The Customer Loyalty Solution : What Works in Customer Loyalty Programs
Product Description
Current research with case studies from leading companies such as FedEx, StrideRite, and Cingular to reveal how marketers can benchmark market-proven programs to successfully track customer activity, build enduring loyalty programs, and treat customer communication as a profit center. … More >>
The Customer Loyalty Solution : What Works in Customer Loyalty Programs
This is for sure a good and well organised Database Marketing DBM textbook. I like “What works”, “What doesnt work” and “Quiz (with answers)” in the end of each chapter much. However, I think it can be even better if the author can add more real life examples to support his key points of the book, as summarized in the last chapter:-
1. DBM is not the same as CRM.
2. DBM is incremental
3. The internet has enabled DBM to deliver on its promises
4. The Web is not a selling medium; it is an ordering medium.
5. People like communications
6. Everthing in DBM can and should be measured.
7. Lifetime Value is the key measurement technique for DBM.
8. DBM is not about discounts.
9. Customers should not all be treated alike.
10. Most successful database marketers outsource the construction of their database.
11. Caller ID and cookies have become essential database marketing tools.
12. Many customers will gladly give you their profiles over the web.
13. Marketing databases today are stored in a relational format on a server accessed by marketers over the web.
14. Becoming customer centric is seldom an achievable goal.
Despite my praise above, I can hardly agree with the author’s projection of DBM as a surefire independent tool to distiguish it from the notorious CRM. IMHO, the high failure rate of CRM is owing to the absence of good business+customer strategies, and the ignorance of top executives who believe that putting tons of money on software and servers will make CRM work.
No matter what and in short, this book deserves to be recommended.
Rating: 4 / 5
I have been an admirer of Arthur Hughes’ writing for many years. His books The Complete Database Marketer and the splendid Strategic Database Marketing are among the best in the genre. Especially the latter has helped me a lot in my own projects as a database marketing specialist.
Now Arthur returns with a new book, another fine read. There are some things to be mentioned though.
Ed Sander, Failsafe Database Marketing
First of all, you should first read Strategic Database Marketing before you read this one. Although some of the subject matter of the two books overlaps, the theoretical background is explained much better in Arthur’s previous book. For instance, the Lifetime Value case in The Customer Loyalty Solution is far too complex as a first taster.
Second, the title. I really don’t think it does the book justice since it covers much more ground than just loyalty programs. With a title like this it might easily get lost between the dozens of other customer loyalty books on Amazon. Personally I would have suggested something like “The Database Marketing Case Book” instead, since the book mainly consists of some 40 short and longer case descriptions which illustrate the power and possible results of database marketing combined with the Internet. As such, it is a great companion book to Strategic Database Marketing, which focusses more on the ‘how to’.
Third, although there is – as I mentioned – certain overlap with Strategic Database Marketing, this book does cover a few highly interesting (new) subjects in more detail. To name a few:
- What is the difference between CRM and DBM ? Which is better ?
- Why have catalogers not used DBM ?
- Calculating the value of names and e-mail addresses.
- Selling versus communicating on the web. Which one works ?
- E-mail marketing.
Also, most of the cases and options described are evaluated using the Lifetime Value theorie, which is very clear an useful. All chapters also include a summary, checlists of things that work and don’t work and a quiz to test your understanding of the described cases.
All in all another fine and inspiring book by Arthur. Not as essential as Strategic Database Marketing, but a must have for anybody who has already digested that title and wants an extra ‘grand desert’.
Rating: 4 / 5