As small businesses have started moving some or all of their systems to the cloud, contact management through address books and spreadsheets have become increasingly obsolete. In 2014 alone, 37% of small businesses shifted to cloud computing from offline systems, and the number is expected to increase to as much as 78% in 2020.
Numerous small businesses have gone belly up simply because of ineffective contact management. The contact options in your phones, email inboxes, and old fashioned address books just can’t keep up with the fast paced and multiple requirements of modern day businesses.
That is where an online contact manager can help your small business thrive.
Online contact managers don’t just store contacts, they offer a wide range of features like inter-team communication and social media interaction with your customers. In addition, all your contacts are available to you at all times. You don’t have to worry about storage; contacts are secured, and multiple backups are available.
Here are five advantages to using Zoho ContactManager for your small business.
1. An organized and detailed contact list.
A contact manager provides a neat, organized list with a wide range of information about each contact, from their name to the amount of business from each customer. This means you get a clear picture of the customers who are more inclined and happy to do business with you.
2. Interact with customers on social media.
Interact directly with customers on social media without having to log in separately. Post updates on purchase orders to Facebook and Twitter to let customers know their status.
3. Expand your clientele with web-to-contact forms.
A form that’s easy to embed in your website allows your visitors to enter their details and simultaneously place their orders. The details they share are converted directly into a contact and added to your list in the contact manager.
4. Coordinate with your team from anywhere, and at any time.
Your employees can keep you posted on the status of orders, on their task progress, and even on the acquisition of new contacts. This way you have more time to read and listen to customer feedback.
5. Act fast with tasks and reminders.
During the holidays, things can get pretty hectic. A contact manager helps you keep up by letting you assign tasks to your employees that need to be completed by a certain deadline. Follow up on their progress by setting reminders for them. The end result? Fewer employees make excuses for any delays.
A contact manager gives you more direct control over your business. Hear firsthand reviews and feedback from customers that might otherwise be difficult to get, track deals so they don’t slip through your fingers, organize your team by assigning tasks, and give them regular reminders.
Experience the seamless integrations and collaborative features of Zoho ContactManager, and start your free trial today.
I stand corrected - it shows up now !
Interesting that my previous comment is not displayed ! And you replied to it via email. I merely pointed out out a significant limitation of the product. Its fair to let others know about it.
Forgive my late response but I just finished my internship and I'm back in college. So I could only respond to your message now. As for the comment, I just logged in, I will approve it and it will show up.
I tried this last year and found it completely ineffective for what we need. I and many others have been asking for years for a simple shared Address Book (yes old and obsolete you say). But a rather simple feature that allows me to save a Contact Name/Email/phone# in a place where all my employees can access it. And where they can also add/edit it. AND in a place where when I compose a new email from Zoho Mail, it autocompletes the name/email once I start typing. This most basic feature is unavailable from Zoho!! If it is please let me know how. We do NOT need anything that resembles a CRM or has social media integration etc etc. Thanks - Daraius
Good day Daraius, You can use it as a shared address book as well and give access to all your employees to add/edit contacts. We agree that it would be easier if auto-complete option in Zoho Mail suggest contacts from Zoho ContactManager. As a workaround you can compose emails from Zoho ContactManager itself as it integrates with Zoho Mail.
Thanks for confirming. Using and paying for a separate program to save contacts and send email is not reasonable. In fact the shared address book already present in Zoho Mail is ALMOST there. Except only Admins can edit it. If that one limitation was removed, it would be done. Asked for this 3-4 yrs ago. Used to be able to share an address book in Outlook/Exchange 15+ yrs ago!