5 minute read
How good is your internal database?
By Greg Stine President Polaris, Inc. www.polaris-inc.com
I\EPENDING on your business, l-r|ll waser that 75-95Vo of vour business "oil", from past customers or referrals from your past customers. Do you market to your past customers? You should. They are what keep you in business year after year and they are a source of significant new business as well.
How do you reach them? Through your internal company database, of course. But sadly, one of the most important and often neglected assets of a company or organization is their database of leads, prospects and clients.
The Keys to a Good Database
Databases are nothing more than lists of data organized so we can manipulate and learn from them. A valuable asset, you should have a plan to protect and maintain your database like a good piece of equipment.
l. Ptan ahead.
Many problems with databases happen because of the way the database was setup when the company was new. When you set up your database, imagine manipulating not 10 times, but 100 or 1000 times the amount of data you have now. Try to predict what information you will need as your company grows, what kinds of reports you'll want, and the database fields you'll need to sort that data. You won't accurately predict everything, but if you try, you will get closer than if you don't.
2. Pix it now, not later!
There's no time like today to fix and clean up your database. Every day that goes by, you are most likely making any current problems more time consuming to repair. Don't compound the problem by allowing another month or another year to go by without giving it your attention.
3. Control the input.
Once you have clean and accurate data in your database, the best way to protect its integrity is to use the data entry control features of your software. These features force people to
A lot of companies
make a mess of this critical company asset.
correctly and completely fill out their on-screen input forms.
All decent database programs allow you to setup rules for data entry. Date fields must be valid dates; specific fields must have entries in them (no blanks); some fields may be limited to items from a pull-down menu. Don't be afraid to use these tools-if you allow each individual to figure out what to do on their own, five years from now you'll have a
4.lntegrate as much as possible.
This is often the hardest part of all-while 1007o system integration is rarely achieved, it should still be the goal. Get as many people working together from the same database as is reasonably possible, or at least be sure that the formats are interchangeable.
5. Be strong, don't lose control.
Controlling and maintaining a clean, quality database can be very difficult and straight out boring but the results are worth it. When it comes time for that next marketing project and your database no longer holds you back, you'll see the results of all your hard work.
Don't underestimate how difficult it is to set up and maintain a good internal database. I've seen a lot of companies make messes of this critical company asset. So be strong, thoughtful, and diligent. It's well worth it in the long run.
- Mr. Stine is founder, president and director of sales for marketing specialist P olaris Inc. (www.polaris-inc.com), Oakridge, Eugene and Portland, Or.
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Power Tools Meet Coffee
El Granada Hardware. El Granada. Ca., has reopened and customers can now order a cup of gourmet coffee or get a sandwich when they stop in for hardware.
Officially reopened Dec. 21 under Elder Forest Products is introducing what it claims are the first new cypress products to enter the market in 50 years.
new owners Benjie Macapinlac and Jun Bernardo, El Granada now has a full-scale deli counter, a caf6 with 30 gourmet coffees, a landscaped backyard patio along with a quadrupled hardware inventory, tools for rent, and a home repair service.
New Cypress Products Hit The Market
The first new product is a R/L interior paneling/ceiling wainscot item that Elder is marketing under the brand name Fine-Line.
Fine-Line is reversible with a pattern on one side and "v-edges" on the reverse. It is available in 518x4", 5/8x6" and 5/8x8".
Elder is also manufacturing endmatched products to be sold under the Match-Maker name. These items come in several patterns and are available in 1x4", 1x6" and 1x8". A 3/8" product will also be available.
Match-Maker products will be packaged in cardboard cartons and all shipments will be palletized. "Our packaging methods will assure clean and damage-free products to our distributors and in turn to our retail lumber dealers." said it hadn't been for the strong housing market, we would be in trouble. We can thank our lucky stars that 30year mortgage rates are 5.5Vo and hope they stay there."
Asked if the idea of combining hammers and ham sandwiches may be too much, Macapinlac replied, "You have to understand, it's not like someone will be ordering ice cream and staring at nuts and bolts. They are separate areas of the store."
Donald Elder.
As part of the manufacturing process, Elder upgraded its Crowley, La., mill to produce the new products. The plant underwent another renovation two years ago.
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The Vanishing Timber Worker
A new study reveals what actually happened to Oregon timber workers during the industry downturn of the I 990s.
The report reveals that more than half of the 60,000 loggers, sawmill workers and others that were employed in the timber industry at the start of the 1990s, were out of the industry by 1998.
More pointedly, the report found that half of those that left the industry, disappeared from work rolls altogether, either moving to another state, retiring or going unemployed.
Nearly 18,000 of the workers who left the industry found a job in Oregon, but half of those individuals took lower paying jobs in retail and the service sector without the benefits they had previously held.
The figures suggest that Oregon's timber industry did not participate in the general economic boom experienced by many Oregonians in the 1990s.
The data also emboldens claims by logging advocates who have long suggested that policies to reduce logging and protect the spotted owl in the 1990s had serious consequences for the lives of timber workers.
The authors add that in addition to environmental-driven economic changes, increasingly computerized sawmills also accounted for job losses.
The data was collected from the state unemployment insurance program, which allowed researchers to track workers by social security numbers.
The records detailed the individuals'job, location and salary histories from 1989 to 1998. Their names and personal details remained confidential.
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