I was invited on-site to meet with a new client's marketing department and hear about their challenges with customer segmentation. They are an international distribution company, headquartered in Philadelphia, PA, implementing Microsoft Dynamics CRM.
They have two challenges with customer segmentation:
- How do they identify up-sell and cross-sell opportunities within their existing customer base?
- How do they identify prospects in the sales cycle who are more engaged and ultimately further along in the sales cycle?
Lucky for them, the first challenge is easy since Microsoft Dynamics CRM can be configured to add interest segmentation at the account level. Then with an Advanced Find, you can create Marketing Lists with these segments and target the messaging to these groups. Another valuable feature is the open architecture of the platform. Microsoft Dynamics CRM can be integrated to other systems such as the Microsoft Dynamics ERP accounting systems. Then you can create an Advanced Find showing the buying habits of companies with similar interests and possibly uncover a buying trend you did not consider.
Regarding the second challenge, Microsoft Dynamics CRM supports ISV solutions like CoreMotives or SalesFUSION. These solutions are designed to seamlessly integrate with Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Information from these ISV solutions can provide valuable insights to your prospects and customers.
For example, alerting you to a web visit and knowing the traffic source and keyword term that got them to your page. If you are investing a lot of time and resources into your website or even one page, this information will tell you if you are targeting correctly. And even better, store all of this information with the contact. Are you getting the right audience - industry, title, location? Are the keywords the right ones? Do you need to optimization your page for better SEO results? Does one page have consistently high bounce rates?
Where the engagement of your audience is concerned, the information is available in reports and can be reviewed by each event. You can also set up Workflows when a certain activity is met. For example, let's say a company talked to your salesperson within the last three months, has viewed case studies or articles on your website and for whatever reason, is still not calling you. Isn't this something you'd like your salesperson to know? Me too! And with sophisticated systems like Microsoft Dynamics CRM and an ISV solution, it can be done.
It's always an interesting experience when I hear about the challenges and how our solutions help our clients. I typically meet our clients before writing case studies and while there may be some common denominators, each of their needs are truly unique.
By: Kathy Davidson, RSM - Microsoft Dynamics CRM Partner with offices in New Jersey and Minnesota
The post Effective Customer Segmentation Helps Move Sales Quickly Through Cycle appeared first on CRM Software Blog | Dynamics 365.
