Open source brings with it freedom, affordability as well as independence. It literally means free access to the source codes. By using open-source software you will not be restricted to one supplier.
More about what open source is, regulations that would apply, and general advantages of using open source as well as who may use it, will be discussed in a future article.
What is sales force automation software?
It is software that is designed to assist with the tracking of customers and their needs. It also helps with effective sales follow-up. It could typically include modules such as contacts, tasks, activities, and financials. It should provide information to the sales rep or sales manager in the form of reports or analytical functionalities.
What does open source sales force automation software offer
Apart from the software addressing the information needs of the sales reps and sales managers, being Open Source, it also provides the following benefits:
- Open Source products always have the lower cost advantage, as licensing fees would typically not need to be paid as with commercial closed source products, regardless of how many users use it.
- It can be customized in order to meet the needs of a specific market. It provides the freedom to mix and match with other technologies and to change it to meet unique organizational needs.
- Smaller businesses could use it to evaluate if sales force automation can generate a return on investment for them
- It can also be used as an entry point to gather ideas when the intent is to build a custom application.
- Or it could serve merely as a learning tool for new programmers
Here is a list of popular open source sales force automation software currently available:
- The Sales force automation, section is included modules for opportunity management, contact management, account management, forecasting, quotes & contracts, plug-ins for MS Office, mobile solutions, and dashboards.
- Their community edition is free, but they also provide a professional and enterprise edition, for which they charge license fees.
- A free full-featured 100% open source CRM for small to medium size businesses.
- Provides low-cost and affordable support for production users’ required technical support.
- Key capabilities include sales force automation, marketing automation, activity management, customer support, services, etc.
- Available for Windows and Linux
- Apart from the Sales Force Automation function, functions such as sales forecasting, efficient opportunity tracking, customer satisfaction, and performance management are also included.
- open CRM solution that is capable of sales generation, sales fulfillment, marketing, and service activities to customers, suppliers, partners, or intermediaries.
- Web-based thus there is no need to deploy clients
- Compared to some other commercial CRM software, OpenCRX has to follow extra capabilities including complex legal entities, invoice management, territory management, complex product catalog, complex contract management, and complex pricing / discounting.
- The software is continuously being improved.
- The program covers the functions of customer management, sales force automation, customer support, campaign management, correspondence management, customer interaction and activity tracking, reporting and analytics, and document management.
- Translations are available for more than 20 languages
- SourceTap’s Open Source CRM includes, apart from Sales Force Automation (SFA) modules, also marketing, campaign management, and customer service functions.
- Includes modules for leads, accounts, contacts, opportunities, forecasts, activities, time management, products and territories.
- Includes modules for accounting, contacts, activities, tasks and analytics
- Developed with Microsoft VB Net, Asp Net and SQL server 2000
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Here you go, a list of top open source sales force automation (SFA) software for you to manage your sales and customers today!