The examples shown in this article were created with the File Express Database Management System from Expressware Corporation of Redmond, Washington. The Sales Associate Sales Systems was designed with and includes a copy of the File Express DBMS.

There are hundreds of other Data Base Management Systems available today. Each has strong points and limitations. This article is intended to be a general description of DBMS capabilities. All of the capabilities discussed in this article may not exist in the DBMS you select.

Before you purchase a license for a DBMS program, it is your responsibility to ensure it has the functions you require to design your system.

To be useful, a computer system must fit your basic sales approach, technique and style. If you’re gearing up for computer management of your sales, it is advantageous to understand the power of the Database Management System tool, to purchase a DBMS to design your own system, or to purchase a sales computer program that has been predesigned with a DBMS that you can customize to your own needs.

Most DBMS packages have five basic similarities:

They allow you to define a file.

They allow you to enter, change and delete information.

They maintain and track the integrity of your system.

They allow you to change your information organization.

They allow you to design and print your own reports.

File Definition

The DBMS allows you to structure your prospect file just like a 3″ x 5″ index card system. Start your DBMS by defining your file.

Define a file as a logical sequence of information fields. The DBMS wants to know five attributes of each information field:

The sequence.

The file name.

The type of information contained in the field.

The field length.

Any calculations.

That’s it. We just defined our DBMS file. Let’s call it Sales List or SALES for short. We can also define other fields as well. We may want a separate Forecast File or a Call Record File. Each file is defined in the same basic way.

Enter Information.

Once your file is defined, you can then enter information into it. In our 3″ x 5″ index card example, we would type the information from the index cards into the computer. The difference is that the PC will display the record format on the visual terminal and you type the information onto the screen.

The real advantage occurs when you change information. Rather than recopying all of the old information onto a new 3″ x 5″ card whenever something changes, you simply type over the old information in the computer. All information that did not change is reused.

To remove a record (index card) from our file, the DBMS has a delete function. Since your information if held electronically, the delete function releases the information in the record and the physical records space can be reused for a new prospect’s information.

Now here is a big advantage of using a PC and a DBMS. If you lose your deck of index cards, I’m sure you have a second copy filed at home. Well, don’t you?

If the big fat rubber band that’s holding your index cards together breaks and they all fall on the floor, I’m sure you would know if you picked up every single card. If one fell behind the desk, would you know it was missing?

This is the job of the DBMS. It must maintain the integrity and location of your information, and allows you to back-up (make copies of the file) for safe keeping.

Most good DBMS packages allow you to sort your file into any order based upon any field of information. For example, with your manual index cards you may keep them in alphabetical order or territory (usually zipcode) order, or perhaps by size of the prospect or amount of sales potential.

The DBMS allows us to do the same thing with its sort capability. The big difference is that the DBMS can sort records a lot faster than you or I. The task is completed in seconds or minutes versus hours.

The final function of the DBMS is to design and print reports. To define a report, you sequentially list the information fields you want to appear on the report: business name, contact name, telephone, commission due.

Once you define your report format, you can use the DBMS to print your information. One powerful feature of a DBMS is that it can select specific records based upon some defined criteria.

For example, if you are going to visit your territory in Philadelphia, select and print only those prospects in the area.

As another variation, if you plan to telephone prospects you can first sort your file by dollar sales potential and then select and print only those records (prospects) over a certain dollar amount.

The report writing capability of most DBMS will produce reports with field subtotals and totals. In fact, once you understand all of the DBMS capabilities, you can design just about any report for functions as complex as sales forecasting and commission accounting.

Any sales professional who is still managing a sales territory without the aid of a computer is wasting good selling time. Computers are easy to use and can make a bottom line impact – even in the first few weeks. That’s reason enough to go hi-tech with your sales.