Act! Review

Empower Your Business with Seamless CRM and Marketing Automation
Discover how Act! can streamline your customer relationship management and drive your marketing efforts to new heights.

What is Act!?

Act! is a comprehensive Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and marketing automation solution designed specifically for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). With Act!, businesses can centralize all their customer data, automate key sales and marketing processes, and gain actionable insights to drive growth.

This powerful tool combines the capabilities of a robust CRM and an advanced marketing automation platform. It offers seamless integration, flexible customization, and an intuitive user interface, making it the go-to solution for SMBs aiming to boost productivity and enhance customer relationships.

The Go-to-Market Challenges Act! Solves

Act! helps SMBs tackle several critical challenges:

Disorganized customer data‍

Act! provides a centralized database to store and manage all customer information, interactions, and communications. This helps teams:

• Easily access a 360-degree view of each customer
• Avoid data silos and inconsistencies
• Enable smoother collaboration and knowledge sharing

Inefficient sales processes‍

Act!'s sales pipeline management tools allow businesses to:

• Visually track opportunities across stages
• Get reminders for key sales activities and follow-ups
• Forecast revenue more accurately
• Close more deals faster

Lack of lead nurturing‍

With Act!'s marketing automation capabilities, SMBs can:

• Segment their contacts into relevant lists
• Send targeted email campaigns to prospects
• Set up lead nurturing sequences to drive conversions
• Measure performance of marketing efforts

Difficulty staying organized and productive‍

Act! helps teams and individual users:

• Manage their calendars, tasks, and to-dos
• Set appointment reminders and activity alerts
• Prioritize their days around revenue-generating work
• Stay on top of their responsibilities and deadlines

Limited visibility into business health‍

Through its customizable reports and dashboards, Act! provides SMBs with:

• Real-time insights into sales pipelines and forecasts
• Analysis of marketing campaign ROI
• Tracking of key performance indicators (KPIs)
• Ability to spot trends and make data-driven decisions

By addressing these common pain points, Act! empowers businesses to attract more leads, efficiently manage customer relationships, close more sales, and grow their business—all from one flexible, integrated platform.

The Benefits of Act!

Streamline Contact & Customer Management

• Centralize all your prospect and customer data in one place
• Easily track interactions, notes, activities, and sales opportunities
• Get a 360-degree view of your relationships

Automate Key Sales & Marketing Processes

• Set up workflows to automatically assign tasks, send emails, and update fields
• Use sales process automation to standardize practices and improve efficiency
• Trigger marketing automation campaigns based on lead and customer behaviors

Improve Team Collaboration

• Share a unified view of every customer and prospect across sales, marketing, and service
• See a live feed of sales activities and customer interactions
• @mention teammates on specific records to share insights and align efforts

Derive Actionable Insights from Your Data

• Use interactive dashboards to visualize sales performance and forecasts
• Identify trends, gaps, and opportunities in your pipeline
• Generate detailed reports on contact and sales activity

Integrate with Your Key Business Apps

• Sync data with popular apps like Office 365, Outlook, Gmail, Slack, and Shopify
• Use Zapier to connect Act! with 1000+ other business apps
• Access Act! on any device via browsers and mobile apps

User Reviews of Act!

G2 Reviews

Overall Rating: 3.9/5
Top 3 competitors: HubSpot CRM, Salesforce Sales Cloud, Zoho CRM

Positive Quotes:

1. "I appreciate the customizable interface that allows me to incorporate custom fields and arrange them according to my preferences. Additionally, I am quite fond of the marketing automation tool, which I have yet to utilize to its maximum capacity." Thomas N. [5.0]
2. "After moving from app-based Act! over to the cloud version, I had booked in a web call with Connor. Throughout the whole experience, Connor couldn't have been more helpful. He took his time in explaining how each feature worked and explained how to get the most out of our plan." Lou L. [5.0]
3. "I like the configurability of ACT. We have used this product for over 15 years and tailored it to reflect the data we want to collect and use about our users, suppliers, and other contacts. The customer support is really good." Stephen B. [5.0]

Concerns:

• Expensive
• Missing Features
• Poor Customer Support

General Sentiment on G2

Act! receives mixed reviews. Users appreciate its customization, but some find it expensive and feel it's missing certain features.

Positive Reviews:

• Customizable interface
• Helpful customer support
• Long-term reliability

Negative Reviews:

• High cost
• Lacks some advanced features
• Occasional customer support issues

Read more reviews on G2

Integrations and Compatibility

Act! Premium integrates with multiple tools and platforms:

1. Operating Systems: Compatible with various operating systems from version 20 onwards.
2. Databases: Works with multiple databases starting from v20.
3. Microsoft Outlook: Integrates seamlessly with Outlook, enhancing email and calendar functionalities.
4. HubSpot: Syncs data between Act! and HubSpot effortlessly.
5. Microsoft Word: Integrates with Word for document management.
6. Salesforce: Indirect integration via Act-On software.
7. Microsoft Dynamics: Connects with Dynamics using Basic Authentication.

Act! offers extensive compatibility and integration options, making it a versatile tool for SMBs.

What to use Act! with

Combine Act! with these B2B SaaS marketing tools to build the ultimate Go-To-Market Stack in 2024:

1. Copy.ai Workflows: Automate and streamline various GTM processes. Learn more
2. LinkedIn Sales Navigator: Target the right prospects and engage with personalized outreach. Learn more
3. Outreach: Automate sales engagement across multiple channels. Learn more
4. Drift: Engage and qualify leads in real-time using chatbots. Learn more
5. Vidyard: Record, host, and track personalized sales videos. Learn more
6. Intercom: Unify conversational support, engagement, and marketing. Learn more
7. Bombora: Identify target accounts researching your solution. Learn more
8. G2: Gather social proof and testimonials from Act! users. Learn more
9. Demandbase: Manage and engage target accounts with ABM. Learn more
10. Highspot: Access and track sales content easily. Learn more

These tools integrate well with Act!, creating a seamless GTM workflow across marketing, sales, and customer success.

Act! FAQ

What does Act! do?

Act! is an all-in-one CRM and marketing automation platform designed for SMBs. It centralizes your customer data, helps you manage sales pipelines, automate marketing campaigns, and drive productivity with contact management, activity tracking, and powerful insights.

How easy is it to set up Act!?

Act! offers a guided onboarding process. While some technical knowledge is helpful, it's not required. Most businesses can fully implement Act! within a few days to a couple of weeks, depending on their needs. Act! also provides extensive documentation, webinars, and a dedicated onboarding team.

What makes Act! different from other similar tools?

Act! stands out for its long history of serving SMBs and its deep understanding of their unique challenges. It offers unparalleled flexibility and customization, allowing you to tailor the platform to your specific business requirements. Act! also provides powerful marketing automation as part of its complete CRM solution, a combination not always found in entry-level CRMs.

Can Act! integrate with other tools and platforms?

Yes, Act! offers various integration options. It provides native integrations with popular business tools like Microsoft Outlook, Google Workspace, Slack, Shopify, and hundreds more via Zapier. Act! also offers an open API, enabling you to build custom integrations.

What are the pricing plans for Act!? Are there any hidden fees?

Act! offers straightforward pricing plans based on the number of users, starting at $25 per user per month. All plans include the core CRM and marketing automation features, with more advanced capabilities available in higher tiers. Act! doesn't charge any hidden fees. You simply pay for the number of users on your account every month.

Is there a free trial available, and what features are included?

Yes, Act! offers a 14-day free trial that gives you access to all the features of the Professional plan. You can explore the CRM, build marketing automation campaigns, and evaluate the tool's fit for your business. A credit card is not required to start your trial, so you can try Act! risk-free.

Does Act! offer customer support?

Absolutely. Act! provides customer support via phone, email, and live chat. The support team is available Monday through Friday, 8:30 AM to 8:30 PM ET. In addition, Act! offers an extensive knowledge base, community forums, and a library of on-demand webinars. Premium support packages are also available for customers who need extra assistance.

Who is Act! ideally suited for?

Act! is best suited for SMBs across various industries looking to strengthen customer relationships and streamline sales and marketing processes. This includes business services firms, wholesale distributors, manufacturing companies, and insurance agencies. Act! is particularly fitting for businesses that value flexibility and ease of customization in their CRM and marketing automation platform.