Use your email marketing service as a CRM

I met with a long-time client yesterday. The occasion was our annual account review, which among other things provided a forum to explore new ideas.  This client is a manufacturer with outside sales reps calling on their worldwide customer base.

My contact was looking for a simple way for reps to complete a form after visiting a customer. The form would systematize the data gathering process and provide a convenient way for the sales manager to track activity.

He asked if the Delivra survey tool would work. Although we don’t think of ourselves as a CRM solution, his request was doable within the system.

Think of a survey as a data collection device, which can be linked from an email or posted to a web page and presto, you have a way to aggregate information in a database which is downloadable into a spreadsheet.

Why not go with a full-featured CRM package?

Well for one, the Delivra tool is free with unlimited use. But perhaps more importantly, the need is so basic there is no reason to buy all the bells and whistles available in more robust solutions not to mention eliminating the need for training and support.

Sometimes an answer is staring you right in the face. You just need to see it from a different angle.

Neil Berman | President & CEO