4 CRM Data Types & How To Use Them

Posted in CRM
Marketing

There are four types of customer relationship management (CRM) data: quantitative, qualitative, descriptive and identity. Understanding what specific information falls under these categories and how to use that CRM data effectively is essential to getting the highest return from your CRM investment.

Collecting accurate and complete data is a top priority when using a CRM in your business. Safeguarding personal data, assuring data integrity and structuring data effectively are essential considerations when developing an effective CRM database for your organization.

1. Identity Data

Identity data includes information necessary to keep in touch with your leads and customers. It’s the most basic information you’ll gather, yet most essential because without it, you cannot maintain a one-to-one relationship with your leads and customers. Examples of identity data include:

  • Full name
  • Company name (for B2B)
  • Email address
  • Physical address
  • Phone numbers
  • Social media handles/usernames

Other forms of factual identify data that can be useful to track are organizational account number and date of birth.

The primary purpose of identity data is to give your team easy access to ways to get in touch with customers and leads in your CRM database. Identity data is collected via phone calls, emails, surveys, forms on your website, trade shows or third-party data sellers.

When using identity data in concert with other types of data in your CRM database, you can create highly targeted lists for promotional campaigns or sales initiatives. Identity data should be consistently added and stored in your CRM under well-defined fields that all users understand and where the data can be accurately maintained.

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