The Blog of Hans Eisenman

Lead Management - Turning Google's Gmail Into CRM

CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software is all the business rage these days and for years I have been looking for systems that would easily work with Gmail, since that is my chosen weapon.  (It's far superior to other tools for mail management and I will have to cover that in another blog post at some point soon.)

Eventually if one is getting anything done in this world (vs. just making noise), some emails become leads (the people do, but you get what I mean) and opportunities and so on.  This would be where a CRM comes into play.

I can't tell you how many I have been through from Saleseforce.com to ACT! to the online applications like Highrise, Heap and so many, many others.  None of them really do what I need them to so I'm always left thinking I'll have to just keep trying new ones or eventually design my own (which is a little side project I have been working on for years in fact).

Meanwhile, a search for "gmail crm" lead me to this article which is a whole new look at this for me. 

As an avid Gmailer, maybe the thing to do is try using the plethora of features within Gmail itself to manage Leads, Opportunities and so on.  The other features like managing Contacts and the emails themselves are already being handled swimmingly well by Gmail so maybe I just need to relook at how I use it to do a little more.  Perhaps I have been looking outside when all the answers have been within all along (isn't that so often the case in life?).

If this strikes a chord with you, maybe take a moment to click to and read the short article below.  The author makes a good case with real examples of features that could be used to make contact management easier without having to look to other applications, at least until things get really, really busy and you need multiple people working on the same information (and you probably wouldn't want to give them access to your Gmail account).

Lead Management - Turning Google's Gmail Into CRM

Today's internet is clear that Google plays a major role in developing some of the top software around. Google continues to distinguished itself as an innovator in software. If you are looking to accomplish a personal productivity task chances are Google has or is working on a solution.

The growth of email over the years has brought out the good and the bad of features we like to see when using our e-mail. Google' GMail is prime example of leading the way and being a top choice of many users today. Google' GMail has taken a very mature technology in our email and made us look at how we process, manage, and retrieve our electronic communications. Taking a closer look at a key feature that GMail has potentially touched on is it's versatility in creating custom management strategies or processing ques. This flexibility is what makes GMail an ideal platform to use as a personal contact management system or as a simple CRM.

Making Others Happy Makes Me Happy

Got another testimonial today.  Just have to end the week with this.  Hope you don't mind the shamelessness of it all and hope you had a week as good as I did!

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: John <john@... .com>
Date: Thu, Jan 8, 2009 at 10:13 PM
Subject: you da man
To: Hans Eisenman

Hans,

Thanks so much for the great work.

We're up and running with all the "latest and greatest".

I have to tell ya - you are one-of-a-kind when it comes to tracking and knowing how to put the latest Web 2.0 apps and tools into productive use!  The solutions you gave us were slid into our current operations so fast and easy it was pretty magical!  Quite the tool belt you have hanging from your hip!!

When I show people what we are doing and the apps/tools they are quite simply blown away.

Hans Eisenman = the McGiver of Web 2.0 ...am gonna print bumper stickers and manufacture digital "flair" proclaiming your mastery of the NEW!

Needless to say it was well worth the fee, but man wouldn't you make more if it took longer??  LOL

Best,

John
Brewer Joyner & Associates

PSA: Don't Text and Drive

Take a good look, friends.  Last week I met a fast-moving businessman who had been trying to keep up with his email and texting through his Blackberry (aka: "crackberry") device and in the course of doing so got broadsided by another vehicle just a day prior to my meeting him.  He and his truck rolled three times before coming to a stop.  Lucky for him, he was able to walk away.  He could have just as easily died or, just as worse, killed someone else. 

Modern technology is indeed a wonderful thing.  But it carries with it a responsibility.  If it is so important you respond to someone's mail or send someone something, it's worth the few seconds of your time to pull over and give it your full attention.

I'd like to note that my new friend is not the kind of guy who has any mental problems--he's no loser.  In fact, he's a top professional in his field which is an area of "high finance."  This fact underscores that these little devices can indeed be difficult to put down and therefore the amount of sheer intention you might have to bring to bear in order to do so. 

DON'T BECOME A STATISTIC!

I'd appreciate it if you'd spread this word.  If this guy was txt'ing while driving, you can bet there are others who are tempted to do so and often give in.  The email can be handled later.  Getting (and keeping) a life is something you don't want to put off.

Simple Ways To Back-Up Contacts and Email

When you think about the important data you would want to back up should your PC fail, a big part of that has to be email and contacts.  That's the "stuff" right there.

With your contacts, a great way to keep your Outlook (assuming you use that program) or even your Mac Address Book contacts handy in spite of a major PC crash is to use Plaxo (www.plaxo.com). It's free and as simple as downloading some software and setting up your account.  The rest is basically automagic, if you will.

But what about email?  The other day my mom's PC crashed and she lost it all.  I had her going on Plaxo so her contacts were easy to restore.  But all her email was gone.  Bad!

I've since been trying to noodle out the ideal back-up situation for my parents as a result, and they were all a bit too complex for my folks.  They don't want to have to monkey around with external drives and all that sort of thing.  What a hassle!  So it occurred to me the other day that there was an easier solution. 

Sending me files too BIG for email

Here's a way you can send me files which are too big for email. I'm posting it here for others to use so they don't have to set up an account and can just use mine for situations like this where the file is big (greater than 3megabytes) and it doesn't make sense to use email

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What we know

If there's one lesson we could learn from the Internet, the World Wide Web, the cellular phone phenomenon--not to mention the Short Messaging System (SMS), blogging, chat software, email group lists, and even just the Plain Old Telephone System (aka: POTS), it's that people want to communicate with one another.

It's actually quite hopeful.