FreshLime aggregates data from a variety of sources into one simple platform. It brings the power of big-budget data analytics to local small businesses, so those customers can address them automatically.
Small Business Trends talked to Jay Bean, CEO of FreshLime. He told us what they do and why small businesses need to be careful.
First, he talked about the requirements that FreshLime places on small business data.
"Consumers are responsible today," he said. "They use the desired messaging platforms. They interact with companies as they wish. It can be a tough transition for an SME.
Small businesses can be overwhelmed with all this information. This is where this customer data platform comes into play. The platform was developed for local businesses.
"We collect all their data together," says Bean. "FreshLime unites everything to create a single customer profile."
He provides an example:
"Think of a plumber who's been in the business for five years, he may have made 20,000 jobs, and he can not personally interact with all these customers."
FreshLime takes all this information and analyzes it. The platform uses important benchmarks such as average buy, last buy, lifetime value and others. The idea is to send customized automated messages based on these groupings. Find new customers and keep old ones.
"By segmenting, we have smaller buckets and can send the right kind of message to the right customer."
This is the small business version of a big business strategy. Think of Amazon. You know who you are and what you buy and send you messages tailored to your purchases and demographics. FreshLime does the same for small local businesses.
At the core is what Bean calls Playbooks. In this way, the platform categorizes customers. These are based on exposure, demographics and purchases. Some of them are single buyers, others that repeat on occasion, and those that are the most loyal repeat customers.
People are divided into different playbooks so that small businesses can act accordingly. For example, it could be a "reclamation" campaign. Another could be to increase their purchases as a regular customer.
"We assign these books to people based on who they are and how they behave in the past," says Bean. "We do not know much about people who are not converted."
Earlier purchases are not the only way that FreshLime categorizes customers.
Bean provides another example.
"One of our customers is a garage in Detroit," he says. "You could have someone who has a brand new Corvette and another in a 1985 Honda Accord with 212,000 miles. The Honda needs an oil change with high mileage compared to the Corvette, which requires a synthetic oil.
The messages sent here take into account other factors. Another big advantage of FreshLime is that you can send messages through various channels like Facebook and Twitter. E-mail and SMS are other options.
He emphasizes that FreshLime is not traditional marketing. The focus is on data-driven customer loyalty.
"We call the books the AI in the middle."
These automated messages are best sent around the clock. That is, a small business owner works around the clock to retain customers.
Another aspect makes this platform something special. FreshLime not only collects transaction data for companies. It also captures industry trends that are overlaid to get a complete picture.
The result is a network effect at an affordable price for small businesses.
FreshLime targets SMEs that use software like QuickBooks, but without the tools for analysis. Other target markets are small companies that use software as a core business.
"Either way, these companies are not big companies with big marketing teams," he says.
FreshLime interacts with your customers wherever they are. In other words, if they find your business on Facebook, the template message will be sent there. The same goes for Google or your website and other places.
Finally, Bean summarizes everything.
"FreshLime is designed to support the other side of marketing. Not necessarily getting the edge, but doing something to maximize transactions time and time again, "he says.
Picture: Fresh lime
