| Course | BUSI 4004 Customer Relationship Management for Small Business |
|---|---|
| Week | Week 8 |
| Paper type | Data practice memo |
| Length | About 830 words, 5 pages |
| Format | Memo, APA 7 citations |
| School | Walden University |
| Program | BS in Business Administration |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for BUSI 4004 Week 8
Memorandum
To: All staff, Grand River Cleaners
From: Owner
Date: October 4, 2027
Re: Customer information we keep, and the rules for using it
Why This Memo
We are moving to a new customer record system this fall, and before we load six hundred customers into it, everyone at the counter and in the plant should know exactly what we keep about customers, why we keep it, who may look at it and when we delete it. Our customers trust us with more than their clothes: their phone numbers, home addresses for delivery, payment details and notes about their garments. Culnan and Armstrong (1999) found that customers were more willing to share information with firms that told them how it would be used and treated them fairly, and this memo is our version of that promise.
What We Keep
Table 1
Customer Records at Grand River Cleaners
| Record | Why we keep it | Who can view it | How long we keep it | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Name and mobile number | To find orders and send ready texts | Counter clerks, owner | While the customer is active, plus 2 years | |
| Email address | Receipts; promotional email only with consent | Owner, counter clerks | Until the customer asks us to remove it | |
| Home address | Pickup and delivery customers only | Owner, delivery driver | While on delivery service, plus 1 year | |
| Payment card | Never stored by us; the card processor holds a token | No one at the shop | Not applicable | |
| Order history | Find lost items, settle claims, spot lapsed regulars | Counter clerks, owner | 3 years | |
| Finish and packaging preferences | Press and pack garments the way the customer wants | All staff, on the garment tag | While the customer is active | |
| Stain and damage notes and photos | Show what we were told and what we found | Counter clerks, owner, lead presser | 1 year after the order | |
| Unclaimed garment records | Contact customers before donating clothes | Owner | 1 year after donation | |
Grand River Cleaners is composite. Retention periods are shop policy, set by the owner.
Rules for Each Kind of Record
We keep only what we use. If a field in the new system asks for birthdays, employers or anything else we do not need to clean clothes or contact customers, we leave it blank.
Preferences belong on the tag; nothing else does. A presser needs to see "light starch, hanger" but does not need the customer's phone number or address. Tags show the ticket number, preferences and stain notes only.
Home addresses are for delivery customers and the driver. A clerk should not read out or confirm an address over the phone, even to someone who says they are family.
Card details never pass through our records. The card reader sends them to the processor; we see only the last four digits on the receipt.
When a customer asks what we hold about them, the owner prints their record and gives it to them within a week. When a customer asks us to delete their information, we delete everything except order history needed for open claims and tax records.
Rules for Contacting Customers
Ready texts and pickup reminders are part of the service the customer asked for when they gave us their number, and they continue as long as the customer uses us. Promotional messages are different.
Email. We send promotional email only to customers who tick the consent box at sign-up or ask to be added. Every promotional email must say clearly who it is from, carry an honest subject line, include our street address and offer a simple way to unsubscribe, and we must honor an unsubscribe request within ten business days, as federal law requires (15 U.S.C. § 7704). The owner handles all unsubscribe requests personally.
Text. We do not send promotional texts at all. Ready texts and reminders only.
Why These Rules Help the Business
Martin and Murphy (2017) reviewed research showing that how firms handle customer data shapes customers' trust and their willingness to stay in a relationship. A customer who receives an unwanted promotional text, or learns that a clerk read out her address, will not trust us with her favorite coat. Keeping only what we use also makes the new system easier to run and limits the damage if a device is ever lost.
What Changes With the New System
The new system will ask for more than we need. During setup, the owner will hide the optional fields for birthday, employer and household members so no one fills them in by habit. Old paper tickets with phone numbers written on them will be shredded after the records are imported, and the old ticket computer will be wiped before it is recycled.
Who to Ask
Questions about this memo go to the owner. Any request from a customer about their information, and any possible loss of customer data, must be reported to the owner the same day.
References
CAN-SPAM Act of 2003, 15 U.S.C. § 7701 et seq. (2018).
Culnan, M. J., & Armstrong, P. K. (1999). Information privacy concerns, procedural fairness, and impersonal trust: An empirical investigation. Organization Science, 10(1), 104-115. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.10.1.104
Martin, K. D., & Murphy, P. E. (2017). The role of data privacy in marketing. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 45(2), 135-155. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-016-0495-4
Reading the BUSI 4004 Week 8 instructions
Week 8 asks for an internal memo describing how a small business handles customer data. List each category of information the business holds, why it is kept, who may view it and how long it is retained, ideally in a table. Then state working rules staff can follow, with a reason for each, so they can apply them to situations the table does not cover. Address how the business contacts customers by email or text, distinguishing service messages from promotional ones and stating the consent and opt-out rules that apply. Explain why these practices matter to customer trust, with support from research. Write it as a staff memo; most run two or three pages.
How the BUSI 4004 Week 8 example is put together
The memo, from the owner to all staff, explains that a new system is coming and that trust is the reason for the rules, citing Culnan and Armstrong. An eight-row table covers names and numbers, email, home addresses, payment cards, order history, preferences, stain notes and unclaimed records. A rules section explains keeping only what is used, printing only preferences on tags, protecting addresses, never handling card numbers and responding to requests to see or delete records. A contact section separates ready texts from promotional email, sets consent, honest subjects, a street address and ten-day opt-outs under federal law and bans promotional texts. A section ties the rules to trust, citing Martin and Murphy, and another covers changes for the new system.
Where the marks sit in the BUSI 4004 Week 8 rubric
Data practice memos are graded on completeness and clarity for the staff who must follow them. Each category of data should appear with a purpose, access rule and retention period, and the purposes should be genuine business needs. Rules should be stated plainly with reasons, so staff can handle new cases. The contact section must distinguish service messages from marketing and state consent and opt-out practices accurately. Graders reward a link between data handling and customer trust, supported by research, because it shows the memo is part of relationship management rather than paperwork. Practical details, such as what happens to old records during a system change, show the memo was written for a real business.
BUSI 4004 Week 8 help from the desk
Walk through every place your business stores customer information: the register, the scheduling system, paper tickets, email, phones. List each kind of data and ask why you keep it, who really needs to see it and when you could delete it. Write rules in plain language with a reason for each. Separate messages customers expect, like order updates, from marketing, and state how you get consent and honor opt-outs. Weak memos copy a generic privacy policy, list data without purposes or skip retention periods. Others mix service and marketing messages. Address the memo to the people who will follow it. If you would like a model data memo for your workplace, describe the customer information it keeps and how it contacts customers.
Get a BUSI 4004 Week 8 example written to your instructions
Provide the Week 8 prompt and rubric with any case details on what the business collects; a finished internal memo is ready within 24 to 48 hours, and the first costs nothing. The sample describes practice and names laws only at the level a course reading would. It offers no legal advice; for a business of your own, that question belongs to a qualified professional.
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BUSI 4004 Week 8 questions, answered
Where can I find a free BUSI 4004 Week 8 sample paper?
The whole staff memo on customer data, table and contact rules included, sits on this page, free.
What records does the BUSI 4004 Week 8 memo cover?
Contact details, email, delivery addresses, payment tokens, order history, preferences, stain and damage notes and unclaimed garment records.
Who can see a customer's home address?
Only the owner and the delivery driver, and only for customers on delivery service.
What are the rules for promotional email?
Consent first, an honest subject line, the shop's street address and an unsubscribe request honored within ten business days.
Does the shop send promotional texts?
No. Texts are limited to ready notices and pickup reminders.