Recently I read an article in The Boston Globe about Xobni Software.

Xobni (inbox spelled backwards) was originally designed as a plug-in for Outlook that makes searching your email easier. After frustrating searches for a particular email I practically gave up searching all together because Outlook lacks any kind of logic for searching.

Xobni really shines as a search engine for Outlook. I’ve tried others but found them clunky and not efficient. After the initial indexing it runs in the background and doesn’t hamper my Outlook performance.

Using the search box will give you surprising results. As the creators would tell you it adds an “intelligent filter” that not only searches more efficiently but can display the sender’s telephone number if it’s in their signature of the email. It also shows you all the correspondence between you and that person and any attachments are listed separately.

Since I have been using it, I have also found that it creates a social network within Outlook of related contacts from emails received.

For example: Bob, Mary, Jack, Carole and Isaac all know me and know each other. As email correspondence is captured and indexed for future search by Xobni it relates the contacts together by reviewing how emails are addressed between each other. It looks for multiple To:’s , CC:’s and Fwd’s to relate people to one another.

When you search for one of the emails of the people you know it shows you who that person is networked with in your Outlook.

But here is how it becomes a sales tool as well!

Not only does it create a social network between your email contacts but also shows you if they are listed in LinkedIn. If the person has a picture on LinkedIn of themselves it even displays it!! Soon they plan on adding a link to facebook as well. The advantages are you can now use LinkedIn to find out if there is someone else in their circle of contacts you may want to be introduced to as well.

This is valuable information in business looking for new sales opportunities. If you’re trying to reach someone at a certain company Xobni can help make it easier. Within your circle of contacts you can find out easily who knows who but also through their relationships in LinkedIn maybe they know a contact that can introduce you at the company where you want to begin building a customer relationship!

It’s free and it works. Just be prepared for it to cause Outlook to run slow while it index’s your Outlook the first time. After that it is smooth sailing to build your own social network and expand to others. So for those who think social networking is hard well Xobni makes it easy for you to join in.

Here is a link to download a free copy of Xobni. (requires Outlook 2003 or 2007).

Tags: Opportunities, Outlook, Sales, Sales Technology

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 10th, 2008 at 8:24 pm and is filed under Business, Marketing, Sales, Sales Technology, Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.