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Martin Hickley

Mobile: +44 (0)7803-082804 martin.hickley@customeressential.com

If you are looking for someone who knows about data for Customer Management - Martin Hickley is the man to talk to - whether it be data collection, management, analysis or protection. He says that handling data plays a vital part in any customer management strategy - and has far more powerful potential than many companies realise. He is also well aware of the growing importance of understanding data protection legislation. "Over the past 20 years the power has shifted from the company to the customer and that power will shift more. There is a legal framework for holding and using data for marketing purposes and it is going to be increasingly important for companies to get it right".

And the full interview...

There is very little that Martin Hickley does not know about data for Customer Management. Whether it is data collection, management, analysis, or data protection you need, he is the man with all the answers. Martin first became interested in data while working with statistics at the Diners Club and has remained in the field ever since, working in the insurance and the finance industry.

Martin points out that the collection and analysis plays a vital part in any customer management strategy - and has far more powerful potential than many companies realise. He says: "Most companies talk about customer management but they are just mailing out as big a mail file as they can and trying to attract as many people through the doors as they can. There is no science in it".

He points out that careful collection of data can be used to determine not only what value a customer has to you, but also what value your company has to a customer. Even more excitingly, even something as seemingly mundane at keeping records up to date when a customers circumstances changes can be a vital tool in good customer management. He explains: "If you can capture the fact that someone's circumstances have changed then that gives you an opportunity to engage the customer and actually sell him more products. If someone moves house, for example, that may mean they have also changed jobs, or got married, or had kids. But many companies would regard a change in circumstances and the need to change the data simply as a nuisance and an expense, not an opportunity".

For Martin the big attraction of customer management is the astounding impact that doing it well can have on a company's fortunes. He says: "It is fascinating because a small difference in what you do can make a huge difference to the outcome. In fact if you got it absolutely right then companies simply wouldn't be able to cope with the increase in the number of customers coming through the door".

He adds: " What good customer management does is it reduces a company's costs to engage a customer because it enables them to find the most efficient way of dealing with them. Not only that, but if a company can keep its good customers then it is harming its competitors because they are having to get new customers in, of a lesser quality, which will push their costs up".

Customer management is becoming ever more important, he says, because the customer is becoming ever more powerful. "Over the past 20 years the power has shifted from the company to the customer and that power will shift more. The idea that the company owns the customer is just outdated nonsense. A lot companies get confused and think that because someone is buying their product, they are also buying into the company. But a lot of the time the customer couldn't care about the company."

One of the most important implications of this shift in power towards the customer is for data protection. He says that at present many companies have not yet got to grips with the recent legislative changes surrounding data protection, and what they can and can't do with the data they collect about their customers. But if they do not take action soon, he warns, they could find themselves in big trouble.

He says: "There is a legal framework for holding and using data for marketing purposes and it is going to be increasing important for companies to get it right. If companies break the law they will be penalised and within the next few years there will come a time when if  a company does not have its data protection systems set up properly they may have to stop trading. The solution is to make sure you have the proper systems in place now".

FACTFILE

Qualifications: Degree in material science and engineering from Leeds University, MBA from Aston University.

Particular skill: in-depth knowledge of customer data management and the role it plays in customer management.

Martin is a Freelance Consultant