The Ving Blog

Contact Manager: Just a Digital Rolodex?

Written by Emily Diorio | 10/29/15 10:00 AM

Your contact manager should do more than simply organize all of your contacts. Choosing the right program is vital to the success of any business.

If you watch ABC’s Modern Family you know just how important a contact manager can be to a business! For Jay Pritchett — the family patriarch, his contact manager of choice is the infamous rolodex of closet clients. On the show, Jay has an ongoing feud with an old business partner about the ownership of the former company rolodex and the clients it contains. Without it, Jay has lost all of those valuable contacts and has to rebuild his clientele base from scratch.

If he had used a contact manager software program to store and organize his contacts instead of a rolodex, he might still have all of his old client’s contact information. Don’t make the same mistake as Jay Pritchett, organize client information using a contact manager for easy access to contact information and much more.

What can a contact manager do for me that a rolodex can’t?’ Here are 10 benefits you get from using a robust contact manager:

Integrated Contact Databases

Sync all of the information on contacts into one database with a contact manager. Notes, files, emails, business cards and contact information on clients should be easily accessible when you need it.

Seamless Functionality with Lead Generation Platforms

Tracking visitor intent and identifying potential clients through lead generation platforms can be easily connected with most contact manager systems for better sales pipeline management.

Online customer support

Business practices are evolving toward a technology-only system and people prefer tech-based communication over phone calls to a customer service representative. Most contact manager systems allow customers to ask questions through Twitter or email.

Encompassing Approach — Account VS Contact

Contact managers that are account-centric unify company records to make information organization easier when accounts have multiple contacts. Contact-focused programs can lead to duplicate records and inconsistency in data.

Cloud-Based Backup

Never lose your contact manager data when it’s all in the cloud. Losing a rolodex is a distant worry with today’s online technology that stores information safely without risk from network glitches and server crashes.

Automatic Updates

Just like other applications and programs your contact manager will update itself to ensure that it’s always running smoothly and efficiently. Changes in technology are easily accommodated to optimize user experience.

Anywhere Access

Professionals are always on-the-go so your contact manager should be, too. Most contact manager systems have mobile-friendly applications that make accessing contact information easy wherever and whenever. Much easier to carry around than a rolodex.

Client Reports and Insights

Tracking your clients engagement and activities is helpful to providing them with the best customer experience. Contact manager programs with interaction reports will make this process easier for your business.

Email Marketing

Having all of your contact information in one place allows for easier marketing campaigns. Forget manually sending messages to each person in your contact list, your contact manager allows you to send marketing to specific groups or clients.

Contact History

Keep your whole team up-to-date on client email history and communication activity. View completed tasks and include any files associated with a project or client. Tracking interaction within your contact manager will help you to provide better customer service to clients in the future.

There are many different contact manager applications on the market to choose from that best fits your personal needs. Do some research and see what program suits your needs. Here at Ving we use Insightly because of its wide array of features and user-friendly design. So put that rolodex in a museum where it belongs and break out a new contact manager for your business.

After you’ve gotten a contact manager in place to organize your contact information, send out a Ving for engaging interaction! Ving is an application that allows you to share information in an innovative way. Upload videos, attach files and include question sets when reaching out to leads and current clients. Implementing these great tools will have you on your way to success in no time!