So it's time for a big party. You want to celebrate your 40th birthday party and gather together friends, family, work colleagues, and some business associates that you've got close to.
But there's a problem.
You've never gathered all their addresses together. Some are in your address book, some are in the computer, some are on business cards. Some friends sent you change of address notifications which you can't find. Some people you only have email addresses for, others have changed their names when they got married, some of the pages are missing out of the address book, and a cup of coffee spilled over the 'Ts' making them illegible.
Suddenly sending out 100 invites has become a monstrous task. Why?
You don't have a system for organising contact information of all these people.
Big pain in the neck when you want to bring everyone together for a party.
A constant pain in the neck for businesses that want to communicate with their customers but don't have an organised system for keeping track of customer and potential customer details.
The result?
These businesses often don't get in touch with their customers or potential customers because it's just too hard.
What is a customer database?
It is simply a system for keeping track of customer details such as name, postal address, telephone numbers and email. You can add all sorts of information to these core details such as buying history and birthdays etc subject to the Data Protection Act*.
*Click the link for more information on complying with this act if you're in the UK. Search online for data protection in your country if your outside the UK.
Why do you need one?
Micro businesses or owner managed businesses often feel that a customer database is for companies that have an office, reception and staff.
Wrong.
A customer database is one of the most important tools for generating new and repeat sales. Micro businesses especially should look after every customer's details as carefully as they look after cash. After all they are the key to future 'cash' sales.
How do you create one?
First you need to choose a system.
Will it be paper or electronic?
Given that email is increasingly used it would make sense to go electronic as transferring a paper system to a computer in the future, will be laborious. A low cost route is to use existing software on your computer.
For PCs – Windows Contacts which integrates with Windows Mail in Windows 7
Windows Address Book which integrates with Windows Mail on Windows Vista
Windows Address Book which integrates with Outlook Express on Windows XP
For Macs – Address Book which integrates with Mail (OSX)
Both systems allow you to select which information you want to store and there is a space for notes if you want to jot down important information about your customer e.g. they hate pink!
These systems cost you nothing and yet both powerfully integrate with other applications such as Windows Microsoft Office and the iWork suite from Apple.
Another advantage of starting with these simple systems is that you can easily export the data to a more powerful system later on. Many of the e-mail marketing systems will accept contact data from Windows Contacts or Mac's Address Book.
When do you collect customer information?
By simply analysing the pathway a prospective customer takes, you can find a convenient point at which to collect the information.
Convenient for your customer as well as your business.
If you trade in markets or have a farm shop, you may not want to slow down the queues by collecting customer information at the point of sale.
In this case you could provide forms with pens for people to fill out the information themselves. To get people to do this, you'll need to offer an incentive – a prize draw offering a decent amount of free product should do the trick.
If people generally telephone you to make enquiries, or bookings – that could be a good time to collect their information.
If most enquiries come via your website, you may be able to collect information from your form, though beware of asking for too much information. People don't like forms.
Whose information should you collect?
Anyone who buys from you, should have an entry in your database.
Anyone who makes an enquiry should have an entry in your database.
All your suppliers should have an entry in your database.
Once you have a customer database, an organised system for collecting and retrieving customer data, then you can get your party started. Keep in touch with customers regularly by postcard, letter or email.
