“Garbage In… Garbage Out” – The Art Of Effective Data Collection

When it comes to really harnessing the power of Infusionsoft, I find most users don't collect nearly as much information from their prospects and customers as they should.

Put it this way: Infusionsoft allows 100 custom fields and I've used around 92 of them. Call me crazy but I want to know as much as I possibly can about my prospects and customers and whenever there is an opportunity to collect more data, I seize it. On the other hand, I've talked to folks at Infusioncon who have only used 2 custom fields. Without knowing much about their business, I'm confident they aren't harnessing the TRUE power of Infusionsoft. Can't be.

"Name" and "E-mail" are no longer enough. Sure, they get the conversation started and I don't recommend loading your initial opt-in form with a half-dozen fields. But I do advocate asking for more information as soon as possible.

For example, here at AutomationClinic.com, I ask for the typical name and e-mail upfront:

Once on the landing page, not only do I encourage you to go confirm your e-mail to access the free 26-pg report, but I solicit more information that'll help me better segment you later:

Here, not only am I choosing to get your full name, but I'm asking you to estimate how automated you think your business is on a scale of 0 to 10. Meanwhile, this data is being plugged into an Infusionsoft custom field as a whole number. This "whole number" distinction is important as opposed to using "text" as your field type. With any number type field (whole number, decimal, currency, etc), you can use them as conditions in future follow up. In other words, you can use criteria like "equal than," "equal or less than," "equal or greater than," "greater than," and "less than."

If you chose a number under 3,  I could easily have an e-mail or step go out to you based on that. If you chose a number over 8, I could have a step go out with all my ninja tricks sure to impress an experienced user like you.

Next, I ask for their #1 goal. I don't make this checkboxes on purpose because most folks will probably check them all. Who doesn't need to automate every category I've represented? But I want to know the primary goal so that I can put you in ONE bucket with ONE goal, at least to start.

Lastly, I ask if you're an Infusionsoft user or not. Sending Infusionsoft-specific tutorials or resources won't help the non-user. Sending broader strategic tips applicable to non-users with the casual mention of Infusionsoft could certainly work and might even entice non-users to sign up for the service through my partner link.

On the HearandPlay.com side of things, I do similarly except I ask for a bit more information upfront:

In addition to name and e-mail, I ask for favorite style (jazz, blues, gospel, pop, latin, etc) and experience level (beginner, intermediate, advanced, teacher). "But doesn't this lower your conversion rate," you might ask? No, not in this case.

I agree, the more you ask upfront, you might generally see a decline in sign ups. However, I've found through extensive testing that when the questions relate DIRECTLY to the offering, there is no negative effect... and sometimes even a positive one.

Think about it: Asking for skill level makes sense to the prospect who would want to get really basic, "newbie" material if they answer "beginner." Or to the gospel church musician who is looking for material to help them in that endeavor (not jazz, blues, or pop music). Not all businesses can do this. Asking for firmographic data like company size or income level upfront may not be the smartest thing but if there is a question that will GENUINELY alter the type of communications and resources you send them, it's worth a test.

Besides, there are dozens and dozens more ways to collect information. Here are a couple others:

Here's an example of a survey that appears ONLY to gospel prospects under video 3 (in a 4 video sequence) asking specifically what style of gospel is their favorite.

And guess what? All the styles coincide to a different resource in my product line. If you pick slow worship songs as your favorite, you'd eventually be offered "GospelKeys 202 - Mastering Worship Chords." If you picked traditional praise songs, you'd be offered "GospelKeys 300 - Exploring Praise Songs & Charismatic Styles." If you picked uptempo shouting music, you'd be offered "GospelKeys 500 - Experiencing Uptempo Shouting Music." If you picked traditional hymns, you'd be offered "GospelKeys 101 - Introduction To Hymns & Congregational Songs."

Furthermore, if you mention already playing in church, I could build better rapport by telling a few church musician stories you'd surely relate to. But for the person who just wants to play christian music for personal worship in the comfort of their own home, those stories would probably still be okay but I'd be better off with a different approach they can relate to directly.

Even when the user rates my videos, that score is being loaded into Infusionsoft as a whole number. If you pick 5, I'm more often to follow up with you more frequently. If you picked 1, I might send you to a survey or depending on the nature of your complaint, encourage you to opt out (if you're not feeling me now, you surely ain't gonna feel me later and might even complain as spam).

I only scratched the surface here. There are many categories of data collection (and types like external vs internal behavior data collection), many types of follow-up based on data collection, and many buckets to place prospects in. I'm sure I'll explore this in my home study course at some point. Stay tuned.

Meanwhile, the lesson is: your automation system is only as good as the data you collect. Look for opportunities to not only collect external and internal data but USE that data to send the right messages to the right prospects at the right time.

(Update: Click here to check out the webinar I did on an Infusionsoft Mastermind Webinar with Jordan Hatch)