Customer Reviews

Building Data Mining Applications for CRM

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I picked up a copy of this book (along with a few others) after my boss put me on a project to apply data mining to a churn problem we have been having. Unlike most of the other books I found, this one didn't limit itself to algorithms and statistics. It answered all my questions and was critical to a successful presentation I gave to our VP of marketing. I'm just about to start applying what I learned by deploying a churn campaign and don't think I would be where I am without this book. I give it a five star recommendation.

I have to admit, I am not deep technologist. My degree is an MBA, not an MS in statistics, so I was a bit hesitant when I ordered this book. Fortunately, Berson and his co-authors did a great job translating technology into relevant business issues. I now "get it," at least that's what some of my more techincally savvy colleagues say.

I was looking for a good book that would help me understand what data mining could bring to our expanding e-commerce business channel. We already have several CRM software systems in place (marketing automation, call center, personalized web site) and this book helped me understand the analytic foundation that is built into the existing systems.

One final thing. Although this book does not claim to be a reference for data mining algorithms, it does have a pair of well written "techniques" chapters. These two chapters go though a long list of algorithms (clustering, CART, CHAID, neural networks, and more) and provide a nice introduction. For me it was perfect.

In addition to CRM, this book presents extensive coverage of the basics of data mining and data warehousing. I found the material accurate and easy to read. There is a pretty standard review of the different data mining analysis techniques, from regression through neural networks and finally rule-based systems.

Since I am familiar with these topics, I found it difficult to wade through all of this to get to the CRM material. It would be nice if the publishers and authors would consider extracting the CRM material and creating a shorter, more focused form.

Just one quibble. At one point the authors make reference to 'altering customer behavior'. One objective of CRM is to match customer's behavior with appropriate offerings. One strategic outcome of CRM analysis is to change a businesses operations to match a customer's needs.

The book seem most focused on developing the correct analysis of customer data in order to achieve CRM objective. There are discussion of business cases such as churn and campaign analysis. Despite a section on architecture, the text is light on how the analysis affects operation systems.

Overall, I reccomend the book and I am still studying it.

This book is valuable for 2 main reasons :

- First, it is so rich in detail that it is an encyclopedia for Data Miner and CRM people. everything is described : tools, approaches, projects ...

- Seconnd, an to me the key point : it is the only book that truly integrate CRM, data warehouse and data mining and still provide and intelligent reading !

If you have a project wuth such flavour, or before embarking a CRM project, read this before the first meeting

I've been actively following data mining for a few years now and have quite a few books on the subject (mostly algorithm books, though). This book was a good addition to my collection. Although it doesn't have the low-level algorithm details (there are no equations in the book), it does a very good job showing how mining can be applied to real problems. I thought the chapter (actually a case study) on customer retention was exceptional.

This book assumes sufficient knowledge of data warehouse and CRM. This book deals purely with Data Mining - one of the branches of Business Intelligence.

A very good book that includes chapters on business value and business case for an enterprise wide Data Mining solution. Certainly is helpful to me in my goals to pursue data mining solutions for clients.

Good understanding of a "profitable customer" is a prerequisite for an enterprise wide data mining solution - which is emphasized in this book neatly.

Can be used to educate marketing/sales/operations executives about data mining concepts and principles. Unless there's an executive buy-in, the concept will not sell in an organization. Business values and business case chapters will help one is selling this concept to higher-ups and help associates understand data mining in theory.

My theory is that, data mining implementations would help organizations coming out of this economic mess, in reducing marketing/sales/operating costs based on understanding the customer profitability and customer segmentation. Unless you spend on your customers, customer loyality is not assured. Why spend a lot on all customers when not all are created equal?

This is the book that will justify such questions and pave the way for a profitable business.

I really like Kurt Thearling's writing, in general--he has written some very clear and practical papers on data mining. But I was badly disappointed by this book. I should have guessed from the complex title that the book is merely an attempt to cash in on the current interest in "customer relationship management" or CRM. In my opinion, CRM is not about data mining--see Dick Lee's book, The Customer Relationship Management Survival Guide, for a much more substantial treatment of CRM. In trying to be a book about CRM, this volume also does a poor job explaining data mining techniques--I strongly recommend Linoff and Berry's second book, Mastering Data Mining, instead. In short, I don't think that this is the book you want, no matter what you might be looking for.

I have used this booh to help educated non-technical executives on the necessity and complexity of Data Mining and the relationship to the bottom line - profit.

This book helps bridge the gap between the theory of Data Mining and the practical applications of Data Mining. It is helpful and recommended to people who have heard of Data Mining before and want to know more. This is not a book for those who are knowledgeable in Business Intelligence or Data Mining.

This book does not talk about CRM applications. CRM applications are in a constant flux and material on them are better served by online publications.

A book which is interesting because it provides you a classification of each data mining tools. Particularly for European people because it gives you names and descriptions of most of US tools in many CRM fields which deal with data.

I have read couple of book about CRM, and this is the best book I have ever read about this matter, have a complete explanation of CRM solution and is helpfull to applicate this technique in our company.