In my previous post I pointed to Jan Visser’s SalesTeamTools site for a great overview of the best online Contact Management Systems.

Spurred on by my own recommendation I tried to find a system that met my own criteria:

• Simple – just the basic features I need
• Easy to use
• Some form of compatibility with my iphone

After trying out a bunch of systems, I’ve settled on BatchBook

It’s got all the basic features I need for simple contact management; it’s easily tailorable via the “SuperTags” feature; and it has a simplified online iphone version which works just like the iphone contact book.

From reading the user forum it looks like the developers are very much on the ball. They respond quickly to requests from users and are working on features such as open format sync-ing which some of the other easy-to-use systems (ahem, Highrise) don’t seem to want to bother with. Best of all, the lead developer seems to be an iphone user – hence the prioritisation of the mobile iphone version and hopefully some more nice features in the near future.

Another neat feature is the ability to forward any emails you get from contacts to the system where they are automatically logged and linked to the contact details. There are other features which I don’t really need – like To Do lists and the ability to have the upcoming ones emailed to you every day. But these don’t get in the way of the ease-of use side. The pricing is great value too.

Anyway, I’ll shut up before I begin to sound like a geek….

Ian

Jan Visser’s SalesTeamTools is a great site. Lot’s of useful articles, features and resources.

One area I’ve found very useful recently is the section reviewing and comparing online CRM/contact management tools.

If your contact/prospect list is longer than a handful of people, you really ought to be using something better than a spreadsheet or your normal emai address book. I’m currently using Outlook’s Business Contact Manager which works fine for a small practitioner like me (and came free with my copy of Office) – but for sharing information between sales teams and automating the sales management process you need something a bit more. I also have the problem that Outlook BCM doesn’t sync with my iphone.

The modern trend is toward online CRM and contact management. I first trialled saleforce.com over 8 years ago when it was just starting out – but it’s too big & costly for a small business like me. However, looking at Jan’s reviews has helped me identify a number of different options which would work well for me – including cut-down easy-to-use contact management, built-in pipeline management, and integrated email marketing.

Head over to the site and take a look – and make sure to read the useful comments people have posted on the reviews too – it’s real feedback from real users. Even if you’re not looking for a contact management system, there are also a number of other great posts and resources too.

Ian