Knowing your customer is so important … that sounds like a no-brainer right? Well, I have run into so many businesses that just don’t take this to heart – both large and small companies! While you may have thousands of names and contact information to keep track of, your clients only has one – YOURS!

Just today I received a “Pull-Ups News” email from leading manufacturer Kimberly-Clark Corporation. I have to tell you that my kids haven’t been in Huggies Diapers or Pull-Ups for at least ten years. I have actually unsubscribed from this eNewsletter several times over the past ten years too. And, to no-avail … they keep sending me that eNewsletter.

I do recall filling out an online registration form when my first child was born – so I could earn Huggies Points. The Huggies Points promotion was great, but before baby number two was into Pull-Ups, the promotion was all over. Between that time, Kimberly Clark had collected enough information about me to know how many children I had, their ages, their sexes and where they were in the potty-training cycle. You’d think they would know when to stop sending me “Pull-Ups News.”

We have to leverage every customer we have in order to keep our business going and growing. Meeting your customer’s needs is important, but knowing them and what they need is essential. You need to know your customer and what their needs are pertaining to your business as well as they do. People find comfort in buying a product from someone they know and trust … and who knows them!

If Kimberly Clark knew their database, their eNewsletters wouldn’t be landing in my inbox and reminding me of what bad marketers they are!