One of the most overlooked features of a CRM – and arguably one of the most powerful – are crm tags.
Today, every business owner who wants to build a profitable small business must start from must start with two major mindset changes:
- No two clients are alike
AND - No cookie-cutter approach is likely to attract new or repeat business in the long term.
If you believe that every single one of your clients is an individual and should be treated as such, then tagging your clients should be your first stop.
But what exactly are tags?
So What Are CRM Tags Anyway?
Simply put, tags are an easy, intuitive way to sort your clients into groups based on the interests, preferences and special attributes that set them apart.
Think about it. Your customer base consists of many different ages, opinions, genders, and backgrounds
You may have clients who are twentysomethings and others who are seniors.
You may have your long-term, old reliable bookings alongside one-offs who want “something small done” and disappear from time to time.
And then you have clients who celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, or neither.
Any given business owner has an incredibly diverse base of clients in terms of personalities, needs, how they found you, and why they selected you.
The takeaway? You can’t think of your clients as a one-size-fits-all block.
That’s why tags were invented, to help you organize your clients (or potential customers) into groups that share similar characteristics.
A tag is an identifier, a one or two word that you add to a client’s card in order to distinguish them from other clients.
Using tags turns you from a simple CRM user into a strategist on a mission. It gives you the ability to filter your database through a much smaller lens, identify special interest groups, form close relationships with them, and tailor your services to meet their exact needs (we’ll show you how in a second).
“I’ve Tagged My Clients. Now What?”
Congratulations. You’ve added tags. Now you’re ready to run a simple tag-based search and send super-targeted marketing emails and offers based on your clients’ unique attributes.
What kind of emails are we talking about? Consider how tagging clients can help you hone in on messages that truly resonate with your audience:
- Friendly welcome messages that warm up your clients and let them know what to expect
- Specialized messages and promos that warm up cold leads you haven’t heard from recently
- Reactivation messages that bring old client relationships back to life
- Timely offers and specials that are tailored for specific clients (new clients, former “loyal” clients, holiday specials, etc)
What’s great is that if you’re working with a CRM with a built-in email marketing tool like vcita, you can shoot these emails effortlessly without having to plug in a 3rd party email marketing tool. Think of each tag as a targeted mailing list that makes sure your messages are always delivered to the right person, at the right time.
How Service-Based Business Owners Use CRM Tags
Below we’ve broken down how the average service business can use tags to give their bottom lines a much-needed boost.
Let’s take “Eric” for example. He’s a fitness coach and nutritionist working in the Bay area.
After training and consulting clients for five years, Eric realizes that his business could be far more profitable if he started thinking of his clients as different groups instead of offering the same deals and discounts to everyone.
As a result, he begins tagging clients according to their shared interests and, most importantly, their shared challenges.
- Clients who’ve just had a baby (tag: “new moms”)
- Clients in their 60’s and older (tag: “60+”)
- Clients who have type II diabetes (tag: “diabetes)
Based on these tags, Eric creates a unique marketing and communication kit for each group, tailored specifically to their needs.
Below are some examples of the messages Eric might have sent – keep a close eye on the benefits and pain points addressed based on these specific audiences.
New Moms
Senior Clients
Diabetic Clients
See how that works?
If you’ve never used tags in vcita before, check out this short explainer on how to add tags.
6 Powerful CRM Tags You Should Consider for Your Business
Some food for thought: with each small business being unique, there’s no “right” formula for your business’ tags.
Besides, tagging is about more than just client-facing communication. You can also use tags to organize work for both yourself and your team, offering important insights for how to talk with your clients at any given time without having to ask questions.
Here are smart, general tags business owners should consider rolling out in their CRM:
1. New Lead – (tag: “new lead”)
A new lead requires you and your team to pay special attention in terms of response time, nurturing, and following up. Naturally, this is a tag you can remove when the prospect turns into a customer.
2. Type of Service (tag: “career coaching”)
Your ability to offer complimentary or additional services is based on the services you know clients have already purchased. Think of Amazon’s “Customers who bought this item also bought…”
3. Birthdays (tag: “birthday – march”, “birthday – april”, etc)
Perfect for putting a smile on your clients’ faces, happy birthday greetings and coupons are just another way to make a positive impression on your loyal base.
4. Inactive clients
These are clients who haven’t been in touch with for a while. It’s ultimately up to you to decide what period of time needs to elapse before a client is assigned with an “inactive” status. Keeping track of clients who’ve been out of the loop can help you sow the seeds of a reactivation email campaign down the line.
5. VIP clients
Don’t forget to show your most active and dedicated clients some love. Many business owners make the mistake of thinking that loyal customers don’t deserve their fullest attention from a marketing perspective; however, you should keep in touch in order to keep them happy and in your pocket.
6. Referral source (e.g. “Facebook group”)
How did the client in question first hear about you? Facebook? Google Ad? Your blog?
Understanding what drives prospects to your door is critical in planning your future marketing budget and understanding which advertising channels you should be focusing on.
Time to Start Tagging!
Business owners need all the help they can get when it comes to wrangling their many client relationships and getting their business in order.
Tagging is an essential piece of the puzzle, allowing you a simple means of organizing your clients and making your marketing more efficient at the same time.
With the right tags and the help of tools like vcita, you can set up your tagging system in no time to help boost your bottom line.
And with that, happy tagging!
