1) Decide exactly what you want it to do. Map out your current sales process and look at which parts will, and which parts won’t, lend themselves to automation. You will have to compromise. Then think about the areas where your current system falls down. These are the areas where you need your Contact Management system to really perform.

2) Decide what information you absolutely need in order to make sales successfully. The design of Contact Management systems is such that you can spend a massive amount of time filling in fields that are of no value to you. Specify the fields you want and ignore or, better still, get rid of the ones that you don’t want.

3) Decide what you want to measure. A Contact Management system is supposed to make you more effective, so decide what measures will help you change what you do so you can improve, and make sure the Contact Management system delivers those measurements.

4) Consider who will use it and where. Would you be better with an office based system, or a web based one? Would you like to be able to access it with a mobile phone? Do you need the data to be constantly up to date, or can it be updated overnight?

5) Think very carefully about exactly how you will use the system in your environment. They all look wonderful when demonstrated, but that is when you see the strongest features of the system. You will invariably need some other features that might not work as well, or be as easy to implement.