ADHD has gotten the upper hand today. I’ve decided to share the joy and ruin any prospects for productivity in your day too. You can thank me later.

Yesterday (what started me on this tangent) I found some interesting software for sales reps to manage their territories and accounts. This product is called RepPro and is billed as custom software for the independent sales rep. Sure, I know you’re not a rep but knowing the sort of information they need to track when schlepping your stuff around can only help you. Here’s a screen shot.

I spoke with the programmer (Jenn), a very interesting person (also has a bag line). She says the software never took off for a reason she never anticipated; that many sales reps aren’t computer proficient (it is really simple, obvious really). On the other hand, she says manufacturers have bought the software and had it customized specific to their use. She says she is happy to make a referral to a friend of hers who can do that if you’re interested, saying it usually takes five to ten hours.

You can download a fully functional 14 day trial version although registration is required. I’d amend the download instructions to include the mention that you need to locate a file in the unzipped folder called RepProSoftware.exe and double click it to start the demo program (a run time engine). The price listed on the site is $495 for a single license but she says if you say you heard about it here, you can get it for half price. Yeah us!

At the same time I was poking around with that, I found this other software called Fashion Master designed for apparel sales management on a bare bones site. I think this vendor is Canadian; I called but it was after hours.I haven’t played with this one as much but it looks pleasingly complex (robust?) with all those little doo-dahs we all need to track such as style numbers, sizes, colorways etc. You can also print out “swing tickets”. I get a hint of what that might be but I’m not really sure and Google isn’t helping much. The software is described as being for “fashion manufacturers, importers and agents” so some of the data fields won’t apply to you. Here’s a bullet list of features:

• Customers, call sheets and mailing lists.
• Suppliers, Manufacturers, and Styles (including images).
• Inventory, including bank reports.
• Orders, Invoices and Credits.
• Bank Deposits, Expenses and Reconciliation.
• Complete reports on all aspects of your business.

The longer list of features is equally uninspiring, you can only get a good feel for what it can do by looking at some of the screens (after you download it). It even tracks your factor sales! Then it is lovely. Well, not that the interface is lovely but the features certainly seem to be.

This package is a bit pricier, $3,500 per license but you can use it 30 times for free. I would definitely be interested in hearing what any of you had to say about it. In spite of the bare bones site and drab user interface, it looks like a very useful product. Feel free to fill us in.

Off topic of sales software, I found this site called Fine Sewing LLC. It sounds like a home sewing site, right? Nope, this guy makes custom industrial sewing machines, custom jigs and add ons for unusual applications, nearly all of it these days being for medical applications. Your host is Harry Shonteff. His site is enormous (he says with over 500 pages) and includes a massive list of various machine suppliers all categorized by type. He’s based out of the Bay Area. Wouldn’t you just love to go poke around in his shop? I would.