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.

www.logicaloffice.com [1]

Tel 020 7482 7077