We work with Australian Web 2.0 startups to help them grow traffic, conversions and customers.
It seems in most scenarios the skillset needed to build a great web service, and the skillset required to market, promote and sell that service are be totally different.
Something to be wary of tho, the majority of PR/Marketing/Advertising companies really dont get startups at all, and can be a very fast way to drain your scare capital without offering measurable results.
We evaluated SugarCRM and i have heard at least 20+ reccomendtations to use it.
In the end we went with salesforce.com and our guys love it... The outlook integration has made it easy to bake into everyday processes (along with xobni for search etc).
That said ideally we would like to see something more holistic from CRM.
It seems most "CRM" products are really just great at sales pipeline management, and dont really cover the end to end business efficiency features we really need...
Eg Cross Channel Marketing Conversion linked into the sales pipeline management as well Project management, Timesheets, Invoicing, Profitability Reporting, Customer satisfaction surveys etc
Solving the problem of how to best acquire customers is a great problem fix, but it creates a whole new bunch of problems around making sure you actually have really happy customers that are profitable to you (which is just as important to success and may be even harder to get right)
What you're asking for doesn't seem like a something a CRM should do. It seems more like a managerial accounting question.
First off, for every new customer, you should have built in metrics to figure out where they came from. For instance, use a different number on your direct mail pieces, use trackable order links in your e-mails and PPC campaigns.
Secondly, place a system to automatically follow up with existing customers. E-mail power user tips after 15 days, Phone call after 45 days of use to gauge satisfaction, etc. For gauging customer satisfaction, you get more useful feedback from someone on the phone than filling out a survey.
I dont know if we are "world class" - but at www.ShiftedPixels.com , we work with a number of early stage technology/web startups and deliver measurable, profitable results in both Traditional and Online PR.
We are startup people ourselves and know the pains in dealing with PR and Marketing jerks. They shirk accountability, they don't get the web and they avoid emerging trends. And worst of all - they still think a 50k+ launch party will make your startup great.
Let us know if you have any questions, we would be happy to have a friendly chat about how shifted pixels online pr can help your startup.
