database or other software?

[Viv]

I need help with the following situation:
I want to create files or a database that will contain information about my
clients, with their business information (i.e address, phone, fax, type of
business, in which states they do business) to send an invitation to bid on a
construction project. I want , where a database would fill out the
information automatically on the bid invitation, then fax, or email the
invitation to each selected clients according to their specialty. Then I will
need to keep track of who answers my invitations in order to "weed out"
clients who do not participate or consistantly deny the invitation for work.
I want to be able to generate reports, filtered by specialty, with the
clients full information data.
Ideally I would like to create this database using business cards.

I have access to Excel and Outlook 2003, Captaris Faxpress.

What would you recommend?

 

[Steve]

Hello Viv,

Get yourself Microsoft Office 2002 or 2003 Professional edition so you get
Access. Access is a database program and is ideally suited for what you
want. 2002 and 2003 have the standard menu at the top of the screen which
you are probably used to using. 2002 and 2003 have all the features you
need. Office 2007 has a new design and uses what is called a Ribbin instead
of a standard menu.

Access stores your data in tables. Access uses forms to input and display
data and uses reports to create printouts of the data. Unlike Excel which
you are used to, Access requires you to create your application from the
ground up where Excel is ready to use out of the box. Access has a long and
steep learning curve and unless you anticipate creating many applications,
you are better off getting someone with Access skills to create your
application for you.

I provide help with Access, Excel and Word applications for a reasonable
fee. I could build an Access application for you to do what you have
described for a very modest fee. There is a lot to what you describe but
nothing complex. You could have an Access database up and running in a short
time. If you want my help, contact me.

Steve
(e-mail address removed)

 

[Jerry Whittle]

Steve,

Your first paragraph was pretty good.

The second started out well, but soon we could see where it was heading.

The third and last paragraph is just plain wrong. Viv if you have any sense
at all, you won't feed Steve the Money Troll. His ethics are such that he
tries to make money using a forum that is suppose to be free. I wouldn't
trust Steve.

 

[John... Visio MVP]

Access has a long and steep learning curve and unless you anticipate
creating many applications, you are better off getting someone with Access
skills to create your application for you.

Which does not include master santos. He is far from a SKILLED Access
developer. Access is not that hard to learn. and the regulars will gladly
help out.

I provide help with Access, Excel and Word applications for a reasonable
fee. I could build an Access application for you to do what you have
described for a very modest fee. There is a lot to what you describe but
nothing complex. You could have an Access database up and running in a
short time. If you want my help, contact me.

Steve

Stevie is our own personal pet troll who is the only one who does not
understand the concept of FREE peer to peer support!
He offers questionable results at unreasonable prices.

These newsgroups are provided by Microsoft for FREE peer to peer support.
There are many highly qualified individuals who gladly help for free. Stevie
is not one of them, but he is the only one who just does not get the idea of
"FREE" support. He offers questionable results at unreasonable prices. If he
was any good, the "thousands" of people he claims to have helped would be
flooding him with work, but there appears to be a continuous drought and he
needs to constantly grovel for work.

John... Visio MVP

 

[Ron]

Hi Viv,

Unfortunately, everyone ran off telling you how bad Steve is but
didn't answer your question.

Yes, you need a database type program to accomplish what you want to
do, rather than a spreadsheet type program. You have Outlook, which
is a database type program, but it's not going to do what you want as
it's pretty inflexable without lots of custom type changes (and I
don't think you can customize Outlook like that).

Your options are several.

You can acquire Access and begin learning about it. Out of the box,
it won't do what you need--I don't think any straight database type
program will. It will involve you learning how to manipulate the
program to do exactly what you want. Access has been a stellar
program for starting out simple and allowing a user to expand it's
abilities greatly as they become familiar with how to take advantage
of it's complexity. What you describe needing doesn't sound out of
bounds for Access' capabilities. But, no database will accomplish
exactly what you want without some customizing work--and that will
require a steep learning curve. If that doesn't scare you, Access can
be acquired pretty inexpensively and try it on your own.

If you don't want to get into learning all about databases and proper
database design, check out the many CRM (Customer Relationship
Management) programs on the market. You might find one that suites
your needs pretty closely. This is the "why reinvent the wheel" kinda
thing--someone already has had this need and spent all the time to
invent a solution and others just use that software. There are even
some "cloud" type programs that handle customer relationship type
issues without spending 100's of dollars (or whatever) up front. Pay
as you go.

If you can't find something already written, nor want to spend time/
energy developing your own solution, then you can hire someone to
write a program for you. This'll be your most expensive option, money
wise--but it may be necessary if you can't find something already
done. If I was in your shoes and wanted to find someone to write a
program for me, I'm sure I wouldn't choose this Steve guy tho...nobody
has ever come back here and said he's done a good job. And many of
the things I've seen him say (and questions he asks about access/word/
excel in other forums) are pretty basic for someone who "says" he
writes programs for a living. Besides that, he trolls newsgroups with
advertising...and someone who starts out breaking the rules can't end
up with a good product--it'll be flawed from the beginning. Perhaps
post again here asking how to find someone to do a good job for you.

So, there you go. My 2 cents. I'm not a Access mvp or anything--just
someone who's learning access and has read these forums for the last
couple years off and on.

Good luck with your solution!
ron