CRM is mainly a tool that helps sales managers boost sales. That was my idea of a CRM, no big deal right? That is what I thought until about a year and a half ago when I started using it seriously. I have mentioned earlier that I visited Salesforce and discovered most of the features of Pardot in San Francisco.
Lately, I felt more confident and started digging more into Salesforce from Pardot, using it more every day for work with real data, and even attending online training that I recommend to everyone.
Anyway, CRM is a tool that helps professionals keep track of their customers and sales. Some of the features of Salesforce are mindblowing and I cannot recommend it enough.
I can see myself using it for my everyday life and organizing everything starting from my contacts, relationships, and even grocery lists.
The Tweet
As I was scrolling through Twitter, a promoted tweet appeared from T-Mobile CEO John Legere. It was a call to action giveaway.
My experiment: reverse-engineer the social media habits of someone like a Fortune 500 CEO. Does he have the right team to help him create and track his social media giveaways, or is it just a t-shirt for a tweet or retweet?
I found his public email and wrote a simple thank you email stating my address and the kind of t-shirt I needed.
I emailed at 4:55 PM and got a quick response by 5:33 PM. The assistant was aware of the t-shirt giveaway but had nothing to track winners. A few days later I got a package in the mail.
The T-Mobile magenta t-shirt. It is now my favorite weekend shirt for biking and hiking.
Why CRM Matters
If you paid attention to my excitement throughout this story: John Legere’s little giveaway converted even me, someone who was not part of the game, into a follower. I now know a thing or two about his public persona and his approach.
But I never converted to a T-Mobile customer.
If they had used a CRM, they would have tracked me and followed up. I would have been in a retargeting campaign. A CRM would have been the perfect tool to keep engagement with a potential prospect who would have eventually given in. Since they only used email with no tracking, I just faded away.
That is why CRM matters.