Gaining Business Insights Through Customer Data

Joseph Stubblebine
Posted by in Management & Business


Gathering customer data can help you improve your business in several ways. By analyzing data from your customers, you can learn what your customers like or dislike about your business and look for buying trends so that you know when you're about to enter a slow time of the year. All of the information that you gather from your customers can help you improve your customer service practices, save time, and save money.

 

Customer service is a huge part of any business, and it's important that you have a complete customer service strategy in place. If you gather customer data using a customer service survey, for example, you may be able to find out what you need to do to improve your customer service ratings. The higher customers rate your company's customer service skills, the more likely they are to become repeat customers and recommend your business to others. You can collect several different types of customer data via a customer service survey, including:

 

  • The amount of time it took to service the customer,

     
  • The reason the customer needed help,

     
  • Whether the customer's issues were resolved,

     
  • What type of products and services the customer is interested in,

     
  • Feedback or suggestions the customer has for your company, and

     
  • Whether the customer had a positive or negative experience.

 

Many companies use tracking cookies on their websites so that they can gather customer data. After analyzing data gathered from your customers via your website, you can see what type of products your customers are viewing, what your highest-selling products are, and any trends in your customer's online buying habits. Customer data gathered through your website is important, because you can use it to determine your busy- and slow-buying seasons. This allows you to ramp up your customer promotions during slow times of the year to attract more business and to hire temporary employees for busy seasons if needed.

 

Gathering customer data during promotions is also helpful. You can monitor the reactions that your customers have to specific specials and promotions to determine whether sales actually increased. This way you can determine whether each specific promotion is cost effective.

 

The customer data that you collect also gives you an insight as to who your customers are. Knowing your target market is important when you're considering new products, revising your customer service strategies, and planning advertisements. The more you know about your customers, the better service you can provide to them. You will also be able to offer the products that they really want to purchase.

 

Whether you're managing a brick-and-mortar business or an online business, understanding your customers is important. By gathering customer data in forms that you can easily analyze, you can implement more cost-effective procedures, improve your products, and plan your budget for the following year.

 

(Photo courtesy of KROMKRATHOG / freedigitalphotos.net)

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