Why do I need a Database?

Organisations are increasingly using databases to manage Customer Relationships to increase both sales and Customer satisfaction. A database can help identify key trends and important information such as the most and least profitable customers. If a Service is being provided then maintaining accurate records of Customer/ Supplier interactions becomes even more important. This is often called Customer Relationship Management (CRM), and it plays an important role in many Business' Sales and Marketing strategies. Understanding what and how Customers buy from the Company, and having instant access to their interaction record is essential to the success of the Business.

The benefits of this are:

• effective marketing communications, through a more personal approach and the development of new/improved products/services
• identification of Customer needs more effectively
• enhanced customer satisfaction and hence customer retention
• increased value from your existing customers - and reduced cost-to-serve

An effective Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system will enable the Business to analyse the data, to find out who the most profitable customers are, what characteristics they share, and how they communicate with the Business.

An effective CRM system will also help the Business to communicate successfully with its customers by identifying similar groups of customers to target by a particular method, such as telephone, direct mail, email or face-to-face. It can also measure the effectiveness of Marketing so that time and money are not wasted on customers who aren't responding to promotional campaigns.

CRM is a sales and marketing issue, not a matter of IT. It is about developing a strategy and a set of tools for improving your customer knowledge, which is supported - not led - by the technology.

Remember - inadequate data organisation reduces the ability to communicate to the right customer.

By adopting a database, you can:

• Improve efficiency 
• Improve campaign effectiveness - inaccurate data can result in the proposed message not reaching the targeted recipient, although you will still incur the cost of delivery.
• Improve Customer satisfaction by immediate access to their interaction record

Keeping a customer or prospective customer file up to date will invariably help with marketing costs, improved response rates, better targeting and more accurate communications by telephone, fax, post or email.

Off-the-shelf databases rarely do what you want them to, they are designed for a large market, and will contain those features that appeal to those market users. However, though they may have some of the features you require, it is unlikely that they will have all the features because to do so would require a more complicated program.

Custom databases are precisely that, they are designed to your specifications to fulfil every detail of your requirement, therefore the effect on your business is much more impressive. They are, after all, exactly what you wanted. They contain everything you wanted, functioning  in the way you wanted, to give the result you wanted. The effect on efficiency should be immediate.

Why you should consider the Custom database option

You use information already held about your customers - whether on manual or computerised systems - to build the database. All you need to do is to decide what you want the database to be able to do. It is up to the Consultant to produce the database, tailored to your exact requirements.

For the Custom database, treat the brief as a wish list. Include everything you would like to have present, or like to have in terms of  output. The Consultant will tell you how much you can have. You are likely to be surprised at just how custom your database can be, and how soon you will find it indispensable.

Back to Commercial Computer Services                          Forward to 'What does it cost'?                 Back to System Efficency Test