Must Read Classic Articles (continued)
These articles are keepers for customer retention
oriented, Data-Driven marketers; they are selected primarily because they
provide very short-in-supply case studies, metrics, or process models for
relationship marketing, customer retention, or customer loyalty marketing on the
Web. This is an archive; for the latest check out the blog.
Is
the key to successful CRM excellent Customer Service?
October 29, 2002 CRM-Forum.com
Don't know about being the "key", but I do know no relationship-based
program will work with out it. I have personally witnessed the failure of loyalty
programs due to poor service by the company, not the program provider.
And once again, we hear satisfaction does not equal loyalty. Believe it,
it's true.
CRM Is Needed Now More Than Ever
October 28, 2002 DM News
Or at least something that provides the same benefits.
Many people misunderstand the "allocation" model behind good CRM or
retention programs; it is not about "firing" customers, it is about reallocating
incremental spending.
Progressive Rewards, Maximum Return
October 28, 2002 DM News
Loyalty and retention programs are very misunderstood and frequently executed
poorly; this article provides a good foundation for those thinking about
starting one. Want to see how profitable they can be, in by far the
toughest industry to create loyalty - wireless? Check out this
case study.
Persuasion Secrets of Marketing Pros
October 25, 2002 DM News
A great "tips and tricks" type of article on writing persuasive direct
marketing copy. Those of you using PPC services like overture and Google
know copy can make a huge difference in conversion rates and ROI; don't forget
to monitor keyword by engine.
The
Nine Truths of Relationship Marketing
October 22, 2002 CRMguru.com
Yet another article trying to explain the vagaries of what CRM is or isn't, and
tying it to what we used to call "CRM" in the early 90's - Relationship
Marketing, which is based on understanding the Customer
LifeCycle. I agree with the basic philosophy of #6 (LifeTime
Value, as most people understand it, is not terribly useful) but not with
the solution - you can still look at LTV, it needs measured in a relative
rather than absolute sense.
The Building Blocks of CRM Success
October 22, 2002 DM News
Very straight talk on succeeding with CRM, a focused incremental, thoughtful
approach. It really is all about understanding your customers through the
data they create; in fact, this article sounds strangely
familiar.
Measuring Across Sales Channels
October 18, 2002 DM News
This article is a must read for any multi-channel retailer, full of stats on the
effect of a retail store on mail order response and a ton of other
goodies. Of course, RFM plays a role.
Getting Real Results
October 7, 2002 Direct Magazine
Hmmm...turns out people have spent a lot of money on CRM and aren't seeing a
return. Really? This article provides five tips for fixing this
problem. Perhaps you have heard all this before and just want to have
somebody fix it for you. If so, I would call Kobie
Marketing.
Forget
the Buzzwords, It’s All About Communication
October 4, 2002 DM News
Couldn't agree more. The essence of CRM is the same thing database
marketers have been doing for decades. You can pump it up with steroids,
make it confusing and costly to implement, and create grand schemes for change
around it, but when you get down to the nuts and bolts of increasing
profitability, it is simply about communication. If you need a simple,
cost effective solution to your CRM ROI challenge, I
can teach you what to do, or you can have somebody
do it for you.
5
Loyalty Techniques to Improve CRM
October 1, 2002 DM News
People seem to forget that "CRM" has been around for decades, in the
form of loyalty programs and smart database marketing. When I was at HSN
in the early 90's, we had a 360 degree view of the customer, and we used it to
do all the stuff people now "dream" about with CRM. You can make
a ton of money with a loyalty program, if you know how to execute. Here's
an example.
Do
Sweat the small stuff
September 23, 2002 Internet Retailer
Well, it's finally happening. Web retailers are actually looking at
customer behavior on their sites, and finding out that simple tweaks can rocket
sales. You can to! Fix your site using the metrics
in this spreadsheet and plan your promotions using buyer
behavior analysis
Segmentation:
Use It or Lose It!
September 20, 2002 DM Review
"Only 17 percent of companies which have implemented customer relationship
management (CRM) applications use modules for customer analytics".
And there you have it - the reason for "CRM failure".
Unbelievable - especially when analytics are so darn easy.
Applying
commercial CRM techniques
to the public sector – Part 1
September 9, 2002 CRM-forum.com
Richard Forsyth is back with another very interesting idea - the application of
CRM ideas in the public sector. One thing he has grabbed on to that I find
people don't understand - when you are analyzing and profiling user segments,
each individual person ends up getting less mail, not more, because you
only communicate when it is relevant. Seth Godin turned this simple
database marketing truism into Permission
Marketing, and the sooner onliners understand the costs of "over
communicating", the better off they will be. And I'm not talking
about the cost of an e-mail here, I'm talking about the cost of lost customers,
margin give-ups, etc. - real $$$.
Develop
New Approaches to Analysis
August 29, 2002 DM News
I'm all for that, but the challenge seems to be more along the lines of doing any
analysis right now. I don't really need any more acronyms, thank you, but
this article spins a couple of interesting twists on the RFM
Model.
Return on Investment
August 26, 2002 CIO Magazine
Lots of data points in here on IT integration for three old line businesses -
banking, chemicals, and transport. Guess what? Payback.
Analyze Your Profit Contribution
August 12, 2002 Catalog Success
Because direct and database marketing are so financially driven, I get a lot of
questions about the "bigger picture" on how the financials look and
work inside successful DM companies. The idea of variable contribution to
fixed cost is one people have a tough time with but is very valuable in deciding
how to run a DM biz, which is what many web sites are. Replace mailing
cost in the article with your costs to run a web site / campaigns. Chart
for the article is here.
Consumer
Outlook 2002
August 6, 2002 Direct Magazine
Direct got together with Yankelovich to do this study, and it is just an amazing
piece. Turns out most of what you hear about consumer attitudes and direct
marketing is wrong. And there are some amazing stats on remote shopping
behavior and the online / offline mix.
How to Create and Use an Attrition Model
August 1, 2002 Catalog Success
Almost any article dealing with customer marketing in the catalog industry is
applicable to web sites, and this one is no different. This is a simple
model using Recency and first purchase amount
that shows you which customers you should focus your efforts on to drive
profitability. Don't think of this model just in terms of who to contact;
think about it in terms of what offers to make. It's really an advanced
version of the Discount Ladder.
The chart they refer to in the article is here.
Universal Rides Tests for Park Renewals
August 19, 2002 DM News
Sweet membership renewal test. If you read between the lines, the Recency
- Frequency - Monetary Value (RFM) model was
tweaked in a very smart way for this specific application. Hey, a 500% increase
in renewals? Take that every time. Want to know how
it is done?
Getting the Most From E-Mail Names
August 14, 2002 DM News
Analytical curmudgeon Arthur Hughes is back on the e-mail case, with this follow
up to "How Much is an E-Mail Name Worth? I think you will be
surprised how much they are worth - if you really how to use them properly.
Avoiding the Top 10 Customer Database Mistakes
July 23, 2002 DM News
Ah, the basics. Where CRM should have started - with the data. Data-Driven
programs have to be built from the ground up, not the top down, as many have
found. You have to understand the customer first, and these 10 rules are a
great place to start. Need help?
Prime
the AOV Pump
Jul 10, 2002 Target Marketing
What's AOV? Average Order Value. There is tremendous leverage in the
financial structure of most direct marketing business models. Increasing
your AOV can send a lot more money to the bottom line, and this article tells
you how to go about it. Classic DM stuff.
B-to-B
Special Report
Jul 10, 2002 Target Marketing
Short case study (the second article in the "report") on using RFM
in the B2B space. Not many things generate a faster ROI than implementing
a customer scoring system, in this case, under a
year. Do you
need one?
CRM
- Beyond the Hooplah
July 5, 2002 Target Marketing
Interesting opinions on the difference between database marketing and CRM.
Far as I know, if you look at every successful CRM project with proven ROI, you
find a High ROI database marketing program at the core. Question is:
Do you really need the rest of it?
40 Tips for Successful Off-the-Page Advertising Campaigns
July 5, 2002 Target Marketing
I've said it before and I'll say it again - offline space ads are your
friend. Cheap, trackable, targeted - many successful offline catalogs were
built with space ads, and you can build on your online business with them as
well. Don't forget to store the source so you can maximize the ROI of ad
spend by predicting long-term customer value.
Multi-channel
Merchandising Is the Status Quo
July 3, 2002 DM News
Those of you who have been dying for some stats on what is really going on with
multi-channel retailing are going to love this. What percent type in a SKU
from the catalog at the web site? Etc. Great benchmarking stuff.
Giving
More and Charging Less
June 27, 2002 Card Marketing
“Issuers are very hot on rewards this year, but this time around they’re
being careful to design the programs around specific segments, and the programs
have much more complicated tiers and rewards geared to achieve specific
objectives”. Well, duh, great idea folks. Want to see a program
like this in action? 252% ROI high enough? Click
here.
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