Discussion Forum > AF for Sales People??
I would advise keeping your cold call list and putting "Cold Calls" as an item on the AF list.
An alternative approach would be to make your cold calls at the same time each day - in which case you wouldn't put it on the list at all.
An alternative approach would be to make your cold calls at the same time each day - in which case you wouldn't put it on the list at all.
March 4, 2009 at 14:57 |
Mark Forster
Mark Forster
Mitch,
Thanks for bringing this up. I've been scheming ways to "hack up" autofocus as a crm replacement and I think your question and Mark's response have help me hit upon something.
I agree with Mark that "cold calling" (for me, this is building blogs and lead capture pages that attract and incubate potential clients,) should happen regularly, if not at the same time every day, (wishful thinking :) So...I'm really comfortable placing my "cold calling" / Prospecting/Business Generating Activities in the notebook. In fact, seeing them fall a few pages back has indeed been sort of "auto" motivating to do these high value activities.
But...for warmer leads - inbound phone calls, web inquiries, etc - autofocus will likely do a nice job of forcing me to do the right things when it comes to lead management. I've spent way to much time looking for "systems" that assign a predefined lists of tasks to a contact...but these systems always seem to disappoint, I think mostly because all contacts/leads are unique and there are always new "types" of prospects that come with each lead generating campaign. I'm expecting that in the coming days, autofocus may take care of this dilemma nicely for me. If we simply write down a prospects name, perhaps with a note about the source campaign or prospect type, then the events that need to happen will likely either get done or get penned in the notebook for later attention.
Is it possible that Autofocus can eliminate the need for expensive CRM software?
Thanks for bringing this up. I've been scheming ways to "hack up" autofocus as a crm replacement and I think your question and Mark's response have help me hit upon something.
I agree with Mark that "cold calling" (for me, this is building blogs and lead capture pages that attract and incubate potential clients,) should happen regularly, if not at the same time every day, (wishful thinking :) So...I'm really comfortable placing my "cold calling" / Prospecting/Business Generating Activities in the notebook. In fact, seeing them fall a few pages back has indeed been sort of "auto" motivating to do these high value activities.
But...for warmer leads - inbound phone calls, web inquiries, etc - autofocus will likely do a nice job of forcing me to do the right things when it comes to lead management. I've spent way to much time looking for "systems" that assign a predefined lists of tasks to a contact...but these systems always seem to disappoint, I think mostly because all contacts/leads are unique and there are always new "types" of prospects that come with each lead generating campaign. I'm expecting that in the coming days, autofocus may take care of this dilemma nicely for me. If we simply write down a prospects name, perhaps with a note about the source campaign or prospect type, then the events that need to happen will likely either get done or get penned in the notebook for later attention.
Is it possible that Autofocus can eliminate the need for expensive CRM software?
March 9, 2009 at 2:39 |
Ryan Hartman
Ryan Hartman
Really interested in these comments. I echo Ryan's thoughts. I'm Business Development Director for a healthcare company. We are focused on providing solutions to address clients problems, and there are never two organisations which require exactly the same approach.
However.....what interests me is how are you going to use Autofcus to keep track of personal tasks with each of your customers. I'm not trying to replace a company-wide CRM system, as we have a super intranet which does this very nicely. I'm slightly worried that I will lose track of one or more potential customer in a myriad of lists.
Perhaps I worry needlessly, but would be fascinated if anybody has successfully achieved this.
However.....what interests me is how are you going to use Autofcus to keep track of personal tasks with each of your customers. I'm not trying to replace a company-wide CRM system, as we have a super intranet which does this very nicely. I'm slightly worried that I will lose track of one or more potential customer in a myriad of lists.
Perhaps I worry needlessly, but would be fascinated if anybody has successfully achieved this.
March 16, 2009 at 13:13 |
Andy Price
Andy Price
Hi Andy
If you are moving through your lists at a reasonable pace, and reviewing them regularly, you are unlikely to lose focus on the important contacts. I use MS OneNote in addition to my paper AF notebook and use the tagging feature to keep track of specific item groups. i find that very effective if I need to extract a subset of tasks relating to a particular project for example.
If you are moving through your lists at a reasonable pace, and reviewing them regularly, you are unlikely to lose focus on the important contacts. I use MS OneNote in addition to my paper AF notebook and use the tagging feature to keep track of specific item groups. i find that very effective if I need to extract a subset of tasks relating to a particular project for example.
March 17, 2009 at 20:50 |
Christine B
Christine B
I avoid a CRM with AF
here is what i do:
recurrent call (all clients i have to call regularly) are on an independant list i just write on AF call recurrent client list
Prospect and other clients
Juste write their name, phone numbers, summery with key words about what i have to talks with them
It works perfectly well !!!! By by CRM !!!!
here is what i do:
recurrent call (all clients i have to call regularly) are on an independant list i just write on AF call recurrent client list
Prospect and other clients
Juste write their name, phone numbers, summery with key words about what i have to talks with them
It works perfectly well !!!! By by CRM !!!!
March 17, 2009 at 21:17 |
Jupiter
Jupiter
Thanks