Even if you currently don’t communicate with your customers regularly via email or direct mail, there are 5 solid reasons why every company should maintain customer contacts in a database.

1. To send them a monthly email message. Call it a newsletter. Call it an update. Call it something else. Sending customers valuable information every month about working with you (or with your industry) is smart marketing. You can quote me.
2. To send them an email in cases of emergency. God forbid your business is shut due to a power outage or a flood, for example, you want to tell your customers as soon as you know.
3. To send them information about office closings. Do you close for all Federal holidays? When else? Tell your customers the week prior. It’s polite.
4. To send them an annual holiday card. I love all of them, especially the printed ones. Add an annual “thanks-for-your-business” card and gain extra points.
5. To know where your business comes from. Sort your database by city or state, company name, zip code, gender, and even by country. As you build your business year upon year, you’ll get good “customer intelligence” from your contact database.

How else do you put your customer database to good use?