TO: Honorable Mayor & Members of the North Port Commission
FROM: Peter D. Lear, CPA, CGMA, City Manager
TITLE: Approve Insightly Inc. Agreement for Customer Relationship Management System (CRM) in the amount of $5,352.00 for Economic Development Relationship and Project Management tracking.
Recommended Action
Approve Insightly Inc. Agreement for Customer Relationship Management System (CRM) in the amount of $5,352.00 for Economic Development Relationship and Project Management tracking.
Background Information
Successful economic development relies heavily on tracking and maintaining relational data with businesses and partners. To this end, it is imperative that a customer relationship management (CRM) product be instituted for the Economic Development Division. A CRM will allow Economic Development to track the relationships with business and workforce partners; enhance the ability to identify how efforts support the diversification of North Port's economy; allow Economic Development to provide enhanced customer service to existing and potential businesses; and increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the Economic Development Division.
A thorough evaluation was made of three separate CRM providers. These providers are cloud-based, stand-alone systems that allowed for the export of data into common formats.
The providers evaluated were: Octo UX, LLC/Hubspot Inc., Insightly, Inc., and Zoho Corporation. The lowest priced provider, Zoho, was eliminated for consideration after its sub-par performance in both demonstrations and due to concerns about their ability to provide adequate customer service.
Overall, Insightly CRM was selected as they are able to meet the needs of Economic Development to include project management functionality, customizable reports, and email campaigns. Also, Insightly's subscription fee includes several features that the other providers evaluated offered as an additional expense.
The City Attorney reviewed for form and correc...
Click here for full text