Meet Lisa; she’s a marketing manager with an international travel company. She recently bought a new handbag online. She’d spotted her favorite brand, in the right color and at a price she could afford. Unfortunately, within a few days the bag broke. Disappointed – and prepared for a bit of a battle with the call center – Lisa rang to ask for a replacement. In fact, she was pleasantly surprised. Not only did she get an apology and a replacement bag, but the customer services representative also had all her details to hand. Delighting your customers This is a simple example of how companies with good data management processes can create not just satisfied, but delighted, customers. Lisa only had to tell the company her name and, within a few seconds, the customer services agent had the details of when she bought the bag, the model, color and price. Lisa went from being disappointed and irritated to feeling like a valued customer. Exceptional customer experience creates repeat customers and brand advocates Because the issue was resolved so quickly and painlessly, Lisa’s likely to use the same website again. She’s probably telling all her friends too. The reason her experience was so positive was down to good database management. The staff in the contact center had all the data they needed to hand. It was fast, accurate and flowed through all the departments in the business to be in the right place at the right time. All the staff, including non-customer facing teams, had been briefed and trained on the importance of keeping the database up to date and working well. These database management principles apply to every business and every product and service in both B2B and consumer markets. Fast, accurate data is one of the most value-added business activities you can do. Having the right information at your fingertips helps make customers feel special and is a positive brand differentiator that gives you a tremendous competitive advantage. Good database management makes good financial sense It’s easier to plan and budget effectively for your IT environment when you have proper database management processes. You won’t waste time constantly trouble shooting problems and you’ll know how much storage and back-ups you’ll need. Over time, these cost savings can be significant. A skilled and experienced Database Administrator (DBA) is an invaluable company asset. They will know what’s going on in your database environment and when you need upgrades. But, they do much more than that. In my opinion, one of the most important DBA roles is as a management adviser. They don’t simply monitor databases, they understand the business implications of certain actions or inactions. Their advice is worth listening to; it can help prevent bigger problems further down the line. Successful businesses don’t rely on gut feeling alone As a business owner, you’ll have an intuitive feeling for what works and what doesn’t in your company. That’s great. But, only up to a point. Every business needs good data management to be profitable and sustainable. You’ll reduce risk if you base longer-term financial decisions and business plans on accurate market data and trends. If you are looking to raise external finance, you’ll need robust market potential, pricing and cost numbers to convince lenders or investors. Here’s the really good news You don’t have to spend time and money on recruiting a new team member to achieve a healthy and effective database. A virtual Database Administrator (vDBA) could be just what your organization needs. We can get your highly skilled and experienced vDBA up and running within one hour. You’ll have a trusted point of contact with the specialist knowledge to troubleshoot and solve problems quickly. And, with SQLTreeo, there’s no contract, lock-in or monthly subscription to pay. Our vDBAs are also skilled in maintaining databases, writing procedures and queries to make the most of your data. With experience across different companies, they understand the business implications of data management. This puts them in an ideal position to advise on how your organization could benefit from data-driven business intelligence information. Would you like us to manage your database, so you can get on with managing your business? Find out more about our vDBA service.

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