The following are examples of what can be done by combining a database and web application. I either built or directly supervised the implementation of all of these systems.
Lead Management System
A client was using a standard direct mail response mechanism consisting of a business reply card (BRC) that had to be filled out, torn off the mail piece, and mailed back to the client’s call center. The call center separated the BRCs by branch location and grouped them into a weekly batch mailing to each branch. Obviously, this was an extremely labor-intensive manual process for both the consumer and the client. Response time to the lead would often be at least a week and a half. A bigger problem soon presented itself when it was discovered that a large number of BRCs weren’t making it to the branches, as they were still sitting in a closet in the call center. The client asked for help in figuring out a way to make this system work better. (Read more...)
File Management System
A company I worked for did a substantial amount of address merge/purge work for direct mailings. At times, we would receive anywhere from 25-200 individual data files (lists) for a project with no file tracking or management system in place. The files arrived in many different formats--email, inbound FTP, on a disk by mail, downloaded from an FTP site, etc. It was difficult to know exactly what we had received and, more importantly, what we hadn’t yet received. We found ourselves scrambling to get all of the data as the project deadline approached, which created a significant risk for many projects. To solve the problem, I took the initiative to build a database-driven application that tracked the files as they arrived. We started using the application even before it was 100% complete, resulting in a streamlined process that eliminated the problems and risks inherent with the old system. It also provided a place to easily view the status of the project at both a summary and list level. (Read more...)
Online Surveys
When I worked for an advertising agency in Memphis, we frequently had requests from clients to create online surveys. The surveys ranged from linear questions to conditional questions based on responses to earlier questions. We created database-driven survey tools, which significantly decreased the amount of time required to create each individual survey. (Read more...)
Direct Response System
A client needed to make more information available for customers and potential customers who received their direct mailings. This additional information included more details about the service being promoted and geographical information connecting the recipient’s address with the client’s branch nearest to the recipient. To do this, we built a database and customer facing website. (Read more…)
Sweepstakes Website
A client wanted to set up a website to promote a sweepstakes contest. On the surface, it appeared to be a simple project that could be accomplished by just setting up a website with a database for data entry. After getting into the details of what was required, what appeared to be a simple site was actually very complex on the database side. (Read more…)
Peer Review System
One of my clients approached me about creating an internal tool for conducting peer reviews. The existing system was paper-based and difficult to manage. We built a web-based application that significantly simplified the review process. All of the results were stored in a database and presented in a summarized format to users with administrative-level rights. One feature of the application that the client really liked was the ability to create their own review questions using the admin tool built into the system. (Read more…)
Services Request Management System
While growing the technology department at an advertising agency from two people to twelve people, I found that we needed a system to better manage service requests sent to our department. Again, the solution was a web application interacting with a database on the company’s intranet. (Read more…)
This above is just a short list of projects and processes I’ve been directly involved in implementing. There are many more, but they all share a common element: they were manual, time and labor intensive processes that were dramatically improved by using a solution consisting of a database behind an interactive web application.
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