Want to know a surprising factor that impacts your productivity and client relationships? It’s the way you capture information.
While email has traditionally served as a means of professional communication, its inefficiencies in managing data collection have become too big to neglect. In this blog post, we’ll discuss valuable alternatives that can help you gather information quickly and securely.
But before we get into that, let’s answer a very important question…
What makes email an obsolete client data collection system?
Email is everyone’s first choice for client data collection, but it is shockingly inefficient. This scenario has become all too familiar: you request information or documents from a client via email, only to find yourself trapped in an endless loop of back-and-forth messages.
So, what’s the problem with this data collection system?
For one, email lacks the sophistication to quickly capture large volumes of data. If your client doesn’t send you accurate information right away — and they rarely do — you’ll end up exchanging dozens of emails, making phone calls, and wasting too much time on what was supposed to be a routine task.
Related: 3 modern client communication tools that put email to shame
Secondly, email doesn’t support advanced features such as customizable forms or automated responses. This makes the system too inert and generic for modern organizations.
| Note: Apart from being outdated, email isn’t great at protecting your and your clients’ information. We already made a post about that, so feel free to check it out: How secure is email? Hint: not secure enough. |
Some of the best client data collection tools you should consider
Many tools can replace email, but only the best platforms combine efficiency with advanced security mechanisms. Here are some of our favorite options.
1. Content Snare: Best for client onboarding and automated communication
- Pros: Customizable templates, automated reminders, in-form conversations
- Cons: Not designed for surveys/bulk data collection
- Common use cases: Client onboarding, accounting, finance, marketing, law, real estate
- Price: Starts at $29 per month
Content Snare is built to streamline the process of collecting information, content, and files from clients through customizable online forms. The platform features more than 50 ready-made form templates for accounting practices, law firms, real estate agencies, digital marketers, and other businesses eager to simplify onboarding and data collection.
Our tool practically eliminates emails from the data-gathering equation by automating all those annoying repetitive tasks such as reminders. All it takes is to set your reminder schedule (or use the default one) and Content Snare will notify your clients about pending requests.
Another benefit is that you can help clients if they get stuck directly within Content Snare thanks to in-form discussions. Your client can write a comment next to any given field, so you can provide additional information and assist them in delivering the right information.
| Note: Check out how this accounting practice broke free of a never-ending loop of inefficiencies thanks to Content Snare. |
Content Snare is an extremely safe communication tool with multiple cybersecurity layers. It protects both you and your clients using encryption, firewalls, user authentication, and many other protection mechanisms.
We strongly recommend taking a Content Snare tour to learn about all of its features, or signing up for a 14-day trial to explore all options free of charge.
Take good care of your clients from day one
Content Snare gives you a stress-free solution to onboard clients and collect data. It helps the entire team reclaim hours of their life while keeping things as simple as it gets for your clients.
2. Google Forms: Best for individuals and small teams
- Pros: Highly affordable
- Cons: Lacks many advanced form-building options
- Common use cases: Personal, NGO, educational
- Price: Free for individual users; For businesses, it starts at $6 per user/month
As part of a broader Google Workspace suite, Google Forms is an extremely popular tool for collecting client information. The platform is easy to use, and it integrates with supporting tools such as Google Drive, facilitating effortless data management.
Google Forms has a decent portfolio of question types and customization options, so it’s probably enough for most individuals and small teams. But this is also the platform’s main drawback — it has very limited customization options compared to more advanced data collection tools.
Related: The best Google Forms alternative in 2024
3. Microsoft Forms
- Pros: Native integration with other Microsoft 365 tools
- Cons: Subpar folder management
- Common use cases: Personal, educational
- Price: Starts at $5 per user/month
If you like working with the Microsoft 365 suite, then you’ll probably prefer Microsoft Forms. This platform gives you a straightforward way to build surveys, quizzes, and opinion polls for different use cases. The downside is that you’ll probably need to build your form from scratch as there aren’t too many built-in templates available.
Microsoft Forms doesn’t have a drag-and-drop builder like Content Snare, but it’s still fairly easy to use. We particularly like its data-visualization feature that lets you generate aesthetically pleasing reports in a few clicks. On the downside, Microsoft Forms doesn’t give you the option of organizing folders — a serious limitation for business users.
| Note: We only mentioned a few tools, so feel free to check out some of our earlier blog posts regarding the best platforms in different industries: Accounting automation software: Industry experts reveal their favoritesThe best marketing agency softwareTop 5 time-saving tools for real estate agents in 2024 |
Practical tips to streamline your data collection process
Data collection gets easier if you use a reliable tool, but that’s not the end of the story. You can make this process even simpler by following a few practical information-gathering tips.
Firstly, it’s important to standardize your data collection processes. It means using the same procedure with intuitive entry fields, data formats, and content sections — this promotes consistency and accuracy across different clients and projects.
For example, Content Snare users find great value in questionnaire templates for highly specific purposes such as insurance or bookkeeping:
The second tip is to carefully manage access permissions.
The best way to do this is to deploy Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) by assigning roles to users based on their responsibilities in your organization. In this case, each role is associated with a set of permissions that determine what data-related actions users are allowed to perform.
Our tip number three is to periodically review and update your data collection processes to match evolving industry trends. That way, you’ll ensure regulatory compliance while keeping the same level of efficiency.
Improve client relationships with the right information-gathering system
The purpose of data collection isn’t just to gather information or documents. On the contrary, a much more important goal is to maximize productivity and improve client relationships through swift procedures. You’ll reap a lot of benefits with a well-designed client data collection process, so go on and pick a tool that will free up your time (and your headspace).
