A CRM (Customer Relationship Management database) is a system for recording your interactions with your customers and prospects. Most of them have a sales-focus, so you can see who is likely to buy, when they’re likely to buy and they can project your likely revenue over the next few months. Some include project management, so when they become a customer, you can look after delivery to them as well.

But at its heart, a CRM is just an address book on steroids.

While you work alone, you probably don’t need one.

But as soon as there’s two of you, it’s an incredibly useful tool. By tracking your conversations with people, you can make sure that everyone on your team knows the latest about each client (whether that’s their objections to your product or just that they like cats) - all of which helps when anyone in your organisation gets in touch with them.

Take Action: How do you share knowledge about your contacts across your organisation? Figure out what you know and where you store it