some of the advanced stuff), but this has been corrected. Every month, new features are offered and improvements in customer management, email deliverablity and reporting continue to occur.
The biggest change has been the PRICE and the options. Before, it was really one price (all or nothing!). Now, Infusionsoft is offered with multiple subscription options so even beginning internet marketers can start using Infusionsoft without the huge initial set-up fees or high monthly dues.
The basic package is great to trial out Infusionsoft. In fact, they are currently offering a 15 Day Trial of the Basic package. Personally, though, the basic really don't offer you much more than what a simple autoresponder or 1ShoppingCart will provide you. Definitely trial this out free (learn more about this trial), but if you are going to invest in InfusionSoft, I would be a Deluxe member (this is where the power of InfusionSoft really begins!)
STANDARD
$199/month
Includes CRM, Email Marketing, Auto Follow-up
2 User Accounts
5,000 Contacts, Unlimited Opt-In Emails/Month
The standard version is not a bad place to start out with. If Email Marketing and having a fully functional CRM is what you need, this is not too bad. Still, this doesn't include a shopping cart, order forms or affiliate system.
PLUS
$299/month
Includes CRM, Email Marketing, Auto Follow-up
eCommerce/Shopping Cart
Affiliate Module Included
5 User Accounts
20,000 Contacts, Unlimited Opt-In Emails/Month
The PLUS version of InfusionSoft is a minimum (in my opinion). This is where you get all of the functionality of InfusionSoft to manage your businesses from now until eternity. Shopping carts, affiliate modules, sales force automation...this is what I rely on the most with InfusionSoft. And with the power of the API, integration is much more complete (versus any other similar products, like 1ShoppingCart). One more thing that I have been exploring is the use of the voice broadcasts (via phone) using their auto follow-up engine (one of the most powerful of all CRM software companies!).
PREMIER
$499/month
Includes CRM, Email Marketing, Auto Follow-up
eCommerce/Shopping Cart
Affiliate Module Include
10 User Accounts
100,000 Contacts, Unlimited Opt-In Emails/Month
The PREMIER account is essentially the same as the Deluxe account except everything is scaled up: More contacts and more Emails per month. Unless you have the large list or large number of contacts, you probably should stick with the Deluxe account (you can always upgrade your account in the future). Also realize that there are options in case you need to exceed your quotas. This would be packages like the ELITE ($699/month, 15 users, 250,000 contacts) and the ENTERPRISE ($999/month, 20 users, 500,000 contacts).
*************************************************** Be sure to check out the abundant amount of free resources and demos that InfusionSoft has to offer, as well:
Just to give you an update, I've now been using InfusionSoft for over 2 years now with no plan on leaving. I run 5 different websites (using different "users") within a single account (the "Deluxe" package is what I use now).
The email marketing portion has improved greatly over the past year or so with open rates higher than ever. And with the use of other InfusionSoft tools and scripts, I've been able to create some amazingly complex sales funnels.
If you have any questions about the InfusionSoft system, feel free to leave me a ticket at http://www.tru-support.com.
Infusion Automated Software Info Emailing was powerful since the evolution of internet utilization in terms of communication. This was the reason behind the onslaught of the internet marketers of inventing an email marketing system.
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