It is the basic rule that runs through all sales and marketing activity. Simple if we are dealing with a few dozen clients and prospects, slightly more difficult when we consider the B2B universe of 3.5 million UK businesses. So how can we improve?

The technological revolution has, over the last 15 years meant that the kind of computing power and data storage space, once the reserve of governments and the military, is now commonplace in many offices. Hardware is no longer an issue. Storage space is cheap and many budget laptops have more processing power than their users know what to do with. Software has lagged slightly behind but can now deliver almost anything the marketer can imagine.

To improve, what do you need to do?

Knowledge is only power if you exercise it. Marketers have stayed away from, or have been kept too far from the data essential to informed decisions. Technology is now available that can help bridge this gap.

By creating an interface based around windows, with which everyone is familiar, systems are available allowing any competent PC user to select, analyse and profile instantly without the need to refer requests to programmers. As a result there is no reason marketers cannot explore databases, evaluate the correlation of different variables and refine target groups.

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It must be done. Why contact 100,000 companies with a general message when a few smaller more targeted and business specific communications will likely achieve much a better response. We are getting to the stage where true train of thought exploration of databases is possible and the only limiting factor is the imagination of the marketer.

Marketers aren’t aware enough

So why are so many marketers still not fully aware of the data they have available?

In many cases internal IT departments evaluate new software systems. If their programmers are good the response may be ‘we can do this internally’ in which case why is it not already available, and how long will you need to wait. On the flip side if your programmers are, shall we say, a bit limited then they may well feel threatened and become protective of their hold of the data strings. Marketers must know what they need, explore the software marketplace and finally make a sound financial case for any costs incurred.

Consider the following:

• Select your best customers;
• Analyse their common characteristics and select similar company profiles from your prospect pool;
• Communicate your offer to them;
• Flag and analyse responders, and repeat the cycle.

Within this marketers can add the complications of statistical analysis and predictive modelling if required but the core process remains essentially the same.

Software is available to do this at less than £10,000 so do the maths. In a mailing of 100,000 if the response rate is 2% you have mailed 98k to non-responders. Cut the mailing to 40,000 of more targeted prospects and in most cases almost all the 2k responders are still hit. Saving 60k of wasted mail pieces.

It is common sense, and yet so many sales and marketing people are still unaware of the details of their data. Dynamic access to databases is available, it is cost effective and easy to implement. The future is in your hands embrace the technologies, or you will fall behind and go the way of the dinosaur.

By Stephen Church, BSc.

Email: Stephen.church@logicbox.biz
Web: http://www.logicbox.biz/

About the author

Stephen Church, BSc. has nearly 20 years in the data processing and consultancy side of direct mail and marketing, Stephen is now co-director/owner of Logicbox Ltd. Its software system Listknife has won its category in both the 2005 SMART Awards and 2006 B2B Marketing Awards.