Sell more: get a handle on contact management; contact management software helps increase efficiency.

• Author: Kohn, Lawrence M.
• Position: Contact Management Software - Brief Article

Hmm, 3,000 Post-it Notes or a streamlined contact management system? Don't allow your selling function to become a casualty of clutter or a busy schedule. Contact management software helps businesses and individuals manage sales by offering tools to help you efficiently reach out to and stay in touch with your contacts.

CENTRALIZING CONTACTS

Contact management software allows you to create a database of your current and potential clients as well as referral sources. Benefits of this centralization include:

* All of your contacts are immediately available for outreach;

* Identification and prioritization of your best-selling opportunities can remind you of valuable targets you may have forgotten; and

* Helping team members identify shared contacts, thereby eliminating the risk of several people independently selling to the same contact.

DOCUMENT CONTACT DETAILS

Contact management software allows you to collect and record detailed information about your prospects. Types of details you may want to record include:

* Source--This allows you to track effectiveness of your various types of leads.

* Industry Affiliations--This helps you analyze potential concentrated sources of prospects.

* Mutual Contacts--This field reminds you of ways to build the network around your contact.

* Hobbies--This reminds you of ways to socialize together.

As your contact list grows, documenting these details becomes especially important.

PICK AND CHOOSE

Using contact management software to sort your list of contacts by variable fields allows you to reach out to a particular geographic area or industry group. This is a valuable management tool for planning sales trips or customizing lists for mailing newsletters, updates and invitations.

PLAN TASKS

Contact management software helps you to document and become clear about each successive step in the selling process by providing a place to write down your planned selling tasks. This simple step produces profound results. When professionals take a few moments to document their next sales step, the likelihood of implementing it dramatically increases.

AUTOMATIC REMINDERS

After you create your plan, the software will help you create a timeline for your outreach. It also will remind you about deadlines with pop-up screens or alarms. Automated reminders make a big difference in keeping the selling process on schedule.

RAPID RESPONSE

Contact management software provides a variety of options for communicating with clients such...