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For business, managing your network is essential. If done properly it should feed you a level of activity that provides a baseline of commercial activity on which you can build to increase turnover. If you can’t rely on the Dunbar theory to help you remember who people are and what your relationship is with them then what’s the best solution?

CRM

Customer Relationship Management or CRM is both a philosophy and a software solution. CRM systems allow you to create traceable histories of clients and relationships over long periods. Small business as well as large corporations that use CRM systems often generate massive financial rewards by being able to interact with contacts with specifically timed interactions driven by the CRM telling them that its product renewable time or the anniversary of a contract or purchase.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM

If your a Microsoft user or fan then stick with Dynamics CRM. It directly integrates into all the other Microsoft software family, allowing you to feed your CRM system from Outlook, Word and One Note. Its not the cheapest system but its pretty powerful.

SugarCRM

I’ve use this system a lot and its my favourite. Its a flexible system that has lots of interchangeable modules that can customise the system to suit your specific needs. It also has a access point that a programmer can come in and create bespoke modules for your business if you require them.  Low level SugarCRM is free and you only need to pay if your using some of the extended features.

There a lot of tools you can choose from for your CRM system but the key fact that is that you need to manage contacts, connections and acquaintances to maximise the benefit for your business. The theory of the Dunbar number whilst interesting isn’t a strategy so don’t overlook this very necessary aspect of being in business.

Give the Dunbar number a go yourself (don’t cheat) and see how you fair against the principle of 150 being the average.