By Jennifer Krizanek, Stibo Systems
Do you ever find yourself wondering whether businesses even know who you are? Or better yet, how many times have you willingly given out information about yourself yet they still can’t identify you or your account when you begin a new business transaction?
Businesses expect customers to be loyal and yet they themselves don’t take the initiative to actually get to know who their customers are. It is no wonder businesses and customers alike are frustrated when loyalty is not returned or acknowledged.
Unfortunately, this is the norm for a lot of businesses these days.True story and full disclosure: I happen to be one of those “loyal” customers that all businesses strive to attract. I am a Virgo, so I was born to be a committed and loyal individual. Once I find a brand that I love, I will forever shop there as long as the quality of their products remains intact and the customer service is excellent. I am also a frequent “cross-channel” shopper willing to buy in-store and online for a particular brand. However, I am finding that even though I spend a lot of money with this particular retailer every year, they still can’t figure out who I am every time I check out.
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Seriously, I can’t begin to tell you how many rewards cards I have been given and countless points I have lost out on because every time I check out, this company can’t find me in their system. I even told them that I receive their exclusive member emails. However, like many retailers, loyal customers like me often end up in that huge black hole of a database never to be seen or heard from again.
They can’t find me using my email address and even after presenting them with the latest rewards card that I was given, only to find out that the card was issued with a placeholder name! Not cool, especially since I could find the same brand in more than a dozen other places. In fact, that is exactly what I did: I took my business elsewhere.
Today’s consumers are savvy, informed and they drive the decision-making process of businesses. Some customers are loyal, but many are not. These multichannel shoppers have access to information at the swipe of their fingertips and they shop across several channels, knowing how to get the best deal and ensuring availability. Today more than ever, businesses need to know who their customers are, and more importantly, understand just how loyal they are. After all, loyal customers not only purchase from them on a regular basis, but they are also brand advocates, as they will frequently speak highly of their favorite brands and their experiences when talking with other people.
But we need to be clear: To gain customer loyalty, businesses need to provide an exceptional and differentiated experience from the start. Loyalty cannot be achieved if retailers do not have accurate, complete and up-to-date information about their customers’ profiles, preferences, purchase history, what location they prefer, the value of the products they returned or why they contacted customer service.
The latest generation of Master Data Management solutions have evolved to the point where retailers can deliver a single, trusted view of customer, product and other data in a single seamless platform, making it easier to relate product and customer information to quickly achieve a 360-degree view. However, achieving a single, trusted view requires an organizational standard, system and process. As a first step, the organization gathers critical data on its customers, products and other domains. Customer-facing employees, for example, capture relevant information that they discover about each customer at all points of interaction.
Next, the organization processes, consolidates and maintains a single, trusted version of this information throughout the business. This master data is accurate, reliable, trusted, relevant, consistent, unduplicated, up-to-date, complete, timely, secure and accessible. Organizations can quickly and accurately identify actionable customer insights, including products purchased, consumer sentiments and needs. This intelligence can then be used to market and sell to each individual customer. In addition, this insight can improve organizational learning to optimize the experience for each customer. The value to both parties is immeasurable and chances are you’ll be well on your way to creating a meaningful and long-term relationship that can translate into increased revenue and loyalty.
Jennifer Krizanek is Director of Global Product Marketing at Stibo Systems, a provider of multidomain master data management solutions. Jennifer has a proven track record of helping organizations increase revenue through lead generation and customer retention. Prior to Stibo Systems, Jennifer was Director of Marketing for Heiler Software.
