Reading the Tea Leaves of Your Data . . . Only Better
People are often surprised when we self-ascribed data nerds at MindEcology demonstrate to them just how much useful information is hidden within their database. Our reports and analyses reveal things about their business that are immediate, insightful and actionable. It is a very satisfying feeling to present one of our reports to our customers and watch their faces as they have a series those little “Ah-ha!” moments that we in business value so much.
Like riding a bicycle or playing chess, what we do is simple – once you already know how to do it, that is. But, it can be hard to explain what we do for the first time to friends, prospects and customers who have not yet seen our work in action.
I find that metaphors are useful in explaining pretty much anything. Recently, when trying to think of the best metaphor for what we at MindEcology do, the first thing that came to mind was that of “reading the tea leaves.” However, upon further inspection, while simple and in a way elegant, the “tea leaves” metaphor misses the mark completely. That’s because the processes that we here at MindEcology use are not based upon any personal powers of prognostication, guesswork, having the “sixth sense,” or being otherwise talented in the area of fortune telling. In other words, it’s not based on what we THINK will happen, but rather what we know HAS happened within your business – along with suggestions for how to capitalize on that for the future.
In that light, I think a better metaphor than that of “reading the tea leaves” for what MindEcology does is that of DNA scientist. As you may have been following in the major press lately, you can now submit to DNA analysis companies a small sample of your saliva – along with saliva samples of your spouse and child – and receive back a wealth of information about you, your spouse and your child. In fact, they will supply you with a gene-by-gene account of what percentage of each parent’s DNA contributed to the creation of your child’s DNA. Very cool stuff.
While we are not DNA scientists, you could say that we are gifted with the ability to look at your business’s customer purchase history data (DNA) and tell you things you never thought possible about where you have been and where you should go next.
Here is a sample of the types of information we can tell you after performing an analysis of your customer database. If you give us 1,000 to 2,000 of your customer records (with just customer name, customer address, total customer revenue figures), we can tell you:
a. who your best customers are, organized by “marketing segmentation cluster” type* – in prioritized order of most-to-least valuable
* note: you don’t have to understand a thing about market segmentation to take immediate and full advantage of our findings
b. which segmentation cluster types are most likely to become a customer if marketed to, and, once a customer, which are most likely to spend more money with you (note: as a bonus, we also show you which types of prospects and customers are NOT worth putting resources into pursuing at all)
c. where to find more prospects just like your best customers
d. how to best go after those best prospects with direct response (direct mail, e-mail, doorhangers) and mass-media (TV, radio, newpspaer, billboards) methods, while “skipping over” those who are much less likely to respond
e. a profile of what your best customers look like, including which types of media (magazines, TV shows, radio shows, web sites) they consume, where they shop, and how they spend their leisure time
f. show you where to build a new store, restaurant or service provider business location based upon finding those geographical areas that have high concentrations of your best customers
In short, we build a custom “model” of your best customers based on actual, historical purchase data that you provide to us for analysis. Then, we show you how to apply that model to your market so that you can: a. do more business with your current customers and, b: find and go after more prospects who are the most likely to convert to being your new customers
Like the DNA scientists you have been hearing about lately in the news, at MindEcology we can take what seems like a relatively insignificant “input” and turn it into an amazing amount of actionable, useful information that you can apply to your business right now for better marketing ROI and better business results.