What Is Contact Management and Why Is It Important?

What Is Contact Management Software?

Contact management software is a type of application that helps individuals and organizations keep track of their contacts. It is often used in conjunction with a customer relationship management (CRM) system, but it can also be used as a standalone contact management tool. 

The primary purpose of contact management software is to record contact information in a central location to be easily accessed and updated. This information may include names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, and social media profiles. 

It serves as the cloud-based version of an address book, a collection of business cards, a database set up on spreadsheets, and more!

Contact management software can also track interactions with contacts, such as phone calls, emails, and meetings. This information can be helpful for sales and marketing purposes, as it can help identify potential customers and track the progress of sales opportunities. 

More and more companies, startups, and small businesses are using contact management software, having seen how it can elevate their sales process. The global contact management software market is expected to grow to 49.6 billion U.S. dollars in 2025.

This article is a deep dive into what contact management is, the features of contact management software, and how it can be used to improve sales workflow.

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Differences in Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

Contact Management is a subset, but not equivalent to, Customer Relationship Management (CRM).

Contact management software is often broader in functionality, helping sales reps keep track of new contacts and store contact information, contact history, and notes. 

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is software that helps businesses manage their customer relationships. CRM software includes contact management, sales tracking, and marketing automation.

Features of a Good Contact Management Software

When you are looking for contact management software, there are certain features that you should look for to ensure that you are getting the best possible product. 

Here are two key features to look for:

• Integrations with your CRM system
• Cloud-based contact management

Integrations with Your CRM

When it comes to managing customer interactions and contact data, your CRM platform is the lifeblood of your business. Integrations with the likes of Hubspot, Zoho, and Salesforce will make life so much easier for your sales team.

An excellent contact management software should integrate with your CRM to provide the ideal customer experience. Having all of your customer information integrated into a CRM tool will make the relevant information about your contact list easily accessible to you and your team. 

Additionally, integrating not just with the best CRM but also with social media platforms is also a valuable feature, as it allows you to better understand and connect with your customers.

Cloud-based Contact Management

An excellent contact management software will have a cloud-based system that allows users to access their data anywhere. 

One of the top benefits of using a cloud-based contact management system is that it allows users to access real-time data from any location. Users can see changes and updates as they happen instead of waiting for synchronization to occur. 

Cloud-based contact management systems are becoming more popular as they offer more flexibility and convenience, especially in today’s work settings.

How Contact Management Software Improves Workflow

Contact management software is designed to help you keep track of your contact records and improve your workflow. It can store contact information, track communication history, and manage tasks.

When you have a lot of contacts, it can be challenging to keep track of them all. Contact management software can help you organize your contacts, keep track of their information, and eliminate backlogs in your workflow. 

For Sales Teams/Salespeople

Contact management software helps sales teams and salespeople integrate with other departments and automate tasks.

Contact management software helps sales teams and salespeople integrate with other departments, especially when prospecting for new clients. Closer coordination with multiple departments, such as marketing, allows for better communication and seamless workflow.

This type of software also automates tasks such as emailing, follow-ups, and scheduling. For instance, potential customers can be followed up automatically based on a specific pre-set event or trigger in the system. This empowers the sales team to focus on selling rather than tracking down sales leads and data entry. 

For Sales Managers

Contact management software is a valuable tool for sales managers as it boosts their workflow and makes their team more successful.

Having a healthy sales pipeline and steady workflow is essential to the sales team's success. By using the best contact management software, sales managers can more easily monitor the effectiveness of their salespeople and make sure that they are meeting their goals. 

This type of software can also automate some of sales managers' tasks daily, such as sending out reports or scheduling meetings. This can free up time for sales managers to do other tasks, such as working on their sales strategy or training their team. 

Contact management software can track customer interactions and create detailed reports. This information leads to powerful customer insights that can feed into strategies to make the sales process more efficient and relevant. 

For Marketers

One of the most important aspects of a marketer’s job is monitoring the effectiveness of their email marketing campaigns. Contact management software helps them determine which strategies are working and which ones need to be tweaked — thanks to detailed insights into each campaign. 

The software can track things like open rates, click-through rates, and unsubscribe rates — metrics that are extremely valuable in helping marketers beef up their marketing strategies. 

Contact management software can help marketers automate their email campaigns, saving a lot of time and effort that is better spent on more strategic aspects of their job. 

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Integrate Your Contact Management with Sales Engagement from Koncert

The aforementioned contact management features can improve your workflow and increase your productivity. 

And consider integrating Koncert, a comprehensive multi-channel sales engagement platform, into your contact management solution to maintain a healthy sales pipeline and keep track of your interactions with customers.

Koncert’s sales tools and powerful integrations allow you to keep all your customer data in one place while getting real-time updates on how each lead is progressing. 

Request a demo today or contact our customer support team to see how your contact management and CRM solutions perfectly integrate with our sales engagement platform that can take your sales game up a notch!