In my last blog, I talked about the importance of sharing customer data across all customer touch points so that 1) your customers receive the best possible relevant experience and 2) your organization can leverage that information to offer products and services that best meet the customer’s needs. What about sharing your customer data with other organizations?
My thought is: it depends. If you have business partners that you work with to meet the extended needs of your customers, then sharing customer data might be a good idea. Your two organizations could appear seamless to the customer – something that not many partner organizations have mastered yet.
However, if you are thinking of selling your customer data, say, to a mailing list company, my question would be: why? Why would you want to sell your one true competitive advantage for a short-term gain? Because customer data is truly the only competitive advantage your company will ever have.
Think about it: Your competitors can (and do) easily copy the products you sell and the services you offer. Sure, it may take longer in some industries than others…in the pharmaceutical industry, for example, the patent on a drug may last for years, but eventually that patent expires. Ultimately, your product or service will be replicated. Any marketing program you create can be copied and even improved.
The one thing your competitors can’t duplicate is the information you have on your customers. They have no way of knowing which products your customers have purchased, what their behavior has been on your website, or the details of feedback customers may have provided. Your competitors don’t have access to how frequently your customers purchase or even which customers are the most valuable customers for your company.
Customer information and the insights that come from it is worth its weight in gold and should be guarded as closely as Fort Knox.
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