The REAL value of your business is your list of customers and the systems implemented to get those customers and to keep them coming back.
What details should you collect?
The bare minimum is:
• First Name
• Surname
• Business Name (if businesses are your customers)
• Mailing Address
• Phone Number
• Email Address
Advanced databases may also collect:
• Customer likes and dislikes
• Customer preferences
• Date of birth / birthday
• Partner / family details
• Purchasing information & history
What details will you collect? What data is important for you to have?
How will you store these details?
There are two options:
1. Hand Written Index
2. Computer Database
Hand-written Index – You will need to get an A4 notepad which is indexed alphabetically (like an address book, but bigger). You can either store the details by surname, first name or business name (if the business is your customer). Leave some space under every entry for notes.
Computer Database – You can either purchase a specialty database or if you don’t want to fork out the money, start with Microsoft Excel.
Setting up your database correctly from the start will save you heaps of time and hassle in the long run. Here are some points to follow when starting your database;
Step 1 Start by inputting your row headings in Row 1. This is the data you collect from your clients or prospects.
- Make sure each column is unique. For example don’t put the whole address in one column. Use a column for each variable; Address, Suburb, City, Country, Post Code etc…The same goes for names!
Step 2 Creating Named Ranges for Mail Merge and Compatibility – This step is necessary for the purpose of sending out personalized email messages and importing to Outlook and other Windows programs. Follow these steps;
1. Right click the top of your first column (Column A), this will automatically highlight the whole column.
2. On the main menu bar go to; Insert > Name > Define
3. Type in a unique ID for the column you are naming, it CANNOT be the same name as the column header and you cannot use spaces or symbols. Use an underscore_if_required
4. Click OK or press Enter.
5. You should now notice that when you select that column, your unique header will appear just above your worksheet on the left upper corner.
6. Complete for ALL columns in your database.
Step 3 Input Your Data
Sorting Your Database
Once your database gets big it may get rather difficult to navigate to find what you are looking for. Here’s a quick tip to help you arrange your database alphabetically or numerically to more easily find what you’re looking for;
1. On the main menu bar go to; Data > Sort
2. Select; My data has header row (located at the bottom of the window)
3. From here you now sort your data by whatever terms you like. If you want to find someone particular select surname and then all of the data will be sorted alphabetically by surname.
Once you have your customers on a database the most important task from here is to keep in contact with them. The post or email is the most efficient way to do this. Just imagine you were receiving over a twelve month period from your local café a newsletter every three months, together with a birthday card including a gift voucher, as well as regular prize draws and discount vouchers. Where would you go when you next had to take your family out for lunch?
Naturally you would go to the café that had kept in contact with you…correct. Of course you would…it’s only natural.
In any business if you become part of your customer’s life then they will
automatically become part of your business.
The best method to quickly establish a database is to conduct a raffle with an attractive first prize. The following month it could be a week-end away at a nice resort or whatever. All you need is to roll out a different promotion each month. It’s that easy.
There is no need to pay large amounts of money on prizes. Joint ventures can be arranged with surrounding businesses which will give you prizes of real value without spending any money. We will discuss this strategy in further during our time together.
Go to it!