The Daily Dose

Amassing customer data is pretty meaningless if you have no organized way to analyze it. There are so many tools out there for startup founders, however, that I wanted to find out which were actually being used to deliver the kind of practical insight a business owner needs.

So I asked eight founders (all members of YEC) the following:

What is the best SaaS product on the market for managing large amounts of customer data for your business?)

Their answers are below:

1. Intercom

Intercom is the single most important tool we use. With Intercom we easily keep in touch with our customers. It makes it incredibly easy to have one-on-one discussions with them.

The most important trick we implemented was to find paying customers who have been inactive for a few weeks. Intercom then sends us an email with the lifetime value, location, etc., so we can reach out to them directly. It has increased retention by 32 percent.
– Jared Brown, Hubstaff

2. Mixpanel

We would honestly be lost without Mixpanel. Not only does Mixpanel give us incredibly valuable insights into trends, usage, funnels and retention of our users as a whole, but also it lets us dig deep into specific users to serve them better.

It is as much a tool for tracking and gaining insights from data as it is a tool for tasks such as reengaging users, email marketing, customer support and so much more.
– James Simpson, GoldFire Studios

3. Customer.io

We use Customer.io for our business and writer engagement emails. We have user segments in place when they first sign up, become inactive, when they’ve completed a survey, etc.

We send them tons of user activity, and they manage the logic to send emails at the right times. It makes sending targeted, relevant emails a breeze.
– Ryan Buckley, Scripted, Inc.

4. Infusionsoft

Not only does Infusionsoft allow you to manage customer data, but it also allows you to act on that data in an intelligent way. With Infusionsoft, it is easy to tag every click, page visit or form a customer completes on your website, social media platform or email you send out.

Certain high-value actions from a customer can automatically trigger responses to increase your conversion rate and ROI. It is a little complicated to use at first, but it becomes very powerful when you learn your way around the software.
– Lawrence Watkins, Great Black Speakers

5. Salesforce.com

Salesforce.com is super simple and very functional. There are a lot of other CRMs out there, but I like it to keep things simple.
– Alfredo Atanacio, Uassist.ME

6. Nimble

The name of this service says it all. Be more nimble with your customer data by using a great CRM tool such as Nimble. This program makes it easy to import and export customer lists, tag customers, edit their contact information and set reminders to get back in touch.

I also really appreciate how fast it is to navigate the database, which is important when you’re handling a large volume of customer contacts.
– Doreen Bloch, Poshly Inc.

7. KISSmetrics

KISSmetrics is a great tool for turning data into action.
– Joseph P. DeWoody, Clear Fork Royalty

8. RJ Metrics

RJ Metrics offers businesses intelligence software, retention metrics and customer acquisition delivered as a service over the Internet for e-commerce and SaaS businesses.
– Ben Kirshner, Elite SEM Inc