Introduction

The main purpose of any CRM is to provide an organisation above and beyond what can be done with a typical spreadsheet or contact list. In LoftyWorks, this happens on the Contacts Page and consists of Segments, Tags, as well as a variety of filters. This article will introduce Segments.

Summary

• Edit Permissions
• What are segments used for in LoftyWorks?
• Active vs Static Segments
• Edit Segments
• Changing Segments for Contacts 
• FAQ

Edit Permissions

It is important to note that only users with the Company permission (see Permissions) can edit the Segments by default. All users can add Tags and use the other filters. This means that the Segments are maintained at the Company or Segment level and cannot vary by users within that Company.

What are segments used for in LoftyWorks?

Segments are used for organising and classifying your contacts into different categories. You might consider creating segments for events, referrals, friends, years, or specific reminder periods, etc. Segments are located in the Contact Segments dropdown menu shown below.

Active vs Static Segments

A Static Segment allows you to add contacts to the segment, and those contacts stay in the segment until they are removed. Further, no other contacts will be added to the segment, unless they are added manually.

An Active Segment adds and removes contacts from the segment depending on your selected filters. For example, if you've added a filter for a specific address, contacts that match the address will be added to the segment automatically, while contacts that changed their address will be removed automatically.

Edit Segments

Segments can also be customised to fit your workflow and team structure. The same segments will be available for the entire team and can only be edited by those with access. Click the "..." icon to edit a Segment.

There is also a "reminder" feature that allows you to set a specific reminder period for each segment, and if a contact is not contacted in that period, they will be marked as "expired". The green/red dots next to the segments indicate whether any contacts have expired in that segment (meaning they have not been contacted within that period).

Hover over each segment with a reminder or check the Reminder column to see the "Expired" number and display those contacts so that you can contact them. Once contacted, the reminder period will start over for that contact. 

When setting the reminder period, you have the option to decide if only manual touchpoints count or if automatic touchpoints also count as contact.

• When unchecked, only manual actions will count as contacts.
• When checked, both automatic and manual actions will count as contacts.

Changing Segments for Contacts

Contacts can be added to segments either individually or up to 200 at a time. To add individually, you can do so directly from a contact profile. Note that you can select more than one segment to be associated with the contact.

You can also add/change segments for multiple contacts at once by checking the box next to the contacts on the Contacts Page and clicking the option to "Change Segments". This will add those contacts to the selected segments. 

FAQ

Q: Are Segments the same as Tags?

A: Tags are generally used to classify contacts that have the same characteristics. Tags are relatively simple, clear, and flexible, and are often used to group contacts for easy searching. Segments are designed to group contacts with similar characteristics into different categories to be used for business analysis and precision marketing.