What are the relevant elements of customer intelligence? Good question. Larry Goldman, a vice president at Inforte, sheds some light on the subject in a new column at DM Review. He describes it as a framework for "organizations trying to assess customer value, predict customer behavior or enhance the customer experience." As Goldman explains, this is the critical information one needs to drive "customer research, customer analysis, sales and marketing performance analysis, customer service analytics and predictive modeling."

Among the CI "dimensions" he cites: Purchase Patterns (What and how often do customers buy?); Decision Process (How does the customer decide to buy?); Attitudinal Purchase Intent (Why does the customer buy?); Purchasing Process (How does the customer buy? How did the transaction occur?); Customer Life Cycle (What are the customer's personal circumstances?); External Factors (What is happening outside of the organization that impacts buying behavior?); and Usage and Service Process (What are the customer's expectations post-sale?).