Robust, but lacking integration

It really is a solid CRM, and did well keeping the entire company apprised of the situation. It handles B2B and B2C with ease, and made it very easy to keep tabs on our clients. If it integrated with other critical apps, automated marketing tasks, and had a stronger customer service tool, we'd still be using it today.

Pros

I really liked the User definable setup, and the hierarchy between contacts and companies. I also liked how every user defined value got it's own view in SQL, so it was very easy to extract data into other systems using the database. It's very familiar to office users, and performed really well, even with 90,000 contacts/companies in it. It's a solid CRM, as long as that's all you need.

Cons

It didn't integrate well with other applications. We use Google Apps, and Quickbooks, which are pretty common. But it wouldn't integrate with either, and was going to cost in order to write each integration. The customer service case manager was minimalist, so it was simple to use, but didn't allow for a conversation to happen (eg I couldn't tell how much back and forth happened during a customer service case, or if the customer had updated information on the case). The email generation tool was primitive, and only allowed for basic, ugly html. Any advanced formatting, or click tracking common to things like MailChimp weren't available. There wasn't any marketing automation to speak of, and there wasn't any automated lead scoring. Everything had to be done by hand, and unfortunately humans aren't reliable.

Wouldn't Have A Growing Business Without It

I believe the business is better protected. We are more effecient. We have a small team and any one of us can take a phone call from a client and within seconds understand any history to do with a client issue. It might be something very simple or complex but because I can call up notes from others on the team and access all emails between us and the client and our back office it saves a tremendous amount of time. I think it also gives the client confidence that we know what we are doing because they don't have to explain an issue all over again

Pros

It is incredibly flexible. Basic programming that comes out of the box is more than what you need because it anticipates that not all advisors operate the same way. We have used it to save ourselves hours of work and redesigned how it works with us rather than us redesigning how we work. Saving of all emails under client file along with relevant notes. Easy tracking of client service work as well as understanding staff workload issues.

Cons

Like any CRM it takes time to learn and create new work habits yes you should throw away the paper notes. Regulators expectations are moving the bar upwards. Love to see a system map starting with a contact. How do each of the tabs relate to different functions. Because of its rich customizable capabilities it can be overwhelming even for your help desk.

Maximizer and the cloud

As a small magazine publisher I've used Maximizer to manage ad sales, subscriptions and distribution as well as basic contact management. I expect that Maximizer is even more powerful with a larger organization.

Pros

As a former ACT user, I was originally attracted to Maximizer because of it's link at the time to Quickbooks. I stuck with it when that linkage was dropped because it offered so many other features and flexibility than what I had experienced previously. When we moved from Desktop to a Server for remote connections may patience, time and financial resources were stretched to the limit. I was initially dubious about the cloud solution, particularly concerned about reliability. However that has not been an issue. Maximizer has overdelivered. Calls for technical help have been rare.

Cons

My learning curve was a challenge (several years ago) in part because the program was so powerful. I think a wider range of tutorials and customized templates have probably improved the startup experience. A major nuisance item is the need to use Internet Explorer in order to take advantage of the link with Word templates.

Maximized for small companies

I use Maximizer as a contact manager with category tracking of contacts. I don’t use sales leads or opportunities as I find their use to be a little cumbersome for what we do and do see the value. I use it because it’s what I’ve used for years. It has features that are valuable to me, but it would be nice to know I could integrate a second or third user to share info. However, for an add on user to share my data, I would likely go to other products due to the challenges with implementation for less tech savvy users.

Pros

The things I like most about Maximizer is the customizability and user defined fields. The ability to set up my crm to look and function exactly the way I want is superior to many other products. Also, then unlimited contacts for the subscription surpasses the value vs the more main stream cloud based crm that charge per contact.

Cons

Integrated apps don’t function seamlessly or are limited. Additionally, the custom features can be tricky to set up if you are not super familiar with the platform. I’ve been using this for 23 years and have grown with the features, but I still have issues finding ways to accomplish setup tasks. Last, at least some monthly customer service should be included with the subscription. Most other paid services provide this.

Difficult to set-up, pay as you go support, pieced together from other CRM's

If you are not a savvy database programer or don't have a staff member that is, then you will likely find this CRM to be very difficult to use and customize to your practice. The cost keeps increasing and once you have been using the system, the company knows they have you on the hook and will keep the price increases rolling your way. Using this is like being caught between a rock and a hard place.

Pros

Online access from anywhere.
Dashboard provides a good overview of your business.
Wealth edition has some customization to the financial industry.

Cons

The way it is sold and supported is not CUSTOMER friendly. The resellers charge for everything and don't want to teach you how to be independent of them. They would rather do it for you without educating you. Pretty expensive.
The webinar support is inadequate, they won't answer some questions and tell you that they have people you can pay to get that done. We should be able to learn it ourselves.
You will have to buy a second access for your Administrative Support person, which is not the case with all competitor products and seems like a cash grab.
Subscription is paid annually not monthly, so if you don't like it you are out a big chunk of money.
Will not separate out billing for multiple advisors in a firm.

Good Overall Solution

Maximizer helps me simplify organizing my calendar and appointments, makes following up on tasks almost automatic, keeps all my contact info, notes, address updates and all I need to know in one easy to get to place - regardless of where I am. I find working remotely much easier using Maximizer. My staff loves it because they have instant access to all my client notes to help them in their jobs.

Pros

Maximizer has everything I require to easily organize my client relationships without being cluttered up with features I don't need. It is simple, intuitive and easy to use from the beginning and the training modules are great.

Cons

The contact list search engine is awkward - it only flashes the list starting with the first 3 letters, then it disappears and you have to type in the whole name . . .

The embedded template feature is gone and is now attached to MSWord - which is an awkward connection.

Because I have secure/encrypted email with my company, with severe firewalls - Maximizer cannot link to my corporate outlook email - this is not a significant problem and I would rather have the added protection than the convenience. I can still easily save all email communication through Outlook to Maximizer.

Long time stand alone user

I am a one man show and have been using several versions of Maximizer since the late 90's. For me, it was best when it was just on a local drive and did not have to be connected to the cloud. I don't need most of the latest features that keep getting added.

Pros

My favorite feature is the ease and speed of recalling a contact name and all of the past jobs history when searching a first or second name. I store all notes and contact information which is great for reviewing many years later as an anecdote reminder when my path crosses with an old contact again.

Cons

Since Version 10 which suited my needs, Maximizer has gone to the cloud which is dead slow at times and crashes 2-3 times per session requiring me to log out, then log back in. Too many feature creepers have been added that I don't need, don't want, and they have just slowed the system down at times to a crawl. Having to "renew" a license every couple of years to be able to continue using it is a pain for someone like me who has built a huge data base so am committed to have to stay.

Long time customer -Book Wholesaler-Store and Publisher (Indigenous)

One stop shop for sharing information in the office including an appointment calendar, notes and a company library.

Pros

I have been working with Maximizer for over 8 years. Since then, Maximizer has evolved and I can now update records and email from anywhere and anytime from my laptop, tablet or cell phone. Lists can be imported and exported in Excel. Maximizer offers webinar training, customer support and a user guide.
Maximizer provides templates for building email campaigns.

Cons

A wish list-A more user friendly campaign builder for large communication marketing via emails which creates records of clientele who visit promotional material sent to them, unsubscribe, email bounce. Maximizer has synchronized our records with Mailchimp but there is an additional cost for Mailchimp for maintaining the list of subscribers.

Maximizer Review

We are able to identify opportunities and keep it at the forefront with this software. All the information we need is at our fingertips on the go.

Pros

This software is user friendly and easy to use. We have been using this software since the 1990s. We left for a short period to try something new and quickly realized that Maximizer was better than any other product out there, so we switched back. We don't use all the feature however we learn new ones all the time and try to adopt them one by one. We are able to store all information for each every client, make notes, create documents, send email and assign tasks so our service does not fall through any cracks. It real is a great CRM tool

Cons

The only thing I don't like is that if I am at a computer that is not used by me. I can't find what web address I need to login. I have to remember to email the website to myself before I leave the office

UPGRADING TO LIVE

We have been a long time Maximizer user and overall are very happy with the product and service. The live version was a good upgrade for us overall. The software provides what we need and is user friendly for non techies.

Pros

It mostly allows us to make necessary connections between patients and recipients and to find information we need quickly.

Cons

We use the notes for important medical details and it is a challenge to have to dig through the notes with the live version. The recently added 'search' bar in notes is much appreciated and we're hopeful there will be further improvements to scrolling through notes more efficiently.

The possibility of not being able to connect due to a server glitch is very scary to us since we depend on the information relative to providing medication dosage on a daily basis for a medical business. If it goes down we are virtually out of business and unable to provide urgent medical information.