It seems that the daunting task of managing contacts and CRM systems has followed me throughout my career, despite my tireless efforts to avoid it! In my first job out of college, I was tasked with helping to set up a customizable contact management system, along with importing tons of information and keeping it up to date. To say that I was confused and overwhelmed by the process and the enormity of it all would be an understatement. When I began working at Marketri a couple years later, I was relieved to learn that we already had a great contact management system in place. I simply was responsible for keeping it clean and up to date. However, as my responsibilities at Marketri grew and I began to work as an account manager serving our clients, I began to encounter some of the all too familiar contact management challenges. It seems that the process of managing contacts and selecting a CRM system is a common challenge among small and mid-sized professional services firms. In our experience, we have found this to be especially true for our accounting firm clients.  As a result, I have found myself pulled back into the grips of the contact management monster. 

Have you ever seen someone lose their cool during a television interview – (Joe Biden, maybe?) Perhaps you remember an interview where the person struggled to answer a question, or answered it badly – (Sarah Palin springs to mind.) Think back to some of the presidential candidate interviews, as well as interviews with high profile celebrities and business executives discussing various controversial issues and happenings. We’ve seen all kinds of interviews and reactions – good and bad – but usually the ones that stand out and are most easily remembered are those that have gone terribly wrong.