5 Ways Airtable to Help Grow Your Business

Staying organised in today’s modern business operations is not just a desirable trait — it’s a fundamental necessity for success. Effective organisation lays the foundation for efficient operations, allowing your business to navigate the complex web of tasks, analyses of data, and handling responsibilities with agility.

The exponential growth of information, and the digital transformation of industries, meant that businesses are now exposed and inundated with so much data, various communication channels, and diverse workflows. Without a well-structured and organised approach, vital information can get lost in all the digital noise, deadlines may be missed, and opportunities might be overlooked.

In this transformative business environment, a business can gain a significant advantage if it gives great importance to being organised. Being organised can help streamline processes, access vital information swiftly, make informed decisions, and respond quickly to changing market conditions. Doing so helps in positioning your business as an adaptable and dynamic player in the marketplace.

Furthermore, an organised company fosters better teamwork and encourages a culture of collaboration. Many businesses today operate with cross-functional teams, additionally, remote work is on the rise, and this presents a challenge of maintaining clear lines of communication. It becomes more critical to ensure that everyone on the team is always on the same page.

Well-organised businesses can coordinate their teams efficiently, allocate resources effectively, and maintain a culture of transparency. A plus factor in all this is that it also helps boost productivity and enhance employee satisfaction. Employees as individuals can focus on their core tasks without being held down by chaos and disarray.

Being organised in today’s world is a strategic imperative, enabling your business to thrive amidst complexity and uncertainty.

 Enter Airtable.

Airtable is a versatile and user-friendly tool that helps and transforms the way you manage data, projects, customer relationships, and more. We will explore how Airtable can be a game-changer for businesses looking to foster growth.

Airtable is known for its intuitive and user-friendly interface and doesn’t require specialised technical expertise to use effectively. The system allows businesses to organise, manage, and analyse their data in a highly customisable and visual way.

In addition to content management, marketing, sales, and human resources, it has found applications in a wide range of industries. In addition to being a powerful tool for data management and project coordination, it can be tailored to suit the specific needs of businesses and individuals.

Data is the lifeblood of decision-making and efficiency in today’s modern business. Airtable can help your business in 5 ways:

1. Streamlining Data Management.

Airtable provides a flexible solution for working and organising data. At its core, it is a cloud-based collaborative database, that combines the functionality of a spreadsheet and a database. Because of its spreadsheet-like interface, it is accessible to team members with varying levels of technical expertise.

Using this flexible approach, teams can manage vast amounts of data efficiently, including customer information, project details, inventories, and more. Businesses are drowning in information in the era of big data. Airtable is your lifeline by offering customisable databases and templates that make data management a breeze.

Here’s how Airtable can help transform your data management:

Customisable Database and Templates.

Airtable allows businesses to create and design databases that are tailored to your needs.

Examples:

• A marketing team can create a database to track leads, including vital information such as their contact details, lead source, and lead status.
• An e-commerce business can set up a database to help manage inventory, and track product details, stock levels, and supplier information.

Whether you’re tracking customer information, inventory, project milestones, or any other relevant data, you can build a database structure to suit your business needs perfectly.

Airtable provides a variety of templates you can start with. These templates are pre-designed and ready to be used right away, or you can customise them to fit your unique business requirements. Airtable’s templates help you save time while following best practices for data organisation.

Examples:

• Creating a content calendar to help your business plan and schedule your content marketing efforts.
• Creating a project tracker to assist project managers in organising tasks, keeping track of deadlines, and delegating team assignments.

2. Airtable’s Enhanced Project Management Features.

Though it may not look it, Airtable does offer powerful project management capabilities to keep everything on track and revolutionise the way you track tasks, keep up with deadlines, and help you manage how your team collaborate. This makes Airtable a valuable tool for project planning and execution. To illustrate:

1. Task Tracking.

Airtable allows you to create project databases with records for each task or project component. You may use fields to define the task, assign team members, set due dates, and mark task statuses. This gives you insights in real-time to track progress and ensure that tasks are completed efficiently and on time.

2. Deadlines.

Airtable makes it easy to visualise deadlines by using date fields and calendar views. You can filter and sort tasks based on their due dates, ensuring your team is on top of critical timelines. Automated reminders can help team members when deadlines are fast approaching.

3. Team Collaboration.

The cloud-based platform supports seamless team collaboration in real time. Multiple team members can simultaneously access and edit any project data. This eliminates communication gaps and fosters transparency. Additionally, being able to add comments, mentions, and attachments, makes it easy for team members to communicate and share information within the platform as they continue to work.

3. Improved Customer Relationship Management (CRM).

Even if it looks like a data management tool, it can also function as a flexible CRM system. Businesses can design and implement customised CRM workflows to meet a business’s unique needs.

Where CRM was once a repository to store and manage customer data, it has now evolved into a system for managing data in all corners of a business. Today’s CRM may also contain information about vendors, partners, outside collaborators, and even internal teams.

The relationship side of the CRM has changed too. Before, the relationship was between a company and its customers or potential customers. Today, a CRM tracks relationships between a huge range of business entities, from customer service agents, and their callers to HR staff, and potential new hires.

Here’s how Airtable can serve as a flexible CRM system and some tips on how to set up and maintain effective customer relationships:

1. Customised CRM Workflows.

You can start creating a CRM base in Airtable to match your specific requirements by designing your tables, fields, and relationships.

For example, you can have tables for:

• Contacts
• Companies
• Opportunities
• Interactions

2. Centralised Contact Information.

Capture and store all relevant information such as contact details, their purchase and communication history, and preferences, all in one place. What’s great is that Airtable’s user-friendly interface makes it easy to update this data.

3. Tagging and Categorisation.

Customise the fields and categorise your contacts by criteria that matter to your business. For instance, tags indicate a lead’s status, customer type, or industry.

4. Communication and Interactions Tracking.

With Airtable, you can track all interactions with customers, including emails, phone calls, meetings, and notes. A comprehensive overview of your customer relationships can be achieved by creating linked records that link interactions with specific contacts and companies.

5. Task Management and Follow-ups.

Follow up with your customers and prospects by creating tasks and reminders. You can use Airtable’s project management features to track tasks and deadlines related to customer interactions and sales opportunities.

6. Pipeline Management.

Manage your sales pipeline efficiently by customising Airtable. Create a table for opportunities, track their progress through stages, and associate them with specific contacts or companies.

7. Integration with Calendar and Email.

Popular email and calendar apps can integrate seamlessly with Airtable. This allows you to sync your communication history and appointments. This ensures that you have a complete record of all your interactions with your customers.

Here are some tips for setting up and maintaining effective customer relationships:

1. Update customer information regularly – Make it a practice to regularly update your customer’s records in Airtable. Ensure that you have the most current contact information, their preferences, and their interaction history.
2. Automate your follow-up reminders – Airtable allows you to use its automation features to set up follow-ups, reminders and nurturing sequences. This feature can help you stay engaged with your leads and customers.
3. Segment your contacts – Use tags and categories to segment your contacts. You can tailor your communication and marketing efforts for specific groups and make them more effective by segmenting your contacts.
4. Analyse and report – Gain insights into your customer relationships by leveraging Airtable’s reporting and analysis tools. You’d be able to monitor your sales performance, customer satisfaction, and conversion rates. Additionally, it can help you make data-driven decisions to improve your CRM strategy.
5. Effectively collaborate with your team – Real-time collaboration enables your team to work together seamlessly and ensure everyone is on the same page regarding customer interactions, opportunities, and goals.

4. Automating Workflows.

Save time and boost productivity by reducing manual tasks by leveraging Airtable’s powerful automation capabilities. Create seamless workflows, and improve efficiency and accuracy with Airtable’s automation features.

Let’s explore some of Airtable’s automation capabilities and examples of how this can be a game-changer.

Airtable Automation Basics.

You can set up rules and triggers that respond to specific events or changes in your data in Airtable. You can also automate repetitive tasks, such as data updates, notifications, and task assignments. Here are some key elements of Airtable automation:

• Triggers – Changes or events in your data can initiate automation.
• Actions – These are tasks or actions the automation performs in response to triggers.
• Conditions – These are criteria that must be met before the automation can run.
• Automation – These are workflows consisting of triggers, conditions, and actions.

Here are some areas where you can use or implement Airtable automation:

Use Case	Trigger	Automation Action	Benefit
Email Notifications	A new lead is added to the “Leads” table	Sends an email notification to the sales team	Immediately alert the sales team about new leads for prompt response
Task Assignment and Reminders	When a project task’s status is changed to “In Progress”	Assign tasks to a team member and set due dates	Team members automatically receive tasks, streamlining project management and reducing the risk of missed deadlines
Data Validation	When a new record is added to the “Expenses” table	Check to see if the expense amount exceeds a predefined threshold	Prevent overspending to ensure expenses are reviewed and approved when necessary
Integration with Other Tools	Airtable can integrate with third-party apps and services	For example: Automate creating a new contact in your email marketing platform and trigger an email sequence once a new lead is added to Airtable	Streamline interactions between Airtable and other tools for improved workflow efficiency
Data Cleanup and Maintenance	On a scheduled basis (e.g., daily, weekly, monthly)	Identify and archive or delete outdated records	Keep your database clean by reducing clutter and making it easier to manage relevant data
Inventory Management	When an inventory level falls below a certain threshold	Generate a purchase order or alert your procurement team	Prevent stockouts and ensure timely restocking

Help your team save time, reduce manual errors, and keep their focus on more strategic tasks with Airtable’s automation features. Drive business growth by streamlining your workflows to help increase productivity and improve data accuracy. The advantages of automation are vast, and with the ability to customise your workflows, you can align them to cater to the unique needs and objectives of your business.

5. Airtable Data Analysis and Reporting.

Airtable’s interface may look simple and appear like a simple data management tool, however, it is also a powerful platform for data analysis and reporting. You can transform your data into actionable insights and aid in informed decision-making by harnessing its capabilities.

Here are some ways Airtable supports data analysis and reporting and showcases the visualisations and reporting options available:

1. Data Analysis Capabilities.

• Airtable allows you to perform data analysis directly within the platform. Do this by filtering, sorting, and grouping data to acquire a deeper understanding of your information.
• You can utilise formula fields to perform calculations, derive key metrics, and create new data points based on existing data.
• You can establish relationships between different data points in different tables using Airtables’s linked records feature. This enables you to make a more comprehensive analysis.

2. Customisable Views.

• Airtable allows you to use different views, such as grid, calendar, kanban, and gallery. This allows you to explore your data in various formats, helping you visualise and analyse information based on your needs.

3. Visualisations.

• Visualise your data by creating graphs and charts directly within Airtable. You can generate bar, pie, or line charts, and even scatter plots. This makes it easy for you to spot trends and patterns quickly.
• You may configure your charts to represent data from linked records, showing relationships between different sets of data.

4. Filtering and Sorting.

• You can set your focus on specific data subsets by utilising Airtable’s filtering and sorting options. Filter records based on different criteria such as date ranges, tags, or any specific fields. This capability is particularly useful if you want to drill down into specific details.

5. Pivot Tables.

• In spreadsheets or databases, pivot tables summarise and reorganise selected columns and rows of data to generate desired reports. You can do the same in Airtable to aggregate and summarise data based on different criteria.
• Pivot data by rows and columns to create cross-tabulations to help you reveal insights from your dataset.

6. Record Grouping.

• Consolidate information by grouping records according to a particular field. For example, group sales data by product category or region to see the performance of each category or region.

7. Reporting and Dashboards.

• You can create custom reports and dashboards in Airtable to compile and display key metrics and insights. This ability is particularly helpful when sharing information with stakeholders or your team members.
• Airtable gives you the flexibility to export data and reports to different file formats. This makes it easy to share information externally or integrate the information into other tools.

8. Reporting Automation.

• You can set up and generate automated reports and distribute these reports at scheduled intervals. For instance, you can create weekly sales reports that can be automatically sent to your sales team on a specified day of the week.

Airtable’s data analysis and reporting empower businesses to make informed decisions based on real-time and accurate data. Its visualisations, views, and data manipulation features help you understand your data, identify trends, and share insights with your team with ease, leading to a more efficient and competitive edge in the marketplace.

Real-World Success Stories in Project Management.

The following businesses have experienced significant improvements in project management by using Airtable:

1. DPG Media – Media and Entertainment Industry

DPG Media centralises its data and workflows using Airtable. This enabled them to have stronger collaboration with their team members to experiment and drive better business results.

Using Airtable, DPG Media was able to:

• Gain a 500% increase in subscription revenue.
• Earn ￡22 million total business impact.
• Gain a 500% increase in research output.

The DPG media team found out that by running and analysing one experiment in Airtable, a simple wording change on their digital subscription package offering made their customers avail of a 3-year subscription period. This singular move alone resulted in over a million pounds of subscription revenue.

Their success and curiosity made them eager to experiment with how Airtable’s AI offering could further help them accelerate vital steps in their team’s workflows. They say that AI is a huge opportunity, but also poses a threat if they don’t tap into evolving user needs.

2. Kamal Osman Jamjoom Group (KOJ) – Retail Industry

KOJ started with a single body shop franchise back in 1987 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Today, the retail group has 10 brands and employs 3,200 people in more than 600 stores in seven countries.

Using Airtable, KOJ was able to:

• Gain 143,000 work hours back.
• Manage their entire product catalogue including at least 270 data fields, pricing data, sales margins, sizing metrics, fabric types, quantity sold, shipping dates supplier information, and much more.
• Create a data layer where all information live in harmony in one place so anyone from their marketing team, retail, or design can dip in and take the information they need.
• Launch a sister brand in three months. Without Airtable, it would have taken them twice as long.

When Head of Innovation and Omnichannel, Osman Jamjoom set out to find a partner to digitally transform their company’s global operations, he stumbled upon Airtable and fell in love at first sight.

They now manage their entire product development cycle in Airtable from the length of their t-shirt sleeves to ingredients used in their perfumes. Before Airtable, KOJ employees spent days tracking and moving data between siloed tools. Using Airtable, they saved each head office employee more than 5 hours of work each week. Expanding this to a 52-week year, they were able to save 143,000 hours of work with Airtable.

KOJ says, they are no longer working for the data, they say data is now working for them with Airtable.

3. Dropbox – Tech Industry

Dropbox enables more meaningful collaboration and greater control over business results for their customers. But they needed people to know about it when they acquired HelloSign and needed a major rebrand back in 2019. Their thrust was to build a content engine to support each stage of the customer journey.

Using Airtable, Dropbox was able to:

• Produce three times more blog content.
• Increase their blog traffic by 30%

A three-month backlog with no way to track content production hampered Dropbox’s sales and marketing teams from creating case studies, blog content, and other campaign materials to attract more customers. Having different people writing blogs, sales sheets or ad copy, it’s not uncommon that their work would result in different styles and tones. Without a singular point of reference, all content would look and sound different and would not have a cohesive story or narrative, making them less effective.

To make matters worse, their team was working manually using different systems. Everything was fragmented and communication was fractured; none of their team members were aligned on a singular process.

Airtable saved the day by helping them build a system for tracking content production. They created a connected app for campaign tracking, built a comprehensive content library, and redesigned their content intake process. Airtable helped them align on how they can work together more closely and support each other’s needs.

With Airtable’s help, they were able to streamline their processes so they could think about their content at a much higher level. Their content library has become a reliable database for their entire team.

Conclusion.

Airtable is a remarkable platform that’s adaptable, versatile, and user-friendly. Even first-time users will find it simple to streamline their data management by using its customisable databases and templates, which further simplify data tracking and analysis.

Enhance your task tracking, meet deadlines, and improve team collaborations with its project management features while saving time and maintaining effective customer relationships. Moreover, its automation capabilities can be seamlessly integrated with other tools, boost productivity, and free up valuable resources. More importantly, Airtable empowers you to make informed decisions through data analysis and reporting by visually showcasing insights.

With Airtable, businesses will be able to unlock their full potential and drive efficiency in a competitive market. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to expand your business with this powerful tool.

To learn more about how to implement Airtable effectively in your business strategies and unlock the true potential of your business, we encourage you to visit The Growth Manager’s website or contact us today. Our growth experts are ready to guide you through the process and help build the business of your dreams.

Don’t miss the opportunity to revolutionise your operations and drive business growth. Your future success begins with us helping you create strategies and using the right tools, we’re here as your growth partner to assist you every step of the way.