What about portability and synchronisation? Two critical issues when considering any Contact Management Solution are: * portability - how well the solution works across the different business communication devices you use * synchronisation - how well the solutions can ensure that all your devices, and staff, are working from the same information. Most of the programs mentioned above will integrate seamlessly with e-mail programs, such as Outlook. Many will work with other programs such as accountancy and word-processing. The following table gives you a quick guide to the portability and synchronisation specifications of each of the solutions examined. How to make the most of your data To get the best out of your contact management system, whichever one you choose, you need to think carefully about: l how you are likely to use it * how you’re going to set up the system and how you are going to make it work within your company. Decide which data you will share, and which you will not share * What data do you want to keep private? * What data do you want to share with others in your organisation? * Do you want to make any of your data available to external partners Ð such as customers or suppliers? Go through your contact data and categorise it by security level before you start planning your interfaces and databases. If you are including any sensitive information on your interface, you need to consider security carefully. * What damage could a malicious competitor or aggrieved customer do to your system? * What information might your commercial rivals be interested in acquiring? You may wish to password protect or otherwise secure certain areas of your contact management solution. You may wish to keep ertain other areas behind a firewall to prevent unauthorised access. (A firewall is a screen that bars unauthorised intruders from entering your system - a simple example is Zone Alarm, which you can download free from the internet). For more information on security, visit the Security section of our website at www.dti.gov.uk/bestpractice. Data Protection Act If you are planning to keep customer information on file you will fall under the provisions of the Data Protection Act, and you need to be aware of your legal responsibilities Ð basically these include: * maintaining correct information about customers * allowing customers to check the data you hold on them * allowing customers to specify that you must not pass their data on to other parties. Depending on how many records you hold, and the purposes you intend to put them to, further restrictions may apply. You can find out more about the Data Protection Act at www.dataprotection.gov.uk. Content The way you structure your data in your contact management system will depend on your business and the way you like to organise things. Consider the following: * Contacts - like an address book with names, phone numbers, physical and e-mail addresses. You should be able to e-mail or call with one click. You may want to include distribution lists in your contacts folder Ð groups of people you often need to contact at the same time with the same message. You may also be able to mail-merge from this list. * Actions - this will be where you group the things you can do with your contacts, like sending letters, e-mail messages, organising meetings, and so on. You can relate each of these activities to a specific contact, or group of contacts, and you can store the letters and e-mail messages here too. You'll want to include flags on your actions too Ð reminders that will pop-up, reminding you to call someone, or send them a letter, by a certain date. * Calendar / Diary - this can be set to automatically update details of your engagements from the decisions you make in your Actions folder. Sharing calendars with colleagues is a great way to co-ordinate your activities. Implementing digital signatures Research & analyse Set objectives Clear, measurable objectives for what you want to achieve. Do you want to: * make your data easy to access and share? * gain more in-depth information about staff activity? * provide better customer service? Cost/benefit analysis * Establish the costs of implementing contact management software, such as software, maintenance and upgrades. Also take into consideration factors such as staff training. * Balance these costs against the benefits, such as greater efficiency, reduced costs and more flexible information management. Establish your needs * What data do you plan to incorporate into your contact management records? * Do you just want to keep track of phone numbers and appointments? If so, a simple solution like Lotus Organiser might be best for you. * Do you want to track sales activity, with leads and appointment setting? And store specific information about customers, their purchasing habits and prospects, and your sales teams and their activity? Act!, Goldmine or Maximiser might be more suitable here. Choose your contact management solution * Evaluate which will be most suitable: bespoke, off-the-shelf, or web. Or a combination of an off-the-shelf solution, with Microsoft Outlook as an e-mail client front end. Consult Professional advice If you lack the skills in-house, contact your Business Link adviser (or equivalent if you are in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland), in the first instance, for help on how best to: * outline your requirements * establish how much you can afford to pay * scope the project * advise on implementation * provide training and software support. Talk to your trading partners * Do you want your web store to have access to inventory information (useful for showing trading partners availability), to customer histories (to help them with re-ordering) and to shipping information (so that customers can track their own orders, saving you time and money)? Plan & test Try before you buy * Most business users will already have access to Microsoft Outlook in some form on their computers, and many of the other solutions mentioned in this factsheet offer free thirty day trials of all or part of their programs - you can find details of where to download these under Further help and advice. Pilot the system * Try out your contact management software in a small pilot group. * Once you and the pilot group are happy with how things run you can roll the new system out to other people in your organisation, with the pilot group acting as its champions. Plan the rollout phase * Depending on the complexity of the solution you are introducing, you may want to provide some staff training at this point. Decide who needs training and allow time for them to adjust to the new system. * There is a great deal of training available on most of these programs - if you choose Lotus Organiser, Microsoft Outlook, ACT!, Maximiser, or Goldmine, you will be able to carry out most of the implementation process yourself. If you choose FileMaker Pro or Microsoft Access you may need some outside programming help (more for Access than for FileMaker). Act Shadow introduction * Set up a shadow period, where the new system operates in tandem with old systems. * This gives people a chance to try out the new way of doing things, without having to abandon their old contact tools overnight. l Don’t let a shadow period drag on for too long. Set a date for going live with the new system, and stick to it. Implement * Encourage staff involvement and feedback, this will help smooth implementation, as staff buy-in can make or break a technology project. * Plan how you are going to maintain your contact management system - it will only remain useful if you keep it up-to-date. Evaluate * Monitor and review the impact on your business and against your objectives. * Get feedback from staff, customers and suppliers on the changes. * Evaluate the impact after 6 months and 1 year. Have you achieved your objectives? Establish how you could improve things further. further help and advice Software solutions * www.lotus.com/home.nsf/welcome/organizer - Lotus Organiser * www.act.com - ACT! Site * www.microsoft.com/office/outlook - MS Outlook site * www.frontrange.com/goldmine - Goldmine site * www.maximizer.com - Maximiser site * www.filemaker.com - FileMaker Pro site * www.microsoft.com/office/access - Microsoft Access site Security solution * www.zonelabs.com - Zone Alarm download Data protection * www.dataprotection.gov.uk - Data Protection site