Contacts vs. Accounts

Possibly the single most powerful aspect of (most) CRM products is the relational way they use and present data. (An organized set of tables where data resides and can be accessed in predetermined ways) In our case we consider the “Account” to be the most important way to organize and associate other documents in the database. An Account (Company) can be linked to Quotes, Opportunities, Expenses, Campaigns, etc. This allows superior organization of this information and allows users to not only locate the specific documents from multiple areas of the tool, but provides greater insight into your customers’ relationship with your company in general. Users will see any open Quotes, Cases, Opportunities or Projects in which the particular Account may be involved. Show me.

Contacts are unique documents for individual people. They too may be linked to an Account (the place they work) and even incorporate certain Account attributes like Business Address, Phone or Account Type, but the record itself provides specific fields designed to capture specific information about the individual. Contact records can also be synchronized with Outlook / Exchange Server providing sales people with multiple options for maintaining Contact information in the database.

Probably the second most powerful aspect of CRM is the fact that it is a “centralized” repository for all of this information. Often territory knowledge is one of the most important things a sales rep brings to the table. CMR lets you organize much of this information, make it available for all to participate in customer intelligence gathering and ultimately leverage it in company strategy.