Have you ever repeatedly tried to resolve a dispute with a company you did business with?

Have you received several calls from a company involving a particular issue? Did you have to explain the same things over and over again to its customer reps?

Sometimes customers trying to resolve a matter are transferred amongst reps in different departments.

Many of them don't know how to handle their problem. Others assume that it's someone else's responsibility. Becoming aggravated, the customer threatens to take his/her business elsewhere.

We all know how important it is for all departments within a company to communicate with each other.

Better yet, having a network with every customer's purchase history is even more efficient.

Such a system would include past product purchases and various other pertinent facts about them.

This is where the CDI, (Customer Data Integration) system comes in.

What is CDI?

CDI is a complex network system that links one company's data with other systems enabling its employees to access complete information about any customer.

Up-to-the-second information about customers — their buying habits, details about these products, dates of purchases, credit history, and whether they respond to direct mail or by phone -- is reliable and instantly available.

How companies benefit from CDI

By having a detailed report of a customer's history, customer reps are better able to solve their problems.

For example, Kelly purchased a Dell computer with the Windows 7 Home Edition operating system and an HP Deskjet printer February 3, 2010.

This data will be on the CDI system. If Kelly orders additional software, the salesmen will use it to make sure he receives the right version.

Other companies benefit from CDI as well. Should Kelly order the wrong ink cartridges for his printer, this mistake could be corrected by a merchant.

They contact Kelly confirming the order and ship him the correct ones.

As for dropshippers, CDI could save them from shipping expenses resulting from returned orders.

Erroneous orders received from the reseller can be fixed before filling them.

Companies with multiple shops in various locations can use CDI as a universal communication system.

It keeps managers informed on their product line and which customers are served by what location. They even have instant data on each reseller and how much of each product they have in stock.

Problems with a CDI system:

• Time taken to set up can delay access to customer information

• It may not integrate with other systems needed

• A complicated program makes it difficult for staff to learn

• Overwhelmed and overworked IT staff

• Two or more sets of the same information with varying data

Questions to ask when setting up a system:

• Is our hardware suitable?

• What systems does this software integrate with?

• How long will it take to train employees to use it?

• What is the system cost?

To the readers:

CDI systems are used around the world.

Companies collect information about their customers based on past purchases. They then can market other products that compliment things they've bought, like toys for dogs to dog owners.