Visting Customer Analytics in Detail, the Business Intelligence Blog begins,
Customers are the heart of any business. One unshakable rule of Retail business is to “know your customer.”
Goes without saying, but it’s good they say it. Then,
In today’s business climate, this means using business intelligence (BI) software to analyze complex customer data.
Really? How about talking to your freaking customers? It continues,
With BI, companies can answer a wide range of critical questions about their customer base. The questions can include:
• What are my company’s segment-wise top revenue-generating customers?
• What are cross-selling / Up-selling opportunities?
• Which customer segment has have contributed most to revenue growth?
• Which type of customers look for discounts?
• Which types of customers have highest number of returns?
• What types of customers are most profitable?
Nothing wrong with knowing all that stuff. But is BI just about categorizing customers? How about improving the company’s offerings and developing genuine relationships with customers?
The best business intelligence is first hand and direct. Not second or third hand.
If all you have are types of customers, you’re at risk of losing the real ones.
Doc, way to tell it like it is. No knock on business intelligence, but it’s a little like asking all your friends about a girl you’d like to dance with. In the end, all that really matters is actually talking to the girl.
This has been a long term trend fueled by (and circularly fueling) attitudes toward customers, and towards how companies relate to their customers. Some companies get it. Most don’t.
It is the same trend that has made it impossible often times to speak to a real person when calling for customer service, at least without alot of button pushing and/or cursing into the “automated voice system”. Maybe it counts the F* words and sends you to CS if you’ve reached enough?
It is the mechanizing of the process of delivering goods to consumers.
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