Setting Up Your First IT System

4. Connecting with Customers

Effective use of IT can project a professional impression of your business to customers and potential customers and help you manage your business relationships more effectively.

4.1 Contact management software or a simple database allows you to record details of customers and suppliers and your dealings with them.

• You can schedule sales activities and monitor progress.

4.2 A database allows you to generate mailshots and monitor the effectiveness of marketing campaigns, while software such as PowerPoint allows you to produce impressive sales presentations for customers.

4.3 If you choose to have a website, your Internet presence can range from providing simple information about your business through to full online ordering and tracking systems.

4.4 Communicating with customers via email is quick and efficient.

• Email marketing is cost-effective and easy to tailor for specific customers through a contact-management system.

4.5 It may be useful for customers and suppliers to have access to your IT systems through an extranet. For example, an architect may want customers to see plans as they are being developed.

• An extranet allows customers to view files by logging on to dedicated areas of the system.