Harness your sales potential by controlling your contacts
At some point, loss of control leads to loss of sales - most certainly loss of selling opportunities. A missed appointment, a forgotten follow-up, a not (but should have been) written thank-you letter, a missed deadline, or even a lost phone number can be expensive and lead to sales decay.
You can shrug it off the first few times, but if you let enough decay occur, eventually you will rot (or get fired by someone you think is rotten).
Since 97% of all sales are NOT made in one call, effective prospect follow-up contact and information management is essential if you want to get maximum results - in other words, make the sale. The problem is juggling schedules, prospects, existing customers, follow-up commitments, correspondence, promises made and a million other details that are essential to the sale.
Here's the solution: contact management. Contact management are the words it's known by, but what the software does is 1,000 times more powerful. Do you have a contact-management program?
How do you know if you should have a contact management program? Two clues: You either have a desktop or laptop computer. Everyone can benefit.
The salesperson, professional person, or entrepreneur who could benefit from contact management is someone who says:
• "My customer is more than a name and address."
• "When my customer calls, I need instant access to their information."
• "Most of my activities revolve around my contacts."
• "I need to prioritize my day around the things that help me increase my business."
• "I am proactive and my business requires me to get people to do things."
• "I need more information control. I gather information at different times, but need to keep it in the same file."
• "I can't afford to miss an appointment or fail to make a deadline."
If you're in business, in a profession, such as sales, and make phone calls, write letters, keep a calendar, make appointments, make a to-do list, have projects, keep records, make notes, have a Rolodex, or have an address book - you need a contact management program (hint: this means you).
O.K., that determined, which one do I use?
The most successfully used contact management software is ACT! by Symantec. ACT! pioneered the product, and has been on the market since 1987. There are others, but ACT! is the clear market leader.
"Contact manager" is really an understated word, but it's good for "buzz" purposes. There are five dynamic stages of information management support that ACT! software offers:
1. Initial contact manager (sales lead manager)
2. Pipeline manager
3. Follow-up manager
4. Customer manager
5. Relationship builder
But this is just the start. Besides those five (and they are the heart of the sales cycle), there are lots of primary functions this software performs - many simultaneously.
• rolodex
• day planner
• appointment manager
• calendar
• alarm reminder
• to-do organizer and prioritizer
• sales cycle measurement device
• account history
• sales report generator
• follow up tool
• letter writer
• memo generator
• idea catcher
• project management aid
• information control
I know, you want to know if it can pay your mortgage, too. Well, if you use it to maximum sales advantage, you will be able to pay off the whole house.
Time is money is a misnomer. It should say organized time leads to money. Contact management leads to organization.
Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of "The Sales Bible," and "Customer Satisfaction is Worthless, Customer Loyalty is Priceless." President of Charlotte-based Buy Gitomer, he gives seminars, runs annual sales meetings, and conducts training programs on selling and customer service. Inquiries should be directed by fax to the WBJ at (48-22) 646-0576 or directly to Gitomer via
e-mail at salesman@gitomer.com
You can shrug it off the first few times, but if you let enough decay occur, eventually you will rot (or get fired by someone you think is rotten).
Since 97% of all sales are NOT made in one call, effective prospect follow-up contact and information management is essential if you want to get maximum results - in other words, make the sale. The problem is juggling schedules, prospects, existing customers, follow-up commitments, correspondence, promises made and a million other details that are essential to the sale.
Here's the solution: contact management. Contact management are the words it's known by, but what the software does is 1,000 times more powerful. Do you have a contact-management program?
How do you know if you should have a contact management program? Two clues: You either have a desktop or laptop computer. Everyone can benefit.
The salesperson, professional person, or entrepreneur who could benefit from contact management is someone who says:
• "My customer is more than a name and address."
• "When my customer calls, I need instant access to their information."
• "Most of my activities revolve around my contacts."
• "I need to prioritize my day around the things that help me increase my business."
• "I am proactive and my business requires me to get people to do things."
• "I need more information control. I gather information at different times, but need to keep it in the same file."
• "I can't afford to miss an appointment or fail to make a deadline."
If you're in business, in a profession, such as sales, and make phone calls, write letters, keep a calendar, make appointments, make a to-do list, have projects, keep records, make notes, have a Rolodex, or have an address book - you need a contact management program (hint: this means you).
O.K., that determined, which one do I use?
The most successfully used contact management software is ACT! by Symantec. ACT! pioneered the product, and has been on the market since 1987. There are others, but ACT! is the clear market leader.
"Contact manager" is really an understated word, but it's good for "buzz" purposes. There are five dynamic stages of information management support that ACT! software offers:
1. Initial contact manager (sales lead manager)
2. Pipeline manager
3. Follow-up manager
4. Customer manager
5. Relationship builder
But this is just the start. Besides those five (and they are the heart of the sales cycle), there are lots of primary functions this software performs - many simultaneously.
• rolodex
• day planner
• appointment manager
• calendar
• alarm reminder
• to-do organizer and prioritizer
• sales cycle measurement device
• account history
• sales report generator
• follow up tool
• letter writer
• memo generator
• idea catcher
• project management aid
• information control
I know, you want to know if it can pay your mortgage, too. Well, if you use it to maximum sales advantage, you will be able to pay off the whole house.
Time is money is a misnomer. It should say organized time leads to money. Contact management leads to organization.
Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of "The Sales Bible," and "Customer Satisfaction is Worthless, Customer Loyalty is Priceless." President of Charlotte-based Buy Gitomer, he gives seminars, runs annual sales meetings, and conducts training programs on selling and customer service. Inquiries should be directed by fax to the WBJ at (48-22) 646-0576 or directly to Gitomer via
e-mail at salesman@gitomer.com
