Your customer database is the most important cornerstone of your business and the most important ingredient of your marketing campaigns. I am often asked, how do you build a customer database and now - how do you build a permission E-mail database.

There is no one blueprint for building any type of database. There are basic design rules, but the needs of your business must be met in a way, which is most cost-effective for you. In the long run, the most important thing that you can do is to be actively involved, lending and encouraging support throughout the company for this powerful business tool.

How do I build an E-mail database?

Here is some advice from Tom Hespos - Click-Z Network. E-mail can be a powerful marketing tool, but it's up to you to initiate and maintain relationships via e-mail. Currently, marketers rent, buy and barter e-mail lists and some of them don't understand why a relationship doesn't come with an address they acquire from someone else. When you see how the average person deals with their inbox, it's obvious why that isn't the case.

What is the best way to start and build your own e-mail list?
You need to determine what the ultimate value proposition is for your customers.
Why would they want to receive e-mail from you and your company?
What content would they expect from you?

The value proposition represents your half of a transaction - one that is made when a prospect becomes interested in what you have to offer and agrees to exchange their e-mail address and trust for ongoing e-mail from your company.

It establishes expectations and ensures that the people who sign up for your list are interested in what you have to offer. When you settle on a value proposition, stick to it and always deliver on it. If you are forthright with regard to what you plan to give them, you will build a list of interested and loyal prospects and you will be happy with the results.

After you decide on the value proposition, take stock of all assets you have and used to acquire subscribers for your list. Though your Web site and online ads may be primary drivers in an acquisition campaign designed to build your list, there are many other ways to acquire subscribers. Consider offline media, especially direct mail; onsite promotions and events; print and broadcast ads; and out-of- home media, in addition to any other communications channels your company might be making use of.

Through these media, you deliver your value proposition, along with privacy and acceptable use policies that reassure them that you won't abuse the trust they have placed in your company.

Before you launch any ongoing e-mail initiative, be sure to have appropriate technology assets in place to manage responses, opt-ins and opt-outs, mail preferences and bounces. These assets should consist of a database married to an e-mail deployment solution.

Deliver what your subscribers expect. The best e-mail lists concentrate on quality, not quantity. Good e-mail lists deliver as much value to a subscriber as the product or service it
promotes. Keep that in mind, and you'll do a fine job of building an effective list.

While it takes a special effort to build and maintain the necessary e-mail databases, the ability to spot golden nuggets of marketing opportunities within your web audience data can make this effort very profitable.

The foundation of integrated database marketing is the same set of pillars, which define quality. Both quality and integrated database marketing apply to all facets of your company. When the two blends and the pillars overlay with precision, they become indistinguishable.
They are two critical elements in your corporate strategy.

Listening is the most used communication skill but the least taught

But all of this will not be of value unless you find out what your customer wants to buy and give it to them. However, you can't do that unless you first... listen.

The average person spends 70% of their waking day in some form of communication, 9% of the time they are writing, 16% of the time reading, 30% of the time talking and 45% of their day is spent...listening.

Here are four points to consider.

1. Listen to what your customer is saying - David Ogilvy, advertising guru, tells the story of the English major in World War I who sent a verbal message back from the front line trenches to division headquarters. The message was: "Send up reinforcements. We are going to advance."

By the time it was repeated word-to-mouth through all the levels, it finally reached headquarters as, "Send up three and four pence. We are going to a dance."

Are your customers listening to what you really say? Direct marketers listen by testing. If they send 10,000 mailers to their customers and only 100 respond, only 1% of their list is "listening."

2. Practice Listening - Listening is habit forming. Concentrate. There is an old Welsh proverb that says it well: "He understands badly who listens badly."

A study by J. Walter Thompson questioned 100 viewers of the TV mini- series - The Winds of War. The study showed 19% of the viewers recalled commercials from Volkswagen; 32% remembered Kodak; 32% Prudential; 28% Budweiser; 18% American Express and 26% Mobil.

Were they listening? You see - none of those companies had advertised on the "Winds of War"

3. Accept New Ideas - Publishers know this. That's why they use a control letter that works but constantly try new ideas to beat the control. Just because it worked yesterday does not mean it will work tomorrow. Events happen too quickly in today's world. Today's competitor is tomorrow's Chapter 11.

4. Respond appropriately - Good listening, like Gaul, is divided into three parts: Interpretation 'What did they mean by that?'; Evaluation 'OK, now that I now what they mean, what do l do?'; and Responding 'Here's my answer. Now, are you listening to me?'.

And so... listen, very carefully. Starting today. It will result in larger sales, bigger profits and future successes.
Take care and if you wonder where to start, ask your customer. Because listening begins with your database.

Winnifred Knight, email win@cubesquare.co.za or phone 082 575 9922

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