Leverage Consumer Data to Improve Your Business

Interactive website technology captures detailed lead data on each person who engages with it and entices online shoppers to submit contact information. Companies can leverage consumer data to target their sales approach, change the lead management process, improve business amenities, and gain insight into what consumers want in their market.  

“It gives us better information on what prospects are most interested in when looking to rent and makes it much easier for us to get the information to contact them,” says Sandy Carmin, Director of Property Management at Englert Management Corporation.

Consumer data collected on the Englert websites also led its property managers to readjust their lead follow-up process. “We have evolved in how we contact prospects. Previously, it was mainly phone. Now, we constantly monitor email to return inquiries promptly in the way they prefer to be contacted,” Carmin says. “Most inquiries ask for email returns and we like to honor that request. We prefer phone calls so we can actually talk to a prospect, but email seems to be the preferred contact method.”

Improve Your Business Based on Customer Data

Prospective renters who took the Community Fit Assessment on websites that use the PERQ Online Guided Shopping solution rank socializing with friends, being outdoors and shopping as their top three priorities when looking for a new place to live, according to PERQ’s Consumer Insights. Englert capitalized on these trends by adding renter social events at their Indiana and Illinois multifamily communities.

“We’ve increased our resident functions, such as wine tastings, smores around the fire pit, ice cream socials, garage sales, and a pet pool party,” Carmin says. “We have a property with an older demographic and they love coffee hours in our office.”

Capture Consumer Data to Customize Communications

Getting specific customer data from each website visitor enhances communication, says Sandra Dellolio, BDC Manager at Atlantic Automall in West Islip, N.Y. The dealership created website lead follow-up templates that are customizable based on information captured through online interactive experiences as well as tracking consumer data that shows where the online visitor clicked and which pages they spent time on.

“We can see they have a vehicle valued between $2,500 and $3,000 based on the trade-in tool, so we’ll mention that specific range and invite them to come into the showroom because our manager thinks we might be able to get them an even better deal,” Dellolio says. “If they looked at specific Toyota models online, we’ll use that information when we contact them.”

Use Consumer Data to Track Lead-to-Sale Conversion

Ed Massood, owner of Home Inspirations Thomasville, says his company converts close to 20% of its website leads by nurturing those consumers through the buying process with the detailed lead data captured on his home furnishings website. His New Jersey retail stores plug that consumer data into automated email drip campaigns to keep leads engaged, personalizing both the timing and messaging.

Massood also uses customer data to backtrack and see when a website lead comes into the store and spends money, or when a shopper visits the showroom and then goes home to browse the store website.

“It’s a good way of tracking the dollars these leads are generating and how those leads convert in the store,” Massood says. “The insights we’re gathering online are invaluable, from seeing what customers are looking for and making sure if we see a trend that we represent it in the store, to learning that some customers are shopping purely for price and standardizing how to respond to those pricing requests.”

Website visitors who hand over their personal information in exchange for helpful guidance tend to be more qualified, engaged buyers who are serious about making a purchase, so make the most of the details they volunteer consumer data.

“We try to understand the customers who are participating in our process,” Massood says. “They take the time to engage, so it’s valuable data from people already interacting with your brand.”