Finding a Needle in a Haystack

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Finding a Needle in a Haystack
By: Marc E. Carlson, RRP
CustomerCount© Business Relationship Manager

Organizations who have developed a customer feedback program compile a great deal of information on a continuous basis to glean one piece of insight here and there. If addressed this information will improve overall business performance. Due to the vast amount of continuous data coming in, how does one begin to look for that needle in a haystack that will make a positive impact on their bottom line? The answer is data segmentation. Data segmentation, if done correctly, allows the opportunity to identify what customers think is working well in transacting business with your organization and also areas for improvement. This exercise can be time consuming as you scan a plethora of data, however your customer feedback provider should be able to assist with their data segmentation capabilities. Make sure you communicate with your vendor on what your data segmentation desires are before you export that data out of the vendor’s system to conduct additional analytics.

Data segmentation also allows an organization to better classify the type of customers they have. Is the customer a satisfied or loyal customer? Depending on your definition of a satisfied versus loyal customer, your marketing and sales divisions can adapt their messages and processes accordingly to fit the right group of customer. Does a particular group of customers like to receive marketing messages via e-mail over direct mail? By segmenting data on customer communication preferences, you can deliver the right message in the format desired by your customer. Hence, increasing the likelihood a customer will come back to your organization for future purchases. There may even be some cost savings found as your organization may be using direct mail extensively when the majority of customers are technologically savvy and prefer communications by e-mail.

There are a lot of ways you can slice and dice data. Make sure you have a goal in mind before you delve into data segmentation because what you don’t want to do is spin your wheels looking at all sorts of segmentation that will not have a positive impact on your business. Be precise in your objective, and I bet you uncover the needle in the haystack.