subject: Make notes in your contact databse [print this page] Make notes in your contact databse Make notes in your contact databse
I would probably a LOT wealthier if I could get $1 for every time a sales rep remarked that he or she HATES entering data into his or her contact or CRM database. The more productive sales-wise the rep, often the more likely they are to resist entering data. "I'm too busy making sales to enter all that crap in!"
And, no doubt, they probably are very busy. That's a good thing.
But what's also very important make that EXTREMELY important is the need for documenting your progress. Remember, the longer the sales cycle (the total amount of time it takes to make a sale, from start to finish) the more important it is to document your progress. It's also paramount that the end result of your efforts is also recorded. All open Sales Opportunities that are either won or lost need to be documented.
Why all this data entry? Because it's not an effort it's an investment.
The key to valuable data mining in 2 years is to dutifully enter data today. Let's say you're a business owner and you've hired a new rep replacing one who's left the firm. The new rep's to take over the customers and the territory of the previous rep. Does this rep get on the phone and start telling customers, "Hi, I'm Ralph; I'm taking over for Joe, who left the firm. Can you get me up to speed on what you're doing with our firm?" Does your customer really have the time to do that?
What if Ralph logs onto your Contact Management system, review his new customers by reading the extensive notes, the past calendar events, the sales that were won and lost and other valuable information that was entered. Now, Ralph can call the customer and say, "Hi, this is Ralph. I'm taking over for Joe. I noticed that you've regularly purchasing a case of knutten-valves every quarter. Did you know that if you purchase once a month you'll save a bundle on shipping costs?" Doesn't Ralph now sound like he's hit the ground running?
This is just a fraction of the value of judiciously entering in notes and history into your Contact Management or CRM database. I'll cover other aspects of this discipline in future articles.
