MrsMemo
Contact Management
Posted 9:19 AM on 06/24/08 -
Reply to this postI have been in sales most of my career (20+ years). I have used everything from ACT, Goldmine, to home grown. Without knowing a lot about your contacts or business, something off the shelf, I recommend ACT or Microsoft Outlook's Contact Manager. You have some flexibility with "user defined" fields with ACT. Depends on what you need from your contact management system. Currently I am at a company that has developed their own CMS...they did a great job, but the down side it does not generate reports, determining conversion rates is done by hand. I am sure I could put it on the list of "Wishes" for functionality.
Danielle
contact organizing
Posted 3:56 PM on 06/25/08 -
Reply to this postI sell web solutions so virtually anyone is a prospect for me.
I keep a looseleaf-style briefcase with plastic slot tabs marked: "recent" "hot," "warm," "revisit," and "I'm Scared to Call." I place my notes, biz cards, whatever into various sections.
RECENT is for folks I've met recently who I've not called yet. HOT is for referrals or folks that I met that said "call me soon" and people I'm currently talking to. WARM is for people who inquired via my web site but I haven't been able to reach them yet (telephone tag), REVISIT is people that said no but I know they need what I have so I'll call them in 60 days, and, I'M SCARED TO CALL are folks that intimidate me, such as Doctors, Lawyers, etc. (I sell web solutions). On a brave day, I start with the latter section!
I also have a 3-drawer plastic organizer in my office into which I throw items into the following marked drawers: "ice," "tepid" and "dead". ICE is for info I've collected on businesses that might not need a web site but could possibly want one. TEPID is for info on businesses that don't seem to have a web site yet but I have to call to find out, and DEAD is for people who I've already contacted but are a dead-end ... I keep those in case they call me in the future I'll have their info.
This is the easier system for me than having to retype all the info from business cards, ads, notes, talks, etc. into my laptop.
Chris
contact manager
Posted 2:20 PM on 07/01/08 -
Reply to this postSalesforce.com rocks!
Phil
Contact Manager
Posted 11:41 AM on 07/02/08 -
Reply to this postI've been using Act! on my laptop and I have it sync'd to my Palm Treo. It's been serving me well for a few years now.
Dick Ronding
contact manager
Posted 2:27 PM on 07/15/08 -
Reply to this postOne of the contact managers that I use is a service called Send Out Cards. It is a unique service that I use everyday to send out an un-expected card to keep in touch. You program in the contact manager what dates you want to send something out on, and it will print out the card, in your handwriting if you wish, stuff it in an envelope, stamp and mail it. With over 6,000 cards to chose from, it always amazes me of the appropriatness of the cards that I can send. It costs me $1.06 for each one that I send, but it is head and shoulders above the e-mails that everyone else sends. Check it out at www.motivationalcards.biz, I think you can find ways to use this contact manager to really improve your relationship marketing efforts.
B.M. Sales Guy
contact manager
Posted 5:47 PM on 07/16/08 -
Reply to this postI recently purchased Card Scan, about $159.99. This product is great when it comes to keeping your contacts organized. Simply put a business card through the scanner it shows up on your screen and separates name, numbers, company ect., into different fields for you. You can transfer this info to Outlook, your phone or just use the software it comes with. I highly recommend this product!
amber
contact organizing
Posted 12:08 AM on 10/07/08 -
Reply to this postI love your "organic" organizational skills! This helps me immensely!
Yvonne
Persistence
Posted 11:26 PM on 06/11/08 -
Reply to this post
I had a booth at a golf tournament for the chamber of commerce. It was more of just a fun day out. But I had one golfer in stitches laughing as she waited her turn to tee off. She gave me her card and told me to give her a call. Turns out she was a VP of HR at a hospital. (my perfect client) I calledand went in for a meeting. They loved me but didn't call me for anything. I would send or drop off samples, a new catalog or some basket of treats to say hi. Low and behold 14 months (yes 14) they called me up, and at the meeting asked for pricing on 8 items. I sold them 6 right then and they have joked ever since that I should just have my own office because I am there working with them so often. They are one of my biggest and definitely my best client.
TLee
Persistence is Key!!!
Posted 3:03 PM on 06/20/08 -
Reply to this postGreat Post Yvonne! I sent this around to all my associates so they could see that they are not the only ones that sometimes work with prospects for months before making the sale.
Kevin
Contacting Retailers
Posted 10:52 PM on 06/10/08 -
Reply to this post
What is the best way to contact retailers and ask them to consider my product to be sold on their shelves? I manufacture Hammocks and a new wearable GPS holder. I would like to have campgrounds retail the hammocks and small outdoor stores retail the GPS holder. Currently I have been making an initial contact via email. Should I hire a salesperson to go visit in person the probably retailers? My company is currently made up of 2 part-time people...myself and my brother.
Chris
Contacting Retailers
Posted 2:25 PM on 07/01/08 -
Reply to this postThere are reps that have a few retailers or often one retailer they work with. They will work with a few companies at a time and will provide you valuable advice when it comes to packaging and some other items retailers look for. You can find them by asking buyers at retailers if they know anybody like that. Often the rep was a buyer for years before making the switch to sales.
Anderson360
Cold call openers
Posted 5:34 PM on 06/04/08 -
Reply to this post
I sell auto and home insurance for one the biggest insurers in the country. I make alot of my calls from internet leads that get e-mailed to me. What are some good ways to open the call rather than with "Hello Mr. Jones, my name is so-and-so with XYZ Insurance, did I catch you at a good time to talk?" And what are some good thought provoking questions I could open with too?
Cindy
Cold Call Openers
Posted 3:08 PM on 06/06/08 -
Reply to this postHello Mr. Jones: What are you doing answering your own phone?! (Flatter the person) I'm getting back to you on your internet insurance request. I'm calling you between appointments so I only have a minute or 2...what's a better time to reach you: afternoon or evening?
What info do I need to get to you as soon as possible, to help you with this?
Great, I'll get that together and check in with you at 4:30pm this afternoon. If you have any other questions, I'll make sure I set time aside for you!
TLee
Cold Call Openers
Posted 4:36 PM on 06/19/08 -
Reply to this post"I'm calling you between appointments so I only have a minute or 2...what's a better time to reach you: "
This statement is a little puzzling. So you are calling Mr. Jones but he is only important enough for you to give him two minutes of your time? If I were Mr. Jones I would wonder why you just didn't call me when you had time to talk.
With that said..
Internet information requests and actual "cold calls" are two completely separate intros in my mind. With cold calls, you have to make sure you have something to say that grabs their attention. So for starters, I would get rid of the “Hello Mr. Jones, my name is…..” and “did I catch you at a good time” line, right away. It sounds very “dialing down a list” and people generally will never “have the time” to talk to someone they have no clue why they are calling. You want to make the call sound personal; otherwise you will be just another salesperson calling them with something they don’t need-at least that’s what they will be thinking.
I like to use, “This is ___with ___, is Bob available/around/in the office? If Bob is available, I will explain why I am calling without saying,“I am calling in regards to…..”. After that I will proceed to ask Bob some questions about his business, or in your case, his personal insurance situation. I’m never just trying to sell someone on something that they don’t need. I try to find out what’s important to them and then explain how they will benefit from my solution.By asking good questions I will help them find their need on their own and its downhill from there.
For internet information requests, you already have their attention to a certain extent, so now you need to find out more about what they need/want.This can be as simple as asking that question.
The call: “This is ___with ___, is Bob available? Hi Bob,I received your request for some information and wanted to find out a little more so I could get you the most accurate info”.Or something to that effect…
