I am very pro CRM. I believe it is the lifeblood of all legitimate businesses. But if you are just starting out, you could use the light version of Zoho CRM, called Zoho Contact Manager. The free version offers a single-user platform with up to 500 records and 10 deals. The feature set for each of the version is somewhere between an address book and a full CRM. It will integrate with mail, but does not offer workflow automatons.

But still, it’s more than just a place to store contacts. Contact Manager has lots to offer a small and medium-sized business.

 

Contact Manager Features

The features inside Contact Manager make it easy to see your contacts and execute on important tasks.

That starts with the simplified view.

See all of your contacts in one place and keep track of all related tasks, so you always know what to do next to move the relationship forward; that includes tasks, emails, and notes related to your contacts.

Track deals and the progress made on those deals with tags. Just categorize items and go.

If you’re working in a team, control who sees what and delegate out tasks inside the Contact Manager.

Then, interact with your contacts via email and social.

How Contacts Works

To get a one-stop view of all of your contacts and related tasks, you’ll need to start by entering in your contacts.

There are a few ways to do this.

You can simply upload a CSV file, or bring them in from Google, Outlook, MailChimp, or Zoho Mail.

Once they’re inside Contacts, you can add custom fields so you can keep track of the information that’s most important to you and your business. With the ability to add up to 120 custom fields, all your bases are likely covered.

There’s also an option to add contacts using a Web-To-Contact form if you are a G Suite user, and you can publish that directly to your Google Site.

If you’re using Zoho Mail, you can also add new contacts directly to Contacts when you receive a message from a new contact.

You can even add contacts from Facebook and Twitter as long as you can view them within Zoho ContactManager!

Creating Deals

Because Contacts is about more than just storing contact information, you’ll probably want to take advantage of the deals and tasks functions.

A deal doesn’t have to be a sales deal. It could mean any business relationship. But if you want to move that relationship forward (like signing a contract with a vendor, for example), you can track it here.

Rate the deal based on hot, warm, or cold so your team knows where each deal stands. Then, add tasks and reminders so no contact falls through the cracks.

Contacts allows you to create “Task Templates” that are simply tasks that are useful in multiple deals. It lets you reference a process so you and your team can easily replicate it.

Emails can be sent inside ContactManager. There’s even an option to share these emails with the team so everyone can keep up with the communication.

ContactManager is a great way to keep track of contacts and move business relationships forward.

If you’re running a small or medium sized business and want to keep all contacts straight, consider Zoho ContactManager! I think you’ll like it!