I just upgraded from Max 8 to Max 9. (I'm *not* using Enterprise). One of the reasons I upgraded was because of the Action Planner.

But I'm not sure I understand some things about the Action Planner.

Here's what I want to do. I want to set things up so, when I enter a contact, a letter or e-mail is created. 14 - 21 days later, another letter or e-mail is created. 30 days later, another letter or e-mail is created.

And if more than one contact is entered on a given day, this letter or e-mail should be created for each contact.

In essence, what I want to do is use Max to handle my marketing campaigns with letter and/or e-mail sequences. (This is sometimes called "drip marketing.")

I don't just want the Action Planner to tell me when these actions are required. I want the Action Planner to actually perform the tasks.

I was told by the sales people at Max when I was checking out Max 9 that the Action Planner could do this.

Is this correct?

If so, how do I do this with Action Planner?

If not, how can I accomplish what I want to do?

Thanks.

Rick

Good Afternoon Rick,

Action Plans within Maximizer are not automated methods of getting things done, they simply allow you to schedule a series of activities which can be assign to Maximizer users as tasks in their hotlists.

If you want a method of automating the sending of e-mails to a customer using merge data from the Maximizer Database then I'm afraid you require the Enterprise version of the product as the Marketing Campaign Manager allows you to do exactly what you are looking for, however it is not available outside the Enterprise version.

That's what I was afraid I was going to hear. Here's what stinks about that.

I called Maximizer Sales and asked them these very same questions before I purchased the upgrade. I told them I was comparing Max with Act! and that it appeared Act! could do what I required.

Max Sales told me that the Action Planner would do *exactly* what I required. And when I was testing the demo of Max 9, I called them and asked more questions about it. I was told, "Oh yes. It can do *exactly* what you want!"

Now that I've purchased the upgrade, I find out it can't do anywhere near what I wanted. I *hate* feeling like I was lied to so someone could get the sale.

But I was never quite clear how.

Looks like I'll be on the phone to Max Sales again.

One more question. Do you know how I can get the "integration kit", SDK, or whatever they call it? I might be forced to write something myself. (I'm a software developer and have consider SQL experience.)

Thanks for your reply.

Rick

>Do you know how I can get the "integration kit", SDK, or whatever they
>call it? I might be forced to write something myself.

It's called the "Customization Suite". Either Maximizer or your local Business Partner can sell you a copy, but...

How many licenses of Maximizer 9 are we talking about here? If it is fewer than four (4) then the cost of the Customization Suite would be more than the upgrade cost to go from Maximizer 9 to Maximizer Enterprise 9.5 CRM Workgroup.

Furthermore, depending on the value you put on your own time spent "rolling your own" campaign manager, the break-even point could be *much* higher than the 4 licenses mentioned above.

Gord -

quote:

How many licenses of Maximizer 9 are we talking about here? If it is fewer than four (4) then the cost of the Customization Suite would be more than the upgrade cost to go from Maximizer 9 to Maximizer Enterprise 9.5 CRM Workgroup.

It's just one license. I've been mentally weighing the costs you've mentioned above as well as the cost of "rolling my own."

What is the upgrade cost from Max 9 to Max 9.5 CRM? I didn't see that information on the Max website.

Thanks.

Rick