Managing contacts?

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Author Message David Axt, AIA, CCS, CSI Senior Member Username: david_axt Post Number: 1295 Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Wednesday, May 02, 2012 - 04:36 pm:    How do you guys manage your product rep contacts? Microsoft Outlook? Database? Spreadsheet? Rolodex? Stack of business cards? Nathan Woods, CSI, CCCA, LEED AP Senior Member Username: nwoods Post Number: 446 Registered: 08-2005 Posted on Wednesday, May 02, 2012 - 04:43 pm:    Outlook. Sharable, accessible, portable, easily updated, easily backed up. John McGrann Senior Member Username: jmcgrann Post Number: 86 Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Wednesday, May 02, 2012 - 04:51 pm:    Outlook, with a customized list of categories to allow some simple sorting, which in the case of reps is organized by division. John T. McGrann, Jr., AIA, CSI, CCS, LEED AP Lynn Javoroski FCSI CCS LEEDŽ AP SCIP Affiliate Senior Member Username: lynn_javoroski Post Number: 1458 Registered: 07-2002 Posted on Wednesday, May 02, 2012 - 04:51 pm:    stack of cards or a little filing cabinet, memory, CSI, our library. Melissa J. Aguiar, CSI, CCS, SCIP Senior Member Username: melissaaguiar Post Number: 146 Registered: 12-2003 Posted on Wednesday, May 02, 2012 - 05:06 pm:    I use CRM database on my desktop, Ipad, Iphone, etc. etc. I also use outlook with an add-in component from a company to help my memory. Melissa J. Aguiar, CSI, CCS, SCIP ken hercenberg Senior Member Username: khercenberg Post Number: 210 Registered: 12-2006 Posted on Wednesday, May 02, 2012 - 05:37 pm:    Product reps? You talk with product reps? Just kidding. Combination of Outlook, Rolodex, stack of cards, www.csinet.org, frantic emails, company websites. I am back on my kick of requiring product reps who call on me to be CSI members with preference given to those with CDT or CCPR. Most have been receptive to this. Anybody else doing this? Lynn Javoroski FCSI CCS LEEDŽ AP SCIP Affiliate Senior Member Username: lynn_javoroski Post Number: 1459 Registered: 07-2002 Posted on Wednesday, May 02, 2012 - 05:39 pm:    Don't insist on the CCPR, but push hard on the membership and strongly suggest the CDT. Like you said, Ken, most listen. Sheldon Wolfe Senior Member Username: sheldon_wolfe Post Number: 561 Registered: 01-2003 Posted on Wednesday, May 02, 2012 - 06:39 pm:    Sorry, can't do that. I work for the owner, so I can't reject a product simply because the rep is not a member. Following that logic, architects should ignore specifiers who aren't AIA members, and owners should ignore architects and specifiers who are not with IFMA or BOMA. But, when I meet with reps who don't have CDT on their business cards, I end our chat with a sermon and a strong recommendation to get it. George A. Everding, AIA, CSI, CCS, CCCA Senior Member Username: geverding Post Number: 625 Registered: 11-2004 Posted on Wednesday, May 02, 2012 - 07:00 pm:    I always used to push CSI-CDT-CCPR when meeting with non-CSI product reps when "I used to be an architect." Now on the other side of the fence, I find myself doing the same thing (only CCS and CCCA instead of CCPR) when meeting with architects. This forum is the choir, we are all to varying degrees sold on CSI. I wonder when considering the totality of the construction world whether there are more non-CSI architect-specifier types, or more non-CSI product reps. It wouldn't surprise me that the product reps have a higher % of participation in CSI than architects do. George A. Everding AIA CSI CCS CCCA Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies St. Louis, MO Alan Mays, AIA Senior Member Username: amays Post Number: 74 Registered: 02-2003 Posted on Wednesday, May 02, 2012 - 07:08 pm:    Sheldon, I agree with you. I do not think that the sermon and recommendation will do much, though. The thing is what happened with the economy has lead to cheap marketing and cut backs. Many companies will not pay for their dues anymore since it does not increase sales. Along with that, the contractors and owners do not really care much about those letters. CSI, as well as AIA, have to address this themselves. The example I like to use as a methaphor is a project that I did in Minneapolis. I got a copy of the below grade waterproofing shop drawings and they looked like a 3rd grader did them. They were even done on Manilla paper! No title block and not even a company logo, etc. I keep a copy as an example. I went directly to my Construction Administrator and asked if he rejected them. He said no. He explained to me that the WP sub was the best in town and would you reject the best because he had a bad draftsman? Looking at the content of the badly drawn shops, they were really correct and only had one error. They went back as approved as noted. BTW, I throughly enjoyed your presentation at Archispec. You and I think along the same lines. Steven Bruneel, AIA, CSI-CDT, LEED-AP Senior Member Username: redseca2 Post Number: 336 Registered: 12-2006 Posted on Wednesday, May 02, 2012 - 07:35 pm:    Alan, we once had a submittal for the suspened acoustical ceilings for a multi-floor hospital occupancy, and a 3rd grader DID prepare the shop drawings (at least the reflected ceiling plans). The submitter explained that he had his kids trace our RCP drawings on the dining room table. Tom Gilmore, AIA, CCS, CCCA, LEED AP Senior Member Username: tgilmore Post Number: 30 Registered: 04-2007 Posted on Wednesday, May 02, 2012 - 08:06 pm:    Does anybody else file their product reps in Outlook by (level 2) MF04 number? It works well on the I phone too. They sort to the end of the contact list. The only challenge is the folks who have multiple lines crossing numbers. Sheldon Wolfe Senior Member Username: sheldon_wolfe Post Number: 562 Registered: 01-2003 Posted on Wednesday, May 02, 2012 - 11:53 pm:    Alan: Until the last few years, my sermon did pretty well; I brought in many new members, and most of them stayed on. Not so much luck lately, though, as you suggest. Thanks for the kind words; I've had a lot of fun with that presentation. Tom: I use the categories field in Outlook for MF Divisions, e.g., Div 03, Div 09. You can enter more than one, so when you sort the same contact will show up in each Division. Lisa Goodwin Robbins, RA, CCS, LEED ap Senior Member Username: lgoodrob Post Number: 173 Registered: 08-2004 Posted on Thursday, May 03, 2012 - 09:11 am:    Many of my favorite reps are now finding me on LinkedIn, which I originally started as a way to keep track of my job-changing Architect-clients in the downturn. It's also an easy way to share contacts with those same Architect-clients. See this rep's information on my LinkedIn connections list. ken hercenberg Senior Member Username: khercenberg Post Number: 212 Registered: 12-2006 Posted on Thursday, May 03, 2012 - 10:14 am:    I'm torn when it comes to putting a lot of reps on my LinkedIn account. I get about 10 requests a week from manufacturers and reps. Seems to me that it's their way of fishing for leads by accessing my list of contacts and then sending out invitations. I've gotten to the point where I no longer reply to most of them. J. Peter Jordan, FCSI, CCS, AIA, LEED AP (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted on Thursday, May 03, 2012 - 10:04 am:    I like Outlook with categories. I can use more than one category to "tag" an individual and then display by category. I only go to Division, Those who rep products; sorry, work results; in more than one Division show up more than once. We do pitch CSI to reps who come into the office, but I am with Sheldon. I put more faith in CSI members, CDT, and CCPR (in ascending order), but I can't refuse to spec an acceptable product because the local rep is not a CSI member or doesn't hold a CSI certification. I use LinkedIn to keep contacts current. I am trying to get my LinkedIn contacts to maintain their info as current, but many don't understand why that might be important. Lynn Javoroski FCSI CCS LEEDŽ AP SCIP Affiliate Senior Member Username: lynn_javoroski Post Number: 1462 Registered: 07-2002 Posted on Thursday, May 03, 2012 - 10:23 am:    Since I'm a membership chair, I use Linkedin contacts to share CSI events and information, so I have a lot of reps (and others) in my account. And can use it to contact them, too. Steven Bruneel, AIA, CSI-CDT, LEED-AP Senior Member Username: redseca2 Post Number: 337 Registered: 12-2006 Posted on Thursday, May 03, 2012 - 02:36 pm:    I find the Linkedin is a great "ultimate backup" for contact information. Entire operating systems may come and go, servers die, laptops stolen, but you can often find someone you worked with years ago. John Regener, AIA, CCS, CCCA, CSI, SCIP Senior Member Username: john_regener Post Number: 549 Registered: 04-2002 Posted on Thursday, May 03, 2012 - 03:56 pm:    I file product reps according to quality of the place they take me for lunch. Two rules: 1. Restaurant must not have children's menu or play area. 2. Restaurant must not require patrons to carry a tray. Just kidding. Seriously, the reps who matter the most are on the "contact" list on my cellphone and in my email "address book." These are the ones whom I have spent significant time working on spec product selections and document production. For others, I go to manufacturer's website. Reps come and go; I expect the "contacts" on the mfr's site to be current. I also find reps through CSI member directory and give consideration to reps/mfrs who support CSI and SCIP. ken hercenberg Senior Member Username: khercenberg Post Number: 213 Registered: 12-2006 Posted on Thursday, May 03, 2012 - 06:17 pm:    Guess I should have used a better word than 'require'. Obviously I don't bar the door to non-members, but there have been times when I wish I could have. Lisa Goodwin Robbins, RA, CCS, LEED ap Senior Member Username: lgoodrob Post Number: 174 Registered: 08-2004 Posted on Friday, May 04, 2012 - 09:14 am:    John, Those are great rules. I'd give extra points to reps who bring me fine quality chocolate! Lynn Javoroski FCSI CCS LEEDŽ AP SCIP Affiliate Senior Member Username: lynn_javoroski Post Number: 1464 Registered: 07-2002 Posted on Friday, May 04, 2012 - 10:00 am:    Lisa, I find interior products reps usually bring the most decadent treats - the chocolate, the muffins, the scones, cookies, etc... J. Peter Jordan, FCSI, CCS, AIA, LEED AP (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted on Thursday, May 03, 2012 - 06:25 pm:    I like Mr. Regener's rules; I would add that "Restaurant must not serve meal on butcher paper." Alan Mays, AIA Senior Member Username: amays Post Number: 75 Registered: 02-2003 Posted on Friday, May 04, 2012 - 11:35 am:    Now Peter, some of the best BBQ is served on butcher paper and I definitely accept good BBQ for lunch! Robin E. Snyder Senior Member Username: robin Post Number: 397 Registered: 08-2004 Posted on Friday, May 04, 2012 - 01:12 pm:    how funny - a new restaurant - Rudy's - just opened here in Chandler (I guess they are in other cities) and they serve the food on butcher paper and the line was wrapped out the door. I was skeptical at first, but it was amazing. And easy clean up. But, we digress... ken hercenberg Senior Member Username: khercenberg Post Number: 216 Registered: 12-2006 Posted on Friday, May 04, 2012 - 01:52 pm:    Not that I do, but how do you have a crab feast without butcher paper? Richard L Matteo, AIA, CSI, CCS Senior Member Username: rlmat Post Number: 501 Registered: 10-2003 Posted on Friday, May 04, 2012 - 03:17 pm:    The Crab Cooker in Newport Beach, CA not only serves on butcher paper, but paper plates, cups and platics utensils. In the summer, the line is out the door and around the corner. Lynn Javoroski FCSI CCS LEEDŽ AP SCIP Affiliate Senior Member Username: lynn_javoroski Post Number: 1465 Registered: 07-2002 Posted on Friday, May 04, 2012 - 03:21 pm:    but only moves sideways... ken hercenberg Senior Member Username: khercenberg Post Number: 217 Registered: 12-2006 Posted on Friday, May 04, 2012 - 03:40 pm:    Certainly after they're finished eating at least. John McGrann Senior Member Username: jmcgrann Post Number: 87 Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Friday, May 04, 2012 - 05:04 pm:    The Fish House in Buxton, NC is the real deal, complete docking space next to the kitchen and floors that slope to the scuppers. They save water by serving on butcher paper, paper plates and paper cups, although probably not of the FSC variety. John T. McGrann, Jr., AIA, CSI, CCS, LEED AP J. Peter Jordan, FCSI, CCS, AIA, LEED AP (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted on Friday, May 04, 2012 - 03:37 pm:    Well, as long as customers don't use trays and they don't have a children's menu. Paul Gerber Senior Member Username: paulgerber Post Number: 112 Registered: 04-2010 Posted on Wednesday, May 09, 2012 - 02:06 pm:    I use Outlook, with wireless synchronization to my BlackBerry...but the "old school" side of me still likes collecting business cards that I file in business card plastic sleeves in a 3 ring binder sorted by Division. I too use custom categories but my list exceeds Division numbers. I have custom categories such as "Consultants - Structural" or "Subcontractors - Masonry" or "Suppliers - Aluminum Doors and Windows". That way, when I can't remember the name of the structural engineer, project foreman (who was helpful and knowledgeable) or product rep (who hasn't darkened my door/phoned me in the last 3 years) I can sort the contacts via category and narrow it down! I am pushing CSC membership and CTR certification more than I used to...I know I'm a rebel, but CSI doesn't carry the same clout here as it does for you guys south of the border! LOL I am actually adding a custom category for anyone in my Contacts list who is a CSC member, that way if I can't remember if they are I can find out easy enough. I really wish CSC would implement a searchable online datatbase of our members instead of that silly hard copy directory they publish every year. But I'm sure we couldn't sell as much advertising that way as we do with hard copy! Ride it like you stole it!!! Chris Grimm, CSI, CCS, SCIPa, LEED AP BD+C, MAI, RLA Senior Member Username: tsugaguy Post Number: 270 Registered: 06-2005 Posted on Friday, May 11, 2012 - 03:39 am:    Google Contacts, or Outlook, with one or more instances of MF###### Section Title in the notes. This makes it easy to search by any level of MasterFormat (broad-, medium-, or narrowscope) from virtually any operating system or phone and synchronized to various devices even if they don't support a category field or if they only support one category. I still have many paper business cards. Usually note the MF #'s on the back right after meeting, then can have an admin assistant scan them in and add the notes including when/where we met. CardMunch on iPhone is pretty useful too. Somehow supposed to be tied to LinkedIn. I also like Contxts app on iPhone for sending my virtual card to people. Handy when I run out of cards. I can send by email or text message and the recipient can click a link to save my contact card. Or they can text cgrimmccs to the sms short code for Contxts and get my card with a link to save it.