My “traditional” method of organizing my contacts was a very outdated, overstuffed Rolodex and a shoebox full of business cards. Of course I also have my online address book, which is limited to e-mail addresses. So whenever I needed to contact anyone it would take me several minutes to flip through hundreds of business cards stacked inside rubber bands, depending a lot on my photographic memory. Admittedly, I have never had a complete database of my customers and their history with my company.

Today, I now have all my contacts in one Excel spreadsheet and another of all my clients with details of their history with JAX FAX. Now when I need to write a letter, make a call or send an e-mail, I can do so within seconds. If I want to contact multiple people, I can select those names and do a quick mail merge or print labels. Because of this ease of access, I have initiated several projects I might have considered overwhelming before.

For travel agents, databases are essential. They enable you to keep all your clients’ personal information and contacts, as well as a history of their booking patterns and preferences. So when you want to send a direct mail piece or an e-mail newsletter, not only do you have your client contact information at your fingertips, but you can customize the message to fit their interests. I may be preaching to the choir as many of you have already put these strategies into practice, yet I am sure there are many smaller business owners like myself without a cast of thousands who have been doing the same things, the same ways for many years, relying a lot on memory. Take the pressure off your memory for new information and find a way to tackle that shoebox and that Rolodex to move all those years of accumulated knowledge into a practical database. You will be more productive and more likely to engage in marketing activities that will boost your sales.(more)