back to article Do you even know who your customers ARE?

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  1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

    From a customer's PoV

    If I go into a traditional shop I pay, take what I've bought & the shop has no idea who I am. If I buy online the trader needs more information - the payment will be by some electronic means & there'll need to be an address for delivery - unless it's a download. But once that's done there's no need to retain that information, indeed doing so contravenes the DPA.

    So no, traders, you are not entitled to know who I am. If you want me to register my email address I'll look elsewhere unless I envisage trading with you again & think that it would be to my advantage to give you the address. If I look elsewhere and there's no alternative you'll get my spam bin address but if I notice you sending me any spam there you'll get a brusque mail back, aimed as high up your org. chart as possible, telling you that not only was that spam unwelcome but it has blocked you off from receiving any more business from me.

    My identity is not yours to manage. It's mine.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Thumb Up

      Re: From a customer's PoV

      A-men! Take your CRM, fold it into numerous sharp corners and shove it where the sun don't shine.

    2. jonathanb Silver badge

      Re: From a customer's PoV

      On the other hand, if you go to the local branch of your bank, they do need to know who you are.

      1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

        Re: From a customer's PoV

        Which now closed local branch did you have in mind?

    3. Psyx

      Re: From a customer's PoV

      "So no, traders, you are not entitled to know who I am."

      Sadly, we're now in the century of the fruitbat, and we be dragged there, kicking and screaming.

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: From a customer's PoV

      "the shop has no idea who I am."

      Wrong. Unless you wear a mask, they can see what you look like. Over time, they will recognise your face and might be able to gauge buying habits. The may not know *WHO* you really are (street, d.o.b., medical history etc) but they will know that face buy X, Y, Z and then leaves.

      Same with on-line. Your "tag" (be that IP, cookie, customer number, whatever) is related to certain sales. This is a bit like your face in a traditional shop.

      And the next moan is usually "tracking". Well imagine you are down the pub and bump into a the above shopkeeper. Do you really expect them to *NOT* remember who you are?

      Whereas a shopkeeper might keep that information in their head, a company will keep it in a computer and that *DOES* have to be managed (i.e. kept secure). Which leads to....

      "there's no need to retain that information, indeed doing so contravenes the DPA."

      Also wrong. Clearly have not read the DPA (nor, I daresay, the terms you agreed to when you signed-up to use a site).

      "So no, traders, you are not entitled to know who I am"

      Wrong once again. Depending on what you are buying, payment and delivery method being used; they may well be entitled to know who you are. The law may even compel them to know who you are! Try buying methanol to find out why.

      "If I look elsewhere and there's no alternative you'll get my spam bin address"

      You appear to know that an email address isn't who you are, yet you object to giving someone an email address. You are a strange fellow.

      "if I notice you sending me any spam there you'll get a brusque mail back, aimed as high up your org"

      Well don't agree to receive it then. Or try clicking the little "Unsubscribe" button at the bottom. The thing that has to be there.

      "My identity is not yours to manage. It's mine."

      Your identity is yours (and the government's). Your records and interactions with another entity are shared. If you don't want to build up any kind of "identity trail", I suggest you find a remote mountain and speak to no one.

  2. adnim
    Happy

    yes

    and I wish to keep it that way.

    They are not friends, we have an understanding. I know all my clients by first name, where they live, what they do for a living. And a bunch of stuff I care little for nor would ever share.

    At times it would be nice not knowing them, seeing them only as figures on a balance sheet. It would be much easier to get rid of them. (the customer isn't always right)

    What ever my personal feelings toward my clients are, I want to know that they are satisfied and are recommending me to others. I want to be proud of the results of what I am paid to do. I care more for my reputation than I do for the £'s I could easily fleece from those without the experience and skills I myself have developed.

    Mind you I am getting on a bit and a life of riches is more slippers and Ovaltine than Ferraris and cocaine at this stage.

  3. The Vociferous Time Waster

    In a real shop

    In a real shop they know far more about you than most online retailers do. They know your lifestyle, what you eat, when you eat it and even what aisle you linger in longest. They know all about your wife, your kids and the packet of rubbers you bought on that business trip. Real shops know how fickle your are or how loyal to a brand and what sort of marketing works to make your change your mind. Etailers still have a lot to learn.

    If you don't like this wear a mask, pay cash and definitely don't bring your cellphone shopping.

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