Does your database need a fresh start?
When was the last time you took a good hard look at your database or customer relationship management system (CRM)? Gathering, organizing and maintaining this information can be critical to your company’s—and your clients’—success. You know you need to get it in order, but maybe you haven’t had the time… or aren’t sure what to do first. Here’s how to get started.
The more you learn about your customers, the better your chances of selling them something, increasing profits and growing your business. It’s all about knowing who your customers are, what they need and how you can best deliver it to them—whether that business is a large multimillion dollar company or a small independent photo lab.
According to the Production Software Investment Outlook, published in Jan. 2011 by InfoTrends, 44.4% of print service providers own a CRM system, and another 23% are considering investing in a CRM system. “Your CRM isn’t just any old database,” emphasizes Bryan Yeager, a Senior Consultant at InfoTrends. “There are CRM systems for many different needs: some are designed for small businesses, some are meant for large enterprises, and some are even built right into common management information systems (MIS) that print service providers already use,” continues Bryan.
In today’s economy, it’s critical for businesses to have a carefully thought out marketing approach. Designing and building a database needs to be more than just something your IT programmers do. Your goal should be to create a robust database that can help you more fully address your customer’s needs—while at the same time improving your marketing success rate.
To begin, ask yourself these five questions:
1. What data do I already know?
This may be as simple as a contact name and e-mail address or as complex as a full purchase history. All databases start somewhere.
2. What information would I love to know about my customers?
Think about it this way: “If I could know X about all of my customers, it would make my sales process easier.” What’s the X for your company? It might be info related to buying habits, or sales interest, or even a client’s birthday. The sales process and relationship building are interlinked, so go ahead and learn something new about your customer if it will be useful for you.
3. Is the data I’ve gathered centrally located or scattered in separate databases?
Centralize your data. If customer information is scattered between your reps’ hard drives and multiple databases on-site, it reduces the chances you’ll be able to strategically use the data to its fullest potential.
4. Do I have a schedule for cleaning and updating my database?
Next, build a schedule for “scrubbing” and refreshing your customer database. Did a client move? Go out of business? Stale information is no more useful than a slice of stale bread.
5. Are my marketing efforts building my database?
One of the most powerful functions of marketing is the ability to collect data. Get your marketing and sales folks in a room before a major campaign. Yes, invite your data designer too. Brainstorm. What information do you want to collect? What can you do with it? Once a strategy is formed, make sure the data flow is cyclical by regularly entering the new information you collect back into your database.
Whether your data is housed in a massive Excel spreadsheet, or in the cloud with a customer relationship management system like SUGAR CRM, establishing a strategy on what to collect and how to use the information can be the key to more effectively targeting and servicing your customers.
TIPS for getting started with databases
- Get your bearings by finding out what info you already know.
- Ask yourself what additional information you’d like to know.
- Keep your customer data organized in a central location, with appropriate backups.
- Consistently update your data as information changes.
- Establish goals for gathering new, useful data in your next marketing campaign.
- Make sure data collected through marketing initiatives is incorporated into your database.
