How a Forgotten Customer Database Revealed
a Company’s Biggest Marketing Mistake
A Meeting That Started with a Bold Statement
The meeting with the President of the company was arranged when one of our clients recommended us to him. The company operated in a highly competitive marketplace, and we had been observing them for years as they were part of our client’s industry. Their products were installed in public-use buildings, making them a key player in their sector.
After a brief review of the market and their website, I walked into the President’s office, shook hands, and sat down at the round table.
“So,” the President asked, “What exactly do you do?”
“That’s an interesting question,” I said. “We do a lot of things, but basically, we solve problems.”
“I don’t have any problems,” he replied, smiling.
I stood up. “Well, then, it’s nice to have met you.”
“No, please, sit down,” he said, still smiling. “Tell me about your company.”
The Real Problem: A Competitive Market or Misplaced Focus?
He explained that he was experiencing intense competition from two rivals: one was a consumer-branded company with products in homes, the other a direct competitor with similar products. His budget was significantly smaller, and he felt outmatched.
“These guys are killing me,” he said. “They introduce new products constantly. We’re now developing new ones, but we’re playing catch-up.”
“Maybe you don’t need new products,” I said.
He looked stunned.
“How much market share do you have?” I asked.
“40%,” he said without hesitation.
“That doesn’t sound right,” I said.
“We study this,” he replied. “These guys are eating into our business.”
I asked about his competitors’ time in the market: one had seven years, the other two years. His company had been around for 50+ years.
“So, you’re telling me that companies with a combined total of less than ten years are overtaking you?”
“Yes.”
“That’s impossible,” I said. “What about your installed customer base?”
“You’re counting existing buildings?”
“Why wouldn’t you?” I said. “That’s where your real traction is. Your actual competition isn’t just these two companies—it’s the shift between technology A and technology B in your industry.”
I estimated that his real market share was closer to 70%, and the entire market likely swung between two dominant technologies every few years. He looked at me with a blank expression.
An Untapped Asset: The Forgotten Warranty Cards
“Do you warranty your products?” I asked.
“Of course.”
“Do you collect that information in a database?”
“No,” he admitted. “I just throw them in a box.”
I asked to see some. A staff member brought in a five-inch stack of old warranty cards—handwritten, musty, and dating back to the 1970s. Each contained the building’s name, address, and serial number, but nothing else.
“You are sitting on extremely valuable customer data,” I told him. “Let us run an experiment.”
“But these have no phone numbers,” he said.
“Do you think the buildings have moved?” I replied. “We can verify the buildings, identify decision-makers, and turn this into a marketing asset.”
I offered to do it at no charge as proof of concept.
The Experiment: Turning Data into Business Intelligence
The next day, a 36-lb. box of warranty cards arrived at my office. We pulled a handful, used Google and LinkedIn, and within minutes, verified that the buildings still existed. We built a database of facility managers, then began outreach.
One month later, I presented the results to the President.
- 250 random cards analyzed
- Building names, addresses, and verified facility managers
- Products still in use or replaced
- 7% reported switching to the competitors
- A major restaurant chain reverted back to the President’s product after trying Competitor A
“This is a great PR story,” I said.
“But do you know how hard it is to get that story through corporate headquarters?” he asked.
“We do this all the time,” I replied. “You have a PR agency. They should be able to do it.”
An apartment complex still had the original product. A restaurant verified its units were still in use. One facility manager said, “We just order replacement parts from Grainger every few years, and they work like new.”
The Outcome: What Happens When You Ignore Opportunity?
At the end of the presentation, the President asked, “What would you charge to call 1,000 of these cards?”
“$20,000,” I said.
“That’s expensive. We don’t have that kind of money.”
“What are you spending on advertising and PR?” I asked. “This is cheaper and more effective than your current marketing strategy. You’d be reconnecting with your installed customer base.”
He said he needed to think about it.
I understood. I left the database presentation we built on his table and walked out.
That was nine months ago. He never called back to this day.
Why Do Businesses Ignore Their Best Sales Leads?
In The Signal and the Noise, Nate Silver writes:
“When we can’t fit a square peg into a round hole, we’ll usually blame the peg – when sometimes it’s the rigidity of our thinking that accounts for our failure to accommodate it. Our first instinct is to place information into categories – usually a relatively small number of categories since they’ll be easier to keep track of. (Think of how the Census Bureau classified people from hundreds of ethnic groups into just six racial categories or how thousands of artists are placed into a taxonomy of a few musical genres). This might work well enough most of the time. But when we have trouble categorizing something, we’ll often overlook it or misjudge it.”
The President was so focused on price that he overlooked opportunity. He never asked for the database we built, nor did he ask for the 36-lb. box of customer data back.
His real problem wasn’t competition—it was not using the data he already had.
Are You Sitting on Untapped Customer Data?
Most companies already have the leads they need—they just don’t use them.
- Do you have a customer database that isn’t being leveraged?
- Are you relying solely on new sales instead of maximizing your existing customer relationships?
- Is your marketing focused on the right audience?
We specialize in turning existing customer data into real sales opportunities. Let’s unlock yours.
📞 Contact us at 847-358-4848 or reach out here to see how we can help.