Filling your sales pipeline is one thing. Controlling it is another. Ever forget an appointment? Forget to make a followup? Not fulfill a promise? Lose a lead? Not record a vital fact? Dropped balls in sales are costly. Loss of credibility, trustworthiness, reputation, and oh yes, lost orders. Real costly.

Contact management a 21st century buzz word for keeping in touch, is no longer a luxury unless you don’t care about losing sales. When you have no contact management program, you’re at a loss or should I say, you’re at a lost. Lost revenue, lost opportunity, lost goodwill, lost market share, (strengthening of competition they got the order), lost referral opportunity, lost temper (angry boss), and sometimes lost job.

Enter, ACT! a contact management program by Symantec. They’ve been helping salespeople and entrepreneurs since 1987. I started using ACT! a few months ago instead of my old reliable database here’s what I’ve found so far I have been able to combine calendar, Rolodex, customer activity, customer history, appointment reminder, word processing, and note taking in one program. The thing that makes me mad is It’s been out there all this time, and I avoided it because I thought it was too complicated (a nice way to say I was stupid).

1. It’s ready to go. No set up or learning rampup time.

2. It’s easy to search

3. It’s customizable

4. It has automatic history (saves every activity)

5. It has mail and fax merge

6. It has email contact capability

7. It’s real easy to use

8. It also tracks projects

8.5 I could have been using it for the past 7 years if I was more open minded.(Ever suffer from “closed minded disease?” It’s deadly.)

The advantages of a contact management program make it an overwhelming “nobrainer” if you’re thinking “is this for me?” Look at these 9.5 advantages:

1. You only enter information once, and it appears in a multitude of areas.

2. Your daily schedule links information to your contacts. Because most activities link back to people, this is critical in assessing your needs and deeds throughout the sales cycle.

3. Your activities have priorities. You want to focus on those things that will increase your business. Contact management software helps you keep tasks and activities under control, AND keep them in priority order.

4. You are able to expand your contact and customer base, and keep it under control. The more contacts and customers you have the more likely you are to drop a ball without tight control.

5. It gives you instant access to all account information when you make (or get) a call.

6. You can print address books, calendars, to do lists, and account cards every day if you like. For those of you that still carry the traditional hard copy daytimer, what terror is in your heart if you leave it someplace or lose it?

7. It makes communicating with customers and prospects by letter, fax, or email easier. The address and instructions are a keystroke away. The ease of use encourages a sales person to stay in closer touch, thereby building a stronger relationship.

8. It creates sales reports by account and sales cycle activity. Ever spend Sunday night watching TV and filling out the weekly sales report? Ever lie just a little to make it look better? Attention Sales Managers: What a salesperson does at 10am on Tuesday is useless information. It’s more important to know how the sales cycle is working with each active account. With ACT! you just enter each activity by account, set up the formats of reporting once, select the dates, and presto! A report by account activity a real sales analysis tool.

9. You have a no lose policy. That’s right, as soon as you enter the information, you “no lose” it.

9.5 You have peace of mind that things are under control. Peace of mind that allows for the creative side (the solution side) of your brain to engage. (for those of you nonscientific readers the creative side of your brain is directly linked to your wallet)

Contact management is like sales success because it controls the elements and details that help you make the sale. The right contact management program will change the way you do business by making it easier, more powerful, and more fun. The power of a program like ACT! is that if frees your mind from the details, and allows your creativity to kick in and find solutions creative solutions that lead to sales.

A free offer you can’t refuse. ACT! will send you a full function test version with a 25 contact limit. A trial size version to let you see contact management capability and use in your world. Just go to www.gitomer.com click FREE STUFF then click GitBit register and enter the secret word, “ACT!”.

Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of The Sales Bible, and Customer Satisfaction is Worthless, Customer Loyalty is Priceless. President of Charlottebased Buy Gitomer, he gives seminars, runs annual sales meetings, and conducts training programs on selling and customer service. He can be reached at 704/3331112 or email to salesman@gitomer.com

1999 All Rights Reserved Don’t even think about reproducing this document without written

permission from Jeffrey H. Gitomer and Buy Gitomer 704/3331112