1. Examples of Data Sources Used For Customer Profiling Smart Cities Event 14/03/2009

2. A Customer Relationship Management (CRM) System

The Norfolk libraries CRM system is used to collect and record information about the customers using library services

Linking the address data stored in the system to a customer profiling database allows us to group customers using the service into specific types with similar characteristics

For example, the free Internet service available in libraries is provided to ensure that customers who otherwise would not be able to access the web can

By profiling the customers who are using this service we are able to understand if we are successfully reaching all, some or none of our target customer groups

3. Manual Data Collection

Norfolk County Council produces a pack of approved service providers (builders, plumbers, electricians, etc.) that is advertised in council publications and sent to customers upon request

The purpose of the service is to give vulnerable customers access to trusted professionals although anyone could request a brochure

By recording and storing the addresses of customers in a microsoft excel/access database we are able to link this data to our profiling data

By comparing the volume of customers in each group/type requesting a pack and the volume of Norfolk residents in each group/type we can understand how successfully we are reaching our target and non-target customers

4. Customer Research (I)

By adding a what is your address/postcode question when conducting customer research we can profile our respondants allowing us to compare the results by customer group/type

Norfolk County Council customer service centre advertises numerous contact numbers. We wanted to know where callers got our number to rationalise our marketing

Some customer research was recently undertaken where the phone number which a customer contacted us on, the service they required, where they got that number and the callers postcode was captured

We can use the data to profile the customers contacting us to understand if certain groups/types are contacting us on the wrong number for the service they require and how best to advertise the correct number or a change in number

5. Customer Research (II)

The customer satisfaction tracker is a postal survey where 3,000 customers are contacted to answer a series of questions to on their perceptions and views including How satisfied are you with your council?

The addresses of those customers that respond to the survey can be linked to our profiling data

We are able to analyse the responses by customer groups/types and geographical location to identify trends in customer satisfaction and perception

6. Catchment Areas

Where a service is offered to local residents you can use the address of the service provider to understand the customer groups/types that make up the local community

To improve our understanding of a schools performance and issues that it is experiencing we can profile the community that lives locally to the school

We can use this knowledge to identify schools positioned within similar or contrasting communities and to identify the best way to reach that community with our communications