As the owner or operator of a small to medium-size business, you know how vital your customers are to your livelihood. But keeping track of your customers' contact information is sometimes easier said than done - especially if data maintenance is not a top priority.
Fortunately, you can quickly put your business on the fast track to improvement with efficient, user-friendly CRM software. By helping you organise and maintain customer information, your CRM will quickly become the most valuable tool in your strategic arsenal. Below are the top five ways to ensure that your customer data is properly logged into your CRM and kept up to date.
1. Manually enter customer data
Up until recently, most companies relied on manual data entry to ensure that customer contact details were entered into your CRM. And manual entry is still used today, especially during the initial phases of CRM setups. Here are some other instances when manual entry is used to enter customer data:
- Event leads: When prospects hand you business cards during a seminar, trade show or networking event, you will need to manually enter the details into your CRM. If you get a lot of these, use the Act! Companion link to scan the card and enter the data automatically into Act!.
- Phone calls: When you call or receive a call from a prospect, you will need to gather their contact details and enter them by hand.
- Emails: When you receive emails from prospects, you need to add them manually into your CRM. Using Act! CRM, you can easily create a contact in your CRM directly form the contact's email.
2. Import data collected from your website
Of all customer data collection methods, your customers' website interactions provide the most useful insight into customer behaviour. For instance, you can gather information related to a prospect's number of clicks, number of product views, and the amount of time spent on each web page. An efficient CRM can collect and organise all of these details so you can improve your website content and appeal.
3. Collect data from marketing campaigns
Your marketing campaigns are powerful business tools. When used alongside robust CRM software, they can also help gather and store data from new prospects. As you launch your marketing initiatives, make sure you give prospects a way to opt out of your email campaigns. This important information can be stored in your CRM to ensure that you do not communicate with customers against their wishes.
4. Link your CRM to your email providers
If your company is among the 93% of businesses that use email to distribute content, then linking your CRM to your email providers will be a great help to you as you sync and maintain your customer data. And because this step allows you to store each and every email you exchange with a customer, you can quickly gain insight into a customer's history.
5. Integrate your CRM with your other systems
Connecting your CRM to any existing systems you use will help you keep customer information relevant and up to date. For example, if you are currently using special accounting software that contains current customer information, you can integrate your CRM with this system to gain access to this information.
What is the single best way to organise and maintain your customer data?
As outlined above, there are multiple ways to ensure that your customer data is gathered, centralised, and maintained in your CRM. However, the single best way to achieve these goals is to seek the expertise of a global expert in CRM solutions. With the guidance of an industry leader, you can develop a comprehensive CRM strategy that reflects the unique needs of your business.
As the most trusted CRM solution in Australia in New Zealand, Act Today is the logical choice for small to medium businesses seeking a cost-effective solution. For over 28 years, the Act Today has strengthened businesses with their proven software solution. And with accredited sales and service teams in all major cities across Australia and New Zealand, we have the resources to provide you with the swift live support you may need.
We invite you to contact us today to discover why hundreds of customers across the Pacific choose Act Today for their CRM needs. We look forward to providing you with a CRM solution that will help your business thrive!
