3 Reasons to Set up Metrics in Your Online CRM

by | Oct 8, 2013

Pressure to set up metrics in your online CRM is constant.  You 

online-CRM

have heard time and time again that a company must measure more than just opens and clicks in the email marketing service.  Don’t do it unless you are clear on the reasons why there is so much buzz about metrics and data collection.

 

Business is being driven by the data gathered about their customers.  The data comes from reading trade newsletters/magazines and from monitoring social media activity.  A lot can be learned about trends that affect your company by keeping your eyes and ears open to what data tells you about your prospective customers.

 

Big business hires specialized companies to monitor Big Data.  Using this digital information properly is a huge part of their sales growth.  Without the important data, they know a decline in market share is imminent. 

 

Data Married to Future Action

 Gathering cross-referenced data is nothing new.  For centuries, almost every single word of the Bible has been analyzed in what is called a “concordance”.  One of the reasons why scholars developed this cross-referencing tool is to get a clearer vision of the meaning found in a single occurrence of a word or event.

 

Your data gathering is also to make single occurrences come into focus by looking at the broader scope of occurrences.  The measurements needed in your business do not need to be huge.  Instead, the reason for setting up metrics and reports should be to drive your actions and adjust to what you learn from your sales leads and current customers. 

 

You might ask the question, “What do I need to know about my sales lead actions that will be easy to adjust when we get the data collected?” Collect that information in your online CRM.

 

What Does Your Data Tell YOU?

 The simple answer is “nothing”.

 

All data can do is inform your actions and marketing strategy.  In itself, it has no power.  So if you measure something without taking action, you are probably wasting time and digital capital.  You must have smart people who fully understand your company and your objectives online crmto interpret what to do with the data.

 

Operating a company is a constant series of trade-offs.  Balancing time and money to drive sales growth is an everyday affair.  The use of data collected in your online CRM must focus on the actions that enable you to engage customers and delight them with what you offer.  Without this end result, what is the purpose?

 

Relevant Customer Experiences

 According to a recent study by the Chief Marketing Officer Council, up to 88% of respondents claim that online content played a moderate to major role in vendor selection.  When you are able to use the data gathered by the online CRM, you can anticipate what sales leads and customers want to see in your online content and email campaigns.  This data can be an essential ingredient in your sales growth.

 

Our lifestyles are becoming increasingly driven by data.  We don’t even notice when a company is responsive to the data they have collected about us.  We expect this kind of response from the companies that get our business. 

 

A company must integrate responsible use of data in a way that makes more connections between the consumer need and what we offer them.  Without clear, well-interpreted and immediately actionable data in their online CRM – a company will fall behind in the race.