Let's start classically with a definition. It will be brief - tags are keywords, distinctive identifiers that, when assigned to an article or post, group the content it contains thematically. Tags therefore allow you to group, categorise, and sort information.
And tags in a CRM system?
They are the same type of identifiers that can be added to any client easily. Tags enable and greatly streamline the segmentation, categorisation, searching, filtering, and sorting of data on similar topics. What are the benefits? - better use of your CRM system's potential, greater order in your client database, the ability to respond quickly to changing client needs, and customer service at a much higher level.
In the CRM, you will use tags to assign important information about a client that is relevant to your company. Below we present a few proven ways to introduce them.
What to use tags for:
Recording client location - e.g. South East, UK, Europe
Indicating the acquisition source - e.g. trade fair, promotion, referral, etc.
Recording age group, gender
Segmenting clients by industry
Grouping clients by company size - e.g. sole trader, up to 50 employees, up to 100 employees
Recording the service or product the client uses
Recording the preferred contact method - e.g. email, phone
You may be wondering why you should use tags rather than, say, notes or custom fields in the CRM. The answer is simple - with tags you can assign specific labels to clients that are clear to the whole team, making it easier to find a particular client later. You can filter clients by several tags simultaneously, and you can use tags to create a precise mailing list for your email campaign. Tags ensure you don't send a random message but a well-planned campaign to a specific group of recipients meeting defined criteria.
What about a note? You can use it to include more detailed information that will make it easier to serve the client in the future - for example, an agreed discount. A note is not useful for searching or categorising your database, though.
Custom fields, on the other hand, are better left for more personalised information specific to your business.
Can tags be used incorrectly? Absolutely. First, you should not use several tags to describe the same attribute - for example, "south east", "SE England", "south-east" - just create one tag in the system for that location which everyone will use. A good practice is to create a single list that everyone uses, or to have a designated person in the company responsible for adding and monitoring tags. This will prevent you from creating duplicate tags in the system.
The second issue is too many tags. Tags should help to better organise your client database, making it more readable and transparent. You won't achieve this by creating a new tag every time. That will cause chaos rather than good organisation. Tags should be well thought out and created so that a larger number of clients can be assigned to them - not just two or three records. Moreover, if the tag list is long and chaotic, users become confused and start assigning tags at random, which defeats the purpose entirely.
In our system, we have taken tags one step further and give our users the ability to use them not only for clients but also for emails and tasks, as well as VoIP calls. This significantly simplifies work, reduces the time spent searching for essential information, streamlines the customer service process, and enables monitoring of the most frequently discussed topics within the company.
Using tags, you can find all tasks labelled "bug" or all emails tagged "offer". You can also take a closer look at the topics of VoIP calls, since you can add a tag to each call indicating the matter the client was calling about.
If you don't yet use tags - or only use them in a limited way - try out our tips and expand the capabilities of your CRM system. You'll save a lot of time and make life easier for yourself and your team.
If you'd like to learn more about tagging in Sugester, we invite you to visit our knowledge base and read the article Tags and their application in data collection.
