Data Management

How many clients do you really have?

So you have a long list of clients – that’s great – but how many on that list are really clients? And how do you find out?

Step 1:   Take your list of clients and check to see who has ordered from you:

  • This month;
  • This quarter;
  • In the last 12 months.

These are your Active Clients – so how many do you really have?

Step 2:   Now take a look at the rest of the clients – these are your Inactive Clients.

Why!  You need to ask yourself the following:

  • When did I / we last speak to this company?
  • Is the company still there?
  • Is my contact still there?
  • Are they ordering from my competitors?

If the answer to any or all of these is ‘I don’t know’, you need to data cleanse – check and update your contacts.

Step 3:   Data Cleansing – How to do it!

  1. Ensure all your data is recorded in a uniform way and in one place e.g. a CRM System (Customer Relationship Management system) that can be easily updated going forward, by everyone in the company.
  2. Start calling your Inactive Clients:
  3. Check the Company details e.g is the address still correct, have they changed the Company name etc– make any changes to your CRM.
  4. Check if your contact is there – if they are – see if you can have a word there and then. If they are out – leave them a message and remember to call them back later that day or when they are next in – do not leave it; you could miss a business opportunity!
  5. If your contact has gone – find out who has taken over and ask to be put through to them.

This is important – new contacts – may have business contacts with your competitors – they may not know about you and your excellent products/services – you need to introduce yourself and your company as soon as possible – after all you want them back on the Active Client list!

  1. Make sure you are GDPR compliant:  Seek permission from each contact – new and old – to contact them by email with up to date information on your products/services (Don’t forget to have something ready to send).

From 25th May 2018 the General Data Protection Regulation’s require all companies to seek permission to send emails – make sure you are compliant now! DO NOT WAIT UNTIL the 25TH May 2018.      Not Sure what to do?  Please read this – https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/data-protection-reform/overview-of-the-gdpr.

By the way you will need to seek permission from your Active Clients as well!

  1. Make sure all changes are recorded on your CRM system, including recording contacts email permissions (the yes’s and the no’s).

What if there is no answer – I hear you say!   I didn’t say it would be easy!   You may need to make several calls to get to speak to contacts.     You may need to become a detective and check Companies House, google websites and social media sites including Facebook and LinkedIn to see if a company is still trading, has changed its name, merged with another company, moved premises etc;  all in pursuit of a business opportunity.

And don’t forget, that once you have updated all your data, you need to keep it that way!

So have a go at Step 1 and see how many Active Clients you really have and ask yourself – is that enough!  If the answer is NO – I want to turn the Inactive Clients into Active Clients – go to Step 3 and start Data Cleansing.

Did you know we at TJC have a specialist team that can carry out Data Cleansing, if you need help please check out our website: https://tjcuk.co.uk/services/datamanagement