Getting the best out of your customers.

Emeka Offor August 2008

This paper will aim to cover the following sub-topics:Customer IntelligenceThinking outside the boxThinking inside the boxSteps to achieving and sustaining peak performance.

Business Intelligence defined - Business intelligence (BI) is a broad category of applications and technologies for gathering, storing, analyzing, and providing access to data to help enterprise users make better business decisions. BI applications include the activities of decision support systems, query and reporting, online analytical processing, statistical analysis, forecasting, and data mining.

business intelligence defined contBusiness intelligence applications can be: Mission-critical and integral to an enterprise's operations or occasional to meet a special requirement Enterprise-wide or local to one division, department, or project Centrally initiated or driven by user demand

business intelligence defined contThis term was used as early as September, 1996, when a Gartner Group report said: By 2000, Information Democracy will emerge in forward-thinking enterprises, with Business Intelligence information and applications available broadly to employees, consultants, customers, suppliers, and the public. The key to thriving in a competitive marketplace is staying ahead of the competition. Making sound business decisions based on accurate and current information takes more than intuition. Data analysis, reporting, and query tools can help business users wade through a sea of data to synthesize valuable information from it - today these tools collectively fall into a category called "Business Intelligence."

business intelligence defined contIn novels and movies, characters who want to steal corporate secrets kidnap key executives, hire moles within the company or break into security vaults to get what they want.In real life, corporate intelligence agents spend most of their time poring over industry reports, going to conferences, and studying pages from trade magazinesIt is a necessary part of business for anyone that wants to stay ahead of the competition.Smart marketers closely track the activities/needs of their customers, the competitors, the market, e.t.c.

business intelligence defined contCompetitive IntelligenceInternalExternalWhat are your competitors doing that you are not doing? Or what have they stopped doing that you are still doing?Customer IntelligenceNeeds most customers dont know what they want. Even if they do, they may not articulate them well.ActivitiesExpectations

Information can be obtained about customers existing and future needs, how they reach decisions, their behavior, the competition, conditions in the industry and general trends.

Customer intelligence is the process of gathering, analysing and exploiting the information of a companys customer base.

It follows then that those who intend to break new frontiers and surpass their previous superior performance must not only have access to good information but must also use that information to achieve expected results.

How and where do we get this information?

Every organization/every relationship officer has a huge database of information. Start with what you have!Account opening forms/documentation/elcees/data miningCheques (History of lodgements & withdrawals)Customer contacts (meetings, calls, correspondence, budget,biz plan)Who is your customer spending time with?Ask open ended questionsApply emotional intelligence (going through the twists and turns in your heart/mind to the twists and turns in the customers heart/mind to get what you want).

To achieve effective customer relationship management, one needs to collect the right information about his customers and organize that information for proper analysis and action.

How can we benefit from customer intelligence?Used to define and measure the customer experienceTo understand the experience of their customersTo identify the reasons why customers callTo maximize loyalty and retentionTo gain market & competitive intelligenceTo increase sales effectiveness

Other sources of information include :The PressThe competitionInternetInformal sourcesE.t.c.

With customer intelligence, you can enhance your sales process, predict which prospects will be converted to customers, and also which of your existing accounts will go dormant.

This is simply because it will enable you understand customer behaviour (why they do what they do).

When innovators talk of thinking outside the box, they mean coming up with creative ways to solve problems, new ways to look at things.

The box is the normal way of doing things or looking at things.

Thinking outside the box implies that there is a problem/a challenge and that we need a shortcut to steer out of it.

Think of situations where you have to think outside the box.Increase in lending interest rate/prices vs increase in volumeReduction in deposit rate versus increase in volumeBeing firm/strict versus customer satisfactionPlacing embargo on lending versus increased profitabilityE.t.c

Thinking outside the box encourages you to be creative and innovative.

It is a proponent to rule breaking fresh creative approaches to solving challenges.

How can you develop the skills to think outside the box?Challenge the assumptionsAssume the absurdThink /Meditate and generate ideas for creative problem solving.Note: Outside the box is meaningless unless you have an understanding inside the box.

Thinking outside the box is meaningless unless you have a thorough understanding inside the box.

Thinking inside the box is an acerbic reminder that there is nothing new under the sun.It is about getting back to the basics, the fundamentals.

The fundamental rules of business never change, so dont try to change them.Kirk Cheyfitz (2003).

Thinking inside the box promotes the fact that you can still achieve greatness within the confines of norms and existing policies. Be strong on the basics.

TeasersCan you still make huge profit without doing unauthorised overdrafts.Can you enthuse your customers through quality service?Can you achieve great mileage through reducing your turnaround time?Do you still need prospect list and marketing plans to win accounts?Are the customers of your customers still your customers?Recall the experience of Americans and Russians when they went to space .

Proponents of thinking inside the box believe that to break new frontiers, you dont have to do new things. You need to do the same old things better.

You can still innovate inside the box.

When leaders do their best work, they dont copy anyone. They draw on their own values and capabilities.Robert Quinn (2005). Usually they tap into their fundamental qualities and exceed their personal best.

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Some selected marketing basics:

Study the competition.Champions frequently credit their success to their ability to recognize and understand their opponents strengths and weaknesses, and which tendencies are major contributors to their opponents success.

A thorough knowledge of the competition is critical to competing against them.Do not ignore the competition. Do so at your own risk.

Remember even ants can undermine a giant or elephants.

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Simple is good. Black is beautiful. Taking a direct, simple approach to a situation is sometimes the best answer, even when the course of direction seems to lack imagination and creativity.>>

Sources of growthBase retentionShare gainMarket positioningAdjacent marketsNew business opportunities

Some basic principles of peak performance:

Generating of Game Breaking ideas.Ideas are key to a marketers competitive advantage.

Game FocusA peak performer focuses on simple goals.

Sharing the dream This refers to team work

The last detailPaying attention to detail and going the extra mile.The willingness to shed sweat, tears, and blood. You may be bruised in the process.

Some basic principles of peak performance:Making MagicThis means consistent success, even though it looks unexplainableAvailability of Inspirational PlayersThey inspire and motivate others to peak.Exceeding Personal BestThis refers to a deep commitment by each individual to personal stretch. Exceeding personal best is the daily performance measure of athletes. It is their consuming obsession.

Dealing with side effects

When unexpected results occur alongside desired ones, we call them side effects.Sometimes side effects are good, often bad.The worst are self- inflicted: results you could have prevented had you had the imagination (intelligence) to anticipate them.Why is it so hard to forsee trouble? One reason may be that we work on complex problems. Or that we are tripped up by our own optimism.

..dealing with side effectsTo sustain forward momentum we must continually seek the positive. No wonder the negative is hard to find.In dealing with side effects, be aware.The idea is to create processes that identify errors and lapses and halt them before they escalate.And when they escalate anyway, you should have a plan to deal with that too.

Last linesDont just get the information, get the message.

Use it.

Enjoy the rest of your day!

emeka offor

One way of achieving and sustaining peak performance is to get the best out of your customers.

*One way of achieving and sustaining peak performance is to get the best out of your customers.

*One way of achieving and sustaining peak performance is to get the best out of your customers.

*One way of achieving and sustaining peak performance is to get the best out of your customers.

*One way of achieving and sustaining peak performance is to get the best out of your customers.

*One way of achieving and sustaining peak performance is to get the best out of your customers.

*One way of achieving and sustaining peak performance is to get the best out of your customers.

*One way of achieving and sustaining peak performance is to get the best out of your customers.

*One way of achieving and sustaining peak performance is to get the best out of your customers.

*One way of achieving and sustaining peak performance is to get the best out of your customers.

*One way of achieving and sustaining peak performance is to get the best out of your customers.

*One way of achieving and sustaining peak performance is to get the best out of your customers.

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