How to segment potential customers by CRM usage using Builtwith data

If you’re in sales, marketing, or just tired of guessing who’s using which CRM, this guide is for you. We’ll cut through the noise and show you exactly how to use Builtwith data to slice up your potential customers by the CRM systems they already use. No fluff, no empty promises—just practical steps to help you stop wasting time on bad-fit leads.

Why Segment by CRM Usage?

Let’s be real: not every company is a good customer for your product or service. If you know which CRM a prospect is using, you can:

  • Pinpoint companies that fit your integration or migration sweet spot.
  • Avoid pitching to folks who are locked into a competitor you can’t dislodge.
  • Personalize your outreach (“Hey, I see you’re on Salesforce—here’s how we can help…”).
  • Save everyone time (and save yourself from endless cold-call rejections).

But getting a clean list of who’s using what isn’t easy. Company websites don’t shout “We use HubSpot!” on their homepage. That’s where tools like Builtwith come in.

What is Builtwith, Really?

Builtwith is a tool that scans public websites and tells you what technologies are in use—everything from analytics scripts to CRMs, email platforms, and more. It’s not magic. It’s looking for clues in the page source code, so it’s good, but not perfect. Still, it’s one of the better options if you want tech stack data at scale.

Step 1: Decide What You Actually Want to Know

Before you start, get clear on your goal. Some questions to ask yourself:

  • Are you looking for companies using ANY CRM, or specific ones (like Salesforce, HubSpot, Zoho)?
  • Do you care about company size, location, or industry, too?
  • Are you after fresh installs (recent adopters), or anyone who’s ever used that CRM?
  • Do you want to avoid companies using certain CRMs (e.g., your direct competitors)?

Narrow your focus. It’ll make everything else simpler—and your outreach less annoying.

Step 2: Get Access to Builtwith Data

You can use Builtwith in a couple of ways:

  • The Free Lookup: Type in a single domain and get a tech profile. Fine for one-off research, but useless for bulk work.
  • Technology Trends: See broad stats on which CRMs are popular, but not who’s using them.
  • Paid Plans: These unlock bulk data exports, CRM-specific lead lists, and API access. This is what you need for serious segmentation. Pricing isn’t cheap—expect to pay hundreds per month. If you’re just dabbling, try their free trials or reach out to see if they’ll do a one-off export.

Pro Tip: Don’t bother with Builtwith if you can’t justify the price or don’t need more than a handful of leads. There are cheaper, manual ways to research a few accounts.

Step 3: Pull the CRM Usage Data

Once you’re in, here’s what to do:

  1. Choose Your CRM(s): In Builtwith, go to the “Technology” or “Leads” section and search for the CRM(s) you care about (e.g., Salesforce, HubSpot).
  2. Set Filters: Filter by country, traffic rank, industry, or other criteria if you want to narrow the field.
  3. Export the List: Download as CSV/XLSX. You’ll get website domains, company names, sometimes contact info, and the detected CRM (plus other tech).

What to Ignore: Don’t get distracted by every tech column Builtwith spits out. Focus on what matters—domain, CRM detected, and any basic firmographics you need.

Step 4: Clean and Enrich Your List

Builtwith’s data is solid, but not flawless. Common issues:

  • False Positives: Sometimes a CRM script is detected, but the company isn’t really using it (e.g., it’s on a subdomain, or was part of a past trial).
  • Missing Data: Not every company is detected, especially if they hide their CRM use (behind logins, custom domains, etc.).
  • Messy Company Names: You’ll get website URLs, but not always clean company names or contact info.

How to Clean:

  • Remove obvious junk: parked domains, personal blogs, agencies (unless they’re your target).
  • Cross-reference with LinkedIn or another data provider to get more accurate company info and decision-maker contacts.
  • Use tools like Clearbit, Apollo, or manual research to fill in gaps (industry, size, etc.).
  • If you care about freshness, check when the CRM was first detected—Builtwith sometimes includes a “First Seen” or “Last Seen” date.

Don’t Obsess: Don’t waste hours cleaning every row. Look for broad patterns and spot-check a sample for quality.

Step 5: Segment and Prioritize

Now for the fun part—actually segmenting your potential customers by CRM usage.

Ideas for Segmentation:

  • By CRM Type: Group by Salesforce, HubSpot, Microsoft Dynamics, etc. Prioritize based on your integration or migration capabilities.
  • By Company Size: Filter out tiny firms or focus on mid-market/enterprise, depending on your ideal customer profile.
  • By Geography or Industry: If you only serve certain markets, slice accordingly.
  • By CRM Tenure: Newly adopted CRMs might be in flux and open to new tools; long-time users may be harder to sway.

Practical Example: - If you sell a Salesforce add-on, filter for companies already detected on Salesforce. - If you offer CRM migrations, filter for folks on platforms you move customers away from (e.g., Zoho, Pipedrive). - If you’re looking for companies using any CRM (to pitch upgrades), focus on those with lighter-weight or outdated platforms.

Avoid: - Assuming Builtwith’s data is gospel. Always verify before outreach—people hate getting emails that are flat-out wrong about their tech stack. - Over-segmenting. If you get to 50 micro-categories, you’ll just confuse yourself.

Step 6: Put Your Segments to Work

Don’t just stare at spreadsheets. Use your CRM-segmented lists to:

  • Personalize Outreach: “Saw you’re using HubSpot. Here’s how we connect…”
  • Tailor Content: Send targeted case studies or guides relevant to their CRM.
  • Prioritize Calls: Focus your time on the highest-fit leads.
  • Inform Product Roadmap: Spot trends (e.g., a surge in Zoho usage) and adjust accordingly.

What Not To Do: - Don’t blast the same generic pitch to everyone. People can smell automation a mile away. - Don’t treat CRM usage as the only thing that matters—layer in other signals (company size, funding, hiring, etc.).

What Works, What Doesn’t, and What to Ignore

What Works: - Using Builtwith data for broad segmentation and prioritization. - Enriching that data with LinkedIn or other sources for up-to-date info. - Treating CRM usage as a starting point, not the finish line.

What Doesn’t: - Blindly trusting every data point. Double-check before you pitch. - Expecting 100% coverage—some sites won’t be detected, and that’s life. - Over-automating. This isn’t a magic lead machine.

Ignore: - Overly complicated workflows. If you’re spending more time in spreadsheets than talking to customers, you’ve missed the point.

The Bottom Line

Segmenting by CRM usage with Builtwith isn’t rocket science, but it’s not push-button easy either. Keep it simple: know what you want, pull the data, clean it up, and use it to focus your efforts. Don’t get paralyzed by perfection. Start lean, learn what works, and iterate as you go. The less time you spend hunting for leads, the more time you have to actually close them.