So far, we’ve discussed how to selectively add to your database of contacts, and the concept of reaching out after initial contact. I’ve introduced your contacts list as a pool of selective entries. Where do all of these go?

For some, all the people they’ve ever met are simply dumped in their email address book. Others use an email marketing campaign software and park everyone there. While these methods help you put your contacts somewhere, it doesn’t help when it’s time to retrieve selective information. Here’s where a CRM really helps.

CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management. As its name implies, it’s a database which helps you manage your associations with the people you’ve met and communicate with by tracking meaningful information beyond their email address or what’s on their business card. It’s a fully searchable database of the people you know, how you know them, what they do, what they’re interested in, when you last spoke with them, what you discussed, etc.  This is the mother-load of information management on every person you want to keep tabs on.

Yes, it’s true: a CRM holds all the data your brain can’t possibly remember all at once. Give me all the people I’ve met through the ABC Networking Club; show me all the accountants I’ve met; list all those people who had attended my seminar last October.

Regardless of which CRM software you use, If you set up your database correctly, you can pull a list of people to match a specific query.  The secret of success is that a CRM is a hungry beast and you need to keep feeding it. Constantly. Each time you have a phone conversation with a contact, enter a summary in your CRM. Each time they attend your seminar or buy your product, enter it in your CRM. If they mention they also know someone you know, enter that too. Enter their dog’s name, the fact that they have twin daughters, and that they enjoy coaching the neighborhood soccer team.  What business owners used to hand write on the back of a rolodex entry you can now keep more efficiently in a database.

Which CRM software to use? Choose one that is user friendly and requires a short learning curve. Select one that is fully customizable to your business and the way you work and will grow with you as your business grows.  There are those products which live on your hard drive and those who reside in the cloud – it’s important to make the right choice for you.  There are many products out there and it’s critical that you simply don’t go with a product that you’ve heard about – you need to demo and test drive it to make sure it’s right for you.

It is a challenge but unfortunately it’s not an excuse to leave someone hanging when they need information or input from you.

Blow off the top layer of dust in your email inbox, and see how many messages are sitting there because you can’t move forward without a response from someone? If you check your sent items folder you’ll find more evidence of the same – questions put out there in the universe, falling flat with no replies. Or perhaps you’re the culprit, creating a backlog because you haven’t replied.

Following is a simple suggestion, which, if everyone followed, would eliminate the email log jam.  When you receive a request or question from an email:

Ask Yourself – do I know the answer or have enough information to supply the answer  right now?

If yes – shooting off a quick reply right now is much, much better than assuming you’ll reply later.  This is because “later” will get you deeper into email clutter from more incoming messages.

Bonus tip: unless you have a definitive reason not to, once you’ve sent your reply, delete the question to clean out the clutter.

If no – reply now anyway – except your response will be something like, “I don’t have an answer for you right now” or “I’m not able to get you that information right now”. Then tell them that you will get back to them in ‘x’ number of days. It could be tomorrow or it could be in 10 days – either way – you’re not leaving the person hanging, you’re setting proper expectations.

Bonus tip: drag that email down to your Tasks icon and open a new task to respond with the appropriate information. Give yourself the ‘x’ number of days to complete it that you’ve promised. Create a reminder for it if you need to, or move the task to your calendar on the day you need to respond.

What if you’re on the receiving end – or I should call it the NOT-receiving end. You’ve sent a question or request for information and have gotten nothing. What’s the correct and polite approach?

In general, unless it was a critical request, give the person 3 to 5 business days. Then email again with the subject line “following up on this open item”. That gives the recipient the alert that he or she owes you an answer. In the body, you can state very simply that you sent the original email x number of days ago, have received no reply and still need an answer. You can also state that “if you’re waiting from information from someone else, please let me know”.

Some people are simply disorganized with communications and they always need a reminder. Other people are not very good at cluing you in on a background situation that is causing the lack of reply.

In both cases it is perfectly acceptable and even helpful to remind someone that you are on hold! Another helpful suggestion, when you send a question to frequent offender of “replying with silence”, how about including, “I need an answer by x date, so I will be following up 2 days from now”. Then keep hounding! And don’t apologize for it!

Now that you’ve met a few new business professionals from last night’s networking event, make sure to continue the relationship online. Here’s an easy way to start.  Soon after the networking event, offer to connect with them on Linked In and introduce yourself a 2^nd time.  Always be sure to remove the default LinkedIn-provided blurb and craft a short note about the conversation you had (shows you were paying attention; doesn’t everyone like to get a personal note?).

It’s a good strategy to ask further questions about their business, what types of clients they need to meet, etc.  If your businesses or personalities really clicked, look to develop the conversation past Linked In and onto email and phone.  If you feel the synergy is right, move on to set up a coffee chat.

Now we move on to Group 2. These are the individuals you had met for the 2^nd or 3^rd time.  At the very least, if you feel it has the potential to develop into a beneficial connection, go ahead and email them to let them know it was great to see them again. Just a short touch to keep you in their minds.  By now, with the people you’ve met and conversed with more than once, you’ll most likely have a “feel” for their interest level in your business. Hopefully, your conversations have included an exchange of ideas about each other’s business focus, and if that’s the case, I would let them know that they can benefit from receiving free tips and news from you about developments in your industry.

Remember to branch out with your connections to embrace other avenues of social media.  Perhaps your connections really only check in with LinkedIn here and there, but spend  a lot of their time on Twitter; follow them on Twitter and send a Direct Message or two, share a link, etc.  Or perhaps facebook is more their speed, and you may want to check out their Fan page and encourage them to Like yours in turn. While on their Fan Page or Blog, post positive comments and show your support. Continuing the relationship on Social Media sites is interesting, worthwhile, and helps you learn more about them and their business.

Will this pay off? It has been proven that a smaller, true list of warm connections will go much further than a barrel of cards from strangers.  You’ll want to evaluate if they fit your target market (or have direct access to them).  Have they demonstrated a genuine interest in your products or in helping you connect to people who do?

Follow through on this screening process and every few months, go through the people in your database. You’ll know by now who to reach out to.  Toss out anyone who you can’t remember because you’ve never heard from them again.  Where do all these contacts go? Find out in Part III.

One of the most popular ways  to gain new customers is to go out networking. To one degree or another, we all do it, but do we enter the door with a plan? Many times, I drag myself out the door when I’m wiped from a hectic day, countering a strong desire to stay home and vegetate. On the drive, I energize by reminding myself of my plan of attack: my 3-2-1 rule.

Meet 3 new contacts. Not just say hi and shake hands and move on (although that would get me home faster) but have actual conversations that last longer than five minutes. The conversations should not be limited to “what do you do?”; whereby we each spout our much rehearsed elevator pitch. In fact, they can be on any topic, as long as it is comprised of a real conversation, eye contact, friendly tone of voice, and an even exchange. I want to get an intuitive sense of who this new person really is. My gut will tell me if I will want to develop a relationship going forward.

Reconnect with 2 contacts. Here, I scan the room for familiar faces. Not my close friends, but people I’ve met once before and want to make that second touch. Even if I don’t remember their names (often the case among those of us who network a lot), I re-introduce myself warmly with a “nice to see you again” and really mean it. This gives you a further opportunity to converse with and get to know more about this person. People like spotting someone familiar at a networking event, so go over and ask what’s new.

The last rule is the most difficult but the most important, and that is to think of one possible lead or referral for someone in the room. Come right up to the recipient and let them know that there is someone in your database who may either need their services, or may be a good source of prospects.  Going out of your way to give someone a lead is the best way to stand out from the crowd in their book. Word may even spread that you are generous with your database, and if so, walking into a room full of people you barely know will result in folks coming over to you without your wondering who to approach.

If I follow my rules, I won’t come home with a stack of business cards I’ve collected, and that’s a good thing. I have definite plans for these 3 to 6 cards I’ve collected, and I’ll clue you in with Part 2 of this article.

After giving so many presentations at so many clubs and organizations, we’ve learned a few tips to success. (Some say we’re actually good at it!)

First hint – RELAX! Your audience consists of people, not piranhas.

Second hint – think of presentations that you’ve sat through and really hated. What did the presenter do wrong?

Chances are, the slides were either too crowded with text or too empty; the design was either stark white with black lettering or busy with crazy colors, fonts and animations. Maybe the presenter put up one slide and talked for an hour without advancing to the next slide. Or maybe the presenter is swishing through 45 slides in a half hour.

So now you know what to avoid —–

Third hint – think of presentations that you’ve been in where it was really educational and interesting. What was cool about it?

I’ll bet the presenter was relaxed, appeared happy to be there, and excited about presenting his material. He encouraged participation and discussion, tried to learn some of the names of the people in the audience participating, and kept the slideshow clean and consistent but attractive.

Luckily, MS PowerPoint 2010 has everything you need for a successful slideshow:

• Choose a clean and attractive design to match the tone of your material.
• Choose a color and font theme that follows your branding.
• And learn to work the Slide Master View so you can eliminate lots of typing by working with templates.

Need additional help? Reach out to your favorite coach so you can get your work done in less time!

Can you imagine saying to yourself, nah, I’ll just sit here in traffic and follow the long way home…

When you’re working on a project for your business, isn’t it great when you discover a way to get the work done much quicker using shortcuts? And I’m not simply talking about using the right click button on your mouse. I’m talking about the new features that MS Office 2010 have to offer. The Quick Parts, Auto Text, and Quick Steps available in this current version of Office are things of beauty. Simple ways to get several things done with one click.

In Outlook you can set up a Quick Step to launch a new message to your team with one click. Or read an email, reply to it and delete the original message with one click. Awesome!

In Word, my favorite  is Quick Parts, where a whole block of text, images, etc, that takes up time to create and format can be memorized as a Quick Part and called up in an instant.  Yes!

So while you’re working on your same ol’ documents in Office 2003, comfortable with the way you’re muddling through, that’s pretty much saying you’re content to sit in the traffic jam because that’s the one route you know.

Learn a quicker and more pleasant ride home with a GPS; learn a quicker and more pleasant way to get your work done with software coaching.

First, in Outlook, sort your emails by whether or not the message contains an attachment (Arrange By: Attachment). Now skim through the attached files and right click the file name, choose Save As, and file it in the appropriate My Documents Folder.

Once safely filed in your documents library, check to make sure the body of the email contains no earth shattering information. No? Now delete it. Didn’t that feel good? Do it again – until you get through the 800 Sent Items files that contain attached files.

Now that your files are safely stored where they need to be, let’s change the sort of the Sent Items to File Size, and choose smallest first.

These will be such rip roaring reading material you have sent such as, “ok, thanks”; or “yes, I’ll be there”; or the ever popular “that’s great!”.  Even the worst email hoarder has to admit those babies can be let loose into email heaven.

After this is done, note how many you’ve deleted by moving over to the Deleted Items folder. Jumpin jiminy! You’ve deleted 1357 emails! Are you brave enough now to empty your deleted items folder? C’mon, I have faith in you!  You’ve done it – time for a reward and a pat on the back. See, it wasn’t as difficult as you thought, and now you’re pumped to toss some more.

Once you’ve gotten the hang of determining that you don’t REALLY need all of those sent items, it won’t be so difficult to remember to do a little cleanup once a week. And maybe – just maybe – you’ll start to think of going really wild and some day attacking your inbox!!

In most cases, the expert you’re admiring doesn’t know as much as you believe. They’re making plenty of mistakes and doing things the long way, but since they’re fast at it, it appears they’re working correctly.

Imagine if I were driving from NJ to Florida, and I took all kinds of back roads heading north, but I was an excellent driver, taking twists and turns in the road quickly and smoothly. It still doesn’t correct the fact that I’m heading north and won’t get to Florida in a very timely or efficient manner.

It’s the mission of computer coaches to become the GPS for your software use. We don’t need you to drive the mouse faster, just make sure you’re clicking on the correct features and making efficient choices so that your goals are accomplished in the most productive manner.

So if your nephew takes 12 quick steps to accomplish something and you take 4 medium ones, who was more productive?

Learn to do things the right way with the right people and save yourself time and aggravation.

I’ll be presenting a series of “portraits” of people who hate to admit that they need help learning computer software because of the embarrassment.  The goal here is to let you see that everyone has their own situation that places them in the position of seeking help. It’s nothing to be ashamed of – it doesn’t mean you’re not “smart” enough – it’s the circumstances that put you in need.

Do you recognize yourself?

The Boss

This individual has spent many years owning a business or running a department. He has always had a staff – a secretary or office manager or administrative assistants to do everything from answering and making phone calls to pulling up email, typing responses and researching topics on the web.

Although she has poured over the data presented to her in spreadsheets, the boss has never created one in her career. She didn’t have to learn MS Excel – ever – because her underlings were responsible for the task.

He’s always delivered presentations his staff created for him in MS PowerPoint.

Her secretary pulled up her calendar and entered appointments in her MS Outlook.

His office manager got online and booked his flights and hotels.

Is this you?

Suddenly you find yourself in a different juncture in your life, stranded without your support team, wondering how you’ll get over the embarrassment of taking computer lessons. It’s not impossible and shouldn’t be painful. But as everything in life, there’s a right way and a wrong way to try and get up to speed.

The wrong way is to ask your friends, family, or even worse, the people who used to work for you. You want your lessons to be objective and professional without the teacher knowing anything about your past or any fact they can hold over your head.

Another wrong way is to hire the Geek kid from the electronics store – he’ll click around your screen so fast you won’t remember a word he’ll “teach” you.

The right way is to seek a calm, patient and friendly professional who will focus on your goals and will take the learning journey with you at your pace. Comfortable environment – convenient times – confidential relationship.

Those 3 factors plus the personality of your trainer add up to the difference between an uphill battle and a stroll on easy street.

Take your time and research your potential computer coach. With the right circumstances you can soon be dancing circles around your former administrative assistant.