Learn Contact Management in Redtail

Learn Contact Management in Redtail




Learn Contact Management in Redtail

Objective: Become thoroughly familiar with contact management in Redtail.

Assigned to: Every team member who will need to access to Redtail.

Contact Management Defined and Explained

Contact management is capturing, recording, retrieving, and using data one contact at a time.

  1. Capture—The FA or team member creates a written record of what was said or done at a meeting or a phone call.
  2. Record—The record is entered into the CRM with care taken to put the parts of the record in places from which they can be retrieved.
  3. Retrieve—This is bringing the record back so it can be used.
  4. Use—The record might be used to prove that a conversation did take place. It might be used to continue a conversation or pass a conversation to another team member who will follow up. 

It might be used to place a phone call at a time the client or prospect will have funds available to invest or re-invest. Or to know when the funds are available so the call can be placed.

Purpose

CRMs are focused on recording and retrieving. This means the FA and team members must understand and be able to perform their CRM’s basic actions easily and without thought. 

Learning Resources

Many of the steps in this Learning Guide will refer you to the Redtail program or to documents or tutorials in the Redtail Help System. You will find the links to those items in the pages that follow.


Get Organized Steps

  1. Every person on the team needs a notebook. You will fully understand why when you go through two short contact management videos in this course. For now, the FA should assign someone to buy enough notebooks, as shown below, so each team member has at least two.

Recommended notebook for FAs: 

Eccolo™ Cool Jazz Journal, 8" x 10", Lined, 192 Pages, Black. The link is to Office Depot/Office Max. Available at nearly all office supply stores. The correct size is important. Advisors can take this notebook to a client meeting. 

Recommended for non-client facing positions: 

The generic composition notebooks available at Walmart and other sources, usually 5 for $5.00.



  1. Go to www.redtailtechnology.com. Sign up for a 30-day trial account. You will use this account, not your live database, for learning. The sign-up process asks for a broker dealer rep number. If you do not have one, not to worry. The website will accept a blank field. You will be offered an option to “Add sample data to your database.”  Choose that option.  It imports some records you will use for practice. 

Then send the following text in an email to becca@redtailtechnology.com after filling in the Database Owner’s Name and the Username. 

“Please copy the BGM Redtail Playground into my trial copy of Redtail. Also, please extend the trial for Bill Good Training.

My trial account’s owner is [Database Owner’s Name] and my username for that trial account is [Username]. “

Redtail will contact BGM to confirm the copy. 

  1. You should keep a copy of this Learning Guide open on your computer screen. It contains links to various learning resources.

The Learning Steps

Getting Help

If you have questions about the Redtail program or its tutorials, please contact Redtail Phone: (800) 206 -5030.
Email: support@ redtailtechnology.com
Business Hours: Mon.-Fri. 5 a.m.-5 p.m. Pacific Time

If you are having trouble understanding one of BGM’s processes, please contact us at

Phone: (801) 572 - 1480
Email: philipf@billgoodmarketing.com
Business Hours: Mon.-Fri. 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Mountain Time


Very Important Info

There is no way to master a computer program just by reading about it and watching tutorials. 

Follow each step of this learning guide. 

When watching a tutorial, have your trial playground copy of Redtail open on another monitor. 

As the instructor demonstrates various tasks, you must execute the same tasks in your trial copy.


1)  Watch these two videos on “The Law”

Contact Management 101 

Contact Management 102

Now that you have watched the videos, use your notebook (and nothing else) to capture the information, you will need to record in your database.  

Note:  The videos mentioned "Record Update Forms." You will be introduced to these later. For now, we are learning basic contact management.



2)  Watch the Initial Tutorial

Watch "After the Import Training" This is a big picture overview.

As you go through this video, your trial copy of Redtail should be open. Follow along in your copy of the Redtail CRM. This video moves very quickly, and you will frequently need to pause.



3)  Redtail QuickStart Navigation Drill

As soon as you finish watching the tutorial in step #2, practice this navigation drill to help you remember where all those items are. Repeat it until you can finish the drill in less than 1 minute and 42 seconds. 

  1. Go to Manage Your Account
  1. Check to see if you are an Admin, by finding the Admin Only section
  2. If you are an admin, go to Manage Database Lists. If you are not an Admin, skip to “Go to Contacts.”
  3. Go to your statuses
  4. Change Active Client to Client
  5. Add Strategic Partner
  6. Go to Categories
  7. Go to Sources
  8. Go to Activity Types
  1. Note the Categories list under Activities and Notes. Remember that this is a different list than the Categories list under Contacts. 
  1. Go to Keywords
  2. Go back to the Today screen
  1. Go to Contacts
  1. Go to Advanced Search
  2. Enter and run the criteria to create a list of your Active Clients
  3. Save it as a QuickList
  4. Enter and run the criteria to create a list of your Active Clients with a Category of A



4)  If you are an Admin, watch “Navigation, Users and Teams”

This tutorial will teach you how to control permissions, add new users, and create teams in your database.



5)  Navigation, Users, and Teams Drill

Practice this navigation drill to help you remember where all those items are. Repeat it until you can finish the drill in less than 1 minute and 42 seconds.

  1. Go to the Top right Icons
  1. Go to the Quick Add plus sign icon
  2. Click the Integrations
  3. Check the Recently viewed
  1. Go to the Quicklists
  2. Find the Clients QuickList
  1. Go to the Alerts icon
  2. Go to Help and Resources
  1. Manage your Account
  1. Admins Only
  2. Manage Database Users and Teams
  3. Add User, check admin box
  1. Update User Rights, remove all of them
  2. Disable User
  1. Go to the Teams tab
  1. Add a new team called Computer Operator
  2. Add yourself to this team



6)  Watch “Database Lists and the Contact Record” 

This tutorial will help you navigate around the information about each of your contacts.



7)  Database Lists and the Contact Record Drill

Practice this navigation drill to help you remember where all those items are. Repeat it until you can finish the drill in less than 2 minutes and 30 seconds.

  1. Look up Alice Ape
  1. Go to her Contact Details
  1. IF Admin
  1. Go to manage your account
  2. Go to Manage Database Lists
  3. Go to Statuses
  1. Add Inactive
  1. Go to Categories
  1. Remove the word "Client" from all categories
  1. Go to your client list
  1. Select Alice Ape and William Appleby
  2. Run a Bulk Action to change their status to active clients
  1. Return to Alice Ape's Contact Details
  1. Change her category to A=responsive
  1. IF Admin Go to Manage Database Lists
  1. Add Investments keyword
  2. Go to contact user defined fields
  3. Add Favorite Drink with any text
  4. Go to Activity Categories
  5. Add Service Problem to the list
  1. Return to Alice Ape's record
  1. Set her Favorite Drink to coffee
  2. Click on Alice's Family Name
  3. Return to her contact record
  4. Find Alice Ape's phone number



8)  Watch the “Calendar and Activities” tutorial

This tutorial will teach you about the calendar and how to create and schedule activities.



9)  Calendar and Activities Drill

Practice this navigation drill to help you remember where all those items are. Repeat it until you can finish the drill in less than 1 minute.

  1. Go to Alice Ape's record
  1. Go to her Activities section
  2. Create an activity to meet with Alice from 9 am to 10 am a week from now
  3. Go to that activity on your calendar
  4. Change it to one day later from 2 pm to 3 pm
  5. Add Smithwick Ape as a linked contact
  6. Add a note to the activity that they asked for the activity to be delayed to the next day






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