Define the Job and right Solution to Accomplish

When you really get down to getting smart work done it helps to clarify - what is the job that needs to get done. Additionally, we need to consider the time perspective of what solutions are available.

If the job is "I need this message to get there as fast as possible" it might have been:

George Washington Hired a messenger on a horse. Abraham Lincoln hired a telegraph. Franklin Roosevelt hired the telephone. Barack Obama hired UPS or the Internet.  Different tools at different times were hired to get a job done.

What job did you hire your customer management business system to do?

Before the PC you hired pen and paper to write down lists of names.  Maybe you added them to a rolodex card system.

In the 1980's you hired your PC, personal computer, and SuperCalc spreadsheet to hold a list of people and businesses.

During the 90's you hired a contact management software, like ACT! as an electronic version of the rolodex. If you were lucky you hired that software to print out address labels and personalized mail merge letters.