Customer databases are living breathing organisms with an endless appetite for more data. A good Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system can accommodate as much data as you’d like to feed it. It can grow to add new touchpoints, information fields, and an ongoing history of customer engagement activity.
Knowledge is power. In marketing, your CRM gives you the power to reach the right customers with on-point messaging at the right time. Every interaction gives you a chance to gain more knowledge including:
- Updated contact information
- Date of inquiry
- Type of purchase
- New job or job title
- Demographics – age, birthday, family size
- Firmographics – sales, company size
- Type of inquiry
- Social engagement activity
- Product preferences, wishes, satisfaction
Armed with such contact intel you can develop automated, yet personalized, multichannel campaigns that deploy a mix of email, direct mail, and digital media to nurture customers through the sales funnel again and again.
Data-driven campaigns can impact sales through…
…follow-ups to prior customer engagement.
…event timed promotions.
…winbacks based on order history.
…relevant digital ads.
…social media posts surrounding hot topics.
…personalized direct mail targeting personal preferences.
With a well-kept CRM database at their fingertips, sales reps can quickly drill into past interactions between a live lead and the company to mine information for a more personal conversation, which always helps close the sale.
The problem is many marketers just don’t stay on top of their data as well as they could.
Information slips through the cracks. Interactions go un-logged. Potentially valuable data lies dormant in conversation threads. To that end, here are my…
5 Steps to Maintaining a Healthy Customer Database
- Database Review
Perform a review of your database with fresh eyes. What fields does your current database contain? Are they all being populated? Who is responsible for entering the data? What are you doing with the data? Do you have data that is going unused?
- Identify Opportunities to Collect More Data
From follow up surveys to answers required to download free content, you can obtain gems of information that can be used to capture attention. A group meeting of the sales, marketing, and product development teams can brainstorm types of data that could be useful to pique interest.
- Activate Data that is Sitting Dormant
Is there data that you could be capturing but are not? Website visits, email messages, online chats, blog conversations, and social media comments can all be uploaded to each contact’s profile.
- Establish a Database Maintenance System
This is always a mix between automation and data entry. Information like clickthroughs, email responses, and product sales may automatically post to a contact. Telephone calls, survey answers and landing page forms may need to be manually entered. Develop a system to get the data into the machine.
- Assign a Database Administrator
This individual needs to know the CRM system inside and out and will be responsible for inputting data that is not automatically uploaded or entered during a sales interaction. The role includes database backup, reporting, and contact information verification.
Now with an always fresh, clean database you will never let a birthday go unnoticed. You can awaken a lead that may have drifted off. You can remind a customer that now is a good time to reorder. The possibilities for ongoing customer relationship building are endless if you take the time to care for your data.
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