Microsoft Business Contact Manager
I was writing another post when I realised that I was going on a lot about Business Contact Manager. I’ve spoken to a few hundred people in the last few weeks and the pens get scribbling away when I tell them all about something that they didn’t know they had. In particular, Business Contact Manager got them excited…
What is Microsoft Business Contact Manager (BCM)?
Simply put, if you don’t want to create your Access Database to manage your clients and like using the familiar interface of Outlook then BCM will allow you to do this and some.
BCM is designed to help small businesses manage their contacts, accounts, and sales opportunities in a single and familar place.
Microsoft Business Contact Manager comes FREE with Microsoft Office’s Small Business, and Professional Editions. (click here so that you can enable it on Exchange Server)
Did you know that Microsoft Business Contact Manager also fits nicely on your Pocket PC? Click here to download the add-in.
Microsoft Dynamics CRM may be a little bit too chunky for the smaller businesses but BCM fits nicely with those who want to use IT as an enabler. Many small businesses will probably adopt BCM as their assistant in much the same way my PDA reminds me of where I should be and when (in fact it just reminded me of something!).
Okay, so BCM may not be a product that you can charge for, but what’s to say that you can’t sell the idea to them even once they’ve got it? If they are anything like the people I’ve met, then they may not know they’ve got it!
Why not find out how easy it is to mail merge a bunch of contacts into a newsletter that has been designed in Publisher? Imagine how easy it would be for a business on Small Business Server to save the document on SharePoint (which you helped design - and charge for) so that they could access it from anywhere. Not only that I bet they’ll need some training on how to use Office more productively - they may even have a few Office 2007 editions just sitting there itching to be unwrapped and help them do business more effectively. Believe me, when I was a reseller, Office 2007 saved me three days worth of work when organising one of our Business Breakfast meetings. I wouldn’t go back.
There is a whole bunch of small businesses out there who are technology orphans - not all of them - but all of them in need for some friendly advice and some simply explained solutions to their business problems. Jump at the opportunity to be one of the first to find them.
*Update*
Thanks David for this link to someone who passionately blogs about BCM so you can learn how to use it better.
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Susanne,
I would like to think I was passionate about BCM too - all my BCM posts can be found at http://uksbsguy.com/blogs/doverton/archive/tags/BCM/default.aspx
ttfn
David
Worth also noting that MS launched the UK version of Small Business Accounting 2008 this week. Fully compatible with BCM.
http://www.msofficeaccounting.co.uk/
Thanks Guy for providing the link.
David,
You are always passionate about what you talk about - never let anyone think anything else.
It’s why I’ve managed to grab you to present at our event next week!
S
Hi Susanne:
We installed Outlook with BCM in December along with Microsoft Accounting and have had nothing but trouble ever since. Microsoft only provides call back support which is very time consuming and inconvenient. We were looking for a product that would run our front end CRM and marketing programs and then interface with time and project management and be seamless with an accounting package for billing.
We have yet to get the two systems to talk to each other and it would seem that there is great potential for the whole system when it is working, but it seems fraught with bugs at this point.
We are not aware of too many people that have the whole package installed and workingin So. Cal. So if there is a usres group out there that could provide some help it would be great.
R
Hi Richard,
My apologies for not responding sooner, I’ve moved over to Oz so have been busy settling in.
CRM itself sounds like it could be too bulky for what you are looking for. So, the choices are probably going to be ACT!, something from Goldmine (although I know some Goldmine dealers who are converting to MS CRM) or maybe something that is custom built - the latter may give you some options where you can have something that suits you and you can pay for it over a certain time period (inc. maintenance, updates, modifications etc…).
Give the Office User Group (UK) (http://www.officeusergroup.com/) a nudge, I’m sure between them, they will have a few experts in the field of BCM and Office Accounting - they may even get your problem fixed so that you don’t have to dig deep into your pockets!