BatchBook in the Real World: Virtual Assistant
- Posted January 23rd, 2009
- Filed under: Using BatchBook
A personal assistant and project manager is often times expected to respond quickly and efficiently to handle task communicated by clients who like to communicate in many different ways. Clients email me, call, tweet and sometimes even text message me to handle things on the fly. In the beginning, this wasn’t urgent, I could keep track of tasks in my personal spreadsheet program and know what needed to be done and where I could contact the client as needed.
Business has grown and I’ve looked at several new management options of keeping track of incoming information versus searching spreadsheets (or sometimes even gmail) for something I need to find immediately to get my task done. I not only need to know a clients contact information, but details of projects or FTP information or passwords.
I’ve tried many methods, using 37 signals products, Salesforce, even Microsoft Sharepoint on a Mac! Lately I’ve been using BatchBook to help me accomplish things and keep details organized.
Some of the ways I use BatchBook include:
Clients don’t always hand me the details I need in order to get an urgent task done quickly. When I need to know the best way to contact them, I check their contact page on BatchBook. The social media super tag gives me the ability to add more than just their phone number and email but also their Twitter stream and blog. I’m able to tell quickly the best way to follow up with clients given whatever they may be doing at the moment.
Tracking leads is an essential part of any web worker’s job. In order to keep business flowing, responding quickly to new leads and keeping track of the conversation and follow up keeps business healthy and thriving. I use the communications tab to log any information I’ll need later about client and potential client communication. Need to remember to follow up? Create a new to do. It’s always a reminder to me to make sure I get in contact later.
Often times I’m on the go, sometimes traveling or just across town at a meeting, I can always access BatchBook using my iPhone and web browser. Being a web worker, anything that allows me to work using cloud computing makes my heart happy.
As a consultant regarding social media practices, I communicate almost constantly and am always meeting new people. With so many connections over different networks, I make copies of contact information that I own on my hard drive to sync it all up, but also keep it all in BatchBook. Yes, in one of those what-if scenarios, if the unthinkable happens and Twitter disappears overnight or Facebook is suddenly shut down then I’m ready to go.
These are just some of the ways I use CRM (and my choice BatchBook) to keep me moving at a steady pace. I’d love to hear some of your ideas for keeping track of clients and tasks. Always open to learning new ways to be even more efficient, saving both myself and my clients more time!
