A central key element in any successful internal communication network is a effective system to track who talked to whom, when and how often. Gone are the days when you had to walk down the hall to retrieve a form or document to inform someone of a meeting. Today hosted application such asWeb-basedContact Management Softwarecan automate the process leaving you free to handle any other immediate needs. Additionally, you save storage space and make retrieval of communications easier.
Tracking who talked to whom, is a common requirement in customer relationship management. Typically you enter a name for the customer into a spreadsheet then you have to store a copy of the conversation for review later on. You may have considered buying pre-chosen software to handle this problem, but the investment turned out to be less than costly. Today hosted application calledWeb-based Contact Management Softwareare available to operate the contact management process from any place at any time.
Web-based contact management system is just what it sounds like. It is hosted on the cloud, giving you accessibility to the application from any location. The benefits of a web-based system are many. Missing information of one form or another may be handled with minimal effort, and your entire contact list can be stored in one place. You have the ability to share the information in real time, using simply a computer or a network. The only prerequisite is a browser.
Sharing a brief description of yourself, your product, services, and contacts is all that is needed to enter a new customer. This is the greatest advantage of the web-based form. In the past you had to enter every piece of information manually, including addresses, emails, fax numbers, and Social Security numbers. The information contained in the form moved from the form into Microsoft Outlook, the CRM application, moving the customer data from collection point to the individual making the sales.
Today a web-based contact management system eliminates the need to enter data into multiple applications, moving the customer data from collection point to the individual making the sales. The contact manager application moves the contact from the sales repository into the CRM. This saves valuable time in the sales cycle and improves the productivity of the sales staff. Web-based contact management systems provide tools to enter new contacts, notes, or ideas for new products and services. When a suggestion is entered it appears in the CRM so that the next step in the sales process is taken. Trying to remember which idea got the best press and which one didn’t can be an arduous task.
Effective lead management is based on the ability to see the sales cycle from start to finish and to analyze the data from both the survey and the followup. Most people don’t like to wait because the sale closed too late for them to change or to try something new. This leaves you with only one sale and one profit. If you don’t have the tools to identify the successes early on and to analyze that data, your sales staff will rely on their senior managers to provide the sales forecast. This can lead to rankings instead of focusing on the facts of the sale.
Sales forecasting is one of the biggest challenges a team must overcome. An inaccurate forecast can be the difference in the energy and focus of your sales staff. When there are missed calls the frustration can be mutual. This leads to customer dissatisfaction and a drop in profits. This doesn’t happen when you automate your sales forecasting. Your team will focus on the reason this contact occurred rather than the name of the contact. The focus is on the result of the interaction. provides you with a better understanding of each call so you can contact the appropriate person with the appropriate information. Your sales team can go home at night knowing that all their hard work has paid off.
With the use of a web based application you no longer need to wait until the next day for the results of your calls. The information is available to you in real time. Your sales team can focus on closing deals rather than negotiating prices. This leads to higher customer satisfaction and a better chance for your company to achieve the growth you are looking for.
