Building your customer database: a goldmine for your business

By Rita Hassani Idrissi

Published: October 26, 2024

At a time when Big Data and digitalization have revolutionized the way companies operate, customer databases are becoming more than just an address book - they're becoming a real performance lever. Indeed, they play a major role in the implementation of an effective marketing strategy.

Customer knowledge is essential for any company wishing to build long-term customer loyalty. The information contained in a customer database may concern their purchase history, contact details, average basket, and so on.

However, this data, although essential, is often little or poorly exploited; for lack of time, for lack of tools. Yet there are powerful customer file management solutions available. They enable you to maintain and enrich your customer databases.

Here's a closer look at the concept of the customer database, a real goldmine for companies.

See all software Customer relationship management

Customer database: definition

A customer database, also known as a CRM database, is a file that stores all data relating to your customers. It enables you to personalize and adapt your commercial offers to each customer.

Depending on your field of activity and your needs, a customer database is made up mainly of :

purchase history,
contact details
their average shopping baskets
their purchasing paths (media used, tools...)

Why set up a customer database?

Improve the performance of your sales teams by providing them with all relevant information about your customers.
👉 This enables them to adapt their exchanges with customers and make decisions based on clear, constantly updated data.

Promote customer loyalty by providing personalized offers tailored to their needs.
👉 Listening and personalizing exchanges and offers are major levers in any optimal loyalty strategy.

Increase sales by building loyalty and attracting new customers.
👉 The more tailored your offers, the greater your customer commitment and therefore sales.
Reduce customer acquisition costs while improving your customer relations.
👉 Namely, satisfaction rate and Customer Lifetime Value (CLV).
Reinforce your content and lead nurturing strategy with personalized data.
👉 Your content (articles, infographics, white papers, etc.) will be much more effective if it reaches a specific target. Thanks to the customer database, you'll be able to find out what your target likes, what media they use, etc.

Types of data to collect and explanations

Collecting customer data must be rigorously organized and structured. Keep only the information you really need, so as not to spread yourself too thin. Too much data can be a hindrance to your marketing strategy; too much information kills information.

So the aim here is to create a database with only the most relevant information, to get to the heart of the matter. The nature of the data varies according to the target.

B2B data

Concentrate on the company's legal and administrative data, such as :

company name
SIRET, VAT and RCS numbers,
business sector,
company size,
function and contact details of the person you are communicating with

B2C data

Data intended for a B2C target are more or less important and include :

customer age,
the gender of your customers,
consumption patterns,
buying behavior and customer journey (average basket, social media),
purchase history,
interests and complaints, etc.

How to build your customer database in 5 steps?

1 - Adopt a database management solution such as CRM

The most widely used tools for storing, creating and managing your customer or prospect database are CRM (Customer relationship management) software packages. They also enable you to accurately track your customers' activity in real time in the form of marketing KPIs; further optimizing your marketing and sales campaigns.

🛠 . A comprehensive, intuitive and ultra-easy-to-use solution like monday.com CRM centralizes, stores and processes your customer data on a single platform. Save time by exporting your Excel customer file with a single click; the tool automatically imports all information onto a template you've customized!

2 - Set up customer data collection points

The newsletter

The newsletter is an excellent way for your company not only to establish and maintain a regular link with your customers, but also to collect valuable information through its subscription.

💡 However, make sure you offer a newsletter with quality content that's as personalized as possible. To this end, you can integrate the customer's first name into the e-mail for greater proximity and empathy.

By subscribing to your newsletter, customers will give you valuable information such as :

e-mail address
telephone number
postal code,
birthday
or age.

Satisfaction surveys and questionnaires

Satisfaction surveys and questionnaires are highly relevant, not only because they enable you to find out what your customers think of your service/product, but also because they give you access to valuable information.

Even though questionnaires are generally completed anonymously, they enable you to gather information about your target audience:

age,
interests,
motivations,
etc.

Competitions

Competitions are very popular with customers, as they not only enhance the brand's image, but also collect essential information about participating customers or prospects.

To take part in a competition, participants are usually asked to :

fill in a form containing all their contact details,
subscribe to the brand's social networks,
subscribe to the brand's newsletter, etc.

Downloading documents and content

You can also collect information via landing pages. For example, you can post a Word or Excel template on your site's blog that requires downloading via a CTA (Call to Action) button.

Although it's free, the reader is still required to provide his or her e-mail address and often other information. For example:

3 - Confirm Internet user consent

Customer databases are certainly highly relevant for the company, but they also require a certain amount of control.

Indeed, the RGPD (General Data Protection Regulation) requires companies to communicate clearly with users about the collection and use of personal data.

💡 It's also important to give users the option of requesting the modification or deletion of all their personal data.

📣 It is therefore mandatory that all the above-mentioned means of collection and contact forms include checkboxes asking users to confirm their consent to the use of their personal data.

4 - Storing customer data

The storage of your customer data must be structured and organized. It's possible to use an Excel file, but that's not too intuitive. It is therefore preferable, as mentioned above, to equip yourself with an indispensable tool: the CRM.

This will centralize and store all your data easily and intuitively. They will be more easily accessible from anywhere. Indeed, most CRM platforms feature mobile applications that let you access your data anytime, anywhere.

5 - Process your data

Now that your data is centralized and stored, you can process it to deliver better , more tailored and personalized campaigns. You can also improve your brand image and customer engagement through personalized emails.