The Customer Loyalty Solution [Paperback]

Arthur Middleton Hughes (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 19, 2008

To be successful, database marketers have to think like customers. They have to dream up strategies they think will work, test them, come up more new ideas, and test them again. Arthur Hughes, a leading expert in database marketing, shows readers how to accomplish those goals. He shows them how to get out of the vicious circle of building new loyalty programs, instead showing them how to build enduring loyalty programs using incrementalism. In this guide, readers will learn: - Why giving customers a choice in a direct offer always reduces response - Why you shouldn't market to Gold customers - What you can do to increase retention rates This in-depth guide, loaded with case studies from leading companies including UPS, ebay, American Airlines, and Land's End, shows managers and executives how to deal with the new issues that typify the Internet era.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

How Today's Marketing Leaders Have Bypassed the "Experts" to Craft Effective, Inexpensive Customer Loyalty Programs

Database marketing is today's most powerful tool for designing cost-effective, resource-efficient marketing and operations programs. The Customer Loyalty Solution cuts through theory and guesswork to examine how leading marketers from Land's End to IBM are using today's new breed of database marketing tools to compute lifetime value, cut costs in every area, and make databases easier to access and utilize from anywhere on the globe.

Praise for The Customer Loyalty Solution:

"The Customer Loyalty Solution combines the best of traditional practice with contemporary market factors in terms that inspire and cut across industries. Straightforward enough for the upcoming 1-1 marketer as well as a great catch-up for the seasoned practitioner."--Joe Rapolla, VP, Consumer Marketing Services, Universal Music Group/CLO

"Delivers practical solutions instead of hyperbole and theory. Hughes makes this book fun to read, and he gets his point across--clearly."--Robert McKim, CEO, msdbm

"Well written and easy to understand. Hughes imparts his wisdom to set realistic expectations and provides case studies adding real-world application."--J.C. Johnson, VP, Database Marketing, Fairfield Resorts

"Hughes distills the jargon and complexity of database marketing into a refreshingly straightforward and practical guide. The Customer Loyalty Solution should be required reading for anyone serious about making database marketing work."--Jonathan Huth, VP, Relationship Database Marketing, Scotiabank

New technologies like the Web have brought unprecedented change to database marketing. But some things never change. Successful marketers have learned that to understand their customers they must still think like their customers, who continue to ignore one-time discounts to ask, "Why would I want to be that company's customer? What's in it for me?"

The Customer Loyalty Solution goes straight to the source, revealing how marketers today are leveraging their database marketing programs to identify and attract the most profitable new customers, increase current customer retention and repurchase, and identify and reward their most loyal and profitable customers. More than 40 detailed case studies and dozens of examples reveal success stories including

• Verizon's "best in class" datamart that realized a 1681 percent return on marketing investment
• Isuzu's database project that targeted only their best prospects--and cut industry-standard per-unit sales costs in half
• Weekly Standard's variable headline strategy that increased direct mail response rates by nearly 25 percent

Author and database marketing pioneer Arthur Hughes doesn't hide behind incomprehensible formulas and impossible-to-navigate layouts. Each easy-to-follow chapter clearly addresses and explains a different piece of the database-marketing puzzle. Case studies are clearly marked and detail what went right--or wrong. Chapter-ending synopses summarize the lessons to be learned in each chapter and clearly review what worked and what didn't. These features and others combine with innovative charts and quizzes to ensure hands-on understanding of material covered and make the book a timely, practical guide.

The Customer Loyalty Solution reveals how database marketing and customer relationship management initiatives are making a difference, today, for the world's leading marketers. It provides you with step-by-step techniques for benchmarking their efforts to develop intelligent strategies of your own, understanding how and why they work, and monitoring their results to continually adjust and modify for changing market conditions. The result will be far stronger customer loyalty, more consistent repeat sales, and a database-marketing program that is enjoyable and successful--for both you and your most profitable customers.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Arthur M. Hughes is vice president for business development of the CSC Advanced Database Solutions (www.cscads.com), which builds and maintains databases for major U.S. corporations. A pioneer in the use of databases to reach customers and impact their decision making, Hughes wrote the classic marketers' guidebooks Strategic Database Marketing and The Complete Database Marketer.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Professional (November 19, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071589600
• ISBN-13: 978-0071589604
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,437,864 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I have spent the last 33 years in the direct mail, database and email marketing business working for five companies in this work. I have built marketing databases, determined customer lifetime value, published more than 200 articles (available on my website www.dbmarketing.com), published eleven books, and made more than 300 speeches all over the US, Canada and the world including Japan, Australia, Brazil, Greece. UK, Portugal, Taiwan, Malaysia and Columbia.
My main focus in the past few years has been Email Subscriber Acquisition. I have helped e-DIalog's clients to acquire 78 Million more subscribers in 2010 increasing e-Dialog revenue by more than $8 million.
I read extensively in History, Biography, and Science. I play the piano every night (nothing written after 1950), and play Canasta with my wife Helena every night, where I always lose.
I have four grown children, all married and eight grandchildren.
Poitically, I am a conservative. I think that our government is spending too much, getting us deeply into debt, and fear for the future of the dollar and the US economy. I love America and am so happy to be living in Fort Lauderdale with Helenita.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Database Marketing Case Book, August 6, 2003

By 

E. Sander (Uden Netherlands) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Customer Loyalty Solution : What Works (and What Doesn't) in Customer Loyalty Programs (Hardcover)

I have been an admirer of Arthur Hughes' writing for many years. His books The Complete Database Marketer and the splendid Strategic Database Marketing are among the best in the genre. Especially the latter has helped me a lot in my own projects as a database marketing specialist.

Now Arthur returns with a new book, another fine read. There are some things to be mentioned though.

Ed Sander, Failsafe Database Marketing

First of all, you should first read Strategic Database Marketing before you read this one. Although some of the subject matter of the two books overlaps, the theoretical background is explained much better in Arthur's previous book. For instance, the Lifetime Value case in The Customer Loyalty Solution is far too complex as a first taster.

Second, the title. I really don't think it does the book justice since it covers much more ground than just loyalty programs. With a title like this it might easily get lost between the dozens of other customer loyalty books on Amazon. Personally I would have suggested something like "The Database Marketing Case Book" instead, since the book mainly consists of some 40 short and longer case descriptions which illustrate the power and possible results of database marketing combined with the Internet. As such, it is a great companion book to Strategic Database Marketing, which focusses more on the 'how to'.

Third, although there is - as I mentioned - certain overlap with Strategic Database Marketing, this book does cover a few highly interesting (new) subjects in more detail. To name a few:

- What is the difference between CRM and DBM ? Which is better ?
- Why have catalogers not used DBM ?
- Calculating the value of names and e-mail addresses.
- Selling versus communicating on the web. Which one works ?
- E-mail marketing.

Also, most of the cases and options described are evaluated using the Lifetime Value theorie, which is very clear an useful. All chapters also include a summary, checlists of things that work and don't work and a quiz to test your understanding of the described cases.

All in all another fine and inspiring book by Arthur. Not as essential as Strategic Database Marketing, but a must have for anybody who has already digested that title and wants an extra 'grand desert'.

4.0 out of 5 stars A good, well organised DB marketing textbook with some arguable points of view, March 15, 2006

By 

ServantofGod - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Customer Loyalty Solution : What Works (and What Doesn't) in Customer Loyalty Programs (Hardcover)

This is for sure a good and well organised Database Marketing DBM textbook. I like "What works", "What doesnt work" and "Quiz (with answers)" in the end of each chapter much. However, I think it can be even better if the author can add more real life examples to support his key points of the book, as summarized in the last chapter:-

1. DBM is not the same as CRM.
2. DBM is incremental
3. The internet has enabled DBM to deliver on its promises
4. The Web is not a selling medium; it is an ordering medium.
5. People like communications
6. Everthing in DBM can and should be measured.
7. Lifetime Value is the key measurement technique for DBM.
8. DBM is not about discounts.
9. Customers should not all be treated alike.
10. Most successful database marketers outsource the construction of their database.
11. Caller ID and cookies have become essential database marketing tools.
12. Many customers will gladly give you their profiles over the web.
13. Marketing databases today are stored in a relational format on a server accessed by marketers over the web.
14. Becoming customer centric is seldom an achievable goal.

Despite my praise above, I can hardly agree with the author's projection of DBM as a surefire independent tool to distiguish it from the notorious CRM. IMHO, the high failure rate of CRM is owing to the absence of good business+customer strategies, and the ignorance of top executives who believe that putting tons of money on software and servers will make CRM work.

No matter what and in short, this book deserves to be recommended.