Your business can only succeed through its reputation. Your customers will be making decisions based on the perception of your business held in their mind. That perception will be based on:

• The memory they have of you;
• Your reputation – as they remember it;
• The last thing they knew about your business;
• The things about your business that they have heard / seen / read most frequently.

When we are very busy, it is all too easy to lose sight of those relationships that we depend on for the long term prosperity and future of our business. It is important to create a system for ensuring that we “refresh” the relationships that we have on the back burner.

The good-will and esteem that we need with prospects and with our referral network decays with time. We need to time-table a contact programme so that all the right people are contacted with the right frequency and in the right manner. Some contacts need to be personal and face-to-face whilst others can be through the impersonal medium of email. And there is a whole spectrum in between.

Treat all your important business relationships as though they are a leaky bucket and need regular topping up. You will have a list of clients, prospects and suspects. All need a different approach and a different frequency of contact. Use a system. Possibilities include: Outlook Calendar; Outlook Tasks; a Diary; a Year Planner; 43 envelopes (Explained below for the young among us); ACT!; Goldmine. It matters most that you have a system and stick to it – not what that system is.

43 Envelopes
Label 12 of the envelopes from January to December.
Label the remainder from 1 to 31.
Create a form or a sheet of paper for each contact where you record key information. When you speak to somebody, plan the next call place the paper (plus any letters for example) together in the envelope for the appropriate month. At the beginning of each month, select the envelopes relevant to each working day and distribute the contact sheets for that month evenly through your available days. Hey presto, a CRM system for pennies.

Outlook Tasks
If you already have the full version of Outlook, this one is free. Create a task for each contact and document key information in the notes field. I use this one and record headlines from each conversation plus key contact numbers (I know this duplicates information held elsewhere but it saves me time) and action items. Use the date fields to schedule calls to people.

Discipline
Spend 30 minutes every week looking through your schedule of calls and make sure you have not missed THAT call.

This was a guest post by Paul Fileman of SPS who are a national team of proven senior management professionals, passionate about working to help businesses achieve their next level of development and performance. Whether they are facing market changes, financial problems, people/skills issues, or are preparing a major project, they offer dedicated support from a multi-disciplined team of experts.

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