Over the years, business documentation has gone from paper to email; from cabinets and shelves to the cloud. It’s been a massive revolution that has brought sweeping changes to the way we run our businesses. When we add smartphones to the equation, things change even further. Mobile-friendly websites are the order of the day.
Smartphones have brought an avalanche of apps that can be downloaded. When they relate to business, they enable people to view almost everything from their phones. This can be accessed virtually anywhere, and all we need is an internet connection. The cloud makes the data available day or night.
Email tracking software is something that is gathering pace in the business world. There are also benefits of putting it alongside CRMs (Customer Relationship Management systems). Let’s discuss six tips for anyone using email tracking software.
1. View the Interactions
Fortunately, businesses aren’t left to their own devices when they choose to purchase email tracking software. The technicians at CirrusInsight.com say companies are actively searching for websites that help with the installation process. They want articles covering such topics as reinstalling the latest versions of Outlook or uninstalling from Office 365.
Just as businesses have much to learn from viewing their rivals, they have much to learn from reading email tracking data. They need to consider whether their marketing emails have been worded correctly, personalized sufficiently, and sent to the right people.
Businesses can use the software to find out if the potential customer reads the email, and if so how many times. Was an attachment or a URL link included? The tracking software can advise if they were accessed too.
2. Identify the Customers’ Needs
All the above information will provide clues as to who is interested (and in what) and who isn’t. Email tracking software is able to display the entire communication between a company and its customer, in date order. This will help provide a very full picture of the engagement process from start to finish.
3. Engage on Their Terms
Any incorrect email addresses will have automatically been removed from the address list by the software. It may be that the goods or services a company offers needs to be amended to reflect the results of the tracking data. This will help with future communications, sales, and marketing.
4. Put Follow Up in Place
It’s no longer a case of simply sending an email, and sitting and waiting. Businesses can use their software to schedule follow up emails, calls, or appointments. It may be that automated follow up emails are all that is needed, in which case the software will do the job. Some software can be used to personalize different emails for different people, too.
5. Connect to a CRM System
This is a real case of synergy because tracking software becomes even more powerful when this occurs. Some software can feed into such CRM systems as Salesforce (and there are alternatives available too). Emails can be sent using the CRM – even on a mass basis.
When historical emails have been incorporated into the CRM system, everyone can have access to them. CRM systems can be costly because of what they do, but there are demo versions available online. They will have certain functions disabled. There are free versions that may be suitable for small businesses, but if there are many employees the full-blown system may be desirable.
6. Look at Sales Stats and Forecasts
The (sales) CRM system may contain details of customer invoices and payments. There will be details of what was sent and when. Were there any items returned, or refunds requested and given? This should all show here.
Many sales departments feature daily boards that show who sold what and how many. This can help with staff motivation, and the stats can be fed into the annual review process. Modern CRM systems can display this information instantly.
CRM systems can also anticipate the future based on the past. The data can contribute towards business plans and identify expected demand. The areas where more resources or training is needed can also be revealed and acted upon.
This turns the process full circle because future emails can be sent that reflect the CRM data. Customer contact information will be in a place that can be easily amended where required. In turn, the emails can be tracked and reviewed as before.
When businesses harness technology to their daily processes, they can become more efficient and professional. It is easier to interpret stats and information when it is automatically produced for you. Lessons can be learned and changes are made, in order to secure future success. Any company that falls behind and resists what technology has to offer may put itself and its future at risk.