What a CRM Can Do That Registration Software Cannot

If you are organizing a race, registration software is a must. It tracks who is signing up, collects key details, and helps you manage basic event logistics. But if that is all you are using, you are leaving a lot on the table, especially when it comes to engaging participants, building long term relationships, and maximizing revenue.

That is where having a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system comes in. When your CRM is integrated with your registration software, or better yet, when it is a native part of your endurance event platform, you get a complete picture of your participants and can create more personalized, meaningful experiences at every stage of the journey. 

If you are still relying solely on registration software, here is what you might be missing.

A CRM Gives You a Complete View of Your Participants

Registration software tells you who signed up. A CRM tells you who they are: their history with your events, donation patterns, merchandise purchases, referrals, team participation, and more. 

Brynne Kelly, Associate Director of Customer Experience at haku, who has over a decade of experience in endurance events, explains it like this:

“Having all participant data in one place is a game changer. You can track participant history, segment your audience, and gain deeper insights into engagement.”

With a native CRM built for endurance, that “one place” is not just a contact record. It is a unified profile where registrations, fundraising, loyalty activity, and store orders all live together. Custom fields and flexible reports let you track what matters for your specific events, like corral history, qualifying times, or club memberships. 

For endurance events, relationships matter. A CRM helps you see if someone is a repeat participant, a past fundraiser, a referral source, or a top donor. Those insights can shape how you communicate, how you seed corrals and waves, and which offers you put in front of them.

Why this matters for race organizers: When you know the full story behind each runner, walker, or rider, you can stop treating them like a bib number and start treating them like part of your community. That leads to better experiences, higher retention, and more lifetime value per participant.

A CRM Makes Marketing Personal

Today’s participants expect brands to understand them, not just in a broad, generic way but in a personal and relevant one. Jackie Levi, Chief Strategy Officer and co-founder at haku explains: 

“Segmented marketing is crucial. Consumers expect brands to market to them in a way that shows they understand what they value.”

With a CRM that is wired into your registration, fundraising, and e-commerce tools, you can segment by event history, distance preferences, fundraising activity, loyalty status, geography, and interests.

Instead of blasting the same email to your entire database, you can:

• Promote 10K upgrades to 5K runners who have participated for three years in a row
  
  
• Send charity run messaging only to participants with a fundraising history
  
  
• Create early access offers for loyalty members or VIPs
  
  
• Re engage lapsed participants from a specific race series with targeted campaigns
  

Jackie Levi went on to share an example. 

“If you look at my profile and see I only run 5K, do not put a marathon in front of me, at least not without context. But if you message me with something like, ‘Here is why marathons are great for 5K runners,’ that is different. That shows you understand me and my habits. That is what today’s consumers expect, and you cannot deliver that without data, which you cannot get without a CRM.”

haku’s native CRM powers marketing tools like automated campaigns, triggered messages based on behavior, and revenue tracking, so you can see which segments and journeys actually drive registrations and fundraising.

Why this matters for race organizers: Personalized marketing converts better. It helps you cut through inbox noise, move participants to the “next” distance or event, and turn one time registrants into loyal regulars without hiring a huge marketing team.

A CRM Helps You Deliver Better Customer Service

Endurance events thrive on building community, and great customer service is a big part of that. A CRM turns each interaction into an informed, empathetic moment instead of a blind transaction.

With a CRM you can:

• Recognize repeat participants, teams, and VIPs the moment they reach out
  
  
• Offer personalized experiences, such as waiving fees for loyal supporters or upgrading corrals for long time runners
  
  
• Quickly resolve issues by having all participant data in one place, including registration details, transfers, payment history, and merchandise orders
  

If someone calls or emails with a question about deferrals, a family registration, or a last minute corral change, your team can see their full history. That includes how often they have raced with you, whether they are part of a charity team, and whether they have had past issues. Then they can make a decision that matches your policies and your relationship with that participant. Jackie Levi clarifies. 

“If someone calls with a question or issue, that is your chance to deliver an amazing experience, a CRM ensures you have the data to make that happen.”

Why this matters for race organizers: You do not get many chances to fix a bad moment. When your team has full context at their fingertips, they can turn potential frustrations into loyalty building experiences that keep people coming back and telling their friends.

A CRM Keeps Institutional Knowledge from Walking Out the Door

Staff turnover and volunteer transitions are inevitable in the endurance world. Losing your participant relationships does not have to be.

According to Jackie Levi: 

“With a CRM, you do not lose VIP relationships or donor history when staff members transition and all that information is stored in one place, ensuring continuity.”

A modern CRM captures:

• Notes on key relationships like charity partners, corporate teams, and sponsors
  
  
• Communication history, from campaign emails to one to one outreach
  
  
• Participant milestones like streaks, fundraising totals, or membership tenure
  

Platforms like haku treat this as an institutional asset. Supporter and participant profiles span events and years, so the next race director or coordinator can pick up where the last one left off. 

Why this matters for race organizers: Your most valuable relationships, like top fundraisers and sponsors, should not live in someone’s memory or personal spreadsheet. A CRM makes sure those relationships survive staff changes and keep growing year after year.

A CRM Simplifies Communication and Scaling

Managing communication across a growing calendar of races, distances, and locations can get chaotic fast. A CRM helps you tame that chaos.

With a CRM first platform, you can:

• Automate confirmation, reminder, and post race emails that still feel personal
  
  
• Trigger different messages for first timers versus legacy participants
  
  
• Manage communication for multiple events, series, and challenges in one place
  
  
• Coordinate messaging across registration, race day, loyalty programs, and follow up
  

Brynne Kelly offers more specifics:

“It is a huge bonus because you can set it and forget it, and it drives conversion.” 

For example, native CRM platforms like haku connect registration, marketing, race day logistics, and loyalty, so participants experience one continuous journey instead of a series of disconnected touch points. 

Why this matters for race organizers: When your events grow, manual communication breaks. Automation that is powered by real participant data lets you scale without losing the human touch or overwhelming your team.

A CRM Opens Up More Revenue Opportunities

Endurance events are not just about getting people to sign up. They are about building a sustainable community that supports your events and missions year after year.

A CRM helps you identify and act on revenue opportunities such as:

• Cross selling and upselling merchandise, training plans, photos, and VIP experiences through integrated e commerce
  
  
• Promoting memberships that offer perks like automatic discounts, priority registration, or exclusive events
  
  
• Managing rewards and loyalty programs that encourage repeat registrations and referrals
  
  
• Deepening fundraising and sponsorship revenue by connecting participants, charity partners, and corporate teams in one platform
  

Brynne Kelly adds:

“I think one of the biggest missed opportunities without a CRM is cross marketing and upselling,” “Personalization is key to turning participants into advocates and donors.”

Why this matters for race organizers: Margins in endurance events are tight. A CRM helps you grow total revenue per participant, not just bib counts, which gives you more room to invest back into the experience.

A CRM Reduces Compliance and Data Privacy Risks

Managing participant data across a messy stack of spreadsheets, email tools, and disconnected systems is not just inefficient. It is risky.

A CRM reduces that risk by:

• Centralizing participant data instead of exporting CSVs and sharing them across multiple tools
  
  
• Reducing manual imports and exports between registration, marketing, accounting, and external CRMs
  
  
• Providing a single source of truth that is easier to secure and govern
  

haku’s native CRM is part of an all in one endurance platform. That means fewer handoffs between vendors, fewer places where data can leak, and more control over who can access which records. 

Why this matters for race organizers: Data regulations are only getting stricter, and participants expect you to protect their information. A consolidated, purpose built CRM setup lowers your exposure and gives you cleaner, more trustworthy data to work with.

A CRM Makes Data Actionable

Most race directors are not short on data. They are short on time and tools to turn that data into decisions.

A CRM ensures that data does not just sit in reports. It becomes a tool for action. With it, you can:

• Track participant engagement across multiple events and years
  
  
• Analyze trends in registration pacing, channel performance, and fundraising
  
  
• Identify at risk segments whose participation is dropping so you can re engage them
  
  
• Use historical behavior to forecast future registrations and set realistic revenue targets 

Jackie Levi explains: 

“With a CRM, you get that bird’s eye view across your events and organization, that insight is crucial for growth.”

Why this matters for race organizers: When you know what is working, what is slipping, and where there is untapped potential, you can stop guessing. You can plan your calendar, budgets, and campaigns with confidence instead of instinct alone.

A CRM Built for Endurance Events

Finally, there is the question of fit. Not all CRMs are built for the realities of race directing.

Unlike generic CRMs or third party tools that require complex integrations, a native CRM for endurance:

• Understands concepts like multi day events, relays, bundles, and teams
  
  
• Connects participant behavior across virtual challenges, in person races, loyalty programs, and fundraising campaigns
  
  
• Reduces vendor sprawl and data silos so your team can work from one system instead of many

For race organizers focused on growth, loyalty, and long term sustainability, a CRM is no longer optional. It is essential. Moving beyond basic registration software to an integrated, CRM first approach allows you to foster deeper participant relationships, optimize revenue generation, and build a resilient future in an increasingly competitive endurance landscape.

haku provides the endurance industry’s only native CRM built specifically for endurance events. It is part of an all in one platform that covers registration, marketing, e-commerce, memberships, partners, event management, and race day operations. If you’re interested in learning more, connect with us today.