Customer relationship management (CRM) software collects and stores customer data to improve interactions. Most CRMs offer several types of automation, from automatic lead scoring (predicting the likelihood that a contact will make a purchase) to customer segmentation (grouping contacts based on common characteristics).
CRMs can also automate tasks like sending emails and dialing phone numbers.
CRM software is most popular among B2B marketers, but it can be useful for any business with a large customer database.
For example, Roland Corporation , which makes synthesizers, used ActiveCampaign 's CRM software to automate customer behavior tracking and personalized messaging, according to a case study .
“Any potential customer who walks into a store and speaks to our product specialists can be added – with their permission of course – to sales funnels, so they can have a more personalized experience with our specialists guiding them through the purchasing or learning process,” says Paul Smith, global CRM manager at Roland, in the case study.
“Then, we also have some automations based on the stage each customer is in within the sales process. It automates tasks like follow-up calls and emails so they are sent directly to customers.”
Upselling during checkout
When protein bar company Aloha decided to go direct- to-consumer again—after a hiatus during which it focused on its retail partners—profitability was essential. So Aloha’s marketing team used marketing automation to increase average order value .
“We started doing things like upselling to shoppers right at the last moment, canada whatsapp group during checkout,” says Aloha CEO Brad Charron in an English-language episode of Shopify Masters .
There are many apps that can integrate with your Shopify store to automatically upsell or cross-sell during checkout, including ReConvert , which includes options to customize offers based on customer characteristics, as well as time-limited upsells that appear after checkout on the thank you page.
Customer Experience
Traditionally, marketing and customer service were considered two separate entities. Marketing automations involved scheduling emails and blog posts, while customer service automations included chatbots that provided pre-determined answers to frequently asked questions.
Today, businesses want to offer their customers a more seamless customer experience , and chat is becoming an important marketing channel. “The connection between customer experience and marketing is often more distant in ecommerce companies, and that doesn’t help either side.
“Both departments have the same goals and we have a lot to learn and share,” says Grace Choi, former customer experience manager at American bidet company TUSHY , in a case study for Gorgias , its chat software for chatting with customers.
Grace used Gorgias to serve marketing campaigns within TUSHY’s customer chat interface instead of a standard popup. For example, TUSHY’s welcome campaign automatically provides a discount code in the chat for new visitors who appear to be on the verge of leaving the site.
But the campaign only runs during business hours, so the chatbot can hand off the conversation to a person on the customer experience team if questions arise.