Customer/Client Lists (what method)

[Reed2179]

It really depends on how much time you are going to use it and how much you want the software to handle. I've spent the last year trying to decide.
Here's my take:
Access- unless you are VERY computer savvy it's not going to be super capable. I found the tables difficult.
Jobber- neat software, really considered it. Felt it just didn't do everything I needed.
ArborGold- horrible. no customer service, and they will leave you in the wind. I can’t even calculate how much they’ve cost us. Probably more than I can quantify because of the lost time in wages from my office staff.
Quickbooks- worked great for us until we got to a point in production/size where we needed more capability. Maybe with Jobber it could do what you need?
ArborSoftWorx- I am switching over to them now. Appears VERY capable and the guys using it rave about it for the most part. I'm a bit worried about how much detail it has. Some employees may get overwhelmed.
RealGreen- looked good but, never returned our calls.
I'd be real careful because there is absolutely no recourse if you have problems with software. It's not like any other equipment that you can take back, get warranty work or have legal (worst case, law suit) recourse. Unless you've got deep pockets!

 

[DruidCarol]

As a software veteran and incurable techie, along with being in awe of what arborists know and do, I spent some time looking at ArborGold and Arborsoftworx while at the 2013 New England Grows conference in Boston back in February. I found the ArborGold staff rather breezy and unable to answer my questions about what was under the hood; the Arborsoftworx staff were capable of telling me exactly how the software worked and why they designed it the way they did. Their software came across as robust and user-friendly.

I will be looking at them again this coming February show but my bias is leaning toward Arborsoftworx if you know you can benefit by having the ANSI A300 standards readily available, IPM data handy, and other support data along with the business management/CRM aspects.

Hope they do right by you, Ryan!

Carol