Alan Gormley, SAS’ Director of Customer Intelligence Solutions for EMEA, recently published an article titled “Using Online Customer Experience to Drive Sales.” The content of this article fits nicely with our learning and improving video, which explored the topic of doing something with the customer data we collect.
Read Alan’s article on page 16 of Direct Marketing’s December 2008 issue (direct link to the PDF).
Alan goes beyond talking about doing something and offers insight and suggestions. One example that hit home to me was focused on online banking – specifically collecting data from “customer service” tools like mortgage calculators. Allan asks why Banks don’t capture and use this data; he observes that “[i]f customers log on to do some banking, and then use the calculator there is value to be gained. The bank now can get a pretty good idea of [customer]intentions.” He’s right.
Recently I logged on to my credit union to pay bills. While there, I looked at the mortgage rates and used their online calculator to review a few refinance scenarios. The credit union, if it was listening, would know I’m considering a refinance. They would know the rough amount of funds I’m looking at borrowing. And they would know the terms I’m attracted to. If pushed to the lending arm, the bank could use this data to follow up, and possibly write a new loan. They didn’t.
Alan had a great quote in the article, he wrote “It is important to understand that people’s actions and needs online are a good indicator of their needs offline, and that the key is to connect the two.” Straightforward? Yes. Easy? Not so much.
