Data is central to the success of CRM initiatives. Knowing who your customer is and what they want makes a CRM strategy successful. Data gathering can begin even before your prospect becomes a customer. Matching a prospect’s profile to the product or offer is the first step.
But data on its own is meaningless if it is not analysed and acted upon. Through analysis, data can be turned into insights, which can then inform the various CRM processes and, indeed, the business itself.
Data should be used to drive consumer loyalty across all possible touch points. Consider the consumer who shops on her store card at a retail outlet. Her transactions are recorded against her card – she is sent offers that detail the latest fashion trends and earns points on her card shopping for these. At some point, her transactional data shows that she has started shopping for baby clothes – she can
now be cross-sold products to do with babies, and rewarded with double points when she buys them. Now she is upping her spend in the store, cross-shopping for both herself and her family and being rewarded for this, thus ensuring that the retail outlet is offering her value and retaining her business.
But data on its own is meaningless if it is not analysed and acted upon. Through analysis, data can be turned into insights, which can then inform the various CRM processes and, indeed, the business itself.
Data should be used to drive consumer loyalty across all possible touch points. Consider the consumer who shops on her store card at a retail outlet. Her transactions are recorded against her card – she is sent offers that detail the latest fashion trends and earns points on her card shopping for these. At some point, her transactional data shows that she has started shopping for baby clothes – she can
now be cross-sold products to do with babies, and rewarded with double points when she buys them. Now she is upping her spend in the store, cross-shopping for both herself and her family and being rewarded for this, thus ensuring that the retail outlet is offering her value and retaining her business.
