Data is one of the most valuable things we can collect from our customer base. Armed with the right data, your business will turn into an unstoppable force.
There are many pieces of data you can quickly start collecting that will help your business and marketing strategies in the long run. Let's break down the top three pieces of information you should be collecting and how you can use that information to build better experiences for your customers.
What Data Should I Collect from My Customers?
Aside from the apparent basic customer information like name, email address, phone number, etc., there are numerous other pieces of customer data that will help you build a better customer experience and a more robust business and marketing plan. Let's start with a few simple pieces of information you can easily start collecting.
- Lead Source Data: One of the most essential pieces of data you can collect from your customers is how they heard about you. This information will help you determine your return on investment for your different marketing campaigns.
Collecting this data can be easy with the right tools and processes in place to do so. You can manually collect this information by asking each customer who calls into your business "how they heard about you" and then using an internal system to keep a tally of how your customers are finding out about your company.
Another way to do this is through automatic marketing lead tracking within your phone system. This can be done by creating new business phone numbers and assigning them to different marketing campaigns. You will also assign the different phone numbers to campaigns within your phone system. That way, when a customer dials your business, your phone system will automatically know which campaign (social ad, direct mail, radio ad, etc.) enticed the customer to call.
- Email Data: Having a pulse on who opens your emails and who clicks on content within the body of the email can help you prioritize what customers or potential customers to reach out to. The best way to accomplish this is by using a third-party email system like HubSpot or Constant Contact.
These systems make it easy to track open and click rates from your emails. You will be able to see which of your customers are opening your emails and who is clicking on each link in your emails. You can then use this information to follow up with customers if they seem interested in a particular product or service your business offers.
- Customer Behavior: Tracking how your customers interact with your business is an excellent way for you to analyze how best to communicate with them. Here are a few things to think about regarding your customer's behavior with your company.
- Booking Appointments: How do your customers book appointments with your company? Is it by calling your business, booking online, or some other way? Once you know that piece of information, you can start to include that in marketing efforts. If customers prefer booking online, make sure you always include a link in your social posts or marketing pieces on how to do so.
- Social Media: You can also analyze social media channels to see where you are getting the most customer interactions, such as likes, shares, or messages, to determine which channel is best for your business. Then you can start putting more time and resources into advertising via that channel and you should start to see a return on your investment in no time.
Why Should I Collect This from My Customers?
There are so many reasons why your company should start collecting this type of information from your customers. Here are just a few:
- Analyze Customer Trends: Once you have started collecting different data sets from customers, you will be able to analyze customer trends. This can be anything from the best time of day to send an email to get the highest open rate to discovering what social media channel brings you the most customers.
You can use this information to refine your marketing campaigns and tactics, which will help you ultimately increase your job conversion rates because you will be targeting the right audiences.
- Assist with Marketing Plans: When your company collects lead source information, you can start to see what channels are bringing in the most significant number of new customers and/or repeat business. This information is crucial for business success because you can start to monitor your most successful channels and slowly put more money towards those marketing efforts.
Any email data you collect can help you build a robust email marketing strategy for your business. You will start to get a sense of the best time of day to send emails and also how many you should send in a given week. You want to make sure you communicate the right amount to your customers, not too much and not too little.
Build a Better Customer Experience with Data
Now that you have all this great data collected and you have analyzed customer trends and made updates to your marketing plan, you can start to build a better experience for your customers, both current and potential.
One way to do this is by using the trends you analyzed to your advantage. You will start to know how your customers like to be communicated with and where they are looking out for sales or coupons. If you begin to advertise in channels that you know your customers are looking, you will start to build your brand recognition, and when a customer has a need, they will know who to call.
When you start to use data to refine your email campaigns, you can feel confident knowing you are communicating with your customers just the right amount. You don't want to overcommunicate and run the risk of your customers unsubscribing or opting out of email communications from your business. You also want to make sure they don't forget about you! Finding that balance can be challenging but is doable.
About Successware
Successware is an industry-leading, business management software provider for the home services contractor industry dedicated to ensuring customers have all the resources they need to manage and grow their business. Successware is part of Authority Brands, the parent company to leading home service brands across the plumbing, electrical services, residential cleaning, at-home care, swimming pool repair and maintenance, tree removal, restoration, and pest control services sectors.
If you are interested in learning more about Successware, visit successware.com or call 888-272-8009 today.
