More than capital, team-building seminars, and the coffee machine in the break room, nothing is quite as important to modern business as contact management. Keeping all of your business contacts, suppliers, customers, partners, and connections organized and up-to-date is crucial to keeping your business running like a tight ship.
Customer relationship management isn’t just about keeping a Rolodex and making sure they all have the correct name at the top. It’s about actually managing relationships and interacting with audiences.
There are benefits to CRM that you might not even see yet, so stay organized and make sure you don’t make these common contact management mistakes!
1. No Rush! That Contact Manager Software Can Wait
You might get to a company that’s been around a long time and find that your boss has an ancient but sturdy-looking address book with every contact they’ve ever made organized and kept secure between those two covers. Now, I’m all for preserving historical relics, but that old address book is one rogue coffee spill away from disaster.
Make a habit out of putting your new contacts into a contact manager software as soon as possible. Don’t find yourself digging through a drawer or bag trying to find a number. Get your updates organized and more likely to update by digitizing th
2. All Contact Management Software is Going to Look the Same
If your content management software only lists one email, one phone number, one name, and nothing else, you might be making a lot of trouble for yourself down the line.
You need a CMS that allows you to make important context notes about the information you’ve recorded. Keep notes about what numbers work for what countries, where you met a contact, how they like to be addressed, and so on.
Additionally, aving a standardized system is going to make finding contacts easier for you and your team.
3. If I Have the Email, I Don’t Need the Phone Number
Believe it or not, not everyone is going to prefer email when communicating. Some contacts may prefer talking over the phone, others may prefer a quick email. Be prepared for either. Keep as many ways of getting in touch as you can in your contact manager.
4. Having Duplicates is Good
Not only are you going to have to constantly check which one is right, everyone else will have to check with you, t00. Deleting duplicates will keep everything organized and easy to find.
5. Just Having the Contact Information of Someone is Enough
So you’ve gone out, you’ve networked, and you’ve gotten a contact from the client you were hoping to get. Great! Now I’ll just contact them whenever I need them, right?
Wrong!
Just having the contact and resolving to use it when the occasion arises is not enough. In fact, it can lead to you burning that bridge before you even get to use it! If someone gives you a business card, that means they want you to use it!
Keep your business on the radar of those new contacts by checking in and staying on their recall list. Now, don’t go calling them twenty times a week or anything, but definitely don’t let the line go dark, either.
Interested in a smart networking platform that can provide digital business cards, contact management, relationship building, calendars, messaging, and more? Check out the StayTouch app here!