Customers are the lifeblood of any business. The more you know about your customers the better chance you have of pitching products and services to them that they actually want to buy. Your customer database is the best marketing tool you have to track your customer’s interests.
Along with the name and email address of everyone you’ve sold to, your customer database should also include what they purchased – and when. You can then use this information to target your advertising and marketing strategies.
Selling to an existing customer is far easier and cheaper than finding a new one. It’s also a fair bet that someone who bought a printer from you will need replacement ink cartridges and photo paper within a few months of buying it and throughout the life of the printer.
A customer database can eliminate a great deal of paperwork for a business, providing a single repository for valuable client information that can be used by sales teams, customer support personnel, and even the accounting team. While it is possible to buy software products that provide basic formats for this type of database, customised databases can be created by keeping a few basics about form and function in mind:
- Purchase database creation software. Choose a product that is compatible with the word processing and other software tools used in the business. This will make it easier to import or export data from other sources, making it possible to avoid entering a large amount of data into the newly created database.
- Determine the type of information that will be housed in the customer database. Most designs will include information such as company name, mailing address, physical address, contact name, telephone and fax numbers, and email addresses. Additional data such as information on contract terms, pricing, and notes on pending tasks associated with each client are often included in the data captured and maintained in this type of electronic resource.
- Consider the possible uses for the database. Along with providing a centralised resource to retrieve important data, think in terms of what types of reports could be created using the data, or if the database is intended for use as a resource in generating mailing labels, email lists, or even lists to use in fax broadcasting. Keeping this in mind will help in determining how to name each of the fields that will house data, and ease the process of creating report formats that pull from those fields.
- Organise the data fields. Create a simple template that follows a logical sequence when it comes to entering names, addresses, and other contact information. Doing so makes it easier to move from 1 field to the next with a minimum of interruption and complete the entry of a new customer record within a reasonable period of time.
- Set authorisations on each of the fields. This includes identifying which fields will be included in report formats as well as which can serve as the basis for sorting or searching the database entries. Assigning the right authorisations to each field will expedite the retrieval of the right data when and as it is needed.
- Prepare report formats. A few basic formats that can be used frequently will often be sufficient, although key users can be granted the ability to create customised reports that include fields relevant to the user’s job position and level of access to customer data.
- Establish login credentials and access rights. A workable customer database includes the ability to create login credentials that allow only authorised employees to access the information. Going further, assigning different levels of rights makes sure that each user is able to view, change, and enter data relevant to his or her job responsibilities, but is not able to view other information that is of use to other personnel.
- Review and test the customer database before release. Try using the beta version with a small group of employees to make sure each of the functions works as envisioned. Use the findings of this test group to iron out any issues with performance, format, and ease of use.
Once all the issues are addressed and resolved, the final version can be rolled out to the entire company. This is when the real work starts. Creating a customer database is the easy part. To maintain the integrity of the database will require constant monitoring, testing, and data analysis.