Debbie Mayo Smith: Database mining will generate new busines

How do you keep the bank manager happy and your cashflow in the black? Most of us rely on doing great work to spur referrals to generate new customers. However sometimes that isn't enough.

You can advertise more. You can try to develop new customers. Or you can turn to one of your most underutilised assets - your database.

I've been a vocal fan of database marketing for years. You know the benefits of having one, so I won't bore you with the rationale. Instead, I'd like to share seven success secrets for working with your database to turn it into your private Yellow Pages of past, present and future clients.

Let me stress the most important point. You have to keep the correct information to allow you to make your communications pertinent and valuable. Like you, your customers are overloaded with information. If what they receive from you in any form (print, email, web, audio) is not pertinent, does not add value to them, they won't digest it. You'll lose your permission to send them your marketing communications.

To add value, you cannot treat every "row" of your database the same. Each row of data represents an individual. You wouldn't try to sell meat to a vegetarian, nor a motorcycle to a 12-year-old. If you don't have customer service and relationship-building information stored, now is a good time to start.

Here are seven tips to help you profit from your customer information:

Keep it centralised

Make sure your data is easy to work with and in one place. If you have data all over (in several computers, in your email program, Excel, online) here are three tips to centralise and combine it:

* Outlook contacts can be exported to Excel, Access or a .tab, .csv file. Simply go to the File menu, select "Import and Export" and follow the instructions.

* Have only a handful to move? Simply highlight, then copy your contacts (choose a view where the details are in a row such as by phone or company) and then paste into an Excel spreadsheet.

* Using Access? The Data menu /Ribbon has an export to Excel function. One click. That's it. You have a copy of the data created in Excel.

Don't blind carbon copy (BCC)

Do a personalised email merge instead, using either Outlook Contacts or any data file. They merge through Word and create individually personalised emails incorporating the data fields you select.

The only drawback is you can't personalise the subject line or add attachments.

Not all fancy schmancy

I've written previously about how colour and graphics work against you with spam filters and graphics blocking in Outlook and Gmail. In fact, more of your emails will get through the heavy filtering corporates have when you send out plain text communications.

Use personalisation sparingly

Just because you can "Dear John" everyone doesn't mean you should do it three times within the same communication. People know about personalisation now - use it sparingly, like pepper.

Split first and last names apart

You want to "Dear John", but your database has the first and last names together. Don't have a staff member spend countless hours manually splitting them apart one by one.

Text to columns is a function that will split names out from one column. Tell it what to look for to separate the first and last name - such as a comma or a space. You'll find it in the Data menu/ribbon. For people with double or triple last names, use the concatenate function (in formulas/ functions) to put them back into one column.

Not just sales

Use the collective knowledge of your database to ask questions, solve problems, find new staff, even as a focus group to test before you go to market. I've gone to my database to suggest names for several of my books.

Profit now. And later

While most look at their database to generate sales in the short term, it's also exceedingly valuable for the future value of the business when it's for sale. Which business would be worth more to a potential buyer? One that has a well-stocked database and can be worked? Or one that doesn't?

Debbie Mayo-Smith is a bestselling author and international speaker. Twitter mseffective

www.debbiespeaks.co.nz