Page 151 - Duct Tape Marketing

Duct Tape Marketing

Make a Database with Your Customers
Standard marketing CRM-type practice suggests that you should

create and supplement a database of customers and prospects with the
idea that you build more and more information to use to help build
deeper relationships and create additional selling opportunities.

What if you look at database building as a service you provided
for your customers? Now, in some cases, that might be a good service
offering as a profit center, but I’m talking about providing a service
that simply allows you to differentiate your business by adding value
in ways that your competitors aren’t even thinking about.

RSS, search technology, and a slew of online apps have made
the creation and streaming of database content a pretty simple affair.
Following are some examples of the kind of information this way of
thinking might produce.

1. The knowledge database
Create a custom RSS subscription database of blogs and news sites

your customers would find interesting, either by virtue of information
they provided you or based on an industry they should follow. You can
set up an RSS reader or upload an OPML file to the reader of their
choice and magically create a hand-crafted set of blogs they should fol-
low. OPML files may sound a little techie, but essentially it’s a list of
RSS feeds that can be imported to an RSS reader to create lots of sub-
scriptions at one time.

2. The “best of class” database
Build a list of “best of class” service providers that can deliver all

the products and services you know your customers may need that are
unrelated to your actual offerings. Create a database with all of the
contact information and notes about each provider. Offer this to your
customers as a service to help them find great companies for every-
thing they buy. This strategic partner–type of database is something

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