Which web-based software would you recommend for home inventory management?

Please recommend a CRM for a plumbing company.

• I need a CRM solution for a plumbing company. I've spent far too long trying out different CRM solutions for our plumbing and HVAC company only to constantly suffer disappointment. We're a plumbing/HVAC company with roughly twenty technicians, and everybody else necessary for running the place, including someone who handles our parts inventory. Currently, our large customer database is contained in accounting software, contracts are managed in Excel, scheduling is done on paper with help from Google Calendar, and our inventory is in excel. We communicate with our customers over the phone and in-person; we're not a "sales" sort of place: customers call needing service soon, if not immediately. -Invoices are done on paper at each job; details are then entered into the accounting software when techs come into the office. This isn't going to change anytime soon, it works just fine for us and our customers, i.e., we're not going to be using iPads anytime soon, though will someday, I suppose. -Once paper invoices are in the system, we need the inventory manager to know what each tech is using in the field, and to have it check against a warehouse inventory. Each truck has their own inventory, and then we have another 2,000 parts (each in varying quantities) to stock the trucks from. ---need to handle purchase orders for specific jobs (and connect these POs to customer database) -We need the customer database to hold more information, such as equipment models/serial numbers, air filter sizes, warranty, maintenance contracts and the date of their expiration, etc. -We want the scheduling and work orders to be handled digitally, so we can then send info via sms to the technicians. ---We want to easily see who is where, and keep tabs on employee jobs per week. -Large project management for extremely large repairs, bid projects, etc. -Needs to export to accounting software About eight people will use the software at any given time, but we need to be able to put other 20 employees in database to manage information related to their jobs--I'd find it strange if we have to set them up with the same level/cost account as those that actually use it. Paying in the ballpark of $500 a month is reasonable; we'd consider slightly more costly options, too I've tried: Zoho CRM: far too complex an interface to use software that lacks scheduling integration and such. SugarCRM: Confirmed with sales that it can't readily handle warehouse inventory. ServiceMax (Saleforce): Said they'd cost $30,000/year, which practically negates any of our projected savings. Microsoft Dynamics -- again far too expensive and complex while incomplete. Work[etc]: lacked inventory and purchase orders, and scheduling isn't quite what we need. vtiger: seems ok, but lacking some features. Highrise: No inventory, etc. Simpro.co: Looks perfect for our needs, but only available in Australia for now. Anyone have a close-enough solution? Maybe two services that would integrate with each other.

• Answer:

  I don't know if you're going to find an off-the-shelf solution that will do everything you need for this price point. This sounds like a custom app to me. For less than ten thousand, you can have somebody build this. The hardest part would be finding the right somebody. I would bid this out to three reputable small companies. Make absolutely sure that they have good, verifiable references and that they can demo previous, similar projects. If you spec out the job with very specific details about what you need, you can find somebody that will do this. I highly recommend someone local. (I have a lot of experience with these kind of apps. If you need specific advice, feel free to mail me.)