What Is the Difference Between Business Card Management and Customer Management? Introducing the Benefits of Integrating with CRM Tools

The Difference Between Business Card Management and Customer Relationship Management

Both business card management and customer relationship management play vital roles in streamlining corporate sales activities, yet they serve distinct purposes.

Customer relationship management involves activities aimed at building, maintaining, and strengthening relationships between a company and its customers to achieve optimal customer satisfaction. By implementing a CRM tool (Customer Relationship Management System), companies can collect and analyze customer information to identify needs, leading to optimal proposals and improved customer satisfaction. Furthermore, centralizing customer data helps eliminate the reliance on individual sales representatives, allowing the entire team to drive sales activities and increase revenue.

On the other hand, business card management is the process of digitizing business cards to manage professional relationships. Today, convenient business card management tools, such as apps that easily digitize cards via smartphone, are available. By organizing and managing acquired business card information digitally, teams can share contacts and perform searches with ease. It is important to go beyond simple alphabetical sorting and enable searches by industry, job title, and other criteria. Sharing business cards across the entire team rather than managing them individually can also lead to new business opportunities.

However, a common challenge is that the tool's usage remains limited to "management," failing to translate into practical application in sales operations. A simple search tool is unlikely to lead to the "measurable results" that sales teams require, making it difficult to achieve widespread adoption.
This is where the perspective of integrating customer relationship management tools with business card management tools to streamline sales becomes essential.

Benefits of Integrating Business Card Management Tools with CRM Tools

Enabling Real-Time Information Sharing

There are various ways to register information in CRM tools, but manual entry or CSV imports require significant time, often leading to delays in new registrations. If registrations stall or customer information remains outdated, it becomes difficult to use CRM tools effectively. By integrating systems so that new customer information registered in a business card management tool is automatically reflected in the CRM tool, you ensure that the latest customer data is always available, enabling real-time information sharing. Furthermore, when using a business card management tool that leverages a corporate database, the accuracy of registered data is high, allowing for easy and precise information entry.

Improving Usability to Drive CRM Tool Adoption

Even in companies that have introduced CRM tools to improve sales efficiency through data utilization, challenges such as cumbersome registration processes can lead to low employee adoption, rendering the tool underutilized. Integration with a business card management tool allows CRM information to be registered automatically simply by scanning a business card, eliminating tedious manual entry and increasing the usage rate of the CRM tool within the organization. If the business card management tool offers multiple registration methods beyond scanning, users can choose the best approach for their situation, making it easier to maintain consistent usage.

Centralizing Access to Data

When data is managed separately across a business card management tool and a CRM tool, users may struggle to determine which data is correct or may end up accessing the same customer information in two different places. Additionally, usage may become unbalanced if individuals rely on the tool they personally find easier to use. By integrating the business card management tool with the CRM tool, you can centralize access to information, thereby reducing operational time and promoting stable tool utilization.

Efficient New Business Development and Re-engagement of Dormant Customers

"Dormant customers" are prospective clients who have had past transactions or business discussions but have been neglected for a long period. Re-engaging these customers is just as important as new business development for increasing corporate revenue. Integration between business card management and CRM tools makes it easy to create lists of prospective customers, helping to revive dormant accounts that are often deprioritized due to focus on active projects.
Additionally, tools that utilize a corporate database can identify new prospects based on the industry information of existing customers, allowing for the efficient creation of new sales lists.

mSonar: A Business Card Management Tool for Sales Efficiency

Access to Always-Up-to-Date Corporate Information

mSonar links corporate information with digitized business cards. If a business card requires correction, the system automatically identifies and updates the data. Changes such as relocations or company name changes after registration are updated automatically, eliminating the need for manual edits and allowing users to view the latest corporate information simply by importing cards. Accessing the latest information at all times facilitates smooth internal information sharing, strengthening teamwork and improving sales efficiency.

Digitization Through Versatile Reading Methods

mSonar supports business card reading not only through scanners and multifunction printers but also via smartphone photos and saved images. Furthermore, corporate information can be registered using email signatures, allowing for the digitization of information even for contacts with whom you have not exchanged physical business cards. Notes and comments left on business cards can also be centrally managed as corporate information, ensuring no detail is missed. By sharing all information with the team in a timely manner, you can capitalize on new business opportunities.

Efficient Creation of Sales Lists

By integrating mSonar with the SFA/CRM solution uSonar, you can create sales lists based on consistently accurate information. You can also identify the demand for specific products or services among prospective customers, allowing for the rapid development of sales strategies. By specifying conditions to extract data, you can review contact history with the client in chronological order, making it easier to re-engage dormant customers and conduct sales activities efficiently. Analyzing the interests and concerns of prospective customers in advance makes it easier to create opportunities for new visits or follow-up meetings with dormant clients.

Enhancing Customer Trust Through Effective Management

Proper customer management leads to increased trust. By digitizing business cards with mSonar and sharing the professional network information held by each representative across the team, you ensure that no sales opportunity is missed. If digitized business cards can be immediately integrated with a CRM tool, it becomes possible to provide proposals tailored to the customer and follow up at the optimal time.

Furthermore, to enhance customer trust, it is crucial to quickly resolve customer complaints and issues. The LBC corporate database embedded in mSonar allows you to utilize information by tagging company characteristics by theme. By viewing various information from the database, such as customer interests and recent business activities, you can efficiently grasp the customer's status. Reducing the time spent on information gathering and focusing on sales efficiency will lead to increased corporate revenue.

• More Than Just "Management"!
  A Business Card Management App That Drives "Results"

Integrating Sales Support Tools Enhances the Effectiveness of Customer Management

By integrating CRM tools with business card management, you can resolve challenges in sales activities and expect improved sales efficiency. To optimize customer management, consider using sales tools in an integrated manner rather than as standalone solutions.