Whether you own a small business, have a direct sales business or work in sales for a small business... we all have the same organizational struggles! We get overwhelmed with the pure volume of incoming data - from customer information to work that needs to be done to tidbits of useful information that we might need later. How do we capture all of the information, process it, prioritize it and accomplish what we need to get done in a timely manner?

EVERY business, no matter the size, needs systems for:

1. Tracking customers and follow up
2. Task management
3. Information management & sharing

As an organizer & productivity consultant, I work with small businesses to organize these three areas (and more!). We walk through the specifics of your business and how it works in order to customize organizing systems. It is difficult to be general, as all businesses are different... however we have found that at the core, there are systems that every business needs. For a small or direct sales business, I typically recommend the following solutions:

1. Tracking Customers & Follow Up

Typically, a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software solution is needed for this. You can keep a binder or spreadsheet with customer contact information, but the best way to be effective at follow up is by utilizing technology. CRM programs offer customer interaction tracking and ways to automate follow up and receive reminders.

My current favorite CRM is Insightly. Insightly offers a customer database, along with a task management system. You can take notes about each person, along with integrating other systems you are already using (like Evernote, Quickbooks and Mail Chimp). You can capture all of your interactions with that customer in one place.

If you have a prescribed path that each customer follows, you can automate tasks and events that are applied to each customer according to the date you specify. For example, if client X purchases product A and you need to do a specific task on days 4, 11 and 20... you can set up an "activity set" in Insightly and set a start date for that customer. Insightly will remind you when it's time to do the specific tasks on the correct dates for that customer.

If you play phone tag with customers and need a reminder to follow up if they do not return your call, Insightly can help.

If you delegate tasks and assign specific customers to employees, but need to view what is happening with that lead or account, Insightly can help.

2. Task Management

Everyone needs a To Do list. Some people prefer paper, but again a computerized system will give you the ability to receive reminders, automate tasks and repeat tasks at set intervals.

The most difficult part of task management for most of my clients is not capturing the tasks, but prioritizing them. In an ever-shifting world that moves at the speed of light, a new task can trump the priority of a previous urgent item. A good task management system will have a way to color code, categorize or prioritize.

Microsoft Outlook is one great task management solution, because you can flag emails that require a follow up task.

Insightly (see CRM above) incorporates a task management system, which allows tasks to be attached to a particular project or contact.

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of task management systems. The key is to figure out what features you require and find a simple solution that resolves your issues. Don't overthink and spend hours trying to find a system that will save you a few minutes.

3. Information Management

What do you do with all of the post-it notes, chicken scratch on the back of receipts, emails with reference information, etc? How do you share it with employees, co-workers or customers?

Capture all of your reference information in one place, organize it and find it when you need it.

You can utilize Dropbox or the folder structure on your computer. With the technology available, these options seem antiquated and clunky. In order to find what you are looking for, you must know the name of the file and/or search through various folders.

Evernote is my favorite system for information management! The ability to search through your own information database to find whatever you are looking for is amazing. Tags give you a higher probability of quickly finding your information and the OCR capability searches inside your Office or PDF documents. It's mind-blowing!

{Disclaimer: If you are already paying for Microsoft Office 365 and get OneNote for free, I recommend that you use it instead of Evernote. Additionally, Evernote is not compliant with healthcare & financial industry privacy standards.}

Read MORE blog posts about Evernote!

If you are struggling to set up these systems and need organizational and productivity help, give me a call at 812-858-2457!