3. Set up a contact management system

This will save your sanity in the near term and may very well be the single most effective step you take during this critical foundation laying time to insure a successful launch.  Although you may have become fond of the piles of business cards next to your monitor or the little scraps of paper with contact info scribbled for you to remember, this is NOT the way to build a business.  Best of all, it’s really easy and reasonably cheap (definitely worth the money) to get started.  Once you begin with a system, you will never go back…trust me!!!

Very briefly if you do not know what a contact management system is it is the way you keep track of all your contacts.  Think of it as an address book on steroids.  Yes, it will keep track of the basics (name, phone, email, etc) but it is also the place you can leave notes on each time you had contact so that you communicate more effectively.  How about being able to note someone’s birthday, anniversary, kids’ names?  That will help you build stronger relationships.  What about sending emails more regularly or setting phone call reminders so you never let a prospect go cold?  That is just a tiny taste of what a contact management system can do.  Here’s my thoughts on what I believe are some of your best options.

For the absolute beginner, novice (you know who you are)

• Outlook/Eudora/etc – This is where most people start and that is fine but I beg you to immediately think of these programs simply as an email mailbox.  If you rely on them to work as a true contact management system for your future, you are definitely setting yourself up for wasting time and effort…not to mention the lost revenue opportunities.
• Quickbooks Customer Manager – Very cheap initial “toe in the customer management system water” program.  One especially nice feature is that it will pull all the latest customer info from Outlook and Quickbooks.  In other words, if you use Outlook (or Outlook Express) for email and you generate invoices with Quickbooks this is a good option. 
• Oprius – This is a very strong beginner option for contact management.  It is incredibly easy to use and get started.  It has the most whistles and bells out of all the beginner options and it is also the first web based option.  Web based means it is NOT software that must be loaded on your computer.  Your database is available to you through any computer with an internet connection.  Don’t worry about security of your contact info.  I already screened out the ones that this is a valid concern.  Downside of Oprius…if it is more than just you, you cannot share your contacts between users.  Also, they don’t currently have PDA friendly version.  If these 2 downsides are not of concern for you, then go full speed ahead…Oprius is a great choice!!!

For those who may or may not be familiar with contact management systems but are comfortable with technology (I’m assuming the majority of my readers will fit into this category)

• Batchbook – Really nice, clean interface.  Easy to get started.  They also have a very convenient partnership with MailChimp (yes, you read right) to be able to quickly generate and send marketing email campaigns.  This is definitely firmly in the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) territory and a solid suite of functionality.  Here’s the kicker…they even have a free version.  You can’t go wrong with that and if you like it and want more options then you can pay a little more.  All around a nice option.  By the way, this and the next option are both web based, PDA compatible, and include the ability to attach documents and emails to contact records to better keep track of your communications with a contact.
• Highrise - This is really a dead heat for me between Batchbook and Highrise.  Highrise compares to Batchbook in every way noted above.  The only difference is that they do not have a partnership with a email service provider (MailChimp), however, you can just as easily use any email provider (iContact, Campaign Moniter, ConstantContact, etc).  They offer a 30 day free trial.  I lean toward BatchBook slightly as a better option as it offers everything Highrise does at a 1/3 of the price.  However, Highrise is a good option especially if you have a small team primarily because of the complementary offerings of 37 Signals (mother company of Highrise).  Check out Basecamp as an additional GET ORGANIZED offering.  If you have ever used MS Project, Basecamp will blow you away.

I should also mention with both of these above, you will learn the art of tagging.  This is where you add additional search words (tags) to a contact record to help group and find faster.  For example, let’s say you collected 200 contacts at a tradeshow, you would add the name of the tradeshow as a tag.  Let’s say you went to one particular reception at that tradeshow, you would add the name of the tradeshow and the name of the reception as tags.  I think you get the picture.

Finally, for the techies (dare I say, geeks)…

• Big Contacts
• Pipeline Deals
• Etelos

Whatever solution you choose, I think the point is clear…CHOOSE SOMETHING AND START USING IT TODAY!

Advertisement