Kevin Hillstrom: MineThatData

Exploring How Customers Interact With Advertising, Products, Brands, and Channels, using Multichannel Forensics.

February 21, 2009

Big Mistake

I'm absolutely obsessed about auditing database marketing results. I once told my circulation team at Nordstrom that I would outsource every single job in the department if we didn't get better at auditing our results. You better believe accuracy improved.

So last week I am in a conference call with a client. At one point, they are praising my efforts. My head is swelling! I truly am the greatest Database Marketer of all time.

And then the owner chimes in. "By the way, Kevin, you spelled the name of my company incorrectly throughout the entire document".

The sound you heard all across the Pacific Northwest was the sound of air rushing from my skull. My giant ego had just been popped.

The folks at this company were appreciative and forgiving. But that doesn't excuse the mistake.

Audit everything. Have somebody else audit everything!

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4 Comments:

At 11:11 PM , Anonymous Harry Joiner said...

being the company and being the brand and delivering the work product all in one is very hard work. you have a lot on your shoulders. you are your own highest standard.

get another set of eyes around the office. that's what I did. best 15 bucks an hour I ever spent.

 
At 10:12 AM , Blogger Kevin said...

Yup, that's a good idea.

 
At 6:48 PM , Anonymous billparker said...

But what do you audit against? How do you know that what you are checking is the one accurate source of the truth?

 
At 8:42 PM , Blogger Kevin said...

I suppose it depends what you are working on. Say you are sending an e-mail campaign with multiple versions to different customers. In a Nordstrom scenario, this would meant the handbag customer might get an accessories e-mail. You can cross-check your final list to make sure that the accessories e-mail customers all purchased handbags, as an example.

So that works if you are in e-mail marketing or catalog marketing.

 

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