Random product idea

I’m currently evaluating some CRM applications (Customer Relationship Management) to allow us to store a history of customer emails, addresses, licenses etc in a searchable and organized way. As we use Mozilla Thunderbird as our email application of choice and really like the interface, we need a CRM that integrates nicely with Thunderbird. At the moment I’m testing SugarCRM with the ZuckerOffice Mail extension for Thunderbird. Although it’s not bad, the extension is a bit limited and SugarCRM is slow and totally overkill for us. I disabled all modules except email, contacts, activities and accounts and I can’t see us using the other modules in the near future.

When I evaluated this solution, I thought of a product idea someone might find useful. As Thunderbird is a really great application (and cross platform), it would be a great base for a trimmed-down CRM. As email is the main way of communication for small ISVs with their customers, it would be great to have a CRM based on a good email client. To make it multi-user aware, it could communicate via HTTP and XMLHttpRequest with some PHP scripts on an intranet server.

I’m not sure if enough businesses really use Thunderbird or if a trimmed-down CRM/customer database for Thunderbird sounds appealing to potential customers, but I for one would buy it immediately. As Thunderbird gets more popular and used by more businesses, maybe this idea isn’t as crazy as it first sounds.