Databases are extremely useful tools for storing customer or enquirer details and generating additional sales. However, inappropriate content or inaccurate data can make the database worse than useless; it can actually be a hindrance to the business.
The IDM Marketing Guide, published regularly by the UK’s Institute of Direct Marketing, recommends the following database management tasks.
Database Contents
The actual content will depend on individual circumstances but consider the following as a minimum:
- Title
- First name
- Initials
- Surname
- Job title (for businesses)
- Postal address
- Email address
- Phone number
- Contact preferences
- Sales history including products purchased and when
- Source of initial enquiry.
Have each of these in a separate field so they can be identified and retrieved individually. You may want addresses on letters to have title, initial and surname (Mr J Roberts), but the salutation to say Dear Jack or perhaps Dear Mr Roberts. Unless you have each of these pieces of information held separately you will not be able to do this and will be restricted to whatever was initially put into the database.
Postal/zip codes and individual address elements are another area where it is vital to hold each item separately. You will not be able to target people in a particular locality or in a chosen zip code if the address is held as one entry in an Excel cell, other than by using some very clever data manipulation.
Managing New Entries
The quality of your database will only ever be as good as the information put into it. Employ quality checking at entry stage rather than remedying problems after you’ve found them. Name and address checking software is available that checks the entry is correct and valid, as are tools to validate email addresses and telephone numbers.
If multiple members of staff can make new entries then make sure there is a set of rules and guidelines to follow. Consider using technology to ensure that these rules are being followed, e.g. do not allow the system to move to another stage until ‘Source of Enquiry’ has been completed.
Managing Existing Entries
Every entry on the database should have its own unique reference, for example a number allocated to every new record. Although people don’t like being referred to as a number, they don’t like it either when you get their details wrong or don’t acknowledge that they’re an existing customer. Provide them with the number and ask them to quote it when they contact you.
Then, when they make a purchase or provide an update, their record can be called up on the database and amended.
Cleaning the Database
Periodically you should also do a ‘cleanse’. This means searching the records and removing duplicates or correcting inaccuracies.
Consider this scenario. A customer calls one day without their number and doesn’t advise the operator that they are an existing customer. The operator, an inexperienced member of staff, automatically assumes they are new and creates a new record. The database has a built-in validation system that checks for existing entries but it isn’t identified because the staff member doesn’t get the name of the company quite right.
A monthy cleanse will highlight the names of similar-looking companies so the mistake can be easily corrected and the database remains up to date.
Keeping the database up to date is only a part of making it effective, it needs to be fit for purpose initially and also used to generate results. Read Databases for Small Businesses and Using a Database Effectively for guidance on both these topics.
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