In August of 2009, Vital Software's Sales Director, Meredith H. Bushell, was invited to present at the Australian Automotive Dealers Association conference. Based on 12 years of marketing, database, and CRM experience, Meredith's presentation focused on the importance of customer databases, and the power of marketing within a business's local or Prime Market Area (PMA). The presentation drew parallels between a dealership's heart - it's customers - and one's physical heart.

Much like the human heart keeps your body alive, customers keep your business alive. We all know the benefits of a healthy heart and the side effects of an unhealthy heart. And just as a medical doctor would follow a procedure for an un-healthy human heart, a specialist should be engaged for your business heart. Examination, diagnosis, exercises and a prescription are all part of the solution.

Are you marketing to your customers with "one size fits all" or do you know enough about your customers to be more specific? Are you capturing email addresses, phone numbers and correct address details?

After examining a number of metropolitan and regional automotive dealerships in Australia we data-mined the information available to reveal some interesting information

• In-PMA customers are 3 times more profitable

• 85% of customers are missing email addresses

• 35% of customers are missing mobile phone numbers

• 42% of customer have incomplete address details

• 15% of customers had moved and the dealership didn't know

• 9% of customers had incomplete name information

Neglecting the heart of your business is the equivalent of smoking too much, drinking too much, eating too much of the wrong foods and not exercising. Turning the corner towards a healthy alternative is a life-long process, not a quick fix. Educating customer facing staff to capture the correct information at every customer touch point is a great start. Better still is taking a proactive approach and engage in dialogue with your customers to update information. Engaging the experts at Vital Software to cleanse the data is an excellent step and will ensure your database is well on the way to optimum health.

 As with all good exercise programmes, repetition, consistency and understanding become key success elements. When you put all this together and engage in meaningful dialogue with your customers you avoid the "slow death" that heart disease can sometimes be. Communication becomes specific, marketing dollars are channelled to more profitable programmes and realising maximum yield from PMA customers is established. All contributing to the health of your business.

For more information on data diagnostics and the heart of your business contact Vital Software.