subject: User Database Saves Your Time And Money [print this page] You need a database that contains as much detail as you can get about discount product and customer details. What item customer purchase and which promotions are most successful and which customers frequent participate in them. You can then save time and money by targeting events and products more accurately.
There are several ways to create a customer database. An obvious option is to build one from scratch using a database program such as Microsoft Access, SQL Server and Oracle. If you're not familiar with the program's design and report-generation features, you might consider having the database designed by a professional with experience database applications.
It's smart to begin by making a list of all the information you want to get out of user database - for example, your top 200 customers by dollars spent, the percentage of customers that accept a particular promotional offer and the products each customer buys. If you know what is to come out of your database in the form of reports, you can more easily determine what needs to be input. Design your database so you collect only the data you need in a appropriate manner and save your time.
Database programs software may already contain much of the information for a customer database. If so, check whether the publisher offers add-on modules you can purchase for maintaining your database. Also, check the manual for built-in functions you're not currently using. You may discover that your accounting package provides all the tools for storing and retrieving the customer data you require, with the added bonus that you won't be duplicating your data.
Alternatively, your database programs may store data in an open or standard format, accessible by other programs including Microsoft Access or Crystal Reports, or there may be a developer kit for the software that permits programmers to add other functions to it.
To study these possibilities, make sure your software manual or call the company. Gathering Data If you have only a few customers or operate a mail order or account-based system, creating a database will be easy. If you operate retail or business that doesn't maintain close links with customers, you'll need to be more creative.
