**NCDM: Marketing Author Tells Attendees They Need to Know About Their Customers
ORLANDO, FL -- Jim Sterne, the author of four books on Internet marketing, told a crowd of 700 at the 26th National Center for Database Marketing Conference and Exhibition yesterday about the importance of understanding their customers.In a lively presentation, Sterne said Internet marketers should measure their customers' life cycle by tracking click throughs, user visits, sales, lifetime value and loyalty.
Once they find out who their best customers are, marketers should track how these customers navigate the site and how long they are on the site. With this information, marketers can begin a relationship with their best customers.
In the future, however, Sterne said more companies would take part in more robust metrics to form a better relationship with customers. For example, Sterne said customer relationship management allows companies to make all information about every customer available in real time and at every touch point.
Sterne said not all companies have reached this point yet, but examples can be found on popular sites such as Amazon.com and Dell.com.
