A Contact Relationship Manager (CRM) is priceless! This software platform comes in many options from simple and free to complex and costly. Every business should use a CRM, even from day 1! Keep track of:

• people you meet: how, when, where.
• communications: date last contacted, what was discussed.
• relationships: networking associate, strategic partner, prospect, client.

You can customize many CRMs to track information specific to your company, such as reason for buying, size, birthday, specific challenge, you name it. Whatever is important to you, you can track it in a CRM so you don’t have to keep it in your head or 1,000 post-it notes.

Who goes in your CRM? People you come into direct contact with. If you feel there is any reason to keep in contact with this person, make an entry in your CRM.

CRMs allow you to pull simple queries based on the information you provide. “Show me everyone I tagged as ABC networking group”. Pretty handy. Some CRM’s give you the ability to create messaging templates, and I love this feature. Any message you find yourself writing over and over again, you can save it as a template and communicate quickly and efficiently

1-on-1 networking has proven to be invaluable, allowing us to get to know individuals on a deeper level than the “large room” networking events. If you meet an interesting person, you’ll want to connect individually, make notes, and remind yourself to reconnect a few times per year. That’s where your CRM shines.

Your Email Marketing platform is NOT your CRM. They have different purposes. If a CRM is great for notating your relationship with an individual, email marketing is for keeping groups of people informed on your area of expertise. You can use it for a newsletter, customer service, and sales prospecting.

• Everyone in your CRM will NOT go into your email marketing platform.
• Everyone in your email platform will NOT go into your CRM.

Confusing, I know, but you’ll get the hang of it.

Here’s an example –

• You attend a networking event. You meet an interesting person and get out your phones to connect on LinkedIn. You follow them on LinkedIn to understand more about them and their business.

• You schedule a 1 on 1 because want to know more. You have a great convo and agree to keep in touch regularly; you never know if there will be an opportunity to refer business in the future.

• You enter them in your CRM and make a note of conversation highlights (you both have high school senior kids, you’re both originally from Chicago, etc) and set a reminder to reach out again in a few weeks.

• In conversation, he tells you that he may know of a person or two that your company could help and they want to learn more. Now he has graduated into your marketing platform. They will receive your (once or twice a month) helpful tips and industry advice, keeping you top of mind.

Please note: some people in your email marketing platform may never make it to your CRM. Those folks may have attended your seminar or put their contact info in a bowl at your expo table. They indicated interest, but haven’t reached out to you directly for an individual conversation. Keep sending your email campaigns to further the interest.

So

• LinkedIn = I networked with you
• CRM = I’ve spoken to you 1 on 1
• Email = you’ve indicated interest in learning more.

I hope that helps! Marketing and communicating is a huge part of why we gain new business, so using the right tools for the intended outcome is everything!