A customer contact database is a section or a separate file in a CRM system that keeps all possible data about potential and existing customers (order history, activity, preferences, etc.). Then you may rely on this information to analyze and build a unique sales and marketing strategy in the future. Therefore, such a database is critical for any business and must be adequately managed. Let's look at operating with a client's database and improving your company's performance.
Why You Need To Create a Well-built Customer Contacts Database
A top-notch contact system boosts the performance of the sales department by several times. The reason is quite simple: managers can easily find information about buyers and build high-quality communication with them. This approach, in turn, will improve customer loyalty and trust.
In addition, the customer contact database allows you to track the activity of buyers. So, sales staff can find out which customers have not used the company's services for a long time.
There are other advantages of using such a base:
- the possibility of active work with the outflow of users;
- building a contact customer base from scratch;
- preference analysis;
- conducting marketing research based on data on active clients;
- the higher efficiency of information transfer within the sales department;
- the ability to create a loyalty program;
- availability of tools for audience segmentation.
All these reasons make operating a contacts database an effective tool for any business because they are vital for company development.
Why It Is Better to Use CRM System for Creating the Customer Contacts Database
It is infrequent to use spreadsheet editors to work with consumer data because there is a more convenient way - a CRM system. Let's consider its advantages:
Ability to Properly Analyze Customers
The CRM system contains dozens of analytics tools. It helps the sales representative predict customers' expectations, divide them into separate groups, and plan a unique strategy for each. CRM is a great sales assistant.
Visibility of Customer Relationship Management System
One of the strengths of an electronic solution is its visibility. The complete information is easy to visualize, so working with them is straightforward. Moreover, connecting third-party services turns the digital feature into a powerful tool for creating convincing and colorful presentations that encourage clients to buy.
Ability To Automate Routine Tasks Inside Your Company
Moreover, using a CRM solution allows you to build communication with clients properly. The program itself reminds employees to call back the customer, make an appointment, or process a particular product request. You can pay attention to every client because AI will do the rest for you. In addition, you may immediately create scenarios for future communication with consumers.
Availability of Tools for Making More Accurate Predictions
All types of CRM solutions allow you to allocate information about customers, which helps to build more accurate and realistic predictions. This approach helps to improve the performance the efficiency of individual employees and the entire sales department, all because of setting reasonable and specific goals using a top-notch customer management system.
Determination of the Most Effective Sales Practices
Moreover, the CRM system allows quick reports on sales representatives' work, and you may get the entire pack of data about the best managers with just a few clicks. Moreover, this approach helps you determine effective strategies and evaluate the effectiveness of actions to work with your target audience.
Reports are beneficial for the most inefficient employees and the whole sales department. After all, data analysis is a crucial step towards creating precise standards for working with clients that will take your business to a new level.
Formation of a History of Work With a Specific Client
Centralized storage of customers' data makes further communication more straightforward. Indeed, the online CRM solution gives a complete picture of client relationships: the correspondence history, detailed information about emails, past purchases, the consumer's position in the sales funnel, etc. Thanks to high detailing, a sales employee can build competent communication.
This approach is beneficial for new employees. They do not need to talk with colleagues about where to find information about past transactions, and it is enough to open an online desktop app and see the complete information on the screen. And if employees look at the communication history, they can try to find new audience segments and expand the reach of the entire market. So it is another key to the success of the salesperson and the whole business.
Social Media Engagement to Boost Sales
Many CRMs offer to integrate with social networks. These marketing channels are suitable for many business tasks, from maintaining the target audience's interest and launching ads to creating content that can attract even more potential customers.
Fast Closing of Deals
Mobility is one of the most substantial advantages of CRM. You no longer need to monitor all changes on-site because mobile apps make all functions available. This approach allows the manager to close deals several times faster. Therefore, sales representatives improve personal and general performance.
More Straightforward Motivation of the Customer To Buy Your Product
Another advantage of a customer relationship management system is a comprehensive analysis of potential and existing clients. For example, what they need, how ready they are to buy your product, their loyalty to the brand, etc. Then, you can use this information as an excellent base for building trust communication with clients.
Wide Variety of CRM Solutions
Dozens of business representatives offer feature-rich programs that can be tailored to your business needs. They are characterized by full support for third-party tools for more convenient work with contacts. It turns a CRM program into one of the critical instruments for a sales representative.
How to Work With Contacts in CRM
Customer contacts are divided into three types:
- General Information;
- Status of work with a specific buyer;
- Communication history for every client.
Let's learn all of these types in more detail.
General Information
It is primary customer data. It includes:
- contact details - company name (or full name for individuals), address, phone number, email, working hours;
- full name of the heads of the company and heads of departments, indicating positions and contact numbers;
- time to contact;
- the optimal way of communication (phone, email, instant messenger, etc.).
Status of Work With a Specific Buyer
This section of CRM shows the current state of communication with the client:
- order processing stage;
- location of the order;
- payment method;
- the frequency of the order (one-time, episodic, regular).
It can also contain customer preferences - wish list, technical specifications, etc.
Communication History for Every Client
Here you can find all the data not directly related to the business but also crucial for quality communication. These include the hobbies of top management and key employees, their birthdays, etc.
These moments must be marked with action words when forming the base of contacts (for example, "Congratulate," "Contact," etc.).
How To Ensure Data Security When Working With Customer Contacts
Reliable storage of the database of contacts is your primary responsibility. Do everything possible to prevent the personal data of buyers and customers from getting to other people. It can happen in different ways: a hacker attack, spyware, ordinary neglect, and other things.
Here are five tips for improving data security when working with your contact database:
- Obligate employees to sign a non-disclosure agreement and a prohibition on the "removal" of the customer database.
- Restrict database export for all employees, except for a particular group of people.
- Install programs that prevent screen capture.
- Take care of reliable antivirus software in case of a hacker attack.
- Divide your contact database into groups and give managers access to individual groups.
What Else You Need To Consider When Maintaining a Contact Customer Base
Each company strives to keep customers for as long as possible to place orders and generate income. They use personal discounts, bonuses, email newsletters, and other marketing activities. If you use them when working with the contact database, they can bring more effect. Here are our tips:
- Don't launch an email workflow too often. You may run the risk of overfilling customers with information, after which they may stop reading letters or unsubscribing. The optimal frequency of an email workflow is once a week.
- Add as many criteria as possible to divide buyers into groups. Then, it allows you to create unique and exciting offers for every consumer. CRM system helps to do this quickly.
- Satisfy your customers with holiday greetings, a personal approach, and new products.
- Offer helpful and informative content in social networks and email newsletters. So you can keep users' interest, and they will look forward to new emails and posts.
- Launch promotions without warning. It can increase the customer's lifetime value.
- Ask your clients what they think about your product or service. People appreciate being asked for their opinion, and this will allow you to make valuable adjustments to your proposals.
- Find happy consumers with your product, take a photo of them, and post them on social networks (with their consent, of course).
- Make personal offers to buyers during a phone conversation. You can even congratulate a person on B-Day; this will increase his loyalty to your company.
Once you've created a customer contact database, it's worth using it for more than just a phonebook. Analysis of information will allow you to change your business strategy, increase profits or reduce operating costs, and both will lead to the company's successful development.
Conclusion
Let's sum it up. Opportunities for business expansion and revenue growth directly depend on the quality collection and the customer contact database. And the use of customer relationship management systems makes communication with customers even more effortless. It has a positive effect on the work of sales managers and the company's profits.
Moreover, it is much easier to train employees to interact with a CRM system than to spend precious time learning spreadsheet editors. Constant retraining will cause stress among employees and dissatisfaction with new software. And all because of the common human factor and unwillingness to leave the comfort zone.
Many small and large businesses successfully use CRM programs to automate work with the customer base. Therefore, use the knowledge of professionals and make the company even more successful!
We hope that you found our article helpful. If you have any questions about working with the customer base through CRM, leave them in the comments below. We will consider each of your questions, and the most interesting of them will become the basis for the following articles.