groupware and communications

I don't know why I buy these "Dummy" books. If you're a semi-literate computer user, it's not going to help much. If you're a neophite, then Goldmine probably isn't the program you should be using for contact management. Goldmine is powerful but complicated. To use it, a relationship with a consultant who knows the program inside an out is the way to go.

I miss the old 3 inch thick "Que" books and wish there was a manual of that nature available for GM. This one only scratches the surface and that will leave you hanging. If you have an inclination to buy this book, look at ACT! or MS Outlook instead of Goldmine, or hire a Goldmine Certified Consultant.

After installing Goldmine 5 I bought this book when it first became available. I was not new to CRM software but found this book very useful. If you are new to Goldmine you will not be disappointed with this book. It can teach you a lot,even beyond the essential basics of this software. Read the book with your software running and apply what you just learned. After this foundation you should have little or no problem making the software do what you want. However, if you objective is to customize the software for your business, get a professional.

Goldmine is arguably one of the most powerful contact management software database packages available, competing with ACT! and even Outlook for the important task of keeping sales contacts and activities and distributing information about them to others in your organization. Goldmine is notoriously difficult because of the very power and complexity. Will this "DUMMIES" book help you master it?

The problem with this book is that it gives some outlined use instructions for Goldmine but in NO WAY replaces a structured training course. If you have some experience with database management, you can pick your way through Goldmine, learning experientially, and this book is better than randomly poking at the keys.

The very best part is Part III: Managing Activities. This goes over scheduling, viewing, completing, forecasting and filtering activities. The other chapters are similar--outlines of typical activities like distributing information to your organization, entering contact info, etc. But this is not an exhaustive tutorial book, more like a series of schematics on how to get things done in Goldmine.

If you need more depth, or are starting from ground zero, this helps you avoid some landmines in Goldmine, but won't get you completely to the expert status. In summary, helpful, quick to read, not the complete story.