TargetSmart! version 1.5 is geared to all types of small-business people who sell products or services to retailers, wholesalers or end-consumers. It is designed to replaces any marketing consulting firm you'll ever consider hiring. At first glance, this program seems complex and difficult to use with too much information to digest. After fifteen minutes, though, you will see its multitude of uses and will know that this program will help improve your business. TargetSmart! users must begin with pre-existing customer information created by a spreadsheet or database. The program will format the data -- and update it from your computer with regularity -- then provide graphs, charts and statistics customizable to any type of business information you might need. If you want to see how many of your customers fall in a certain age demographic, TargetSmart! can sort the data. Throw in a few more filters and this program can group together every type of customer profile group imaginable. The program does not stop there. After filtering customer data, TargetSmart! provides the mechanism to import the information into an array of mail-merged form letters. Filter customers by religion and you can send them appropriate season's greetings. Determine the heavy spenders, and you can send them a letter offering special discounts, all at a touch of a button. Quick, convenient and heavily customizable, TargetSmart! is not without problems. Requiring users to import data from other programs can be tedious. Fortunately, the import procedure is painless, though initially intimidating. Computer neophytes will also find the program difficult to navigate, at first. Hang on, newbies, because the payoff is worth the ride. TargetSmart! loses its competitive edge around two key details. The program ignores electronic communication. The mail merge and form letter options are quite fantastic, but TargetSmart! does not allow small business owners to e-mail their customers. Also, at a cost of $2,995, the price tag alone puts it out of reach of many small businesses. Still, if you consider the exorbitant rates marketing firms charge in order to deliver charts and graphs no better than this program's offerings, not to mention the extra costs tacked on by consultants who manage communications with your consumers, TargetSmart!'s price tag might not be so overwhelming. TargetSmart! version 1.5 will open up real marketing opportunities for small businesses that do not have the resources to communicate with their customers on an organized and sophisticated level. It is truly unfortunate that its high cost and relative obscurity will prohibit this software from assisting a wide array of small businesses. Reviewer's rating: 4 / 5 Comments: Intimidating at first, infinitely rewarding in the end. TargetSmart! lets small businesses run at big business service levels. Price: $2,995 US / $4500 Canadian   
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