Checkpoint - Better than a Rolodex™

What's a Rolodex™ ? I received that question from a student who had seen one on a recent class tour on an office desk. Before I begin to explain, I thought a picture would help bring all visually on the same page.

A Rolodex™  is a desktop car index used to record names, addresses, and telephone numbers, in the form of a rotating spindle or a small tray to which removable cards are attached. It holds removable cards that can have information written or items typed and place on them. It has a center bar that holds the removable cards. It is a combo of the words "rolling" and "index". It began to make locating names, address and phone numbers faster with its circular motion.

I remember how excited I was to get a Rolodex™  back in the day. I thought it was so cool to be able to organize all the contact information in one space. Yes, it predated common place items like Excel sheets and CRM systems that would evolve and take contact organization to the next level. It was before you had a networking platform with LinkedIn at your fingertips. It also took the place of a binder where you could have all your plastic sheets of business cards (one of which I know you are excited to know that I found when spring cleaning last year).

As you can see, many approaches to organizing contact information has greatly evolved from binder to Rolodex™  to where we are today. According to Allison Boelcke, "the larger and more filled a person's Rolodex™  was, the more successful he or she was at the time considered to be...once electronic organizers began to become more widespread starting around the 1980s, the use of the traditional Rolodex™  declined slightly but was not outdated". CRM Apps like SalesForce, HubSpot and PipeDrive have replaced the Rolodex™ because anyone in the company can add their notes to a contact. A digital Rolodex™ now exists that everyone in the company can access in anywhere in real time.

Regardless of the approach, key things remain when it comes to networking and maintaining contact information and management.

1) It can improve access - customer data & relationship management

2) It can be used for vetting

3) It can be used for referrals

4) It can be used to start a conversation

5) It can be used to prepare for meetings or establish meetings

6) It can be used to send a message and track recent conversations

7) It can be used to track action items

8) It can lead to better organization

9) It can be used to help establish trust, credibility and reliability

10) Send out LinkedIn connection requests to contacts met as well as follow others that you want to meet including companies. Content publishing is another topic but advantageous as well.

I hope those insights were helpful. I would love to hear your thoughts on other methods and preferences that helped when it comes to contact management.

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Questions can be added here.

Thank you.

DP