Creating a database of your contacts is the first step in deploying contact management. Your database can range from a simple mailing addresses list to a complex one which keeps track of all the information relating to the contacts and stores the history of interactions. The database should have the mail merge feature so that it can be used for direct mails as well as e-mails; otherwise the information should be capable of being exported to Word or Excel to allow mail merge.
Whatever software you choose the database, to be effective, should be easy to set up, search and update. The database comes to life when you start feeding contacts into it. There are different ways of getting contacts – you can take the list from people who are already in your line of business or buy leads from various sources.
Networking is a good way to get new contacts if you operate a small business. You can collect the cards of numerous people who you think can be prospective customers but unless you feed them into the database it won’t help your business much. If the list is very large or if you’re too lazy to feed information manually, invest in a card scanning program that’s compatible with your database software. CardScan is one such administrative support tool.
You can arrange the contacts anyway you like. But experts believe that it’s advisable to have a single list instead of multiple lists resulting in duplication. When mass mails are sent from multiple lists duplicate e-mails can put off the prospective customers. Set up different fields to contacts so that sorting is easy. For example, contacts can be arranged into different fields like age group, sex, geographical region, profession; past, existing, potential, doubtful customers etc. They can also be grouped according to your products or services in which you think they are interested or according to their purchasing patterns.
If you have a very large list where manual verification of duplication is not possible you can use special tools. For example, ACT!, one of the big names in the contact software industry, provides de-duplication software that automatically merges duplicated contacts on a field-by-field basis. This tool is also useful when you update the database to make necessary additions and deletions.
If you want to keep in sync with changing times, instead of continuing with the old system, you should upgrade the database technology as and when more sophisticated software comes into market. Many manufacturers provide the upgraded technology to existing users at reduced prices.
Contact Management provides detailed information on Contact Management, Contact Management Software, Contact Management Systems, Contact Management Databases and more. For more information go to http://www.e-ContactManagement.com and/or visit its affiliated site at http://www.z-EDI.com for related information.
