Happy Belated GIS Day 2014! – A picture (or map) is worth a 1000 words

Yesterday being GIS Day and this being Geography week, we wanted to provide some context around GIS and it's origination.

GIS Day was first celebrated in 1999 in order to celebrate the various uses of Geographical Information Systems (GIS).

The term "Geographic Information System" (GIS) was coined by Roger Tomlinson in the year 1968 in his paper "A Geographic Information System for Regional Planning". 

“A geographic information system (GIS) is a system designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage, and present all types of geographical data.”

One of the definitive outputs from a GIS is a map which is used to communicate results to the end user.

Different terms defining the value of using maps have also evolved over the years from:

“Location Intelligence is the capacity to organize and understand complex phenomena through the use of geographic relationships inherent in all information.”

to

“Location Economics leverages location-based information to deliver deep analytical insights into business planning and operations.”

Regardless of which term is applied to the use of location – data when presented in a visual medium such as a map can tell a story to meaningfully engage stakeholders.

The key is how to tell an effective story without inundating your end users with the technical details so that the business can see the insights and make them actionable.

Read more on how DMTI Spatial Unlocks the Power of Location Economics!

Single View of the Customer

Many organizations struggle with finding a single view of their customers because often this information is spread across different business units. Ultimately, your organization has a separate conversation with customers about each product. To ensure consistent communication and better identify product upsell opportunities, you require a single view of the client and his/her product portfolio.

Customer Records
The following diagram shows a customer situated within three separate databases – savings, mortgage and credit card. DMTI can help create a single view of your customers by assigning a unique address identifier (UAID) to each client record. The UAID links information across your multiple databases for a more consolidated picture of the customer.

Customer Patterns

This next diagram shows how you can group customers based on their product portfolios after linking client information from multiple databases. For example, green dots represent customers with one product while blue dots represent those customers with two products. You can view consumption patterns that were previously captured within separate databases or spreadsheets. This allows you to review product penetration or uptake rates and visualize product trends in specific neighbourhoods. You benefit by building strong marketing campaigns. For instance, you can target those individuals with two or less products by creating tailored messaging highlighting the benefits of adding additional products to their portfolios.

Full Customer Information

The final image shows a customer displayed on a map after you link all products using that customer’s address. This demonstrates the ability to quickly look up specific customers and access information across all product lines. When a customer calls regarding account changes or inquiries, this enables faster and more informed responses.

Solution

We can help you link multiple databases to create a single customer view. This leads to better insight which increases profitability and decreases turnover. Visit www.dmtispatial.com for more information or send us an email at info@dmtispatial.com.