This article details the process of using Outlook to manage and organize clients. Included is how to create special categories, how to create folders, and how to set up filters.
It's Thursday afternoon and you seem to recall something about a client wanting something on Friday. You scour your inbox for at least thirty minutes before giving up. After all, you have at least two-hundred messages saved in there from ten different clients. How can you avoid this? One way of avoiding this problem is to set up Microsoft Outlook to manage your clients for you.
The Client File
As soon as you receive a new client, you should set up a new contact file for him or her in your Contacts folder. Keep your clients seperate from your every-day contacts. This will make it easy to find that email address or phone number when you need it. One way to do this is to create a master category in Outlook for clients. If you right click on "Categories" and select "All Categories" you can set a custom category. Do this, select "new" choose a color that says "client" to you, and title the category "Clients List."
Put as much information as you know about the client into their Contact file. Once you have done this, create a folder for your clients. Right-click on "Inbox" and select "Create a new folder." Title this folder "Clients." But don't stop there. Now, you will use the same process while right-clicking "Clients" to create a folder for each and every client.
Return to your inbox. Select any email from a client. Right-click the email and select "Create Rule." Once you do this, select "From (Client Email). Then, check the box "Move the item to (Client Folder). Click "OK" and check the box "Run rule now." Do this as many times as needed to sort all of your client emails.
Client Categories for Tasks and Appointments
Rather than click on a flag for follow up if an email contains a task, select "move-to" and then the tasks folder. You can do the same if the email requires an appointment on your calendar. In order to keep your client appointments and tasks organized, it might be helpful to name categories after clients rather than actions. To do this, you will choose "All categories" from the categories drop-down menu and edit a category for each client. Once you have done this, you can then categorize each task by the action and by the client that action needs to be performed for.
Organized at Last
Now, when it is Thursday afternoon and you are on the phone with a client and they ask you about an email, you can simply go to their folder and pull up the email quickly - saving yourself and your client a lot of headache time.
For more reading on managing tasks and clients using Email, you may wish to read "Manage Your Home Office Email with Yahoo Zimbra."
