The architecture of a high quality customer database

Possessing a high quality customer database is essential to your business; it ensures you stay in contact with your customers, having up-to-date information at hand so your customer always stays your first priority. Whether it's through email, point-of-sales, direct or indirect marketing, information kiosks, online shopping venues, or the like, crafting the architecture of a high quality customer database is the key to procuring long-lasting customer relations. Here are some takeaway points to consider.

Utilize points of contact

When you engage a customer, through personal and relevant data collection, you can learn a lot about that individual or business. Keeping clear and concise data requires regular updates such as:

• Consistent feedback
• Newsletters
• Email inquiry for updated information
• Follow-up calling for accurate information
• Running a de-duplication process. This helps to eliminate duplicate records and clean up the data, and is recommended to ensure the architecture of a high quality customer database.

Database matching is done to ensure customers are matched with households. If a customer has moved, you can discover that information and therefore dispose of old, inaccurate records. Usually, database matching can be achieved through data cleansing tools or if you have employees and the time, it can be done manually to prevent computer error.

Qualities a customer database should possess

A framework for the architecture of a high quality customer database should include qualities relevant to the needs of your company. These include:

• Brief data
• Up-do-date data
• Relevance
• Trustworthiness
• Completeness
• Accuracy
• Timeliness
• Tailored to customer's needs
• Recognizable
• Orderly
• Neat
• Understandable
• Easily accessible

Assessing these qualities and fixing inconsistencies will ensure your customer's data is everything it needs to be, in regards to accurate, understandable, and attractively presented information that is not only useful but valuable to your company.

A customer database can be a valuable commodity

If you decide to sell your business, a high quality database is essential for the new owner. Having a concise and up-to-date customer database gives the new owners ready knowledge of your customers, such as where they live, email, and home or business address, phone number, and what they have purchased in the past. However, if you sell online, ensure your privacy policy has the stipulation that if you do sell, then the new owners would have access to your customer's information. If it doesn't state that, amend it, so you, the new owners, and your customers stay protected.Achieving the architecture of a high quality customer database takes time to build, but by utilizing these tips, you can rest assured your customers will appreciate the effort to keep accurate and timely data; doing so will result in a well-organized filing system that is always kept well maintained and promises to be a valuable marketing tool, as well as a key asset to your business.