The CRM of the Crop

Everyone knows getting the cream is better than getting the… Not cream.

And for databases, that cream is a Client Relationship Management system, which is literally CRM. Programs like Excel are great for organising data into columns and rows so you can find it later, but what about when you want to pull out specific bits like which customers live in Winton and have a first name starting with J? Okay, that may be too specific, but a CRM like Hubspot, can help you segment your database into useful groups. That helps you send the messages to the right people at the right time.

What is CRM?

Cream with fewer letters. It’s also a piece of software that helps you build a comprehensive customer database. A good CRM does more than just store names and phone numbers. There are many benefits to building a good customer database. You can make separate lists based on what type of customer someone is. Are they a subscriber who’s a big spender who camps out on your front door every time you have a new product so they can be the first to have it? What about ones that only resurface for big sales? You can connect your lists to buyer personas to reach them in the way that best suits them.

Big CRMy Bytes of Data

If you’re hungry for data on your potential customers, a CRM will give you more bytes than you can crunch. Wondering who opened your last email? There’s data on that, hard data that your best friend who “reads all your emails” can’t deny. Data like that is useful on an individual level, but it can also help see what type of messages get a better response.

Take this as an example; you wrote several emails and decided to do A/B testing—an option with CRMs where you can test two versions of a message—and then look at the detailed results a week later. Instantly, you see the one titled “Buy a new white shirt, get a pizza to dirty it up” had an open rate of 75% and dozens of people clicked your “Free pizza please” button at the bottom. And your other email, “Buy one new white shirt, get a second at double price”, also had a decent open rate of 50%… With nearly everyone clicking on that little unsubscribe link at the bottom.

“Wow, maybe I should give people stuff instead of charging them extra!” You say afterwards when you analyse the results. It’s brilliant ideas like that you can get through the use of CRM data.

CRM your opponents in the sales game

Effective Inbound marketing is a marathon, and using CRM is like taking a secret shortcut to finish faster.

While your opponents take the long way—sending dozens of emails and making blogs and social media posts based on trial and error with a lot of guesswork—you can skip some of those steps and figure out what’s working faster, letting you CRM your opponents by getting to the same point quicker and with less effort and fatigue. Be the CRM of your crop by rising to the top and see how a CRM can help you now!