5 Workflow Automations Every CRM Should Have

Don’t let potential customers slip through the cracks. Use tailored strategies to bring back leads on the verge of going cold.

If you've invested in a CRM but feel underutilized, you're not alone. Many companies find their CRM cluttered with uncontacted leads and need effective nurture campaigns. 

How do you fix this? All it takes is to set up these five easy workflow automations within your system. Whether you're navigating the functionalities of HubSpot, Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics, Zoho, or even sophisticated email platforms like Active Campaign and MailChimp, the five workflow automations we’re about to share will transform your CRM in just 90 days.

With these, you can be sure the monthly fee for your CRM is worth the investment. But before we share the automations and how to install them, you might ask yourself why I need to revitalize my CRM. 

Missed opportunities are the worst setback a business can encounter. There’s nothing like looking back and feeling the pangs of regret after missing out on what could have been a transformative deal or a loyal customer relationship. 

Besides regrets, here are a few additional reasons why you need to revitalize your CRM:

• Data overload: You don’t want contacts with minimal engagement. This leads to cluttered and unsegmented databases, which can confuse your team.
• Lack of engagement: Failure to implement consistent nurture campaigns to keep leads warm results in lost sales opportunities.
• Inefficient processes: The absence of automated workflows causes delays and inefficiencies in lead management and follow-up processes, resulting in leads turning from warm to cold. 
• Poor data quality: Inadequate data cleaning and updating practices lead to outdated information that can ruin marketing efforts and sales strategies.

You need a strategic approach to unlock your CRM's full potential and drive improvements in customer engagement and revenue. Here's why:

• Enhanced customer experience: A well-maintained CRM system allows personalized customer interactions based on their history and preferences, improving satisfaction and loyalty.
• Streamlined sales process: Automating key sales and marketing workflows accelerates the sales cycle and increases the efficiency of sales teams.
• Informed decision-making: Access to accurate and up-to-date data supports better strategic decisions regarding marketing campaigns, product development, and sales tactics.
• Increased revenue opportunities: Effective segmentation and nurture campaigns ensure no lead is left behind, maximizing potential revenue from new and existing customers.

A well-managed CRM is better for business. Use these five automations to unlock your CRM's full potential and generate extra revenue.

Five essential CRM workflow automations

Workflow automations streamline your marketing and sales efforts. They activate automatically in response to specific triggers, such as when a new contact signs up or when a current contact’s engagement level changes.

Deploying these five critical workflows will turn your CRM into a proactive component of your marketing and sales tactics, improving relationships and fluidly advancing leads through your sales pipeline.

Workflow 1: Welcome campaign

The welcome campaign is designed to greet newcomers, introduce them to your brand's core values, services, or products, and explain why they made the right decision by signing up. This sequence of emails is your opportunity to create a lasting first impression, setting the tone for all future communications. The campaign may be seven emails or twenty emails over a month; it all depends on how you typically convert on your product, offer, or service. 

Why is it so important? IT lays the foundation for building trust and engagement immediately. It ensures that every new contact is acknowledged, informed, and appreciated, which can boost their likelihood to interact with your brand further. To implement a successful welcome campaign, include:

• A brief thank you message that tells the subscriber they are important to your business. You want to make them feel special by talking to them one-on-one. 
• An exclusive discount or offer that allows them to act on your site immediately. This can be as simple as a free download or a percentage off a product or service if they act now. 
• One often overlooked use is to get new subscribers to act to increase email deliverability. In your welcome sequence, ask subscribers to reply with questions or whitelist your email address so it doesn’t end up in the promotions or spam tab.

By creating your welcome campaign with these elements, you will honor your new contacts' initial engagement and pave the way for a deeper, more profitable relationship with them.

Workflow 2: Re-engaging very cold contacts

What exactly qualifies a lead as very cold? There are different metrics to consider, but generally speaking, anyone who hasn’t had contact with your company for over 90 days qualifies.

Of course, flexibility in defining "very cold" leads is crucial, as it varies by industry or product lifecycle. But over time, even the most interested leads can cool off for various reasons—maybe they missed your communications, or their needs changed.

Ninety days seems like a long time – and it is. But that doesn’t mean you should ignore this list of contacts. You just need the right campaign to push them to re-engage. 

A re-engagement campaign reminds customers of your brand's value and encourages them to rekindle their interest. It also filters your database by separating genuinely disinterested contacts from those who may still convert with the right incentive. Clean, engaged databases improve email deliverability rates and ensure more accurate targeting. 

Typically, these campaigns are short, to the point, and offer a clear path for your subscribers. Either they want to stay on your list and receive your communication, or they don’t. You might be able to offer an exclusive discount or product to try and have them remain. Incentives for re-engagement could range from exclusive content access to personalized product recommendations. But it’s important not to hide your unsubscribe button. Make the choice clear, but offer something enticing to push them in the direction you want them to go. 

With a well-planned reengagement campaign, you can clean up your CRM and rediscover potential customers ready to be won back. 

Workflow 3: Engage active contacts

Do you have contacts who have shown interest in your brand but haven’t quite committed? Believe it or not, this is where most leads end up. They might have downloaded an asset, clicked through one of your newsletters, or maybe even filled out a contact form on your site, and then…nothing.

While not converting them into sales isn’t a great feeling, these simple actions indicate that you should focus on them as much as possible. 

This group has interacted with your company within the last 30 days and represents your warmest leads. Typically, all they need is a little nudge to convert. To get them over the edge, collaborate closely with your sales team to create a targeted strategy that bridges the gap between interest and action.

Together, you can leverage the insights learned from CRM data to deliver targeted, personalized content that resonates with each lead. This might involve follow-up emails that go deeper into topics they've shown interest in, invitations to exclusive webinars that address their pain points, or direct outreach from sales representatives to answer any lingering questions.

The objective here is to demonstrate your brand's value and relevance to their specific needs and make the conversion path as smooth and enticing as possible. Focusing on these warm leads with a concerted, strategic effort increases your conversion rates and builds stronger relationships.

Workflow 4: Reviving contacts active within 30-60 days

Contacts that have interacted with your brand within the last 30 to 60 days are on the brink—they've looked into what you offer and are lingering in decision-making limbo. While their interest was piqued not too long ago, there's been a slight pause in their engagement. Now, it’s time for you to step in and get them back on track. 

Reactivating these contacts involves understanding the subtle shifts in their engagement patterns and creating a campaign that speaks directly to their recent interactions. For example, if they've browsed specific product pages, your campaign could highlight features or benefits of those products. 

Alternatively, if they attended a webinar, follow-up content could provide deeper insights into the webinar topic or exclusive access to additional resources related to their interests. 

Don’t bombard them with generic messages. Instead, remind them why they engaged in the first place and offer them value that's too good to ignore. Doing this lets you fill your sales cycle with warm leads instead of letting them go ice cold.

Workflow 5: Targeting contacts active within 60-90 days

Contacts who haven’t interacted with your content within 60-90 days are in danger of falling into the ice-cold category. We’re talking Antarctica here, never to be seen again. 

Not good. 

We don’t want to have to say goodbye to them forever. Instead, implementing this workflow will reignite their interest in your brand. How can you do that?

Create a workflow that speaks to them directly. 

To do this, find out where they disengaged in the buying cycle. Then, tailor your approach to address their last point of active interest or interaction with your brand.

For instance, if they paused after exploring a particular service or product, a targeted campaign that offers new insights, benefits, or an enticing offer related to that interest could reignite their engagement. This thoughtful, customized approach will make it feel like you’re not just reaching out but reconnecting in a way that feels relevant and personal to them.

Implementing and optimizing CRM workflows

While the overall approach to setting up workflows in CRM systems like HubSpot or Salesforce is similar, specific tactics might vary based on the workflow’s purpose. 

Here’s a general guide you can adapt for each of the five essential workflows:

1. Define your goals: Start by clearly defining what you want to achieve with each workflow (reengage cold leads, welcome new contacts, etc).
2. Segment your contacts: Use CRM data to segment them according to their interaction history.
   1. This might include:
   2. Contacts inactive for 90 days or more for the re-engagement campaign.New contacts for the welcome campaign.
   3. Contacts active within the last 30 days for direct engagement strategies.
3. Create tailored content: Develop engaging, relevant content for each segment including:
   1. Personalized welcome messages for new contacts.
   2. Value-packed emails for re-engaging cold contacts.
   3. Targeted offers for active contacts showing recent interest.
4. Set up automation triggers: Configure your CRM to automatically initiate the workflow based on specific triggers, such as:
   1. Adding a new contact.
   2. A contact's inactivity reaches 90 days.
   3. Recent activity like a download or a webinar attendance.
5. Schedule the communications: Determine the timing and frequency of your emails or other communications. This might vary, for example:
   1. A condensed series of emails for re-engagement campaigns.
   2. A longer, more educational series for welcome and nurture campaigns.
6. Personalize your approach: Use CRM features to personalize your messages with contact data so each communication feels directly tailored to the recipient.
7. Test and launch: Before fully launching, test your workflows to ensure everything functions as intended, from the trigger actions to the email content.
8. Monitor and analyze performance: Use analytics to track the performance of each workflow. To gauge success, look for metrics like open, click-through, and conversion rates.
9. Optimize based on insights: Regularly review the data and feedback to refine your workflows. Adjustments include tweaking the content, timing, or segmentation to improve engagement and conversions.
10. Iterate and expand: As you collect more data and learn from your workflows, consider expanding your strategies to include more nuanced segments or additional goals.

Turn your CRM into a customer revenue magnet

The journey from a cluttered, underperforming CRM to a streamlined, revenue-driving tool is paved with intentional actions and intelligent automations. At ContentBacon, we understand that while the strategy might seem straightforward, the real challenge lies in implementation.

Whether you're looking to overhaul your CRM workflows from scratch or fine-tune your existing processes, our team is ready to offer the expertise and support you need. 

Let's discuss how ContentBacon can tailor a CRM strategy that aligns with your business goals and improves your marketing efforts. Don't let another 90 days pass without fully utilizing your CRM. Contact us today, and let’s get started!