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IT Carlow's ERIC Help Another Local Business Excel

24/07/2012

Company: Customer Connect Ireland

Status: active

Founder: Finbarr Malone

Support: Enterprise Ireland

What it does: data marketing

With the amount of information available online, consumers are becoming cleverer about how they spend their money. Many companies have used different loyalty schemes and offers to increase their customer base, collecting a lot of data in the process. So how can companies use this data to market themselves?

Customer Connect Ireland specialises in taking data that companies collect and helping them use if for marketing purposes. The Carlow-based company was set up in 2010 by Finbarr Malone.

“Many companies were building up lot of data through different schemes,” said Malone. “They had a lot of data but didn't know how to use it. The idea is to provide them with software that does it automatically for them.”

Originally the company started working with small stores. Malone found that initially his job was as much about educating potential customers about the benefits of collecting data.

“We were really selling through education,” said Malone. “We were showing smaller retailers how they would benefit from gathering data. The best way to gather it in a retail environment is a loyalty system.”

The company recently developed another product designed for the hotel sector. Customer Connect Ireland’s product analyses a hotels data on a nightly basis and sends marking messages based on that.

The product is still in beta testing. Malone is hoping to take the product outside of Ireland to the international hotel business. The company is already working with a number of companies in Scotland and is hoping to launch its new offering in October.

Enterprise Ireland supported the company and Malone also worked with Carlow IT as part of an enterprise programme on the project.

Advice: “Get into an Enterprise Ireland support centre. They will keep you focused. Without that you are on your own, that is far more difficult.”

Original article featured on www.sundaybusinesspost.ie