Before there was the ubiquitous Rolodex, there was the Wheeldex. This predecessor also featured a wheel of cards, but the Rolodex solved some critical design issues.
First, Wheeldex cards had a single center hole that failed to keep cards from shifting askew. Second, the wheel had no mechanism to keep it from spinning, making it difficult to keep it open to the chosen card. Third, the base didn’t support the spinning cards well enough to keep it from tipping over sometimes. And fourth, you had to use the cards themselves to spin the wheel.
Enter the Rolodex, with two holes punched in the cards. It had a ball bearing to stop the spin and a better base. It also featured knobs on each side to spin the device.
The Rolodex was a better mousetrap, which is why it’s still being manufactured and sold today. The value of the information amassed on one can be priceless. Every card can feature every piece of information on the contact and keep it in one easily accessible place.
Let’s face it. Most people would be lost without their contact information. But in the digital age, how that information is gathered, sorted, updated, and stored has outgrown the humble Rolodex. There are far better tools for managing your contacts. Here are three ways you might want to explore.
1. Synchronize Changing Information
You can usually spot a seasoned Rolodex by the amount of marked-through information or generous applications of Wite-Out. Updating information is limited by this device. Even if you keep up with revisions, the Rolodex is only one of many spots where that information appears.
Wouldn’t it be nice if you could make a change in one location, and it’s synchronized everywhere? It’s like a global find and replace for your contacts. Change a phone number on your smartphone contacts list and it’s also updated on your customer relationship management software.
Even better, look for software that makes the revision in less obvious but equally vital spaces. For example, it updates that number on your calendar management app, which updates it across all your calendars. That way, you’ll call the right number when the appointed time arrives.
Make a list of all the places information on a contact appears. Your smartphone contacts and network contact management system are easy to remember. But don’t overlook calendars, spreadsheets, email accounts, CRM, and other less obvious spots.
You’ll still need to grab the Wite-Out and revise that Rolodex card. But with the right software, synchronizing one change in every other location can occur with a click.
2. Digitize Printed Contact Information
If you attend conferences or networking events, you probably always return to the office with a handful of business cards. Too many times, they end up stuck in a drawer. If you’re more organized, you might tape them to a card on that Rolodex or stick them in a card sleeve.
Unfortunately, the information on the card isn’t going to jump into your digital contacts automatically. Of course, you or your assistant could type everything into one of your digital platforms. However, since this is the 21st century, you might want to skip the manual labor.
Use your smartphone or tablet to scan business cards, then move them into your contacts or create a QR code. There’s an abundance of apps on the market that translate what’s on the card into the proper fields on your contact list. Or you can transfer the information to your CRM platform.
The trick here is to find a business card scanning app that’s accurate and agile. It will need to be able to read unique fonts, foreign languages, and odd vocabulary. It should also be able to automatically put the link to social media accounts in the contact entry. And it needs to do so with precision so the accuracy of the info you capture isn’t compromised.
You may need to kiss a few frogs to find the right app for this job. Rest assured, it’s out there. Once you find it, you can scan and then toss that card in the recycling bin for good.
3. Add Context to Your Contacts
Rolodex cards are relatively small, with the largest coming in at 3 inches by 5 inches. If you keep a file box on your desk instead, you could fill it with cards up to 6 inches by 9 inches. The fact is that when keeping track of contact information, size doesn’t matter. Content does.
The difference between a basic contact platform and a spreadsheet or database is context. You can track massive amounts of information on the latter two, including history, deadlines, relationship highlights, and more. Moreover, you can categorize, flag, and sort contacts by certain fields of information.
With spreadsheets, such as Excel or Google Sheets, you can sort contacts by any field you create. But creating and maintaining them, although inexpensive, takes significantly more work than a database. A database like CRM software employs tables rather than a spreadsheet’s cells. That makes sorting and filtering contacts infinitely easier.
CRMs are phenomenal tools to centralize not only basic contact information, but comments, communications, and events as well. They’ll keep everything in chronological order and trigger notifications. Plus, they will automate messaging and other communication with the contact.
Instead of adding yet another card to the file or another column on the spreadsheet, let a database do the work. It will keep you organized even when you’re tracking far more qualitative and individual information. You never know how many trees you might be saving.
Make Contact
Managing the information you have about business contacts is vital to success. After all, you need to build these relationships to build your brand.
The Rolodex certainly serves a purpose that made life easier in the 20th century. But to keep up with synchronizing updates, digitizing print formats, and creating context, you’ll need to join this century. You don’t have to throw out the Rolodex when you digitize your contacts. It makes a great piece of vintage office décor.
