PHONE CALLS: ......... How do you handle them?

When you receive phone calls from potential clients and other business contacts, so how do you organize the list of names and phone numbers you get? Do you use a notebook exclusively for jotting their contact information along with some details about what you discussed?
How do you go about tracking all the phone calls? Most folks I’ve talked to get calls while driving, and they grab the nearest piece of paper to write down the info. If you do this several times a day, pretty soon, you will find yourself with several pieces of paper with names, phone numbers, and notes on them. Some of these notes are unreadable since they were scribbled too quickly and you can’t even transcribe your own hastily written handwriting.
What is your METHOD for organizing the information from the PHONE CALLS you receive? We all need to find better and more efficient methods of organizing the phone calls since it increases our productivity and results.
I’ve summarized here a variety of methods you can apply to organize the information, try them out and see which works best for you. An obvious method is to get a single notebook or tablet and to carry it with you wherever you go. With one source that you can refer back to when you get a call, you are not fumbling about. The important thing is to remain consistent in how you are documenting the calls. Make some standard fields that you would fill out each time, such as name, phone number, date/time of contact, description of what was discussed. You don’t want to be in a position where you have wonderful notes, but you forgot to jot down the contact’s phone number.
Another method you can use is once you finish speaking with the individual, program your phone with the name and some clue about who the caller is associated with. So if you get a call from an insurance agent, you can program in Insur - John White – Allstate. Develop a consistent habit of getting this done right after the call. If you use some voicemail or phone call ID capture program, you will have the additional ability to capture caller information and forward them to your computer. If the caller leaves a message, it also goes to your computer. With programs such as these, you can simplify your life with the convenience of instant call capture.
You can turn to technology to help you further by means of devices such as a palm pilot, a Blackberry, or an iPhone to enter all the info, dates, phone messages, and appointments. In case you’re not familiar with it, these items are small electronic devices just a bit wider than a cell phone that allows you to make and receive phone calls, access the internet, store data, take pictures, and complete a variety of other useful tasks. You can get the technology for about $150-300 plus a monthly subscription for cell phone use and you can then have all the contacts saved in a digital format that can be more easily manipulated. When you arrive home at the end of the day, you can synchronize the information with your computer. This creates a backup of the data so you don't have to worry about losing data if someday the thing dies on you. Technology has enabled people to become a very mobile society where business can take place within seconds all around the world.

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