You’ve heard of “CRM”- you may have even signed up for one, but you don’t know how to use it effectively. We see this problem all the time with small businesses.
What is a CRM?
CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management. It is a form of managing contact with all contacts- future customers, current customers, past customers. A good CRM will allow your business to manage all contacts along with the data and information associated with those contacts.
How do I use my CRM more effectively?
If you’re using a CRM now but don’t think you’re getting your money’s worth (or your time) from it, it might be because you aren’t using it well.
In order to get the most out of a CRM, first of all we suggest pairing it with your marketing automation. With an integrated CRM + Email Marketing tool, any leads from email marketing will link back to your customer profiles, and any tags in your CRM will help you send more effective emails. The two can be used separately but, like peanut butter and jelly, they’re just better together.
Another tip is to be glued to your CRM! Ironic, since most people using a CRM probably need to get off your computer and talk to someone face-to-face, we know. But if you ever forget to add a new contact to your CRM, you could miss an important lead. If you get a lead but forget to take notes on your opportunities, you may never follow up. This is why CRMs are so important. Having a good, integrated CRM tool is like having a hands-off personal assistant (that never takes vacation!)
Sales managers should be the first on the CRM bandwagon because a good CRM allows managers to see a dashboard and stats of their entire team. Good reporting helps managers mark sales goals, identify problems, and make the most of leads. In Salesmanna a manager can see what each salesperson is accomplishing throughout the week, month, or quarter. At any point the sales manager can gauge profit and sales goals from the dashboard reporting. These tools in the hands of a great manager can take any business from good to great.
Salesmanna’s basic plan is the CRM without Marketing Automation. Here is what we offer:
Track new leads
Nurture current leads
Keep records of conversations, calls, or emails
Email contacts directly from your contact book
Use tags to easily sort through contact lists
Search & filter through your entire contact list
Integrate with Salesmanna’s Marketing Automation tool to send email campaigns
Customize the fields that appear with each contact
Add contacts to lists for easier campaign and newsletter sending
Check out what we have to offer and let us know if you have any questions!
An email campaign can be a couple different things. A monthly newsletter is an email campaign.
However, the most useful type of campaign is what we refer to as “automated.” This is the kind of campaign where you create a handful of different emails and triggers. For example, Email 1 is sent to your entire database or a specific list. The recipients who click on Email 1 get Email 2 a few days later. The ones who don’t even open Email 1 get another version of Email 1, called Email 1a, a few days later. All of the emails are sent based on “triggers” or specific actions taken by the recipient. This is using full Email Automation how it was meant to be used.
Email campaigns are intended for recipients who are expecting marketing from your company. They shouldn’t be spammy or annoying. If you use them as such, you’ll be blocked from Salesmanna (and almost every other email marketing software).
The goal with an automated Email Campaign or Newsletter is to reach out to interested contacts, utilize inbound marketing, and identify interested leads. Once you’ve identified your leads you can provide relevant information to those who are actually interested in receiving it.
Stay tuned for more FAQ blog posts & tips for using Salesmanna to fit your business.
Wondering how email automation could help your business? Ask us here for a free consultation.
Inspired by Nathan Barry, we wanted to throw out a few quick tips to our readers about writing and sending emails that your contacts actually want to open.
One thing we’ve noticed is that small business owners aren’t the best at communicating with their customers. This is a tragedy.
Why? Because who should be better at this than small businesses, with just enough customers that they could really fine-tune their content and marketing strategy? Small Business owners, who have contact information for almost all interested clients, have the absolute best database of interested clients, what they like, and what kind of email newsletters really click with them.
Tip 1: Do your research
If you’re not already using an email automation tool that provides analytics on what or when the recipients click on your emails, start here.
If you are, and you’re not paying attention, start with realizing that you’re throwing away great market research.
Tip 2: Don’t send useless information.
Berry puts it this way:
“The best emails are the ones that provide immense value to the reader. If your entire email sequence consists of “sell, sell, sell” then you’ve entirely missed the point. Instead you want to use education to help your reader. As you write each email ask yourself, “will this content help the recipient improve their life or work?” If not, don’t send it.”
Tip 3: Keep it short. Keep it short. Keep it short.
(see tip 2)
Tip 4: Know your audience.
If you’re sending real-estate emails to a group of professionals, your tone should be professional. Think of how much “free time” your readers have when they see your emails– the answer is none. They don’t want fluff, they want information and a way to respond if they’re interested. Make this part easy!
On the flip side, if you’re sending emails about your small business success to a group of people who have volunteered to help, keep it personal. They don’t want to feel like you’re a robot and suddenly too busy to make your emails personal. Make a joke, give them some information, and keep it casual.
P.S. It’s always a good idea to use real first names in mass emails (you can do this with Salesmanna).
