Segmentation of the client base in CRM is the division of your company’s clients according to some characteristics. First of all, segmentation is necessary for the effective work of the company. Let’s explain why such a division can be considered as a foundation for sales growth and development of your business.
What is the purpose of segmentation?
Customer segmentation in CRM is necessary for a manager to work properly with different segments. There are 2 main segments – new customers who have not made a purchase and regular customers who have bought your product. Then comes internal segmentation with additional statuses.
For new customers you can make statuses such as:
- In the works – customers that managers are working with;
- Rejected – these are customers who refused to buy for any reason;
- Poor – the client called the company by mistake.
For example, you may have a “Rejector” qualification – a customer who refused to buy for some reason. For transferring a customer with the “Rejected” status to a customer, you can assign higher rates to managers in order to increase their motivation.
So, depending on the reason for the rejection, you can sign the customer up for a specific mailing in order to close the objection for which he refused to buy.
You can do the following segmentation for customers who have made a purchase:
- One-time – made a purchase once and won’t contact you again;
- Occasional – a customer who needs to call you depending on some condition (for example, season, after a certain time, etc.)
- Regular – buys constantly, every month, he constantly needs to work with you.
This division is also suitable for the B2B segment.
Different groups of consumers require different approaches. For example, news about discounts for regular customers will definitely interest your regular customer. For someone who is not yet buying products from your company, a similar offer will have little effect. That’s why it’s so important to segment the customers who come to your company.
How is segmentation done?
All the data about the customer is entered into the CRM-system and assigned a status. Specify the name, phone number, email address and other brief information about the client. Then projects and tasks are linked to the client, as well as transaction information.
In the process, the client’s status may change, depending on the frequency, age, and number of appeals. Further you will be able to use certain marketing tools for each segment. These can be: phone calls, e-mail newsletters, commercial offers, company news, notifications of promotions, etc.
For example, you can tell new customers about promotions, sales and offers that might be of interest to them. Regular customers will be reminded of accumulated discounts, bonuses and new products. This way, you can work with the cells of your base, offering the information the segment needs.
The benefits of customer base segmentation
With customer segmentation in CRM you can offer customers interesting information and suitable offers for them. Separate information for new customers, for one-time customers and other segments. By segmenting your customer base, your offers will hit the target more accurately. So, for example, during a season when there are a large number of requests, you can temporarily turn off the “Low-quality” segment and not work with it because it’s not your target segment.
Segmentation in CRM helps reduce the time it takes to process requests, strengthen business relationships with large customers, and weed out non-target audiences. You’ll be able to work better with your target segment and identify customer satisfaction with your product. In this way, your efforts can pay off, multiply the number of grateful customers and increase profits.
Benefits of Base Segmentation
Segmenting your customer base in CRM will help you better target each of your customers individually. You’ll save your managers time and increase their efficiency. For example, if you have a sales season and receive a lot of requests, segmentation will help the manager which customers you should work with first and which ones you should leave for later.
The advantages of the base segmentation:
- Reducing the time to process the request;
- Competent construction of work with a segment;
- increase in efficiency of your managers;
- increase in the number of clients and successful deals;
- rational allocation of the company’s resources.
Segmentation in CRM allows the manager to have the right information about the client and facilitates the work with the buyer.
Segmentation as a tool for increasing sales
Segmentation of the base increases the efficiency of application processing and saves the manager time. It’s a way to help focus your company’s resources on serving the right target segment instead of wasting them on processing “empty” requests.
Customers with a “Bounce” status can be broken down by reasons for objection, such as: expensive, works with another vendor, and others. You can keep statistics on the reasons for rejections, identifying objections and customer needs. Then, based on this information, you can develop a strategy for company growth.
Segmentation in CRM can be done with a long-term perspective. For example, you can allocate a “Near Business” segment – these are people whose area of expertise borders on your field and they may become your partners in the future. You can designate them as “Substandard” and indicate that they are near business. When you expand your company or startup, the “Near Business” segment will be able to send you appropriate partnership offers.