Next time somebody important calls you ask yourself this question : "Can I see all the emails to and from that contact in one place without searching?"

If the answer is "no" then you're wasting even more time, and how can you hope to deliver good service or sales results if you don't know who said what and when they said it?

You wouldn't drive a car blindfolded, but you might be trying to deliver service without seeing the full picture!

Worse yet, if you happen to hit the delete button your email will end up in deleted, where it's a bit harder to find and may be lost forever when you clear your deleted folder.

Emails should be filed by customer within their file not randomly in your inbox. I refer to customers but of course this applies to prospects, suppliers, sub-contractors - anybody you deal with.

This can be done automatically with no effort on your part, and clever software (like Logical Office CRM) even shows you in Outlook which emails have been filed.

Ideally you want emails stored with all your other important information in one place. The one logical place is the customer file.

Before computers, filing systems were logical - you just put all the letters into the ring binder file for that customer. With electronic storage many companies keep emails in their inboxes, word and other documents in windows folders and customer information in another database.

With information in two or more places, seeing a chronological history of communication easily becomes impossible. So more wasted time.

If you still rely on your inbox then matters get worse over time. More emails means a larger list to search through. Eventually you will need to archive old emails, and of course these are bound to be the ones you'll need!

Emails are vital pieces of communication and should be saved for future reference.

I remember the time a customer disputed an old invoice and wanted proof of authorisation. I quickly found this because all the emails from/to the customer were in the Logical Office history. Imagine how pleased I was when I found the email authorising the work and agreeing to accept the charges. The customers argument evaporated instantly.

Next time you talk to a contact on the phone, consider this question: do I need to keep a note of this call? If the answer is "Yes" then how do you do it? Many companies don't bother to keep records that calls have been made.


I'm not suggesting that you record telephone conversations - that's an overkill in my opinion, and in over 30 years of running businesses, I've never had experience where this has been useful .

However if as part of your customer filing, you can see all the calls made, with a small note of the outcome, then this is useful as part of managing the relationship with your customers.

If you don't have a customer relationship management (CRM) system then you're inevitably wasting lots of time, and probably losing business.

I've spent years developing office efficiency systems which go further than just CRM because they allow boring, repetitive procedures to be fully automated.

If you raise invoices regularly for a standard monthly, quarterly or annual service then why not let the computer do it?

That includes sending emails automatically, before they steal any more of your time.

Rod Voyce
MD
Logical Office Ltd, 7 Apollo Studios, Charlton Kings Road, London NW5 2SB
www.logicaloffice.com

Tel 020 7482 7077