Building and managing a customer database

Know who your customers are & how to contact them

If you don’t collect customer information, or if it's hopelessly out of date or hidden away in paper files, you’re losing out on a valuable marketing tool.

Successful businesses are great at customer retention. That's because they know you get better results from selling to customers you already have, than by trying to find new ones. However, if you don’t know who your customers are, or how to contact them, you’ll just have to wait and hope they come back.

By collecting great information about your customers, then acting on it, you can improve your customer’s experience as well as your bottom line. People will usually give you their contact information and opt-in to receive marketing information:

• if they are a regular customer

• to receive discounts and special offers

• as part of a promotion

• to receive expert advice

What information should I collect?

We highly recommend collecting at least the basics i.e. name, email, phone number and address or location. However, you may want to consider gathering information that helps you send more personalised and targeted communication, such as:

• Demographics: age, gender and profession.

• Spending habits: if you know what, when and how often someone buys, you’ll know which products and services they want to hear about.

Collect and store your customers’ information responsibly. Make sure you have a privacy policy on your website and comply with the Privacy Act 2020.

Get permission!

Before contacting your customers, make sure you understand the Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act 2007, which covers email, fax, instant messaging and text. The Department of Internal Affairs has fantastic, easily understood information for businesses to help you comply.

Essentially, you must have permission to contact your customer. Any commercial message must clearly identify your business, advise how you can be contacted and have an easy to use unsubscribe function.

What do I do now?

Grow your relationship with your customers by contacting them regularly.

We recommend using Mailchimp to send your e-newsletters; it’s easy to use, has great customer support and is free if your customer database is less than 500 subscribers. Your customers may be interested in receiving:

• Appointment reminders

• Reminders that maintenance is due

• Staff updates including training and personal or professional achievements

• Expert advice

• Information on loyalty rewards

• Promotions or offers

• Sale announcements

• Information about a new or existing product or service

• Invitations to in store events

• Requests for feedback or reviews

Contact Buzz for help

For Buzz Marketing clients it's incredibly easy to grow your database. We'll meet with you to help you focus on improving and growing your customer database. Michelle will write copy and design graphics to help your marketing options. Once your database has grown, we can suggest further communication ideas.