Open BCM in Outlook 2013. Go to Business Contact Manager tab > Database Tools > Export to Business Contact Manager. You can export to a .bcm file or directly to Excel/CSV.
Before you commit to resurrecting BCM for Outlook 2013, understand its modern flaws:
You could frame it as:
“Why Business Contact Manager for Outlook 2013 was ahead of its time — and why small businesses still miss it.”
Or a comparison:
“BCM 2013 vs. modern CRMs: What we gained in cloud, we lost in simplicity.”
If you want, I can help you outline or draft an article about BCM for Outlook 2013. Just let me know the angle (nostalgia, productivity, CRM history, or alternatives). business contact manager for outlook 2013
Business Contact Manager (BCM) for Outlook 2013 is a free Microsoft add-on that provides basic Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tools directly within the Outlook interface. It allows small business owners to track sales, manage marketing campaigns, and organize customer data without needing complex external software. Core Capabilities
Centralized Database: Uses a free SQL database (up to 10GB) to store interaction history, including emails, phone logs, and documents.
Relationship Tracking: Connects individual Contact records to Account records to visualize long-term business development.
Sales Pipeline: Offers tools to visualize sales funnels and export numerical data directly to Microsoft Excel for reporting.
Marketing Management: Enables the creation and tracking of marketing activities like mass mailings and call lists while distinguishing between active and inactive leads.
Customization: Features customizable forms, tabs, and filters that allow you to dictate how your data is organized. Setting Up BCM for Outlook 2013 For local client restores: if database corruption occurs,
Compatibility Pack: If you have a version of BCM from 2007 or 2010, you must install the Business Contact Manager compatibility pack to run it in Outlook 2013.
Full Installation: For new users, a full 32-bit install file is required.
Activation: If the BCM toolbar is missing after installation, check under File > Options > Add-ins and ensure it isn't listed under Disabled Items. Legacy Status and Replacements
BCM 2013 was the final version of the tool and is not compatible with Outlook 2016 or newer.
Outlook Customer Manager (OCM): Originally launched as the replacement for BCM in Office 365, OCM has also since been discontinued.
Current Alternatives: Many users now migrate to solutions like eWay-CRM or lightweight CRM tools like Zoho and Monday.com. What is Microsoft Business Contact Manager for Outlook Open BCM in Outlook 2013
In the early 2000s, Microsoft had a problem. Outlook was the standard for email and calendaring in the corporate world, but for small businesses (1-50 employees), it lacked "memory." It could remember an email, but it couldn’t remember that John Doe at Contoso was a lead, that you had called him three times, and that he was worth $10,000 in potential revenue.
That function belonged to Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software, which was expensive, complex, and required dedicated servers.
Microsoft’s answer was Business Contact Manager (BCM). It was designed to be "Outlook with a brain"—a simple database layered inside the familiar Outlook interface.
BCM provided a visual sales pipeline to track potential revenue.
While BCM was struggling with its identity as a "heavy add-in," the market shifted.