Jim asked me, “How do you
decide who to put in your CRM system and who to leave out?”

I responded, “Good question.
There are a lot of people out there and not all of them are going to be
customers or clients or patients.

The first thing you have to
decide is how you are going to use the system. The options are:

• Personal Only
• Personal and Business
• Business Only

BUT given the way you can
sort and tag things on current systems if you are a solopreneur you may want to
opt for both Personal and Business. Make sure you can move folks from one category to another.

Here are the identifiers I
use:

Strangers–People
we don’t know at all. If you drew a circle about 24,000 miles in circumference
it would be filled with all the people of the earth. Most would be in this
category.

Suspects–People
that you think are potentially clients or customers because they meet a
demographic or psychographic description. If you were buying a mail or email
list you would select them from this group

Contacts–are
people that we have actually met and had a chance to evaluate. You have at
least some of their contact data. It could be their name and e-mail from a blog
sign up or information from their card. You have information from them. If
they agree (opt in) you can contact them for business purposes.

Connections–are
people that we have met with and have formed a relationship (or the beginnings
of one) with. Not all of these people will be customers. Some will be referral
sources. Some will be trusted advisors you send folks to. Some will simply be
people you enjoy knowing and exchanging views with. Make sure they want to hear from you.

Prospects–are
people that have a problem we can solve, the money to pay us to solve it and
are willing to talk to us. Read that
again: People that have a
problem we can solve, the money to pay us to solve it and are willing to talk
to us. 

CRM systems have all kinds
of terms for this group. Those that are sales oriented call them leads and try
to classify them by size or time to sale. Regardless of how they are classified,
you still have to talk to them and get the business. Be sure they want to talk to you before initiating multiple contacts.

Clients–are
the folks that have asked us to help them and are paying us to do so. In my
view, they are clients for life whether they are paying me currently or not. By
treating them that way, I continue to garner their referrals.

You need to base your
business development plans on direct relationships. Part of that is using your
CRM system to identify your best referral sources. Another is identifying the Centers
of Influence to help you find approachable individuals.

Stay tuned for those helpful
hints and pass this blog on to those you believe might profit from my
experience.” Here’s a connection to the best integrated small business CRM I’ve found.

Contacts to be
identified and approached properly. Talk to an expert in contact management
about building your business.

Jerry Fletcher, the Portland
based master of connecting businesses to the next level can be reached at Z-axis
Marketing, Inc. at 800-533-2893 or via e-mail at Ninja@CenturyTel.net. His websites– Speaking: www.NetworkingNinja.com  Consulting: www.JerryFletcher.com