Customer Analytics in a Competitive Marketplace
Ironside’s Ray Haddad published an article on LinkedIn titled “Applications of Nonlinearity in Life and Customer Analytics” in August 2017.
What’s the best way to hold on to your customers in a competitive marketplace?
That’s a classic business question, for which Ray Haddad uses an innovative methodology to provide surprising answers in this just-posted article. Ray, an Account Executive in Data and Analytics Strategy at Ironside, initially poses a hypothetical question to serve as an example of this methodology in action: Are you inclined to think that increasing your automotive speed from 60 MPH to 120 MPH will save you more time in getting to your destination than by increasing it from 10 MPH to 20 MPH?
As Ray points out, most people would answer “YES.” However, it’s actually the opposite that holds true. It’s a case in which most responders tend to think in linear terms—whereby a single unit increase in one variable will result in a single unit increase or decrease in a related variable. But, in this instance, as in so many others in life and business, we must engage in nonlinear thinking to solve the challenges at hand.
Nonlinearity in Customer Analytics
Ray then illustrates the power of customer analytics—used in nonlinear fashion—as a means for helping to ensure customer loyalty to your brand. He breaks out two variables—customer satisfaction and intensity of competitiveness in the marketplace—to show why you may be going down the wrong path if you assume you should be focusing your outreach efforts on customers who are most likely to defect. Rather, he demonstrates why two counterintuitive hypotheses may serve as your best guideposts—specifically, that if you’re in a competitive environment, you should focus on your customers who are already highly satisfied, and that your highest ROI may result from targeting customers who are already likely to stay.
Contrary to conventional wisdom? Absolutely. But it’s also excellent food for thought as you consider how incisive customer analytics can help you make better decisions as you battle for market share.
Read the full article: Applications of Nonlinearity in Life and Customer Analytics
About Ironside
Ironside was founded in 1999 as an enterprise data and analytics solution provider and system integrator. Our clients hire us to acquire, enrich and measure their data so they can make smarter, better decisions about their business. No matter your industry or specific business challenges, Ironside has the experience, perspective and agility to help transform your analytic environment.
