CRMs—More Than Your Father's Rolodex

Today, a customer relationship management (CRM) system has simply become the cost of entry into a modern market. It's nearly impossible to run, let alone scale a business without one. In fact, we highly recommend you don't try it.

And why would you want to? CRM's help your organization manage connections like a wizard! A CRM is more than just a digital filing cabinet. It's a way to access, understand, and monetize the goldmine at your fingertips: customer data. In this post, we explore:

• The importance of data and how it can be used effectively 
• Why the "old ways" of collecting and storing data don't work anymore
• The power of a CRM system 

The Importance Of Data & How It Can Be Used Effectively 

Data on its own is useless. For data to be effective, it needs to be collected, stored, and harnessed in such a way it becomes valuable with minimal maintenance. For example, having the names of everybody who's showed interest in your business over the last year can be helpful. But, what if you knew:

1. who was just browsing
2. who was ready to buy, or better yet,
3. who was ready to buy and checked other boxes that are critical for making a sale?

By better understanding your data and working smart, you can ensure the right messaging gets to the right people at the right time without labor-intensive or prospect-annoying processes. Targeting has also become more sophisticated—meaning that ads are now less interruptive and more informative and useful to the viewer. Today, they have become so advanced, that we take for granted the relevancy of the ads we get served in our Instagram feeds and YouTube videos.

The Old Ways Don't Work Anymore

It's no secret--contemporary digital marketing has changed significantly (and continues to evolve). GDPR, privacy, savvy prospects, and even huge corporations like Apple redefining data mining have all played a big part in this ever-changing industry. Do any of these sound familiar?

• Buying data lists
• Mass email sends with misspelled names
• Cold calls without consent 
• Spam SMS messages from random phone numbers 

You probably even still see some of these tactics being used. We’re not talking about the occasional ‘Hi {first name}’ greeting mistake every marketer dreads sending. We’re talking about the data-scraping, privacy-invading, industry-shaming practices that give marketers and sales people a bad name.

Any company relying on these practices today seems behind the times by comparison. But the uncomfortable truth is many businesses still market like this. We bet you’ve even experienced one this week. But why? Malicious intent? Avarice? Lack of caring?

In most cases, it’s none of the above. It’s the opposite. Many companies are so excited to get their message out there, they forget the blend of science and craft that comes together to create great marketing. They forget they sit on a goldmine of prospect data offering powerful insights into behavior, predilections, and desire.

The Power Of A CRM System 

A CRM is a system that holds the data of your customer. It can be as simple as a spreadsheet or as powerful as a constantly evolving artificial intelligence single source of truth. When used correctly, a CRM has the power to drive more revenue and delight prospects at every stage of the buying journey.

Propel Your Sales & Marketing Efforts To The Next Level

Interested Learning If CRM is Right For You?

Do you want to learn more about how a CRM can set your business up to scale? We are happy to talk and see if HubSpot could be a good CRM for your needs!

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• create cost-savings
• generate leads 
• develop efficient processes and more. 

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