Computer Client Software

[100_Percent_Juice]

I need software that can store hundreds of names and addresses and have the flexibility to easily add those names and addresses to letterheads, envelopes, address labels, etc. Are any of you familiar with this kind of software? I have had no time to look into it but, I will try to do more research tonight.

thanks in advance.

[Dean]

Word using Mail Merge & Access or Excel?

Tons of Templates out there as well for every label format.

OpenOffice probably does it as well.

[100_Percent_Juice]

I am looking for something a little more sophisticated than word/excel.

[Dean]

In what way? What features are you looking for that they do not meet?

Access or a SQL/Access combination can handle all the data you can throw at it and print all the envelopes/labels you could possibly want. Word's mail merge is incredible powerful if you take the time to learn it.

If you really want more than they can do, you are probably better off outsourcing to a direct mail company that has all the hardware to really do volume and can get you all the postal savings you would want.

Do you really want this as a core function of your business?

[Nick Koan]

I agree with Dean.

Word/Excel/Office's Mail Merge functionality should be able to handle everything a small business should want. It can do some very powerful stuff. I personally haven't done any myself, but I've seen it done and its pretty damn good. Otherwise, an outsourcer would be better.

[100_Percent_Juice]

I am looking into Microsoft Access like Dean said. Right now it seems to be exactly what I was looking for. Thanks Dean

[Dean]

Originally Posted by 100_Percent_Juice

I am looking into Microsoft Access like Dean said. Right now it seems to be exactly what I was looking for. Thanks Dean

Score one for the old man...

Wait until you get my consulting fee bill.

Once you get into the fields and scripting for mail merge, you can really go crazy. Access is just a database, mail merge is pretty damn flexible and powerful.

I know people that run entire customized marketing campaigns using it where entire paragraphs or more are changed depending on fields in the database.

Good luck.

[cody]

There are limits to what Access can do. We use it as a back end (actually as middleware). We bulk mail postcards to tens of thousands of customers at a time and Access wouldn't sort so that after cutting the large prints into postcards, they'd be in order by zip code (or something like that) as per bulk mail rules so we use PrintShip Mail to sort and print the final job...along with Adobe products to design the cards.

You can tell I'm not really involved in this process directly so I don't know all that much about it.

EDIT: Are you starting a new business or something Juice?

[100_Percent_Juice]

Not a new business. It's just a big part of my LTCI business. I was not very clear in the first post about what I wanted. I am just trying to make my current business less time consuming. I have around 400 clients right now and I get a few more each week. Mainly I need a database that I can store all of their information and also dates. When I first meet with a client I need to mail them 6 letters over the next month or two. Then its on a semi-annual basis depending on the month I saw them. I guess there are 2 things of main importance to me. I really want to be able to access a client database easily which Access seems to be great at. Then I want the dates in the database to come up on a calendar automatically so I don't have to continually search through the database to know who I have to mail each letter to. I don't know if that's a job for Access or for Mail Merge like Dean was saying.

[cody]

You might also research Outlook with Business Contact Manager. Beware though, it installs a "light" version of SQL server on your computer which could slow it down.

[cody]

Originally Posted by cody

You might also research Outlook with Business Contact Manager. Beware though, it installs a "light" version of SQL server on your computer which could slow it down.

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