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This article was published on July 5, 2011

Intercom: A must-have CRM tool for web app owners [Invites]


Intercom: A must-have CRM tool for web app owners [Invites]

You have a web app, but what you don’t have are in-depth ways to find out who is using it and connect with those users to build a better product. But what if you did? With Intercom, you can.

Intercom is a CRM for web app owners. Well, of sorts. Instead of needing to put out a “did you use this” email or Tweet, Intercom can tell you exactly who’s using your app, including where they’re from, their social profiles and it gives you the ability to communicate with your users via private messaging while they’re using the app.

The idea of on-site private messaging isn’t new, but when you’re trying to build customer relationships, communication is crucial. With Intercom, you simply need to add a few lines of JavaScript and then you’re set. There’s no in-depth process required.

Since everything is run natively on your site, there’s no need to do an API integration, no database is required and your results are easy to see instead of akin to decrypting some ciphered code.

So how’s it look? Here’s a quick peek:

As you can see, because of social profiles, we can finally get a real look with each person that is on our site (as long as they’re signed in to their social media sites, that is). Handy demographic data will open the chances for you to send specific, targeted messages such as a “Happy Boxing Day” to your Canadian visitors, all while you track the interactive relationship you’ve had with them.

Inside of your app, your users will see something similar to the above. Of course you can customize who should see what messages, broken down by a percentage, specific users or even by a certain age.

Intercom should be a unique, effective way for web app owners to engage and monitor their relationships with their users. In a time when relationships are positively key to success, it’s a tool that should be in every owner’s arsenal.

For now, Intercom is in a private beta. If it’s something that you think you would use, drop a comment on the post on our Facebook page. We’ve got invitations coming for 10 of you, randomly selected. So hop to it!

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