Decoding Digital: Dominic Harrington and how to ‘Optimise your CRM data to drive focused performance marketing’

Door4’s next Decoding Digital event takes place on 12 November, so don’t miss out – find out more or register here.

We took time to talk to one of our featured speakers, Dominic Harrington – software and CRM specialist (and now bestselling author!).

Hi Dominic, thanks for agreeing to take part in November’s Decoding Digital event – for those not familiar with your work, could you tell us about what you do?

I started my consultancy business Cloud Sauce in 2015 and saw a gap in the market for someone to support organisations with selecting and implementing the correct CRM to suit their goals.

In 2016 I partnered with Zoho, one of the world’s leading platforms – and have since helped over 300 businesses apply it most effectively to optimise their data. We’re also a development partner, creating approved apps for Zoho users – our sixth one will be on the way soon.

And I’m now a published author – my book Building Expert Business Solutions with Zoho CRM was well received enough that it was included in Zoho’s email updates to their 60M+ users. I was even invited to talk about it on their podcast with a global audience, which didn’t hurt sales either.

Sounds like you’re very busy at the moment then?

Yes, it’s been like that for a while. When I was evaluating which area of consultancy to specialise in I saw potential for real growth in CRM, particularly in East Lancs and along the M65 corridor – and this has definitely proven to be the case.

But I’ve always had a passion for tech, software and automation and how it can be applied to meet a customer need. Currently, if a client has a problem, we can create a product to solve this, then once it’s been approved for use with the Zoho platform, we can take it to market. That’s the sort of thing I really get excited about professionally.

How familiar were you with Door4 before being invited to speak at Decoding Digital?

One of my first jobs around the turn of the century was at Time Computers, just after Leon left. So we’ve always had mutual friends, known each other’s names and been aware of what each other is doing in the industry locally.
At some point several years later we actually connected over social media and there’s typically been some crossover with the areas our businesses work in, so we move in a lot of the same circles.

Obviously you’re used to presenting to clients in your job but do you take part in many public speaking events?

Yeah – pre-covid, Cloud Sauce sponsored ‘The Sales Club’ with Sales Geek and the East Lancs Chamber of Commerce, so I was asked to appear at that event. And I also usually speak at weekly BNI meetings.

Without giving too much away, what will you be talking about in November?

Well the title of my presentation is ‘Optimise your CRM data to drive focused performance marketing’, which sounds like a mouthful – but the basic premise is pretty straightforward.

And it’s certainly worth paying attention to when you consider the following stat:

Today, 90 percent of businesses with a staff of ten or more use a CRM system of some description. Of the data contained in these systems, 90 percent is either stale, incomplete or duplicated within 12 months.

Sounds sobering – and something businesses should be looking to address! Has there been anything else in the digital sector that has excited or intrigued you personally recently?

I think the pandemic has highlighted how much AI plays a part in how we interact with digital applications. You see it when Netflix and

Spotify recommend things to us based on our taste and behaviour, rather than us having to search for them. But B2B will start to catch up in this area, with wider and better use of AI as a customer experience tool. We’re seeing improvements in chat bots and personalisation. Especially as more businesses start to realise how many leads they’re potentially missing out on by offering an inferior service.

Thanks Dominic!