Contact management systems allow you to track which marketing techniques are working and which aren't. With an effective contact management system in place you can see at a glance how much time you are spending with leads and from which sources you are getting the best leads.
A contact management system is like a mini Profit and Loss Statement. In it you track your activities and results for different marketing channels: referral marketing, seminars, direct mail, joint ventures, etc... For each lead source you should track the following type of information:
How much time you spent
How much money you spent
How many paying clients it brought in
How much revenue was generated
From this type of information your contact management system can calculate:
How much time it costs to acquire a lead and client
The dollar cost per lead and client
The total cost involved per lead and client
Conversation percentages
Number leads to number of clients
Revenue per lead
Revenue per client
To get the most benefit from a contact management system you have to be disciplined. You need to consistently record how much time you spend on each lead and client over a period of time. If you update your contact management system every month you should be able to keep on top of what is happening.
Bottom Line on Contact Management Systems
Contact management systems provide a wealth of information. By recording data related to your lead and client generation you can track what you are doing, what is working, what's not and then make sound marketing decisions. Using a contact management system gives you the confidence you need to dump the things that aren't working and concentrate your time and money on those that are.
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