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Want to find out how you can:

• Greatly improve your customer database?
• Expand the size and quality of information?
• Use your database to enhance your marketing effectiveness?
• Turn your customer database into a valuable corporate asset?

A well-maintained customer database is a valuable business and marketing tool. It can be a valuable corporate asset. Here are a few simple ideas you can use to improve your customer database.

1. Get the basics right

The place to start is with the basic structure of your database. Firstly, make sure you have the fields set up to capture the basics, in the right format. Such as do you need to have a separate ‘given name' and ‘family name' fields, are your postal addresses structured so you can export a file with confidence and know your mailing will go where it should. Do you need to know the gender of your contacts?

Establish a field naming protocol. Document this and your field structure and file it somewhere where the people who need to find it, can do so easily. Make sure the database is set up so it can be expanded to capture additional information the future.

Make a list of everything you want to know about your customers and ensure your database structure will be capable of capturing this.

2. Clean out the bounces

Many companies spend money sending direct communications where they will never be received, again and again. That's just a waste and it makes your response figures look bad too.

A thorough clean up of your database will find you lots of records that aren't worth keeping on file. This should include an advanced de-dupe, eliminating files that are incomplete and clearly wrong.

Sometimes the only way to do this is with a manual clean up - a tedious task but worthwhile. If the contacts on your database haven't been contacted for some time, then it may be worth mailing them and asking if they are still there. A reward helps them to put up their hand, e.g. ‘tell us you're still there and we'll send you a voucher for $X'.

3. Get email addresses

• are more cost-effective
• allow you to talk with your customers more regularly
• provide for better two-way communications
• offer you the chance to get your message to the right person at the right time (e.g. the thermometer just hits 30 degrees and you email your customers a special offer on ice cold ice-cream)

4. Find out something new

Work out something you really want to know about your customers and then plan a way to find it out.

As your data is enhanced with more information, your customer profiles become clearer and the data more valuable. A simple promotion with a reward for the information that customers provide is a great way to build your information base.

Be a bit lateral in the way you approach things. For example, a promotion with different prize options that the entrant selects - for instance they might choose between: a bottle of a Penfold's Grange, or four dozen quaffing reds, or 500 stubbies of domestic beer - will give you valuable insights into what sort of things may motivate your customers, regardless of your business category.

5. Find a new data source

Look at where your data records are currently coming from. Then explore all the potential sources where you could collect data from. These could include other databases in your organisation, customer complaints, your website, a promotional website, your telemarketing operation, offline customer promotions, direct mail to bought lists (with a response mechanism), outbound telemarketing, or a host of other sources.

Select the best new sources and start collecting.

6. Profile your data

You can learn some interesting insights that you can apply in your business and marketing planning by profiling your customer data using one of the profiling tools, such as MOSAIC or Marketfind, then analysing the results.

It will also provide you with insights you can use to further build your customer database. Make sure you append your data with the profile so you can use it for targeting future campaigns.

7. Have a dig around

Take some time to analyse your current customer data. If you are a non-technical person, have the database downloaded as a CSV file (spreadsheet) and spend some time taking a look through the various fields. You may come up with valuable insights you can use in your business or marketing planning.

8. Find out something you don't want to know

If you're really brave, ask customers on your database what they think of you. This can be done as a simple online survey, with an incentive to complete it. If you know what your customers think of your organisation, you can talk to them in the right way. Even if they say they don't love you at the moment, you can use this information to try to start improving your relationship.

9. Start a regular conversation

The best way to keep a database maintained is to communicate regularly with it. Ask your customers to let you know when they move. They'll do this if your relationship provides them with real value. Regular communication and two-way dialog will enhance your data and help you to improve the effectiveness of your communications to customers.

10. Reward your customers

You will never develop genuine customer loyalty if all you do is try to sell to your customers every time you talk to them. Rewarding customers with valuable information, unexpected gifts, special offers (even third party offers), discounts, access to limited stock, ideas to make their life easier or to help solve a problem, etc, will generate loyalty and add value to your contacts. Every offer redeemed or responded to offers the potential to enhance your understanding of the customer, increasing the value of your database.

Talk with someone who can help

Have a chat with SM2 to find out how you can turn your customer database into a valuable corporate asset.