One of the major benefits of a manual contact management system is that it can be maintained in exactly the way that a salesperson wishes to use it. While computerized systems are fairly rigid in how they maintain information – taking the “path of least resistance” by not being especially suited to any one method of working, and therefore not specifically unsuited either – a manual system will allow a person to keep their records in a way that suits them. 

It is also the case that anyone can buy a cheap paper diary in a stationery store and maintain it without any training. 

There are, of course, limitations to a manual data management system, not least of which is the fact that it depends upon being operated by either the person who maintains it or someone who is party to the way they do things. Something as basic and seemingly irrelevant as the clarity of a person’s handwriting can make a system hard to follow. 

Additionally, there is another sense in which manual data management systems are slow and inefficient. While computer-based systems can store their information on a central mainframe, a manual system can only be kept in one place. If it is locked away in a desk drawer, it is locked away in a desk drawer.

The best bet for any salesperson looking to maintain a records system is to have both systems in operation. A desk diary can have the benefit of being an easy reference point for the individual salesperson, while the greater interactivity of a computer-based system means that the entire staff can be on the same page – so even if a certain salesperson is not present in the workplace on a given day, the information they have collected will still be available so that the sales force is not hamstrung by their absence.

No Attachment Found