Blog Entry 4: Using Data for Insights, CRM/CLV
Class 6
2/10/2014

Data is a wonderful asset. There are more and more ways to collect, store, and organize data than ever before. Today our challenge lies within using this data in a productive manner. Through Customer Relationship Management (CRM), we can better understand the customer experience and find ways to market to them most effectively. 

In my opinion, no two CRMs need to look the same. A CRM should be built around specific company needs. This can differ based on B2B vs. B2C companies, various industries, company cultures, and technological capabilities. Some of the most import parts of CRM are to have clean data. Companies often have data which is repetitive or incorrect, which can lead to wrong conclusions about customers. 

A lot of CRM has to do with acquiring customers. How can we do that? According to our class discussion, on of the options is to creating a need or want. In the following clip, Don Draper of Mad Men talks about creating "an itch" and using your product as the calamine lotion to soothe that. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoKtk8L77-U 

Whatever you are selling, should go beyond the product's obvious utility. If you can create a deeper connection with the product to the consumer, you have a better chance to optimize customer relationships. This can help to increase purchase frequency, increase average transaction size, and increase retention. As your customer relationships strengthen, their lifetime value, given by the CLV formula to the right increases:

My favorite part about this module is that everything is connected. Precise and accurate data is the foundation for a healthy CRM system. You can creatively use the data to help retain customers and strengthen your CLV. As a final parting gift, this TED talk by David McCandless on data visualization sums up how you can make an impact with today's technology.

http://www.ted.com/talks/david_mccandless_the_beauty_of_data_visualization.html