Whatever type or size of business you run, a contacts management system is essential. Without a robust system your contacts can get lost or the data confused, you won’t have the information you need to follow up leads and up-sell to your clients, and you’ll waste a lot of time.

So what should an effective contact management system be able to do for you?

Clear presentation of all relevant information

The name, phone numbers, and addresses etc. are essential, but you may also want detailed records of all products or services purchased, previous quotes, estimates and invoice activity, further products or services they may appreciate, notes and comments, information on projects and sales (current and previous), notes on any feedback provided or any special needs or preferences the client has expressed, etc.

Would you like to keep task management and contacts in sync? Do some contacts need the ability to login and collaborate? Do you want to assign tasks and keep all the discussions in one place?

Tagging, Grouping and Filtering Contacts

Will it allow you to group information according to ‘tags’ (which you can create to suit you) and also to search that information?

These (and many more considerations) should be carefully considered by a company’s Sales Leaders before choosing the optimal Contact Management program.