Challenge: Data in front, one more goal

When the members’ magazine is sent out twice a year, fans rejoice. Unless the booklet doesn’t arrive. Then the faces are long. This happens when addresses become outdated, recipients move, or even incorrect names are recorded in the CRM system. The challenge: data quality. And this plays a prominent role not only in the mailing of member magazines.

Fan campaigns, member analysis, fan support and much more also come to nothing or are simply not feasible without good data. Together with the Schober Information Group, a Bundesliga club has therefore vigorously tackled the issue of data quality. The goal: to increase data quality, expand the depth of information through data enrichment, and create a solid data foundation for the use of analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) in direct and digital marketing.

Solution: Data quality check and data depth enrichment

The Data Quality Check project was launched. This compares the CRM data of the association with the current data from the Schober data universe. The comparison shows: gaps in the data, outdated data, incorrect data or duplicates. As a rule, according to Schober’s practical experience, about 15% of the master data in CRM systems must be updated within a year. The younger the target group, the more mobile and the more frequent the need for updates.

After the check, the need for action is determined and the association decides to update and populate its own data (First Data) with Schober third-party data. Additionally, one uses the option to increase the data depth. This means that Schober offers additional information beyond current address data. Socio-demographic data, development at the place of residence, purchasing power information and many more details can be added.

Outlook: Analyses, but please automated and secure

The association has gained a solid data foundation for more in-depth analyses. After all, you don’t gain any insights from false data. Only those who can create added value for their fans and members thanks to good data can take the lead. And this is exactly where it should go: from data by means of analysis, information about fans, their joys and requirements is obtained.

The methods and analysis strategies can be diverse. Typically, cluster analysis, AI, and self-learning algorithms are used in such scenarios in addition to simple data mining with pattern recognition. Of course, all of this is done in compliance with DSGVO – security and data protection have the highest priority for us. Our membership in DDV as well as certifications by CSA and IABEurope underline our claim to secure and DSGVO-compliant data handling.

In the next step, the Bundesliga club plans to derive targeted marketing measures from the analyzed data. Who is a casual fan and only comes to the stadium in good weather? Which fans don’t need advertising because they are in the stadium for every home game anyway? Which fans have a pet and would be delighted with the original feeding bowl with club logo? These are just a few examples of questions that can be answered easily and automatically with the right methodology.

If you also want to play in the premier league with your data…

If you want to follow our customer’s example and play in the first league with data-based marketing, please contact us. At Schober, we have been shaping the future of sales and marketing for over 75 years. And the method described above has long since given rise to a cloud-based out-of-the-box platform for managing customer data (Customer Data Platform – CDP). We call the solution udo and think you should get to know udo. We would be happy to show you how easy udo can also turn your fans into customers or even happier fans.

Simply play in the premier league with your data.

Sales-Funnel und wertorientiertes Verkaufen

Der klassische Sales-Funnel betrachtet den Verkaufsprozess noch ausschließlich aus der Sicht des Verkäufers. Doch im modernen Marketing kann und will man mehr: Es geht um ein tieferes Verständnis, indem man die Sicht des Kunden nachvollzieht und so die Interaktion gezielter steuert. Das Ziel: zufriedene Käufer gewinnen, die immer wieder kaufen und Produkte weiterempfehlen. Den zugrundeliegenden Vertriebsansatz nenne ich wertorientiertes Verkaufen, da er die Adressaten vom Wert des Angebots überzeugt. Damit aber reicht der Funnel als Grundlage von Marketing und Sales nicht mehr aus. Um nämlich den neuen Anforderungen der Daten-Ökonomie zu genügen, gehören wichtige Aspekte dazu: Personas, Mehrwert, Content, Customer Journey und Measurement.

Treppe statt Trichter

Wie hängen die Begriffe zusammen? Wer den Mehrwert seiner Produkte verkaufen will, der muss seine Adressaten kennen, was in Personas genauer beschrieben wird. Dann nämlich können Marketing-Maßnahmen gezielt den Mehrwert eines Angebotes aufzeigen, was über entsprechenden Content geschieht. Um zum Kauf zu motivieren, ist schließlich die Interaktion zwischen Anbieter und Adressat notwendig. Und genau hier hat die digitalisierte Welt mit New Data, Touchpoint-Explosion und nicht-linearen Customer Journeys neue Anforderungen geschaffen. Wer seine Kunden sachgerecht ansprechen, qualifizieren und steuern will, muss die Customer Journey orchestrieren. Das funktioniert nur mit Daten und einer Daten-Strategie – „Brahm’schen Treppe“. Es handelt sich um eine Methode des datengetriebenen Marketings, die in vier aufeinander aufbauenden Stufen Interessenten immer genauer qualifiziert, überzeugt und dann auf der höchsten Stufe zu Kunden konvertiert.

Mit Daten und Methode zum Ziel: Die vierstufige Daten-Treppe

Am Anfang heißt es Datengrundlagen schaffen. Dazu sichern Unternehmen die zentrale Bereitstellung aller Daten mit Bezug zur intendierten Kundeninteraktion. Zentralisiert ist wichtig, denn meistens liegen Daten unverbunden in unterschiedlichen Transaktionssystemen (ERP, E-Commerce-System, Content-Management etc.) nebeneinander. Erst das Mapping der Datensilos schafft die Grundlage für weitergehende Analysen. Denn wenn Unternehmen falsche oder unvollständige Daten nutzen, werden sie auch bei der Auswertung nur falsche oder unvollständige Ergebnisse erhalten. Der vermeintliche Datenschatz erweist sich dann schnell als Datenmüll.

Informationstiefe erhöhen, Daten zu Insights Stufe zwei und drei

Doch manchmal reicht die Informationstiefe der vorhandenen Daten nicht. Deshalb prüft man auf Stufe zwei die vorhandene Datenbasis vor dem Hintergrund der Geschäfts- und Kommunikationsziele. Nötigenfalls erhöht man die Informationstiefe, um in der Kundeninteraktion richtigen Mehrwert stiften zu können. Typische Ergänzungen umfassen hier je nach potentieller Kundenzielgruppe Geodaten, Daten zum Digitalisierungsgrad, zu eingesetzten IT-Systemen oder zur Unternehmensstruktur.

In Stufe drei werden aus diesen Daten Informationen. Analysen und KI machen aus den Daten Informationen zu Interessenten, Kunden und ihren Anforderungen. Methoden und Analyse-Strategien sind vielfältig und abhängig von der Aufgabenstellung. Typischerweise kommen neben einfachem Datamining mit Mustererkennung auch Cluster-Analysen, künstliche Intelligenz und selbstlernende Algorithmen zum Einsatz. Mit den gewonnenen Insights können Unternehmen wertorientierte Interaktions- und Produktangebote unterbreiten.

Stufe vier: wertorientierter Verkauf

Stufe vier geht zur Aktion über und nutzt die Insights aus den vorangehenden Stufen, um Adressaten vom Wert der angebotenen Produkte zu überzeugen. Genau das ist wertorientierter Verkauf. Zur Interaktion kommen grundsätzlich alle verfügbaren Kanäle und Content-Formate zum Einsatz, die Auswahl der geeigneten Informationsmittel lässt sich meist sehr genau auf den vorhergehenden Stufen ermittelt.

So orchestriert die „Brahm’sche Treppe“ die Customer-Journey auf der Daten-Ebene: Personas, Mehrwert, Content, Customer Journey und Measurement finden in Echtzeit zusammen. Mit dieser Methode können Sales und Marketing Kunden zielsicher zum Glück führen – über eine vierstufige Treppe eben.

„Brahm’sche Treppe“, Funnel und udo – Wie sind Ihre Erfahrungen?

Wie sind Ihre Erfahrungen? Haben Sie auch schon überlegt, wie Sie Ihren Sales- oder Marketing-Funnel besser orchestrieren? Wir freuen uns, mehr zu erfahren und mit Ihnen in den Dialog zu treten.

Übrigens, wir bei Schober gestalten schon seit über 70 Jahren die Zukunft von Sales und Marketing. Und so ist aus der vorgestellten Methode auch eine Out-of-the-Box Plattform zum Management von Kundendaten (Customer Data Plattform – CDP) hervorgegangen. Wir nennen die Lösung udo (universal data orchestration) und denken, Sie sollten udo kennenlernen. Bei Fragen stehen wir Ihnen unter contact@schober.de jederzeit gerne zur Verfügung. Viel Erfolg und es lebe der Umsatz!

Ihr Martin Brahm und das Schober-Team

Intensive customer loyalty

But before we get to the analytics, let’s take a quick look at the bigger picture: Acquiring new customers is costly and requires significantly more effort than intensifying an existing customer relationship. This has been proven by many studies and surveys. And this experience applies not only to the sale of energy bars, wine or travel to end customers, but also in B2B business. For example, tradesmen who have good experiences with their suppliers buy regularly and usually also larger baskets of goods. So let’s intensify customer loyalty!

“Mmmh-delicious-moments” or: Knowing customers in order to bind them specifically

Customer loyalty is hugely important, as my Buddy illustrates. After all, satisfied regular customers are loyal, tolerant of mistakes, and they recommend products authentically to friends or colleagues. In the age of social media, this also means that loyal customers recommend a product to a large number of people in their social network. How do you win over loyal customers and create these “Mmmh-köstlich moments”? How do companies increase customer loyalty and turn single buyers into multiple buyers? Of course, a good product range is a basic prerequisite. But beyond that, it’s crucial to know your customers intimately. Knowing what moves them, what excites them, and what motivates them to make repeat purchases. The key: Multi Buyer Analytics.

Evaluate purchases with Multi Buyer Analytics

Companies that use multi-buyer analytics are significantly more successful than their competitors. This is proven, among others, by a power bar manufacturer and Schober customer who uses Multi Buyer Analytics based on our universal data platform (udo) with great success. The first thing to do is to get a solid overview of purchases and buying habits.

Which customers buy only once and then disappear from the radius of marketing measures? Which customers, on the other hand, buy multiple times? With the answers, segments for subsequent measures can already be created in a first approximation. If you add the time intervals between purchases and the product groups purchased in each case, the view of the customers quickly becomes complete.

It can be seen, for example, that a so-called persona of multiple buyers prefers to buy a certain product in larger quantities, but then does not order anything else for a longer period of time. Another, however, orders small quantities more frequently, but these come from different product areas – energy bars, protein shakes and isotonic sports drinks.

Product mix analysis

Product mix analyses go deeper, allowing the correlations of individual offerings to be determined at the product level. In the case of the power bar manufacturer, for example, flavor, price and container size are related. For other Schober customers, such as the water specialist bevo, it is water pipes, connecting sleeves, special adhesives and hoses. Whatever the product portfolio, a product mix analysis of purchases reveals valuable synergies for existing customer care. Of course, it is precisely these correlations that must first be drawn from the data through analysis. To make this possible even without a degree in mathematics, udo offers
udo
offers intuitive ready-to-use analytics.

Targeting customer loyalty measures

Targeted analysis of purchase and customer data as part of multi-buyer analytics provides crucial knowledge about customers. Single and multiple buyers with their respective preferences can be precisely identified, so that marketing and sales can use targeted communication measures to stimulate customer loyalty and new purchases. The right triggers and purchase motivations can then be set along the customer journey: The targeted development of existing customers can begin – from single to multiple buyers, from loyal customers to brand ambassadors. Of course, many factors – market, target customers, budget, creativity and others – play a role in the measures. The right mix of measures is therefore always individual.
We have compiled five key success factors and reasons for multi-buyer analytics in a checklist that you can download for free below.

Back to the gym

But let’s get back to the power bar manufacturer and its case. The company used multi-buyer analytics to first target and segment buyers of its products and cluster them by buyer group. One key finding: the number of multiple buyers can be expanded particularly quickly through targeted cross-selling. From the product mix analysis, it was clear that energy bars are a low-threshold, “fast-turnaround” offering and sell very well along with energy gels in the gym environment.

Lack of information quality

Today, every company stores and uses data about its own customers and prospects: Goods are sent, invoices are written, consultation protocols are kept in the call center, marketing campaigns are set up and much more. Over time, this CRM data becomes more and more extensive and complex. But without a data strategy, the overview is quickly lost.

Data quickly becomes obsolete. For example, they are entered incorrectly, are no longer current, or are duplicated. Such data errors reduce data quality and have immediate economic consequences. This is also referred to as the “garbage-in-garbage-out” principle: errors in data cause errors in analyses and forecasts. To illustrate, if you put water in the tank of your car, you won’t be able to drive far. So it is with data quality. Poor data leads to a lack of information quality – wrong decisions are made and opportunities are missed.

Avoidable costs

But a lack of information quality also causes high, in many cases avoidable, costs. A simple example is not reaching a customer or sending out elaborate catalogs twice. Unrecognized risks are also problematic, such as when a customer bundles large merchandise credits under different identities. Costly inconveniences also quickly arise when customers are contacted despite an advertising ban and legal disputes threaten. This makes it clear that strengthening the data basis reduces risks and costs. Where are the biggest challenges in data quality?

How to strengthen data quality

Poor quality data contains data errors, duplicates, missing values, incorrect formatting, inconsistencies, and more. The matter is very complex and requires experience. That’s why the Schober Information Group offers a data quality check that quickly determines certainty about your own data quality and optimization potential. Briefly, the most important three aspects:

Duplicate addresses – this happens when several contacts to one company or several people from one household are registered. In this case, Schober offers to identify and mark multiple existing data via a duplicate comparison. Subsequently, the entries can be merged or even deleted upon explicit request.

Outdated information about companies – this happens when companies move, go bankrupt, change their name or similar. Around 30% of addresses need to be updated within a year, it is estimated. Here, Schober offers to identify addresses in the CRM data that are unsuitable for advertising, relocations, insolvent or defunct companies for processing or to confirm them positively.

Outdated information about people – this happens when people move, get married or die. Here, Schober offers reconciliation and updating based on negative inventories – such as movers, deceased or bad payers.

By the way: In principle, database entries are only made at the express request of the customer and only by the client himself.

More insight thanks to data enrichment

Data quality is the suitability of data for a particular purpose. And that doesn’t end with being coherent. You also have to provide the necessary information! If you want to convince people of the advantages of a pool in the garden with an elaborate marketing campaign in the spring, for example, you need information on the residential structure and purchasing power. Because in an urban residential area without gardens, of course, you can not create a pool. If advertising companies do not have this information at their disposal, targeted enrichment with the Schober data universe can help.

Whether geodata, identification data, potential analyses, industry keys, decision-maker data or company size – the Schober data universe provides the required data and significantly increases the depth of information. This ensures targeted customer contact and the ability to create detailed analyses based on facts.

The advantages of information quality and depth

A strong database with high quality and depth of information strengthens sales, support, product development and marketing. This is undeniable. In our experience, the concrete benefits are, for example, better deliverability of marketing and sales campaigns. This starts with the correct postal address and goes on to socio-demographic characteristics and the correct form of address. The result is efficient CRM processes that save more than just costs. After all, a strong database is an important asset and a central component of value creation for companies.

Data is silver, good data is gold

Data is silver, but good data is gold, because only from it can companies gain the information that determines market success. Analytics become more accurate, leads can be more precisely estimated, and customer interactions become more precise overall. “Get the basics right” is what we say at Schober and with the “Brahm’s staircase” we have developed a method to generate added value from data. This has also resulted in a cloud-based out-of-the-box platform. We call the solution udo and think you should get to know udo.

We will be happy to show you how to increase data quality. You are always safe and DSGVO-compliant with us, because Schober attaches great importance to data protection and security. Just log on to michaela.weisse[at]schober.de and she will help you do a free data quality check and increase sales thanks to high depth of information. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact her.

Good luck and long live your sales!

Your Schober Team

Office Depot Germany/Viking: International shipper of office supplies

Scissors, stamps, furniture or cleaning supplies – if you’re looking for office supplies, you’re in good hands at Viking in Germany. The office supplies retail brand, which is part of the European Office Depot group, is now successful in eight European countries and employs over 1,500 people in Europe. Viking’s recipe for success: one stop store for your workplace, innovative and data-driven marketing, and great customer service.

Challenge: New acquisition channels for efficient B2B growth in Europe

In order to grow across Europe, acquire new customers and expand existing customers, Viking relies on the Schober data universe in combination with the analysis and marketing expertise of the Schober Information Group. In addition to tried-and-true marketing – SEO, SEM, catalog mailings and field sales, Viking has developed new ways with Schober: 1. data quality assurance 2. market potential analyses & target group clustering as well as 3. international B2B e-mail marketing.

Image source: envato

Solution: Data Quality, Analysis & Scoring, B2B Emailing

Success in data-driven marketing depends on data quality. Therefore, Viking and Schober start with a data quality check including data enrichment. Now we have enough data for analyses: What addressable market potential is there in Europe, in Germany, in the UK? Which types of companies predominate? What are the portfolio synergies? These are examples of questions from the potential and customer value analyses that lead to target group clustering. Company potentials targeted by Viking via email campaigns to specific groups.

E-mail convinces and activates thousands of new customers

What comes out? Viking and Schober initially carry out analyses and e-mail marketing in Germany with great success. Thousands of new customers are convinced, so that the positive experience is also transferred to other European markets: After Austria and the UK, the next market on the agenda is Belgium. With international data partners and its data expertise, Schober manages the international roll-out of B2B marketing campaigns.

Outlook: Constant dripping wears the stone instead of mayflies

Viking is so pleased with the success that they have scaled up: Data quality and data enrichment run monthly – as do analytics and scoring. The return on marketing investment is particularly interesting when compared to search engine marketing. Why? “Contacts we acquire via search engines are usually only seen once. We can turn customers from Schober email campaigns into loyal existing customers. This is exactly in line with our positioning: One Stop Shop for your workplace, innovative and data-driven marketing and great customer service,” says Sandy Kirchhoff, Senior Manager Commercial Marketing Europe

Of course, priority one: existing customers

While for new customers it’s all about gaining and maintaining attention, for existing customers the focus is on building on the existing relationship and increasing loyalty. The energy industry shows this very vividly: The willingness to switch electricity, gas and water is constantly increasing and is further fueled by sales and comparison portals (more on this in our white paper: “Marketing and sales in liberalized energy markets“). Of course, if you lose existing customers, you need at least the same number of new customers to maintain the status quo alone. Assuming that new customers cost around five times more than retaining an existing customer, priority one is clear: nurture existing customers – and develop new customers into existing customers.

1. customer life cycle – it’s the data that counts

Sales professionals and marketers in industries such as energy, as well as telecom or insurance, need more than others to gain deep customer insights and actively engage with their customers’ needs in order to make enticing offers. To do this, they need the right technical foundation and data, because the key to long-term customer loyalty is ongoing data-driven evaluation of customer needs at every stage of the customer lifecycle. Only those who know the life cycle of their customers can expand the customer relationship with valuable offers and increase loyalty. This is where udo helps.

2. customer value and potential analyses

Because udo von Schober offers detailed analyses of customer data, for example as a customer value analysis. Existing business partners and customers are systematized according to their previous contribution to sales. The respective customer value then shows which existing customers are particularly attractive in terms of sales and how their shopping cart can be increased. In the case of utilities, for example, the e-charging station can be an attractive addition to the electricity contract. In addition to analyzing the inventory, this also makes it possible to forecast the future potential for sales.

3. data quality and data networking – are the data up-to-date?

4. personalized interaction with value or “off to the bathroom

Image source: ThisIsEngineering, Pexels

Customers only buy products or services if they promise benefits and added value. The same is true for customer interaction. If you want to retain customers and develop them into loyal existing customers, you also have to make customer interactions personally useful and of value. Purchase history, age and housing conditions offer initial clues for action. Truly personalized interaction, however, requires more: Can a new electricity customer be targeted with an annual ticket for the municipal swimming pools? To estimate this, one needs additional data. Those who have the necessary insights can also send marketing and sales to the right communication channels in a targeted manner with value-added interaction.

5. termination prevention through segmentation and personas

Deciding on the optimal product and communication strategy, the loyalty programs or the appropriate channels succeeds by first segmenting customers. Segments as bundles of characteristics can additionally be condensed into personas. Similar to a short biography, personas describe relevant customer characteristics in detail. These help to respond to customer wishes with maximum precision and to implement target group-appropriate measures.

But patterns can also be seen where terminations are expected soon. The “soon-to-be-terminated” persona can be won back – if it is recognized – before the termination even occurs. The attractive product combination of electricity, public transport and Internet or the new eco-electricity offer do wonders for customers. The company saves the cost of acquiring new customers.

Marketing and sales can actively influence the switching needs of end customers in a targeted manner by using existing customer information. But some fluctuation is inevitable – fortunately, even among competitors.

Develop new customers into existing customers? Who knows the set screws and has udo …

If you’re thinking “Sure, that’s great, we’ve tried that, but customer lifecycle management is very challenging,” you’re right. Yes, it is challenging. But at Schober, we’ve been shaping the future of sales and marketing for over 70 years. And so a cloud-based out-of-the-box platform for managing customer data (Customer Data Platform – CDP) has emerged from the method presented. We call the solution udo and think you should get to know udo. We’ll be happy to show you how easy udo makes customer lifecycle management.

Good luck and long live your sales!

Your Schober Team