Fresh thinking from Nowell Stone
Insight and People
Professor Merlin Stone, 19th October 2007
Many companies find it hard to translate their customer data into usable information to make better commercial decisions, take more effective actions and produce more value. Those who succeed understand that using insight isn’t just about good analysis, it’s about getting people to manage it properly and apply the results.
Archive
Retaining Customers
Merlin Stone, 29th January 2007
Perversely, many companies put so much effort into gathering detailed, multi-sourced prospect data for new customer acquisition that they end up knowing far more about their new customers than their exisiting ones.
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Lessons from the Web
Professor Merlin Stone, 6th December 2006
Well, another year is over, and for the direct marketing world, it’s been a good one in most countries. However, the past year should give us pause for thought, a year in which eBay, Skype, myspace and YouTube dominated the web company news.
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Sense & respond marketing
Jennifer Love and Merlin Stone, 13th November 2006
The central problem – marketers talk down to customers
Marketing is lagging behind customers. Today, using the most advanced information systems and processes, there’s the possibility of a more even balance between supplier and customer, in which each engages in a productive dialogue about their future plans.
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Measuring multichannel
Mike Bazett, Ian Bowden, Jennifer Love, Rod Street, 13th November 2006
How effective are your marketing and sales channels? This question
was hard enough before the increase in channel options enabled by the internet and the call centre. It is made more difficult still by the tendency of today’s customer to channel hop, picking up advice from one channel, transacting in another and receiving service via a third. As a result.....
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The Internet, aggregation and customer data
Professor Merlin Stone, 11th October 2006
The Internet's effect on retailing has been enormous. Wherever a product can be easily compared, whether a strong brand or a product whose specifications can be compared easily (e.g. garden sheds), consumers are ill-advised not to start their search on the web...
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Recruiting CRM specialists
Professor Merlin Stone and Matthew Nowell, 1st July 2006
In this article, we summarise the results of a small piece of qualitative research into how big companies recruit and retain CRM specialists. Our research shows that many companies have great difficulties in this area, and that the human resources industry – whether in recruiting or searching for candidates, or in helping client companies develop organisational strategies, are often not as helpful as they should be.