2000 Business Cards Collected But Not a One Segmented.
Time=$$$
Contact Information=$$$
Don’t Waste it.
-Patti Sarinana, Marketing Strategist, P.S. Marketing Maven
Oz a subject matter expert just presented on YouTube strategies for keeping video content relevant and subscribers engaged. After his presentation was complete he stuck around for questions. I asked how he determines the length of the video. He had a plethora of information to share. We exchanged contact information to further discuss.
It’s the end of the night and I empty my pockets. I have a stack of at least 20 cards that I collected throughout the day at meetings, networking events and at the presentation. Each contact I made that day would benefit from me and I from them. When a connection is made, it’s made for a reason, sometimes several. Looking at the stack I realize that mutual benefits can come from projects that I’m currently working on, projects that now perhaps may be feasible in the near future or personal situations. These are contacts that I took the time to make, time I spent sharing thoughts, ideas, knowledge, and personal stories. Remember time is not doesn’t just equal money it also equals growth and progression. This time was invested and like any great investment, it should have some sort of return.
I look around and notice the smallish to large stacks laying all over my dresser and my desk. At the office, I have similar stacks throughout my workspace. Why take someone’s business card or vcard if I’m not going to follow up? What can I do to ensure that I am utilizing these contacts? My business card collection is getting out of control. My vcard collection is out of sorts. I don’t even recall collecting some of these. I need to find a system that will help manage all these contacts.
Treat those cards like gold. Don’t waste contact information. Why bother taking a person’s card in the first place if you are not going to utilize it? The first moment you get, store that information. How to store the information will be part of my next article. Make sure to subscribe, connect, or do whatever you need to stay connected!.. Ok back to the biz cards.. Then follow up by making a call or sending an email. Send a relevant email and be at their top of mind. Update them on new products, services or promotions your business has going on. Share pertinent industry information or tips your clients can benefit from and utilize. The advantage of contact management is being able to segment or compartmentalize your contacts for Business to Business and Business to Consumer purposes. (Ok I gave you a sneak peek, sue me 🙂 .. That’s a joke, please don’t sue me. Lol.
I know. I know. Sounds easy, right? You’re probably asking yourself, why can’t I just keep the card and do something with it later? Look around, that’s how your collection of cards started. If it were so simple, why is there a surmounting stack of cards all over the place? If you needed a service from someone you wouldn’t just go a grab a card out of the stack, would you? You want to make sure your contacts are solid contacts. Don’t assume that because you have a contact’s information that their services are up to par. You wouldn’t want to get a bad rep for referring a business to someone that didn’t cut the mustard. Also, don’t assume that because you have a person’s business card they are automatically in your networking circle.
Contact management is a system that allows users to locate and save contact information including names, numbers, email addresses, etc. It also sorts, stores contact details, sales history, and other sales related information. Having your contacts organized allows you to coordinate and get a handle on all your prospects, current contacts, and customer data. Once contacts are in a cohesive system you’re able to craft, send, and monitor segmented email and marketing campaigns. Initial set up is easy but can be very tedious. Monitoring is simple as well but again you only have 24 hours in a day. Approximately one-quarter of those hours you are busy running your business.
By being able to utilize this 3.5 x 2 “piece of paper, which is obviously what we know now as a business card, I have been able to close deals and turn that small piece of paper into quantifiable cash that has ranged between $350-$650 for myself. You can too, if you know how to do it.
Features and benefits of contact management include:
• Centralized database of contact information
• Ready-to-use database with search functionality
• Sales monitoring
• Email integration
• Organizing of meetings and appointments
• Document management
• Records and discussion management
• Customizable fields
We help our clients gain important hours back so they can get back to running their business. We provide an important role between a business and their audience. We help increase retention and new client engagement through effective email campaigns and effective social media engagement.
P.S. Marketing Maven will set up and update your contact management, provide a newsletter and a report tracking the progress of your email campaigns utilizing MailChimp.
Every moment is a marketing opportunity!
For more information go to www.PSMarketingMaven.com