We're currently using Mail Order Manager, but are looking into switching to Stone Edge to ease the integration of our mail order software and website. The majority of our orders are still primarily taken by our call center. We mail a catalog out every few months to a mailing list we generate using M.O.M.
All of our web orders have to be manually input into M.O.M. which can be time consuming. Also, I love the inventory control Stone Edge offers. I can't tell you how many upset customers we've had who were able to order an item before we had a chance to mark it is "out of stock."
It seems as though Stone Edge caters to more web-based business. We do generate a lot of sales from our website, but like I said, most of our sales are still placed by phone. As far as I can tell Stone Edge should still be easy for our CSRs to use.
I guess what it comes down to... I'm not much of a software tech. I work on our website and work on the catalog. Software isn't necessarily my forte. However, my boss has bestowed this task upon me and I'm trying to figure out our best options.
So, have any of you used both M.O.M. and Stone Edge? Are there any downsides I should know about making the switch from M.O.M. to Stone Edge? Anything I should know to help sell this to my boss? I've gathered quite a bit of information from Stone Edge's website, but real-life testimonials would be great.

Thanks in advance,

Lindsey
www.centerfiresystems.com

Lindsey...

someone else asked this question recently... I did post an answer (can't seem to find it right now)

ANyway, we tried out MOM and it sucked - simple as that.

As far as making the switch over, I know Barney (owner/president/creator of Stone Edge) particpates heavily in the forums. I'm sure he will chim in, but I have heard a lot of people have made the switch over.

As far as it being better the MOM, its world's better. We are looking at opening our 1st retail store, and Stone Edge has that all built in as well. Retail / Phone&Mail / Web... plus the inventory functions are amazing!

I haven't used MOM, so I can't judge their offering (although, from what I've seen - it's a lot more expensive, impossibly unflexible, etc)... but we do use StoneEdge and love it. The bulk of our sales are done via phone/purchase orders, so we use StoneEdge extensively to enter manual orders... I'd suggest purchasing the software so you can play with it, and if it doesn't meet your requirements - they have a 30 day return policy.

I also use stoneedge and it is fantastic! I have never seen MOM or even heard of it, but I can tell you stoneedge makes life and web selling much easier!

Lindsey -

I know you are looking for comments from users, but I just wanted to let you know that I am available to answer any questions you might have for me.

Since you are here, I have a question. Why is it so hard to get in touch with tech support, but so easy to get in touch with your sales team?

We are working on that. We have 5 full-time people answering the phones and email support requests. We added the 5th just a couple of months ago, and are already looking for one more. The problem is that we frequently have to spend a lot of time on each call, and of course that slows down our response time when the phones are really busy.

The best time to call is between 9:00 and 11:00 or between 4:00 and 6:00 Eastern time. In between are our busiest hours. If nobody answers and you get put into our voice mail system, that just means that everyone is already on the phone assisting another user. Pleave a clear message. Make sure we can understand your name and phone number. Most important, be sure to give us a number where we can actually get through to you and not get stuck in full-mailbox-no-operator-can't-reach-a-live-person limbo. You would be surprised how often that happens! Our goal is to return all calls within 2 hours (or the next day for messages left late in the afternoon). Finally, if you have a real problem with our support, please feel free to contact me directly. Hopefully all of that will help you get the support you need.

Thanks for the reply Mr Stone. You have a fantastic product and great tech support (when I can get through), You have my business from here on out.

I am looking for ways to optimize my efficiency, I have been using the web based tools from , but there has got to be a better way!? I'm not very familiar with the services companies such as your provide. Been to the website, but it doesn't all shine clear for me.

To put it simply, the Stone Edge Order Manager and Dydacomp's Mail Order Manager (M.O.M.) are computer programs that help you run your business. Since I am not an expert in M.O.M., I will stick to what our Order Manager can do for you: It makes it easy to import orders from MonsterCommerce, as well as 30 or so other shopping carts, and sales channels such as Amazon, eBay and Shop.com. It also has a screen for entering orders that come in via phone, fax, mail, etc., and an optional Point of Sale (POS) system that acts as a virtual cash register for "brick and mortar" retail stores. So you have one place to manage all of your orders. Then it provides ways to handle all of your day-to-day tasks: Print pick lists, invoices and packing slips. Manage your inventory, including purchasing and receiving, quantity-on-hand tracking and drop-shipping. Pack and ship your orders. Provide customer service. Print reports. And so on.

We find that if you ship at least 10 or 15 orders per day, the Order Manager can pay for itself in saved time in just a few weeks.

I hope that helps. If you would like more information, feel free to call our sales department to discuss how we can help you. If you get our voicemail, leave a clear message and we will get back to you ASAP.