In this article we are going to discuss the main steps to effectively segment your customer database such as building the database of people who want to talk to you, prioritising your phone calls or sending more precise messages to the right persons.
When implementing a marketing database, the last thing you may want to happen is the structure to prove wrong or inefficient.
Imagine you have a large MS Excel spreadsheet with all your contacts.
1. Column #1 is Person type
The first category you must focus on is the Person type. The options you may have here are: suspect, prospect, customer, past customer, employee, referral partner, recruits.
- A suspect is somebody you suspect might be a great fit for your service but they have not expressed the interest yet.
- A prospect, on the other hand, is somebody who has expressed the interest in your service.
- Customers, past customers, and employees are self-explanatory.
- Referral partners are those who are working with you and refer your business but who are not necessarily paying you.
- The recruits are maybe close friends or family members that would like to work for your company.
2. Column #2 is Lead source
Where does the person come from? And here are some generally accepted leads sources:
- Referral
- PPC
- Media: radio, newspapers, magazines, television
- Organic search: Google, Bing, etc.
- Direct mail
- Facebook ads
- Print newsletters
- Conferences
- Marketing: online or offline marketing, telemarketing, etc.
- Lists buy: you may purchase a list of your ideal prospects
3. Column #3 is Contact owner
Who is responsible for this person? This is really important. If you have a client, who is their account manager, who is the sales person working with the potential customer? The options here can be:
- You
- Employee #1
- Employee #2
- etc.
4. Category #4 is Referral partner
This is the person who is responsible and who actually sends you the lead in the first place. Here you have a single option where you actually put the name of that person responsible for that lead. If the person comes from a referral, then you put the name of that referral or the name of the person responsible for that referral.
5. Category #5 is Opportunity stage
Where are you or your team in the sales process? And here we have some options such as:
- New lead – when a person reaches your business for the first time, either from a referral, website or introduced to your business by somebody else.
- Educating – You set an appointment with the respective person. Following an appointment, one of these three things can happen:
- Win opportunity (you close a deal)
- Lost opportunity (you can’t close a deal)
- Think it over (reconsider the terms of the deal)
So, we challenge you! Pick up a webcam, sit in front of it and answer your clients so you can spread your knowledge and get yourself out on by marketing your passion and your expertise. Here is not about creating a presentation to get like one more client. What about is getting the knowledge out of your head out to the world, out to the people that need it so you can truly scale your impact.
