Business Development - Your Database

My First Database Management System

Years ago, my customer and prospect database was a very large loose leaf binder or two that had plastic sheet protectors. Each sheet held ten slots for business cards, front and back. These binders were my prospect and customer database. The business cards were my link to business. I could find the prospect and call them on the phone. Their cards had their address, so I was able to write or type an envelope and send them something. It seems like a very inefficient way to catalog prospects and customers, but it worked. It was very labor intensive.

Manual Automation?

In the early 1970’s I had a 3” x 5” card system. Each customer or prospect had their very own dedicated card. The card holder (a metal box) organized the cards by alphabet, day of the month and month of the year. I moved the cards around, based on my activity with the lead. If I had an appointment on the 20th of the month, I slid their card behind the 20th tab. If they said call them in September the card was filed behind the September tab. Every morning I had the cards for the day and knew what to do. This primitive system was called a “tickler file”. It worked just fine.s

Changes

Things have changed in the customer and prospect data base world. Now, everything is electronic. Spreadsheets, text files and databases containing vital demographic information have become the mainstream. Now, you can buy or search for prospective customers on the Internet. There are list provider services that you can use to download everything you need to know about prospective customers.

CRM Gets it Done For Me

I use a popular CRM software system to host and manage my customer and prospect database. You have a lot of options for a home for your database. These days, software can automate a lot of the tasks that were formerly tediously and time consuming.

All said, you need to clearly know who your prospective customers are. Who are they and why will they give you money. If you know, you can find them and build and maintain a data base.

An Important Tool

Your customer and prospect database is a most important business development tool. It is just about as important as your time. If you don’t have a robust and targeted database, you are wasting your time.